Undammed: Klamath River Runners Celebrate Salmon Return After Largest Dam Removal Project in History

The 22nd annual Salmon Run on the Klamath River, from May 22-25, 2025, was one for the history books. Under the theme “Undammed,” the run honored the first return of salmon following the largest dam removal project in U.S. history.

Four PacifiCorp dams were removed on the Klamath in 2024, allowing Chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead to ascend into the upper river above the former dam sites for the first time in over 100 years.

“This is the first year, after over two decades of work, that we are running past an Undammed Klamath River,” said Karuk Tribal Member Crispen McAllister in a press statement from Save California Salmon (SCS). “I remember several years ago when just a small handful of runners made the journey to the upper basin for the first time. Every year since then, the run has grown, and we have had the opportunity to experience the change we were hoping for, to see a dam-free Klamath River that the Salmon could come home to.”

“The intertribal relationships that have been brought together through this event are inspiring for future work of what we can accomplish together for the Klamath River People,” emphasized McAllister.

Data from the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Review of 2024 Ocean Salmon Fisheries documents the salmon’s return to the Klamath above the former dam sites.

“Newly available mainstem and tributary habitats were occupied by salmon following dam removal,” the PFMC reported. “The estimated run size in the Klamath mainstem and its tributaries from Iron Gate (California) to Keno Dam was 1,494 adults and 151 jacks in 2024.”

The Salmon Run has been deeply rooted in youth leadership and community participation since four Hoopa High School girls, including Kayla Carpenter and Erica Chase, started the run after the 2002 fish kill on the Klamath River that resulted in the death of over 38,000 salmon during the peak of the fall run.

“The run follows the migration route of the salmon along the Klamath and Trinity Rivers, beginning from where the Pacific Ocean meets the Klamath River and concluding at the River’s headwaters,” according to SCS. “Over four days, participants ran in relay, combining ceremony, activism, and endurance to honor and celebrate the resilience of salmon and the communities that fought for their return. This year Quartz Valley Tribal runners joined from the Scott River, a tributary of the Klamath River, for the first time.”

Throughout the route, runners, organizers and community members echoed one theme: “We brought the salmon home!” and “We undammed the Klamath!”

Save California Salmon noted that “the energy and pace of the run was faster than ever before, reflecting the powerful return of the salmon to their ancestral waters and the unyielding strength of those carrying them forward.”

“The Salmon Run is important to me because it shows the importance of salmon and this year, they can finally reach all the way up to the headwaters because all of the dams are out of the Klamath River,” observed Wally Marshall, an 8th-grade Karuk student. This year at least 400 youth joined the run.

For decades, Tribal nations, youth, and river protectors led the movement to remove the Klamath River dams that blocked salmon from returning to their ancestral spawning grounds and caused devastating harm to the River’s health, the group remarked.

“While the River now flows freely through most of its course, barriers like Keno Dam and Link River Dam are still a challenge for salmon trying to reach their headwaters above Upper Klamath Lake. Water diversions and pollution related to agricultural operations also pose a threat to salmon. The movement for full restoration continues,” the group reported. 

“It was special for me to run with my daughter in this year’s Salmon Run,” said Deja Hensher, Hupa/Karuk. “I want to teach her about perseverance and how to stand up for the rights of Native American People. Our children need to continue the fight to protect our salmon long into the future, so teaching them when they are young will make them strong leaders when they grow up.”

“The 2025 Salmon Run brought together runners, Tribal leaders, families, educators, and community members to witness and celebrate this historic moment for the Klamath River and its salmon,” Save California Salmon concluded. 

Meanwhile, the Klamath and Trinity River ecosystems face the enormous threat posed by Governor Gavin Newsom’s pet projects — the Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and the Big-Ag backed “voluntary agreements.” These projects will take more water out of the Trinity River, the main tributary of the Klamath, and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, now in the biggest ecological crisis in its history. 

Commercial salmon fishing off the California Coast is closed for the third year in a row, due to the collapse of the Sacramento and Klamath River Fall Chinook populations. Sacramento Spring and Winter Chinook populations continue to plummet, while no Delta Smelt have been caught in the CDFW Fall Midwater Trawl Survey for the past seven years.

It would be a shame to see all of the hard work put in by Tribes, fishing groups and environmental organizations to bring down the dams and restore the Klamath to be countered by increased water diversions from the Trinity River that will take place if the Delta Tunnel and Sites Reservoir are built. 

While the Department of Water Resources under Newsom claims that the purpose of the project is to “improve water supply reliability, while also maintaining fishery and water quality protections,” the real purpose of the project is to increase water exports to mega-growers like Stewart and Lynda Resnick, owners of The Wonderful Company, and an array of water agencies.  

The testimony of DWR engineer Amardeep Singh reveals that the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) will increase water deliveries from the Delta by 22%, according to an analysis by the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN).

“DCP operation will not decrease water supply for Central Valley Project (CVP) contractors and will increase water supply for SWP Table A contractors by 22 percent,” Singh states on page 2 of his testimony. 

In addition, during drought periods when fish are already strained by low flows and high temperatures, the DCP would increase deliveries by 24%: static1.squarespace.com/…

Gary Mulcahy, Governmental Liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, said it best in regards to Newsom’s attempt to fast-track the Delta Tunnel.

“Governor Newsom wants to be like Trump so bad he is fast tracking processes to get his own agenda done. Good job Donald Newsom,” he quipped.