34 



FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



KLAMATH RIVER. 



The great Klamath River, the last stand for the collection of both 

 salmon and wild rainbow trout eggs in any large numbers, should be 

 kept free of dams, so that a dependable stock of trout and salmon may 

 be secured from this source for many years to come. The Klamath River 

 runs through a mountainous region from the Oregon line where it enters 

 California to its mouth on the boundary line of Del Norte and Hum- 

 boldt counties, where it flows into the ocean. There is practically no 

 tillable land, except Shasta Valley, where the water of this stream could 

 be used for irrigation. Applications have been made to construct large 

 dams on this river for the purpose of developing hydro-electric energy. 

 A protest has been filed against these applications to the Federal Power 

 Commission and a protest will be made before the State Water Commis- 

 sion against the construction of these proposed dams. There is enough 

 water appropriated .in the other river systems of California to furnish 

 electric power for the development of the state for many years to come', 

 without destroying the salmon run in the Klamath River by the con- 

 struction of dams impassable to salmon. The construction of high dams 

 on the Klamath River, will surely destroy the salmon run in that river 

 in a short space of time. 



Fig. 8. A trap set at Blackwood Creek, Lake Tahoe, before and after uncovering, 

 April 1, 1922. Spawning- operations are often difficult because of the heavy snows. 



We are satisfied, beyond any question of a doubt, that the chinook 

 salmon {Oncorhyuchus tchaunjtscha) and the silver salmon (0. kisiitch) 

 will not ascend a fisliway over a dam Avhere the elevation is over 30 or 35 

 feet. Our observations in this state and the experience of the experts of 

 the Bureau of Fisheries in Oregon and Washington confirm this state- 

 ment. The parent stream instinct of salmon is so strong that no matter 

 how perfect the fishway may be built, salmon, particularly the chinook, 

 will only acsend a fishway a short distance, then their instinct impels 

 them to follow the main stream and they leave the fishway and return 

 to the river, and attempt to ascend the main stream, folloAving the bed 

 of the river that their progenitors have followed through centuries past. 



While it is true that the species of the Salmonidae will enter tributary 

 streams to propagate, each stream, to a certain extent, has its own race 

 or run of fishes that have been propagated in it. Otherwise, all the 

 salmon that enter a large river would ascend the first tributary that was 

 favorable and suitable for spaAvning purposes. Competent engineers 



