California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham issued the following statement on the release today by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed decommissioning of four dams on the Klamath River:

“We applaud the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff for issuing the final EIS ahead of schedule and for validating license surrender and dam removal as the right thing to do. While we continue to review the document, we welcome this critical milestone and look forward to advancing what will be the largest dam removal project in U.S. history and restoration of 400 miles of the Klamath River for the benefit of salmon, Tribes and communities in the basin. The final EIS along with the Department of the Interior’s recent funding for the Klamath River Basin under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and leadership from Oregon and California all point toward now being the time to solve many of the basin’s long-running restoration and water challenges.”