The Oregon Chub is officially the first fish to be removed from the list of endangered species because it is no longer in danger of becoming extinct. The tiny fish, found in the Willamette Valley, required help when the small ponds it lives in all but disappeared over the past 150 years.

Restoring the chub has focused on working with private, tribal and public landowners to protect and restore ponds and backwaters the fish needs to thrive, transplanting fish to expand its range and population, protecting them from predators, and altering dam releases to resemble natural river flows. A range of state and federal agencies, tribes, conservation groups and private landowners joined in the work.

The success story of the Oregon Chub shows that saving endangered species is possible, but it takes cooperation.

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