Just a month after completing work to remove four dams on the Klamath River, fish and wildlife officials in California and Oregon said they have already spotted a salmon upstream of the locations where the dams once blocked the fish from migrating. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said a fall-run chinook salmon was found in a tributary stream west of Klamath Falls, Oregon, on Oct. 16. That fish reached Spencer Creek after migrating some 230 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean. State and federal fisheries officials, along with representatives from Native American tribes, have begun extensive monitoring along the Klamath River to see how the fish have reacted after the dams were destroyed, and whether they are migrating upstream past where the four dams were once located.

Related articles:

• USA Today: People — and salmon — return to restored Klamath to celebrate removal of 4 dams
• Daily Tidings (Ashland, Ore.): Researchers track increased Klamath River salmon spawning after dams dismantled
• Redding Record Searchlight: Klamath River flows free in photos that show progress of largest US river restoration
• Ducks Unlimited news release: Ducks Unlimited, Klamath Tribes spur major investment from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Klamath Basin
• FishBio blog: A dam paradox: Managing reservoirs for environmental and human uses