Restoring the Basin

In the rugged hills of Northern California’s Klamath River Basin, historic efforts are underway to rescue an ecosystem in crisis. For millennia, the tribes indigenous in this region have lived in harmony with nature, subsisting on the bountiful salmon inhabiting the river and its tributaries. But in the 20th century, the construction of four hydroelectric dams on the lower Klamath drastically altered the natural functions of the river and plunged the region into ecological turmoil. Today, the once-abundant salmon populations teeter on the brink of extinction and the many consequences of damming the river now plague the lower Klamath basin. Can an ambitious restoration project heal the river and save the animals and people whose lives depend on it…before it’s too late?