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U.S. NEWS Monday 8 august 2022

Tribe: California wildfire near Oregon causes fish deaths

By GILLIAN FLACCUS are seeing in Happy Camp tribe.
Associated Press and below are floating The federally endangered
A wildfire burning in a re- downstream from the 'kill fish species has suffered
mote area just south of the zone,'" the tribe said in an from low flows in the Klam-
Oregon border appears to updated statement, add- ath River in recent years
have caused the deaths of ing it continues to monitor and a parasite that's dead-
tens of thousands of Klam- the situation. ly to salmon flourished in
ath River fish, the Karuk The McKinney Fire, which the warmer, slower-moving
Tribe said Saturday. has burned more than 90 water last summer, killing
The tribe said in a state- square miles (233 square fish in huge numbers.
ment that the dead fish kilometers) in the Klamath After years of negotiations,
of all species were found National Forest, this week four dams on the lower river
Friday near Happy Camp, wiped out the scenic ham- that impede the migration
California, along the main let of Klamath River, where of salmon are on track to
stem of the Klamath River. about 200 people lived. The In this photo provided by the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural be removed next year in
Resources are dead fish that are found on a 20-mile stretch of
Tribal fisheries biologists be- flames killed four people in the Klamath River in northern California between Indian Creek what would be the largest
lieve a flash flood caused the tiny community and re- and Seiad Creek on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, near Happy Camp, dam demolition project in
by heavy rains over the duced most of the homes Calif. U.S. history in an attempt to
burn area caused a mas- and businesses to ash. Associated Press help the fish recover.q
sive debris flow that en- Scientists have said cli-
tered the river at or near mate change has made
Humbug Creek and McK- the West warmer and drier
inney Creek, said Craig over the last three decades
Tucker, a spokesman for and will continue to make
the tribe. weather more extreme
The debris entering the river and wildfires more frequent
led to oxygen levels in the and destructive. Across the
Klamath River dropping to American West, a 22-year
zero on Wednesday and megadrought deepened
Thursday nights, accord- so much in 2021 that the
ing to readings from tribal region is now in the driest
monitors at a nearby water spell in at least 1,200 years.
quality station. When it began, the McK-
A photo from the Karuk inney Fire burned just sev-
taken about 20 miles (32 ki- eral hundred acres and
lometers) downstream from firefighters thought they
the flash flood in the tribu- would quickly bring it under
tary of Seiad Creek showed control. But thunderstorms
several dozen dead fish came in with ferocious
belly up amid sticks and gusts that within hours had
other debris in thick, brown pushed it into an unstop-
water along the river bank. pable conflagration.
The full extent of the dam- The blaze was 30% con-
age is still unclear but the tained on Saturday.
tribe said late Saturday The fish kill was a blow for
it appears the fish found the Karuk and Yurok tribes,
dead 20 miles downstream which have been fighting
were swept there after their for years to protect frag-
deaths and that the fish kill ile populations of salmon
isn't impacting the entire in the Klamath River. The
river. salmon are revered by the
"We think the impact is lim- Karuk Tribe and the Yurok
ited to 10 or 20 miles of river Tribe, California's second-
in this reach and the fish we largest Native American