In June, Governor Newsom visited the Klamath River to see progress on the dam removal work.

Last September, the first of the four dams was brought down, and the rest are being removed throughout this year as a result of ongoing collaboration between California and Oregon, the Yurok and Karuk Tribes, PacifiCorp, and fishing and environmental groups.

In June, Governor Gavin Newsom visited the dam removal project that will revitalize nearly 400 miles of historical habitat for salmon and steelhead, when completed. 

The Klamath was once the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast before the construction of concrete dams, beginning in 1918, blocked migratory salmon and steelhead from accessing nearly 400 miles of critical river habitat. 

In December 2022, Governor Newsom joined U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, leaders of the Yurok and Karuk Tribes, and Oregon Governor Kate Brown to celebrate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s final approval of the project. 

Governor Newsom earlier this year released California’s first strategy to restore salmon populations amid hotter and drier weather exacerbated by climate change, and the Administration and Legislature have invested more than $800 million over the last three years to protect the iconic fish species for generations to come. The Administration has requested a Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration to support impacted communities in response to the full closure of the ocean salmon season for the second consecutive year.