RIVER OF RENEWAL documents the struggle to restore the Klamath River and salmon runs in California and Oregon.
It tells the story of conflict over the resources of California and Oregon’s Klamath Basin. Over the years, different dominant groups have extracted its minerals, trees, and water with disastrous consequences, including the collapse of industries and of wild salmon populations.
The film follows Jack Kohler, a Yurok/Karuk Indian who grew up in San Francisco, on a journey of self-discovery in the land of his ancestors. Jack learns about the ancient cultural traditions of his people and also their modern-day struggles to defend tribal rights and the Klamath River.
RIVER OF RENEWAL documents protest and acts of civil disobedience as Indian tribes, farmers, and commercial fishermen defend their ways of life. It witnesses a remarkable turnaround as politically polarized stakeholders and government agencies overcome bitter divisions in reaching a consensus about the future.
In September, 2009, the Secretary of the Interior announced the agreement between the California and Oregon governors and Warren Buffett’s PacifiCorp to remove the four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. The plan aims to restore economic viability along with the ecological integrity of a region larger than nine of the fifty states. There are many ways in which it could fail, but if the Klamath does become a river of renewal, that success would have a ripple effect around the world.
Note from Storm: The historic 2009 agreement to remove the dams and restore the river fell apart in late 2015 due to inaction by a U.S. Congress that was more interested in party politics than in serving the nation.