The story of the battle to un-dam the Klamath continues to command coverage in national media outlets. While long time followers of the Klamath saga may find these stories reiterative, good reporters often find a new angle. It’s also fun to discover a new outlet that’s better than we would have imagined. Thus is the case with this piece in Rotary Magazine. It is a nice retelling of the Klamath dam removal story from the perspective of a few key players and great photos by Katie Falkenberg.
The Klamath also continues to be a good example for community-led restoration. A recent New York Times guest essay by Robert Macfarlane cited the Klamath example and highlights the importance of rivers to local communities and locals’ commitment to protecting them.
Slowly but surely the media coverage is transitioning from how the dams were removed to what is next in store for the Klamath. One of the great things about working on the Klamath is that it can be an antidote to doomscrolling. While the Klamath still has problems to solve and the threat of extinction still looms over some species, dam removal signals a dramatic turn in the right direction. That sentiment of hope is well captured in a joint op-ed by Karuk Chairman Russell ‘Buster’ Attebery and Yurok Chairman Joe James published last month in the Oregonian.
For those of us who have visited the areas where reservoirs were recently transformed into a river, optimism just can’t be avoided. The old lake beds, now floodplains, are putting on a regal wildflower display. Some of these images are captured by a recent story in SF Gate using pictures captured by the Yurok Tribe’s revegetation crew.
Another good news piece describes state funding for the Karuk Tribe’s Fire Training Center. Karuk is a leader in efforts to bring good fire back to the landscape with cultural and prescribed burns. The Center will serve as a hub for training folks from around the world in the art and science of good fire and other times serve as a community shelter during natural disasters.
For a thorough look into what’s next, watch the Oregon Field Guide episode Klamath: After the Dams. This is a half hour news show produced in partnership with PBS. It highlights the challenges salmon face as the return home to the Upper Klamath Basin and the efforts to restore the rivers, streams, and wetlands.
The follow up to watching ‘Klamath: After The Dams’ is a visit to the Klamath Drainage District’s (KDD) news page for its write up on Replumbing the Klamath for People, Fish and Wildlife. KDD is located where the Klamath River formally begins as the outflow from Upper Klamath Lake. It is one of about a dozen irrigation districts that are part of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Irrigation Project.
The most fun story about the Klamath this summer is another New York Times story, this time on the front page of the national edition. The epic story of Paddle Tribal Waters, where native youth from the Basin are staging the first source to sea kayak trip of the newly undammed Klamath.