While most Americans focus on flashy infrastructure projects like highways and airports, something remarkable is quietly happening beneath the surface of our cities. Across the United States, urban communities are embracing an unexpected mission: restoring their forgotten waterways to their wild origins. From the bustling streets of Portland to the industrial heartland of Chicago, cities are demolishing outdated dams, removing concrete barriers, and watching in amazement as native fish species return home after decades of exile.
Fish can return to newly accessible habitat within days or weeks once rivers regain their freedom, according to restoration experts. These aren’t just feel-good environmental projects either. The return of salmon and sturgeon represents millions of years of evolutionary wisdom finding its way back to urban landscapes, creating vibrant ecosystems that benefit both wildlife and communities. So let’s dive into the stories of ten cities that are proving urban rewilding isn’t just a dream – it’s happening right now.
California’s Klamath River: When Giants Fall, Salmon Rise
The Klamath River is free-flowing for the first time in over a century after the last of four hydroelectric dams was removed in 2024, opening up over 400 miles of habitat for migratory fish. This massive undertaking represents America’s largest dam removal project ever attempted. Just two months after the final dam was breached, the first salmon found their way to a spawning site in the Klamath basin that had been out of reach for over a century.
The speed of recovery has stunned even the most optimistic scientists. The SONAR recorded more than 9,600 fish crossing this historic threshold, marking the beginning of population reestablishment, and we estimate 7,700 of those fish were Chinook salmon. While not technically a single city project, this restoration effort serves multiple communities along the California-Oregon border and demonstrates the incredible potential of large-scale river liberation.
Portland’s Urban Fish Highway Revolution
Portland has emerged as a surprising leader in urban salmon restoration, treating its metropolitan waterways like highways that need to stay open for wildlife traffic. Over the next 3 years, the Clackamas Partnership is removing barriers and restoring habitat at 10 sites around the Portland Metro area. NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation is reinvigorating efforts to restore threatened salmon and trout species in Oregon’s Willamette River watershed…