Did you know that coho, Chinook (king), and even the less common pink and chum salmon are native to California? These iconic fish have called our rivers home for thousands of years – and for years, CalWild has worked to make sure they can keep coming back.
We’ve helped restore and protect wild landscapes that include critical salmon and steelhead trout habitat. That’s meant defending streams from irresponsible logging and even more damaging road construction, and securing protections for important salmon strongholds like the Eel River, Sacramento River, and Mill and Deer Creeks in the Lassen National Forest.
Here’s the exciting part: in recent years, salmon numbers have been rebounding.
The Sacramento River and North Coast rivers – including the Klamath, Eel, Smith, and Trinity – support the largest salmon populations in the state. Researchers at UC Davis report that “three ‘wettish’ years in a row offered a crucial opportunity for salmon to recover from the 2020–22 drought.” Coho salmon returned in good numbers on the North Coast last winter, and fall-run Chinook are showing up in large numbers in the Sacramento River and its tributaries. Even two of the most challenged runs – winter-run and spring-run Chinook – have been spotted, although in more modest numbers.
And the good news doesn’t stop there.
Shortly after a major restoration project removed a PG&E pipe from Alameda Creek in the Bay Area, volunteers witnessed something that hadn’t been seen in about 70 years: Chinook salmon, moving upstream towards lower Niles Canyon.
Meanwhile, a little more than a year after the historic removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, scientists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are seeing salmon reoccupying just about every corner of their historic habitat.
Progress is also happening as PG&E removes dams across the state. Another dam removal is planned for Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River and home to the largest salmon ever found in California — nicknamed “Salmonzilla.”
Here’s to celebrating salmon, smart restoration, and the wild California landscapes that help these incredible fish thrive. 🐟
