About the Project

The North Fork of the Klaskanine River is a tributary to Youngs River, about 12 miles from where the Youngs River empties into the Columbia River. Located 13 miles upriver from the Pacific Ocean, the Youngs River is the first significant tributary that ocean-returning salmonids and lampreys encounter in the Lower Columbia River. The North Fork of the Klaskanine River represents a large and important block of potentially accessible high-quality habitat in Oregon’s lower Columbia River because fish in this reach do not have to traverse the mainstem Columbia dams, improving their odds of successful spawning.

Klaskanine Intake Dam #2 is a 45-foot-long, four-foot-high diversion dam originally used to divert flow to an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Klaskanine Fish Hatchery. It is no longer used for hatchery or any other purpose and blocks about 12 miles of habitat, with five miles suitable for Chinook and ESA-listed coho and an additional seven miles for steelhead. ODFW identified removal of Intake #2 as having the greatest potential opportunity for salmon and steelhead passage in the lower Columbia reach.

Three additional ODFW fish hatchery dams—Ogee, Intake #3, and Intake #4—also partially or completely block fish passage. Intake #2 was removed in the fall of 2020 and the others are planned for removal in 2022 and 2023. ODFW is working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on planning and engineering processes to remove fish barriers and upgrade the Klaskanine Salmon Hatchery.