What Ought to Be Ought Not to Be So Hard
By 
Great success on the salmon returning on the Klamath River. And thanks to whoever it was who linked to this in comments:
A little more than a year after the historic removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) scientists are seeing salmon reoccupying “just about every corner of their historic habitat,” according to a CDFW press release.
“The speed at which salmon are repopulating every nook and cranny of suitable habitat upstream of the dams in the Klamath Basin is both remarkable and thrilling,” said Michael Harris, Environmental Program Manager of CDFW’s Klamath Watershed Program, in a statement. “There are salmon everywhere on the landscape right now, and it’s invigorating our work.”
While adult returns of salmon are ongoing and final estimates won’t be available until January in preparation for the Pacific Fishery Management Council meetings that craft the ocean and river salmon seasons on the West Coast, initial reports indicate “a stronger fall-run Chinook salmon return than last year with widespread dispersal of the fish,” the CDFW wrote.
“The numbers from this year’s fall Chinook salmon run tell a striking story,” reported Jay A. Martin of the Yreka News. “By mid-October 2024, the Shasta River had counted 1,871 adult Chinook salmon. At nearly the same point in 2025, that number stands at 5,745 – more than triple last year’s count. Across every tributary monitored by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2025 is delivering substantially stronger returns than 2024.”
The year-to-year comparison on adult Chinook salmon is as follows:
Shasta River: 1,871 (2024) → 5,745 (2025)
Scott River: 81 (2024) → 1,639 (2025)
Bogus Creek: 56 (2024) → 323 (2025)
Jenny Creek: Data delayed in 2024 → 216 documented in 2025
Shovel Creek: Just began operations in 2024 → 194 in 2025.
The most recent weir adult fish count published by the CDFW on Nov. 14, 2025 shows an upswing in coho salmon numbers, along with the big Chinook numbers:
Shasta River: 5,858 adult Chinook Salmon, 3 adult Coho Salmon, and 273 adult Steelhead
Scott River: 2,896 adult Chinook Salmon, 36 adult Coho Salmon and 124 adult Steelhead
Bogus Creek: 319 adult Chinook Salmon, 2 adult Coho Salmon and 1 adult Steelhead
Jenny Creek: 208 adult Chinook salmon, 2 adult Coho Salmon and 1 adult Steelhead
Shovel Creek: 216 adult Chinook salmon, 1 adult Coho Salmon and 0 adult steelhead.
Too bad it’s so goddamn hard to do anything good in the 21st century. Imagine what could happen if this nation did decent things on a regular basis!