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In the News, Winter 2022-23: Largest Dam Removal Project in US History Will Restore Traditional Salmon Habitat
On November 17, 2022, the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted unanimously to approve a plan demolishing four dams on the lower Klamath River in a remote, wild area spanning the California and Oregon border. The massive dam removal and river restoration project will return the lower half of the river to a free-flowing state and open up hundreds of miles of historical salmon habitat.
Native tribes that have traditionally relied on the Klamath River and its salmon fought for the demolition project for years. Craig Tucker, natural resources policy advocate for the Karuk Tribe, says: “The tribes here – this includes the Yurok, the Karuk, the Hoopa, the Shasta, the Klamath tribes – they were salmon people. Salmon were part of their subsistence, part of their culture, part of their spiritual life, and so losing those fish has a lot of consequences. Some of it is just nutrition and health, but some of it is really a loss of cultural identity. Removing these dams will reverse those trends and make sure that salmon survive into the future, and that these tribal cultures continue to survive into the future.”
The smallest of the dams may be demolished as early as this summer, with the remaining ones to be drained slowly next year. The plan calls for restoring the river to its natural state by the end of 2024.
Sources: Flaccus G. ‘Momentous:’ US advances largest dam demolition in history. The Associated Press, AP News, November 17, 2022. apnews.com/article/business-california-native-americans-dams-salmon-311ea96fda0fe1b0052ab8cef9ae36a9.
Osborne M. The largest-ever dam demolition will restore salmon habitat. Smithsonian Magazine, December 1, 2022. smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-largest-ever-dam-demolition-will-restore-salmon-habitat-180981190.
Published in the Journal of Health and Healing™
Winter 2022 – 23 | Volume 46, Number 4
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