The Klamath Basin spans across the two states, beginning as headwaters in southwest Oregon and flowing down stream through the Klamath Mountains, picking up major tributaries and eventually flowing into the Pacific Ocean at river’s mouth on the Northcoast of California. The Basin includes territory of more than 10,0000 indigenous peoples including members of the Klamath, the Shasta, the Hoopa, the Karuk and the Yurok Tribes. The largest city in the rural basin is Klamath Falls, Oregon, with a population of approximately 21,000. The varied ecology of the basin provides a home and passage for a remarkable diversity of plants and wildlife, including threatened and endangered fish, mammals, reptiles and bird species.
Nine major tributaries, including the Shasta, the Scott, the Salmon, and the Trinity rivers feed the Klamath and help make it the third largest river system in California. These rivers and their smaller tributaries provide critical habitat for salmon, steelhead, green sturgeon, pacific lampreys and a plethora of other aquatic species.
In the past century, water projects and diversions, hydroelectric dams, gold mining, fire suppression, and logging have taken a toll on the forests and rivers here.
Klamath Riverkeeper and our allies feel confident that our river can be restored to provide an abundant salmon fishery because of the river’s resilience, our remote location,
Together, we work to protect and restore the Klamath, for life.