The history of water in the West has been shaped by conflict, greed, and scarcity, but in a remote pocket of Southern Oregon and Northern California, a different Western water story is taking shape. The largest dam removal in history is on the verge of completion on the Klamath River. This moment is the result of a historic decades-long Tribally-led campaign to free the Klamath River and restore salmon and steelhead populations, which are core to Native traditions and foodways. This is a huge triumph. Today the river is a living thread that connects communities who each have their own version of the Klamath, and all of these communities will have to work together to reimagine what this watershed could look like as the river they all rely on transforms. In this podcast, we’ll follow that connective thread between the people and creatures that know the Klamath best to understand how they encounter this transformative moment and envision what the future might hold.
New episodes drop weekly on Mondays.
This podcast is made possible by support from American Rivers and was produced by Blue Canoe Studios with invaluable guidance from Kerry Donahue.
In this episode we look to another river to see if there is anything it can tell us about what the future may hold for the Klamath. The Elwha River, located in the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington state, previously held the title of largest dam removal. It's been over a decade now since the Elwha's two hydroelectric dams were dismantled and so much has changed for the river, the animals, and the people. The Elwha and the Klamath are very different rivers, but in this episode we explore the El...
11 Nov 2024
Passing on the Paddle
What if I told you the first people to paddle the length of the undammed Klamath River will be a group of high schoolers who had no whitewater experience a few years ago. In this episode I visit the Paddle Tribal Waters Program, which is teaching Indigenous youth to whitewater kayak so they can make the first descent of a freed Klamath and become educators and advocates for the river. It's an audacious plan--the undammed Klamath is unknown territory with some serious rapids. But it turns...
4 Nov 2024
A Lakefront Community No Longer
In this episode we hear from residents of the Copco Lake community who are missing one thing....a lake. The lake was created when the Copco One dam was built and it was drained in January prior to dam removal. I visited Copco Lake in February of this year to find a community reeling from this dramatic transformation to their town and experiencing a lot of grief, frustration, and uncertainty about the future. In this episode we give space to this sense of loss that exists amongst all the celeb...
28 Oct 2024
The Formidable and Marvelous Life of a Salmon
In this episode we get nerdy about salmon. I speak to Tommy Williams, Research Fish Biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Rob Lusardi, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis in Freshwater Ecology, about why salmon are such fascinating creatures and so important to river ecosystems, how dams take away their evolutionary strengths, and why dam removal could offer them their best shot at survival. This podcast was made possible by s...
14 Oct 2024
From Suppression to Stewardship: Bringing Cultural and Prescribed Burning Back to the Land
In honor of Indigenous Peoples' day we're sharing this episode about how Indigenous communities are bringing good fire back to the land and heralding in a new era of landscape and wildfire management. In recent years a new season has cemented itself into the western calendar: Wildfire Season. Research shows that wildfires are three times more frequent and four times larger than they were in the 80's and 90's. A big reason for this is the fire suppression policies that have been in ...
7 Oct 2024
Snorkeling, Science, and Salmon
Spring Chinook are treasured by Indigenous communities in the Klamath basin, who have long recognized the distinction between spring and fall Chinook runs. However, the view of Western science has been that spring Chinook could easily re-evolve from fall Chinook if they disappear, and as a result, there have been no special conservation provisions for spring Chinook. But a few years ago a team of researchers made a discovery that could completely change the way we see these salmon and how the...
30 Sept 2024
Of Farmers and Fish
When it comes to conversations about water, farmers are usually pitted against tribes and conservationists. The tensions between farmers and tribes in the Klamath basin have developed over decades and, in some instances, have teetered on the edge of violence. Today, many farmers recognize the plight of the salmon but are worried that if dam removal doesn't restore fish populations, especially in the short term, they will be the ones to pay the price and lose their water access, which could sp...
23 Sept 2024
But Why Should I Give a Dam?
In the last two episodes we heard about the incredible effort it took to remove four dams on the Klamath. But American Rivers hopes to support the removal of 30,000 dams by 2050. In this episode I chat with An Willis, California Regional Director at American Rivers about the wild history of dam building into the West, why we've entered into this new era of dam removal, how American Rivers thinks about which dams to remove, and why dam removal is only one piece of the work to revitalize rivers...
16 Sept 2024
How to Free a River
This is the story of a historic grassroots effort to free a river. The removal of four dams on the lower Klamath River is the largest dam removal project in history and has reopened 400 miles of salmon habitat. Indigenous leaders and activists campaigned for over two decades to reach this moment. The dam removals represent an unparalleled victory for native communities and an opportunity for them to reverse decades of environmental degradation and regain their ancestral connection to the rive...
9 Sept 2024
A Watershed Moment
As of a few weeks ago the Klamath River is officially free of four large hydroelectric dams, marking a watershed moment for the tribes living along the Klamath as well as for river restoration efforts around the world. In this first episode we set the stakes. I talk with Annelia Hillman, Yurok Tribal member and food sovereignty advocate about what these dam removals mean to her personally and for her family and community. This podcast was made possible by support from American Rivers and...
27 Aug 2024
Introducing: Undammed: The Klamath River Story
The history of water in the West has been shaped by conflict, greed, and scarcity, but in a remote pocket of Southern Oregon and Northern California, a different Western water story is taking shape. The largest dam removal in history is on the verge of completion on the Klamath River. This moment is the result of a historic decades-long Tribally-led campaign to free the Klamath River and restore salmon and steelhead populations, which are core to Native traditions and foodways. This is undoub...
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