KS News

Since the construction of the Klamath dams, salmon and steelhead populations have plummeted. The Klamath River once produced up to 1.1 million adult fish annually, making it the third most productive salmon river in the continental United States. Current runs of Klamath River fall chinook salmon are less than 8 percent of pre-dam populations. For coho salmon, the numbers are less than 1 percent. Chum and pink salmon, once abundant in the Klamath, are extinct. Coho salmon are now listed as a threatened species.

For thousands of years, Native People such as the Klamath, Karuk, Hoopa and Yurok Tribes sustained themselves on the bounty of the river. Their cultural practices were founded on the annual returns of salmon. As European settlers came to the area, a commercial fishery developed and grew to contribute over $4.5 billion to the national economy. Today, the Tribes struggle to catch enough fish to feed their elders and lack a dependable base for a modern tribal economy. Along the coasts, fishing ports are suffering from economic decay, and canneries have closed.

In 2002, the environmental costs of Klamath River dams and diversions reached epic proportions when more than 30,000 fish died in the largest fish kill in U.S. history. Poor water quality and high water temperatures were cited as the major causes for this unprecedented event. Dams are a leading cause of water quality degradation and warming.

The antiquated complex of dams on the Klamath block access to over 350 miles of historic spawning habitat for salmon, steelhead, and Pacific Lamprey.  The current federal relicensing process for the Klamath River dams offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fisheries restoration on the Klamath River.

In the latest chapter in the Klamath dams saga, an environmental organization recently filed a lawsuit claiming that discharge from the fish hatchery at Iron Gate Dam is violating the Clean Water Act. The Klamath Riverkeeper, part of the national network founded by Robert Kennedy Jr., filed suit in late March alleging that pollution discharged from the hatchery is killing fish downstream.

The Klamath dams are owned by PacificCorp, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world, is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Dam opponents and salmon advocates are now taking their story to Buffet's home state of Nebraska. Fishermen, Native Americans and environmentalists are heading to Omaha this week to attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders' meeting to deliver their message to Mr. Buffet and say, "Bring home the salmon and un-dam the Klamath!"

You can read recent news coverage at the following links:

San Francisco Chronicle: Klamath group sues utility, wildlife agency over hatchery waste

Eureka Times-Standard Editorial: A message Buffet needs to hear