The benefits could be huge, including a restoration of the river system to at least a reasonable semblance of what it once was, along with a resurgence of the historical fishery along the waterway -- a boon to anglers, commercial fishermen and our local American Indian tribes.

Of course, the devil is in the details. But this week, there has been some real movement to get that detailed process started.

”We have heard the tribes' concerns,” noted Bill Fehrman, president of Pacificorp, which owns the dams. “We are not opposed to dam removal or other settlement opportunity as long as our customers are not harmed and our property rights are respected.”

In return, Yurok Tribal Chairman Howard McConnell said: “We are seeing positive momentum on the issue of dam removal, and Mr. Fehrman's latest comments are very encouraging. The next step is to pair action with words.”

We agree.

The tribes have called upon Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski to develop incentives like tax credits for developing renewable power sources to help replace the dams' 151 megawatts, or enough power for 70,000 homes.

In addition, California has expressed interest in pursuing the dam decommissioning and removal process. Also, legislators have included some $497 million in various pots of money that could be used toward that end, said Arcata Democratic Sen. Wesley Chesbro's office.

Pacificorp's shift on the issue follows a major management change since billionaire investor Warren Buffet's MidAmerican Energy Holdings bought the utility and its four dams, which block salmon from historic spawning grounds. It may be that the utility's newfound willingness to talk may be linked to Buffet's personal influence on the issue. If so, it's welcome.

Removal of the dams would be a massive effort that would take years to study and act on. But with the door opened to discussions on how to proceed, we call on state legislators and officials -- including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who likes to bill himself as the environmental governor -- to seize this historic opportunity.

It's not too much to say that removal of the Klamath dams would be an environmental showpiece for our time.