A portion of the revenue from every fishing license goes into ODFW’s Restoration & Enhancement program, funds that are to be spent on projects that benefit anglers.  Spending is controlled by an independent board where I have been a member for over 6 years.  By statute, most dollars are spent on hatcheries and related projects, but we support other efforts as well, including some pure research.  Research projects are a small proportion of the total as they typically do not show direct and immediate angler benefit, but we may fund them if we can see a longer term benefit. 

Last week I saw the results of one such research project and believe there could be clear angler benefit.  If you are at all interested in the impending removal of the four impassable dams on the Klamath River (the largest dam removal project in US history), love fishing in the Klamath Basin as I do, want to see the reintroduction of anadromous species in the Upper Klamath Basin, and are sometimes frustrated with ODFW, then you should read on.

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The Klamath River Renewal Corporation recently emailed their winter 2021 newsletter which had links to two items I enjoyed viewing.  The first is a recording of a CalTrout webinar held last December which gave a detailed overview of the status of the project including planned efforts for landscape and tributary restoration.  Dam removal is complex, requiring much more than simply tearing them down.  The recording is over an hour long, with 39 minutes of presentation follow by Q&A.  Removal of all four dams is currently scheduled for 2023.  (CalTrout has an excellent web page on this topic was well.)  The KRRC newsletter also contained a link to a powerful 14 minute film from American Rivers showing the 20 year effort by the Yurok Tribe to get to this point. 

The Klamath Basin may seem off topic for this Central Oregon blog, but it is one of my favorite places to fish.  Parts of the upper basin are less than 2 hours away from my home in Tumalo, the fishing can be excellent, and you can get away from people.  Removing the dams should make a good thing even better.

Spectacular news. Today in a live Zoom call it was announced that the states of California and Oregon will replace PacifiCorp / Berkshire Hathaway as co-licensees of the Klamath Dams, which “ensures successful dam removal” and the “biggest salmon restoration project ever”. Dam removal will begin in 2022 and finish in 2023. FERC will have to approve the transfer, but Oregon governor Brown and California governor Newsom said that it will occur. FERC previously asked that PacifiCorp remain as co-licensee in order to provide a backstop in the case of cost overruns, that backstop will now be provided by California and Oregon. Learn more at klamathrenewal.org.

This is a little out in the weeds for most folks, but next Thursday at 7 AM Pacific is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission meeting where the final decision will be made to transfer ownership of the dams on the Klamath River to the Klamath Renewal Corporation. This is the final hurdle before the dams can be removed. You can watch the meeting live here. I certainly plan to have it on in the background.

As readers of this blog know, I have an affinity for the Klamath Basin.  The trout fishing there is very good and it is relatively uncrowded.  Over the past couple of years I have been a donor to the Klamath Lake Land Trust which is working on habitat acquisition and restoration in the upper Klamath Basin which could make a good thing even better.Read More »