Threatened fish at
Beale Air Force Base, California, are reaping the benefits of a partnership between the Air Force and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Specialists from Beale AFB, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center and the USFWS recently completed a dam removal and creek restoration project there, making it easier for fish, including the Chinook salmon and federally threatened Central Valley steelhead, to travel upstream and spawn.
The Army originally built Beale Lake Dam in 1943 as a recreational spot for Soldiers. In the 1980s, the Air Force realized the dam was impacting fish travel and constructed a concrete fish ladder to try to address the issue. In 2015, the Air Force recognized the fish ladder was undersized and outdated.