How the Enviros' push to save Salmon ended up killing “hundreds of thousands” of them

A well-funded environmental group played a key role in the push to remove dams on the Pacific Northwest's Klamath River before thousands of salmon died prematurely.

American Rivers, an organization that has received millions of dollars in grants from left-of-center environmental organizations in recent years, was “the orchestrator of the Klamath Dam Removal Project.” seconds in Siskiyou News, a local outlet in Northern California. The pulling of several reservoirs following the planned removal of four dams on the river preceded the deaths of “hundreds of thousands” of young salmon in the waterway, seconds on Oregon Public Broadcasting.

The push to remove the dams is often commercialized so beneficial to salmon, as proponents of the plan, incl American rivers — have argued that the dams obstruct the natural movements of the salmon as well as their access to the habitat. However, weeks after beginning the process to remove one of the systems planned to deconstruct the river, a large number of the 830,000 juvenile salmon released into the river on February 26 had died by March 2. seconds to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

CDFW officials attributed the mass die-off to gas bubble disease, which is caused by changes in water pressure, and stated that the pressure changes that led to the deaths were attributed to the dam's old infrastructure, which is slated for removal. The agency further stated that water turbidity and dissolved oxygen levels did not appear to have contributed to the mass die-off.

The juvenile salmon that died traveled through a tunnel involved in the dam's infrastructure that was previously inaccessible to fish before officials raised the flow of water through the system as part of the removal, Peter Tira, a CDFW information officer, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The kills were primarily a function of where the fish were released into the water, and the outcome, while unfortunate, is a learning opportunity for stakeholders who remain committed to making the Klamath River a long-term re-flowing cold water river system. deadline, Tira told the DCNF.

American Rivers is also closely involved with the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), a nonprofit coalition that is playing a key role in the removals in line with its stated mission to “remove Klamath hydroelectric dams and restore a free river.” Along with other organizations involved with the KRRC, American Rivers has appointed several officers to the group. Board of Directors.

However, some officials and environmental policy experts do not accept the government's explanation for the mass salmon die-off, saying instead that it is clear that dam removal sets the conditions for the mass die-off.

“The risk of gas bubbles is well known, so the fact that a million salmon were killed is a failure of government staff to prevent their deaths. Instead of acting as this is the fault of the dam, government officials should recognize their mistake and learn from it,” Todd Myers, director of the Washington Policy Center's Center for the Environment, told DCNF. “Unfortunately, when government actions harm the environment, agencies typically spend more time deflecting blame than addressing the problem or holding themselves accountable.”

Regardless of whether or not removing the dam is the right decision, poor planning or execution of the moves should not be excused, Myers stressed.

California Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, whose district includes the river and is a longtime opponent of removing the dams, agreed with Myers' assessment of the causes of the deaths.

LaMalfa has warned removal advocates “from day one” that rushing to remove dams without a comprehensive plan to manage second-order effects could be catastrophic, he told the DCNF. He believes many dam removal advocates are mostly interested in adding metaphorical “trophies” to their shelves rather than devising and implementing effective plans to remove dams responsibly.

“This is about political results. People like me and others have been warning them for two decades that when you do this and you don't have a plan for the silt — and they don't have one — they've been exposed that they have no plan. They’re just doing it, they’re doing it on the fly,” LaMalfa told the DCNF. “We see the destruction with the channel that has gone all the way down the river and into the ocean. I understand it has even moved into Crescent City, which is many miles offshore.

Meanwhile, American Rivers does not appear to have publicly addressed the high volume of salmon deaths in the river, despite having advocated for the removal of Klamath River dams for years. American Rivers did not respond to requests for comment.

“I've been around natural disasters all my life and I've never seen anything like this,” said Siskiyou County Supervisor Ray Haupt. he said the Globe of California. “The river is essentially dead, like everything in it.”

American Rivers has received at least $3.6 million from left-of-center grant and environmental organizations, including the Charles Stewart Mott Foundationthe Resource legacy fundthe William and Flora Hewlett Foundationand the Water Foundation — since 2020, according to a review of tax returns. The New Venture Fund, one of the grant-making nonprofits overseen by the dark money left. Arabella Advisorsgave American Rivers nearly $400,000 between 2020 and 2022, seconds a tax presentations.

There are still some several others dams on the river that must be lowered as part of the removal project. Many property owners are seeing their property values ​​along the water drop because of the changes caused by the dam removal, LaMalfa told the DCNF.

“People with homes in the area are seeing their home values ​​go down, even in one case their actual home could fall into the canyon because the water table has shifted,” LaMalfa told the DCNF. “And people with loans on their homes no longer have the courage to hold on to their equity.”

For its part, KRRC has established a mitigation fund to pay locals who may be adversely affected by the consequences of dam removal.

“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) operates the Fall Creek Fish Hatchery,” which is the facility that released the unfortunate salmon into the waterway, a KRRC spokesperson told the DCNF. “The Department determined that the salmon fry mortality was caused by the remaining dam infrastructure, not the dam removal. Fortunately, this infrastructure will be removed along with the rest of the dam this year. In the meantime, CDFW will transport fish around the dam to prevent this from happening with future releases from the hatchery.”

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