USAtoday. (2023, December 30). Salmon won’t return to the Klamath River overnight, but tribes are ready for restoration work. Retrieved January 28, 2024 from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/30/klamath-river-dam-removal-first-step-fish-restoration/71938341007/
After decades of fighting to remove the Klamath River’s dam, the last of four hydroelectric dams is expected to come down in 2024. Local tribes have been fighting for the removal so that they can restore the river’s natural flow. The removal process was approved by the federal government in 2022 and is the largest removal project in US history. After the removal of these dams, the river’s flow was restored and many fish species were able to live in this river again. The salmon, however, is not supposed to come back for decades. Despite this progress, this removal is just the beginning to the restoration of the Klamath River.
The removal of these dams marks the beginning of a long process of restoration of the Klamath River. With protests from the local community, more laws will hopefully be put into place to preserve the natural species that live in the river. Although this is a massive project that involves construction companies and ecological restoration firms, it will all be worth it in the end because the river is vital to the survival of the local people and environment.
I agree with you on the fact that this river restoration project will eventually be worth it despite the large costs and amount of resources that will be put into it. It saddened me to hear the native salmon will not come back for decades, as well as the fact that the tribes, which were there first, had to fight to remove the dam that the government placed. However, I am also at the same time excited that the dam finally was removed and the salmon eventually will come back(even if it will take decades), and other species can also have their habitats and hunting grounds improved.