Klamath River Returned to Historic Path, Locals Say Dam Removal Impacting Fish

The dam removal project—the largest in U.S. history—has been one of bitter controversy for decades.
Klamath River Returned to Historic Path, Locals Say Dam Removal Impacting Fish
This image provided by Matthew John Mais shows crews working at the Iron Gate cofferdam site along the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, Calif., on Aug. 28, 2024. Matthew John Mais via AP
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For the first time in more than a century, after decades of controversy surrounding the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, salmon are swimming freely through the Klamath River in California.

Environmental nonprofit groups and Native American tribes have long blamed the four obsolete hydroelectric dams for damaging the river’s ecology and blocking upstream spawning habitat, causing a decline in salmon populations.