Thursday March 14, 2024
Trout Unlimited —
The 2024 Oregon legislative session ended last week, and Trout Unlimited is pleased to share that the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) Klamath Fish Reintroduction effort received important funding to fully monitor the first returns of anadromous fish to the Upper Basin this fall.
The largest dam removal project in history is underway on the Klamath River. This monumental effort will reconnect over 400 miles of salmon, steelhead and lamprey spawning and rearing habitat in the watershed’s upper basin, much of which is in Oregon. After being blocked for over a century, fish will pass through the former dam sites this fall.
To oversee and ensure a positive fish response to dam removal, ODFW and the Klamath Tribes co-authored an “Implementation Plan for the Reintroduction of Anadromous Fishes into the Oregon Portion of the Upper Klamath Basin.” Oregon’s Plan relies upon natural repopulation of the watershed by wild fish of all stocks except spring Chinook. Monitoring is an essential component of that strategy because managers need to know what habitat returning fish are utilizing and how their populations are expanding.