The Salmon River is a small river north of Syracuse in Upstate New York, the United States. It is a popular and economically important sportfishing destination, and the most heavily fished of New York's Lake Ontario tributaries. From its headwaters in the Tug Hill region of New York, it flows westward through two hydroelectric dams and over the Salmon River Falls before it empties into eastern Lake Ontario at Port Ontario in Oswego County. The Salmon River watershed drains approximately .

The river is noted for its recreational salmon fishery, which is sustained by the efforts of the Salmon River Fish Hatchery, located north of Altmar on a tributary to the Salmon River. Hatchery staff raise over three million young trout and salmon each year to be stocked in streams and lakes throughout New York State, including the Salmon River itself.

The Salmon River derives its name from the landlocked Atlantic salmon which were of great importance to Native Americans and early settlers of the region. However, these native salmon were extirpated from the river by 1872 and from Lake Ontario by 1898. Since the late 1960s, the Salmon River has been stocked primarily with Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, and brown trout, in addition to a smaller proportion of Atlantic salmon. These fish return to the river for annual spawning runs after spending a majority of the year in Lake Ontario.

The river is also a popular location for kayaking and river rafting during parts of the year when water from the Lighthouse Hill Dam is released, with several companies making excursions to the river.

Course The Salmon River includes several distinct reaches and features between its headwaters and mouth.

Headwaters and upper tributaries The headwaters of the Salmon River are located in western Lewis County, within New York's Tug Hill region. The primary upper tributaries of the Salmon River are the North Branch Salmon River (itself fed by the Mad River) and East Branch Salmon River. The river's upper reaches are heavily forested and sparsely populated, allowing for the water quality of the river to be extremely high.

Salmon River Reservoir

The Salmon River Reservoir, also known as the Redfield Reservoir, is a man-made waterbody in Oswego County (). The reservoir was created with the completion of a hydroelectric dam in 1912. It covers an area of with a maximum depth of and has the capacity to hold of water. It is the larger of the Salmon River's two reservoirs.

Salmon River Falls

The Salmon River Falls is a waterfall in Oswego County, located approximately 15 miles inland from the river's confluence with Lake Ontario and between the Salmon River's two reservoirs. It is situated within the Salmon River Falls Unique Area, managed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The falls and surrounding land was owned by the Niagara Mohawk power company prior to 1993, when ownership was transferred to New York State. The area has since been improved with parking areas, wheelchair-accessible trails, and interpretive kiosks, and is a popular sightseeing destination in the region. Historically, the falls were the natural upstream limit for spawning salmon in the river prior to the construction of the Lighthouse Hill Dam.

Lighthouse Hill Reservoir The Lighthouse Hill Reservoir, also known as the Lower Salmon River Reservoir, is located in Oswego County near Altmar, about downstream of the Salmon River Reservoir (). The reservoir was created with the completion of the Lighthouse Hill Dam in 1930, which currently represents the first barrier to upstream migration for salmon and trout.

Main stem The Salmon River's main stem stretches for below the Lighthouse Hill Dam before it reaches the river's mouth at Lake Ontario, passing through Altmar and Pulaski on the way. This portion of the river is directly accessible by river-running salmon from Lake Ontario, and consequently, this is the stretch of the river that is most heavily utilized by anglers. The amount of water flowing in the river's main stem is controlled by the Lighthouse Hill Dam, including summertime recreational releases of water to enhance whitewater rafting opportunities.

Two tributaries, Trout Brook and Orwell Brook, enter the river below the dam and are also accessible to migrating salmon and trout, where they are actively sought by anglers. Salmon may also run up a third tributary, Beaverdam Brook, however fishing is restricted on that stream due to its association with the Salmon River Fish Hatchery. The hatchery connects to the stream, where it directly takes in broodstock and releases juvenile hatchery-raised fish.

Geology The Salmon River passes through a region with sedimentary bedrock composed of limestone, shale, siltstone and sandstone. After the uplifting of the Appalachian Plateau approximately 220 million years ago, numerous streams in the area, including the Salmon River and its tributaries, began to cut gorges (locally known as "gulfs") through the bedrock. The geologically recent Pleistocene glaciations further influenced the landscape approximately 12,000 years ago; the region's soils in particular are the result of deposits of glacial till from this time. Soils in the Salmon River region are generally stony, acidic, and poorly drained.

History

General history Prior to European colonization, the Salmon River and its surrounding area was important to the Iroquois Confederacy as seasonal hunting and fishing grounds. Among their names for the river was Heh-hah-wa-gah, meaning "where swim the sweet fish". Additional names included A-han-ha-ge, Ca-no-ha-ge (meaning "a creek" or "river"), Otihatangue (meaning "a large clearing", referring to natural meadows near the river's mouth), and Ga-hen-we-gah. The river also served as passage to interior hunting grounds, and was described in 1688 as "the place where the greater part of the Iroqouis embarked to go upon the trail of the beaver", in reference to their excursions into the Lesser Wilderness, now known as the Tug Hill.

In 1615, French explorer Samuel de Champlain and Jesuit missionaries, including Simon Le Moyne, explored the river and the surrounding area, which would be claimed as part of New France. Early maps and accounts refer to the river by its French name of La Famine, a name referencing the hunger of French colonists who passed through the area in 1656; an Iroquois settlement known as Cahihonovage (or Cahihonovague) was also on noted on its south shore, near present-day Port Ontario. La Famine was described as a "well-known stopping-place upon the eastern shore of Lake Ontario for the weary hunter and the bold explorer, and the spot where even armies encamped, and the ambassadors of hostile nations met in solemn council."

Records from Jesuit missionaries as early as 1657 make note of Iroquois fishermen taking large quantities of Atlantic salmon from the river, which would then be dried or smoked to preserve it for the upcoming winter. One early source observed that the river contained so many salmon that the Iroquois "often brought up a hundred at one cast of the net."

The Salmon River at this time was noted for its natural harbor and abundance of fish. As such, the lower river was contested between the French, British and Iroquois during the French and Indian Wars from 1688 to 1763; ultimately the British would hold control of the region following these conflicts. Their control was short-lived, however, as the United States gained its independence from Great Britain following the American Revolution in 1783; the region's Iroquois were also substantially weakened, having suffered losses due to siding with the British during this time.

The first permanent American settlement in the area was built by Nathan Tuttle and Nathan Wilcox in 1801 near the mouth of the Salmon River. Upstream, what was to become the village of Pulaski began as a single log cabin constructed in 1804 by Benjamin Winch. The stone Selkirk Lighthouse was built near the river's mouth in 1838 and survives to this day; the lighthouse served both to aid navigation along the Lake Ontario shore, and as a location to collect tariffs on items imported from Canada.

The river has historically served as a source of both food and hydro-power, and numerous dams and mills were built along the river during the 1800s. Though these dams served the needs of the growing human population along the river, they also impeded movement of salmon seeking access to upstream spawning grounds, and they contributed to the eventual extirpation of landlocked Atlantic salmon from the river by 1872.

In 1847, residents of the region filed proposed legislation to separate from Oswego County and form "Salmon County" with Pulaski as the county seat. The legislation did not advance beyond the initial filing in the New York State Assembly.

The Salmon River underwent extensive changes in the early 1900s with the construction of hydroelectric dams and their associated reservoirs. Between 1912 and 1930, dams and reservoirs were constructed both upstream and downstream of the Salmon River Falls.

A major flood occurred along the Salmon River and its tributaries between December 29, 1984 and January 2, 1985. Rapid snowmelt combined with heavy rainfall (as much as near the Salmon River's headwaters) caused extensive flood damage along the river, destroying bridges near Redfield and Osceola and damaging roads, bridges and homes in Pulaski and Altmar.

On September 30, 2010, large amounts of rain fell within a matter of several hours in the Salmon River drainage area, ranging from , causing historic flooding. The water was so high that the "Short Bridge" in the center of downtown Pulaski was nearly overtopped by the high water, and a portion of a retaining wall on the north side of the river directly downstream from the bridge was washed away. During the flood, 26,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water was reported as flowing through the river; this was only slightly less than the massive flood event in 1984, which saw 29,000 cfs of water rushing through the river. River levels during early fall are typically between 350 and 700 cfs. There were reports and photos of salmon seen swimming in flooded parking lots and roads, and of anglers targeting these fish.

History of fisheries management

Salmon River Atlantic salmon populations declined rapidly in the mid-19th century due to overfishing, pollution, and the construction of numerous dams preventing access to spawning grounds. By 1872, these native salmon were extirpated from the river. Between 1873 and 1898, approximately 1.1 million Chinook salmon were stocked in the Salmon River; however stocking ceased once it was demonstrated that no natural reproduction of these salmon was taking place. This same period of time saw the stocking of 144,000 Atlantic salmon fry, however poor survival of these fish led to this program being discontinued as well. By 1898, all salmon in Lake Ontario were apparently extirpated.

Several additional attempts to establish spawning populations of Chinook, coho and Atlantic salmon in the river took place between 1939 and 1959. In each instance, failure to document subsequent natural reproduction led to each program being discontinued. Poor river conditions, pollution, and the impacts of parasitic sea lampreys contributed to the failure of these stocking programs.

The extirpation of lake trout from Lake Ontario in the 1950s left the large lake without an apex predator, leaving prey fish such as alewife and smelt with no natural means of control. Alewife populations exploded, sometimes to the point of causing die-offs large enough to require the use of bulldozers along Great Lakes' beaches. Seeking to control prey fish populations, the aggressive stocking of coho and Chinook salmon resumed throughout the Great Lakes and their tributaries.