A system is currently being tested that could mean the restoration of Salmon in the McCloud River. It all depends on how effectively young salmon can be collected as the river becomes the McCloud Arm of Lake Shasta before the juveniles are gobbled up by the lake’s voracious Bass population. Hopefully they’ll be trapped in a collection system at the lake that diverts the colder river water along with the cold water loving fish. If that test is successful, they’ll then be released downriver from the dam to make their migration to the ocean. The Salmon are sacred to the Winnemum Wintu, who lost most of their McCloud River ancestral lands when the dam was built, and have been seeking a way to restore the Salmon run for years. What’s being done is not a reintroduction. It’s a test in an effort to head off the drought-driven extinction of the species. In July and August about 40,000 fertilized Winter Run Chinook eggs were placed in special incubators at the Ah-Di-Na Campground where they can be raised in the cold water they need.