Klamath Tribes Fishery Socioeconomics Technical Report. For the Secretarial Determination on Whether to Remove Four Dams on the Klamath River in California and Oregon

In accordance with the terms of the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement and contingent on Congressional authorization, the Secretary of the Interior will make a determination regarding whether removal of four Klamath River dams (Iron Gate, Copco 1, Copco 2 and J.C. Boyle) owned by the utility company PacifiCorp advances restoration of salmonid fisheries and is in the public interest. This report analyzes the effects of three alternatives that will be considered by the Secretary as they pertain to fishing opportunities for the Klamath Tribes.

For the Klamath Tribes, the action alternatives are expected to create salmonid harvest opportunities that have been lost for almost a century, allow for eventual subsistence harvest of suckers (which has been lost for 25 years), increase self-sufficiency and self-determination through acquisition of ancestral lands (Mazama Forest), expand engagement in resource monitoring and management, enhance cultural values and practices and their transmission to the next generation, generate jobs and income, and provide greater opportunity for healthy food consumption.