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 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.
Undammed: The Klamath River Story
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 was produced by Blue Canoe Studios with invaluable guidance from Kerry Donahue.
