11/18/2024

Salmon return to native habitat after dams are removed

Less than a month after four towering hydroelectric dams on California’s Klamath River were demolished, hundreds of Chinook salmon made it into waters they have been cut off from for decades. As the fish gathered to spawn a new generation, native American tribes along the 400-mile river celebrated a victory in their long fight to restore the habitat on what was the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast. The dam removal project was the largest in U.S. history.

■Class discussion: Hydroelectric dams produce power without adding climate-changing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, but they also radically change the environment. Should we remove some of these structures to help wild populations recover? Why or why not? How do we balance our needs for food, shelter and energy with the survival of other species? What are some of the countless wild species humanity has driven to extinction with hunting, farming, building, pollution, and an ever-growing population?