214-mile trek starts today

About 100 runners will tread along the Klamath and Trinity rivers today, along the route that salmon travel to spawn each year.

All told, they will run 214 miles in a relay to draw attention to problems in the watershed. They will start at the mouth of the river and stop at Iron Gate Dam, the first of several that block the migration of salmon.

The runners -- who will run 1- to 6-mile routes -- are advocating removal of the lower four dams on the river.

The mammoth task of organizing the three-day Memorial Day weekend run, as well as several events at different locations in mostly remote country, goes to Hoopa Valley High School students. They won a Brower Youth Award for the run last year, crediting them with showing a need for action on the river.

”It's been a great networking opportunity for all of the people who are involved in fishery related areas on the Klamath and Trinity,” said Luna Latimer Lake with the Mid Klamath Watershed Council, which is coordinating parts of the run.

The run was first inspired by the 2002 fish kill, when 68,000 salmon died in a hot, shallow river. That may have been the most visible problem on the Klamath. Irrigators upstream have seen restrictions on water; young salmon have been plagued with disease; and reservoirs have experienced blooms of toxic algae. This year, there is no commercial salmon season along 700 miles of the West Coast, and tribal and sport fishing is cut back.

The original salmon run has been extended from 41 to 214 miles. Members of the Yurok, Karuk and Hupa tribes, fishermen, environmentalists and members of the Humboldt County Track Club are participating. The run is open to everyone.

Salmon pervades the race. Spring salmon will be caught at the mouth of the river today, where the runners start at 7 a.m. Those will go to Hoopa for an elders' dinner at the Hoopa Valley High School at 5 p.m. The runners will be taken by jet boat to the tiny village of Johnson's, where they will beginning running up the Klamath. Throughout the race, the runners will pass along a carved wooden salmon baton.

When they get to the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity rivers at Weitchpec, one group will run to the South Fork of the Trinity River, while the other will stop at Somes Bar, where the Salmon River meets the Klamath. Those rivers hold the last significant population of spring-run chinook salmon in the watershed.

On Saturday, the runners will run from Somes Bar beginning at 7 a.m. to the Sara Totten Campground 25 miles north of Happy Camp. On Sunday, the runners will go on to Iron Gate Dam, where a rally will be held at around 3:30 p.m.