With salmon returning to the upper reaches of the Klamath River following the removal of four dams, the newly established Klamath Indigenous Land Trust (KILT) has purchased 10,000 acres of salmon habitat for conservation.
“This is the next chapter in the Klamath River’s renewal,” KILT board member Jeff Mitchell (Klamath/Modoc) said in a release. “It’s proof that Indigenous leadership and community partnerships can achieve transformational change at a landscape scale.”
The return of salmon to the Klamath River has been a bright spot for Pacific salmon along the U.S. West Coast, where dwindling populations have resulted in three years of cancelled commercial salmon seasons. State, federal, and Tribal authorities have invested heavily in conservation and recovery efforts to help the population rebound, including the removal of dams and other fish barriers. In 2024, the last of four major dams on the lower Klamath River was removed, clearing a path for salmon to swim farther upstream to parts of the river where they had not been seen for more than a century.
“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, the environmental program manager of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Klamath Watershed Program, late last year. “There are salmon everywhere on the landscape right now, and it’s invigorating our work.”
In response, Indigenous leaders from various Klamath Basin Tribes who had been working on dam removal and salmon recovery formed KILT as a nonprofit to purchase and preserve some of the newly reopened salmon habitat.
“Dam removal allowed the salmon to return home. Returning these lands to Indigenous care ensures that home will be a place where they can flourish and recover,” KILT Chair Molli Myers (Karuk) said in a release. “Our communities spent generations fighting for this moment, and we honor our ancestors who carried this vision forward. The healing that’s underway is real, and this acquisition reflects the future we’re building together as people of the Klamath Basin.”
The land was purchased from electrical provider PacifiCorp with funds provided by the Catena Foundation, the Community Foundation of New Jersey, and an anonymous donor.
“PacifiCorp is gratified to see these lands transition to a stewardship model that honors their cultural and ecological significance,” Pacific Power President Ryan Flynn said in a release. “We recognize the leadership of the Klamath Basin Tribes and KILT in shaping a restoration vision that will benefit the entire region.”
KILT said it will now develop a comprehensive land management plan with input from area Tribes to address habitat recovery, cultural resource protection, fire management, and public access considerations.
