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A small, abandoned dam in Southern Oregon was removed last week using funds from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The dam removal will greatly improve access to habitat for many different fish species.

Northern California's Yurok Tribe made the announcement this week due to forecasted low fish stocks.

Removing the Copco 2 dam takes deconstruction crews one step closer to drawdowns of the remaining three reservoirs next January.

The event is a spiritual run and prayer for the health of the Klamath watershed.

For over a century, four hydroelectric dams along the Oregon-California border have cut off habitat to fish swimming up the Klamath River from the ocean. Now, researchers are in the midst of a project to learn how fish will use this ecosystem once the dams are removed.

Twenty years ago, tribal youth founded the Salmon Run to call for the removal of four dams along the Klamath River. This year’s run will coincide with work to demolish them.

A federal regulatory group voted Thursday to officially close king salmon fishing season along much of the West Coast after near-record low numbers of the fish, also known as Chinook, returned to California’s rivers last year.

The recent onslaught of atmospheric rivers slamming into California has dumped massive amounts of rain and snow in the state, causing widespread flooding and extensive damage. But a Sacramento River flood control project has created feeding conditions that are helping young salmon bulk up for their migration out to sea.

The ocean salmon fishing season could be closed this year for all of California and most of Oregon, according to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council.

State officials say the urgency to store more water has vanished as storms swell reservoirs. The reversal is a victory for environmentalists, but they say the damage to salmon and native fish is already done.

OPB’s Paul Marshall speaks with science and nature writer Miranda Weiss. Weiss traveled to Alaska, snorkeled in a salmon stream and talked to scientists and fishermen about why the fish might be getting smaller, and what impacts that will have in the Pacific Northwest.

Though tributaries like Horse Creek are far out of the spotlight, they are an integral part of the whole Klamath River ecosystem. Without these, it’s unlikely that dam removal alone will help coho and Chinook fully recover.