Historic Return: Endangered Winter-Run Chinook Salmon Spotted in McCloud River After Nearly 100 Years
For the first time in nearly a century, adult winter-run Chinook salmon have been seen swimming through the McCloud River in northern California, marking a momentous comeback in the fight for fish restoration. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) confirmed the sighting near Ash Camp, a rugged and remote area where Hawkins Creek merges with the McCloud.
A video shared by the CDFW, recorded by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, shows a female Chinook salmon fiercely protecting her nest of eggs on the riverbed — a powerful visual of nature’s resilience.
These winter-run Chinook salmon, currently listed as an endangered species by NOAA, are among just nine species considered most at risk of near-term extinction.
The Winnemem Wintu Tribe, stewards of this region, have long opposed the Shasta Dam’s expansion, which has disrupted salmon spawning by raising water temperatures beyond what these cold-water-loving fish need to reproduce.
According to Rebekah Olstad, salmon restoration project manager for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, the introduction of hatchery-raised winter-run salmon is a temporary measure that “delays extinction.” The ultimate goal remains the revival of self-sustaining wild salmon populations.
“The salmon we have now don’t know how to climb mountains or leap waterfalls — those instincts have been lost over generations,” Olstad emphasized. “It’s going to take time to bring that wild strength back.”
Olstad and her team are pushing forward on two fronts. One is creating a volitional passage, a critical system that would allow salmon to complete their natural life cycle — from the ocean to stream and back — something vital for restoring ecosystem balance, since salmon are a keystone species.
“They’re in the McCloud River, and that’s amazing,” said Michael Preston, a member of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. “But real salmon return to the ocean — and come back. We need to make that possible.”
The tribe once believed their native wild McCloud River salmon had vanished forever. But a 2004 Winnemem war dance protest against the Shasta Dam garnered global media attention, eventually leading to a surprising discovery — McCloud Chinook salmon thriving in the rivers of New Zealand.
It turns out these salmon had been exported globally in the early 1900s by the Baird Hatchery, with some establishing a healthy population in New Zealand. Now, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, in collaboration with NOAA and CDFW, is working to bring back these salmon — and their precious wild genes — to their native waters.
While salmon restoration isn’t exclusive to the McCloud River, it's a shared mission across the western U.S. and Canada, where these iconic fish once flourished. For Indigenous tribes like the Winnemem Wintu, salmon are more than just food — they’re sacred.
“Restoring salmon is part of a prophecy we’re living out,” said Preston. “It’s a spiritual calling that ties us back to our creation stories.”
Just last year, salmon began returning to the Klamath River — straddling the Oregon-California border — after a decades-long legal battle led by the Karuk, Klamath, and Yurok Nations. Their efforts resulted in the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, a game-changer for salmon restoration.
But not all restoration efforts have survived political shifts. A landmark deal to remove dams on the Columbia River, aimed at reviving Indigenous fishing rights and fish populations, was reversed by a Trump-era executive order in June.
Still, Olstad remains undeterred.
“Every administration has been tough on Indigenous people,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re backing down.”
The fight to bring wild Chinook salmon back to the McCloud River is far from over — but for the first time in nearly 100 years, they're home again.