Thursday April 23, 2026
Lookout Eugene-Springfield —
hree conservation groups are calling on federal regulators to take urgent action at Eugene Water & Electric Board’s Trail Bridge Dam, which blocks the annual migration of endangered fish species — including Chinook salmon and bull trout — that swim up and down the McKenzie River.
Cascadia Wildlands, Native Fish Society and Willamette Riverkeeper on Wednesday, April 22 — Earth Day — filed a petition with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, citing years of delays and failed efforts by EWEB to provide effective fish passage at the dam.
The groups seek interim improvements for this year’s August spawning season and a new cost-benefit analysis comparing the current trap-and-haul system with a permanent alternative, such as a fish ladder.
The issue has become more pressing, the groups say, because of wildfire risk that could keep managers from accessing and operating the current system on Highway 126, which relies on manually moving fish around the dam. And, the groups say, climate models project some Chinook salmon populations could face a high risk of extinction by 2040 without access to colder upstream habitat.