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BILLINGS, Mont. — As efforts falter to save North America's largest freshwater fish — a toothless beast left over from the days of dinosaurs — officials hope to stave off extinction by sending more water hurtling down a river so the fish can spawn in the wild.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday said attempts over the past two years to save the endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon had failed.

The prehistoric sturgeon, characterized by its large head and armor-like scales, can reach 19 feet long and top 1,000 pounds.

An isolated population of the species lives along a stretch of the Kootenai that passes through Montana, northern Idaho and southern British Columbia. Fewer than 500 of the bottom-feeding behemoths survive, and it's been 35 years since they successfully spawned.

The problem is Libby Dam, a hydroelectric facility in Montana run by the Army Corps of Engineers that serves power markets in the Pacific Northwest. When it went up in 1974, it stopped periodic flooding of Bonners Ferry, Idaho — but also high water flows that triggered the sturgeon to move upriver and spawn.

After years of litigation, the U.S. government agreed to alter how it runs the dam and more closely mimic historical water flows. That hasn't worked. Fisheries officials and the Corps now say they plan to spill more water next spring.

It could be one of the last chances to stave off disaster for the massive fish: Biologists say it could otherwise be on track for extinction within the next decade.

Even with the increased spillover, the Kootenai River would rise to less than half historical levels.

The plan to save the fish in the Kootenai came out of a 2008 settlement with environmentalists who'd sued the U.S. government.

To satisfy the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, the fish would have to reproduce naturally before the species is considered recovered.