Undammed: The Klamath River Story

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...

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...

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 i...

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...

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...

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...