LINCOLN, Calif. (AP) - Big numbers of salmon are climbing the new Auburn Ravine fish ladder in what a California environmentalist calls a fall spawning godsend.

The Sacramento Bee says California Department of Fish and Game biologists have counted 150 chinook salmon using the $800,000 ladder near Lincoln in the past three weeks.

Officials have also found 13 spawning sites in the gravel creek bed upstream of the Placer County ladder.

The Save Auburn Ravine Salmon and Steelhead group worked for three years to restore salmon to the creek.

A board member for the nonprofit, John Rabe, says the results have exceeded the organization's dreams.

The Nevada Irrigation District installed the fish ladder at its Lincoln Gauging Station, which about 30 miles north of Sacramento.

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Information from: The Sacramento Bee
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