When the current Administration rescinded a directive from the previous Administration that would have allowed for the removal of the three lower Snake River dams, it sent shockwaves through the scientific and angling communities in the Pacific Northwest. Many believe that removing these dams is essential to prevent salmon from going extinct throughout the entire Snake River basin.
So, what changes might be on the horizon?
Jeff Ziller, the managing fisheries biologist for the Southern Willamette District of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW), has over four decades of experience with the agency. He is an accomplished manager dedicated to making fishing accessible to all Oregonians.
Ziller said that federal funding for local fish hatcheries has generally remained unchanged.
The Army Corps of Engineers provides the ODFW with about $2.4 million per year to operate the salmon hatcheries on the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, and this funding is still intact.
Additionally, Ziller confirmed that hatchery trout production will continue at historic levels in accordance with the long-standing agreement between the state of Oregon and the Army Corps.
In 2021, the Army Corps of Engineers unexpectedly announced it would no longer honor the portion of the mitigation agreement that funded hatchery summer steelhead production on the Middle Fork Willamette and McKenzie rivers. This agreement was established to replenish populations of trout, chinook salmon, and steelhead lost when their spawning habitats were disconnected from the Willamette River basin due to flood-control dams.
The decision regarding steelhead was made by the Corps and not by presidential decree.
Without steelhead, our local angling scene would suffer.
However, since the Corps’ decision, Ziller has secured funding and sent a quarter of a million steelhead smolts downriver to the ocean last spring. The Eugene “town run” was eliminated, but other efficiencies were found, and funding appears to be stable.
Ziller also noted that steelhead fry scheduled for release in spring 2026 are already in production.
While steelhead numbers are low, salmon are still plentiful. This year’s spring salmon run was significantly larger than in recent years. The fish returned to favorable river conditions, and angler success was “good.”
However, Ziller raised concerns about fewer than 1,000 wild adult salmon passing over Leaburg Dam this season, with no clear explanation for the decline.
Conversely, Ziller’s resignation was evident when discussing Cougar Dam on the South Fork of the McKenzie. Before Cougar Dam’s completion, thousands of salmon returned to spawn, enriching the river with nutrients.
Built in the 1960s without fish passage, the dam eliminated 26 miles of quality spawning habitat.
Despite years of study, no viable engineering solution for fish passage has been found.
To restore balance, Ziller and his crew now trap wild adult salmon at Cougar Dam’s base and transport them upstream. Spring drawdowns allow young fish to swim through the dam to the ocean. A similar process is used at Hills Creek Dam on the Middle Willamette.
Ziller said that both the South Fork McKenzie above Cougar and the Middle Willamette above Hills Creek are closed to salmon fishing, but have tragically faced poaching.
“The loss of a single female fish could represent an entire year’s production,” he said.
To report poaching incidents, dial *677 or 1-800-452-7888.
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