A few miles south of the California-Oregon border, up a remote canyon on the Klamath River, the hum of heavy machinery marks the start of the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. Hundreds of workers and scores of trucks and wrecking vehicles last month began dismantling a nearly century-old concrete dam, the first of four hydroelectric dams slated for demolition in an ambitious bid to restore one of the great rivers of the West. The 33-foot-high dam known as Copco 2 in Siskiyou County, about a six-hour drive from San Francisco, is the smallest of the four structures being taken out. But it represents a monumental step for environmentalists, Native Americans and commercial fishermen who have been pushing for decades for the once improbable rewilding of the 250-mile river. … For one tribe, however, the demolition of Copco 2 is not so much a cause for celebration but, instead, a reckoning with a painful past.

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• Herald and news: Cyanobacteria toxins found in Upper Klamath Lake exceed limit
• The Conversation: Removing dams from the Klamath River is a step toward justice for Native Americans in Northern California
• Los Angeles Times: Reparations debate incomplete without Indigenous Californians, activists say