Author: Samuel Bennett Allen

Publisher:

Published: 2024

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

This spring, four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River are being dismantled. Located near the Oregon-California border, these dams have been the crux of a twenty-year effort to restore the river's ecosystem so that salmon and other anadromous fish can thrive there. In support of this project are environmental groups, fishermen's associations, and the Karuk, Yurok, Hupa, and Klamath peoples. These groups point out that the dams have outlived their useful lives as power plants and are harming the Klamath's fish and water for virtually no human benefit. However, they have been opposed at various turns by the dams' owner, PacifiCorp, certain local politicians, and a significant portion of non-Tribal residents of the Klamath Basin. The tactics used by dam removal and retention advocates in the Klamath make it a useful case study in Western water conflicts. Understanding the contemporary conflicts in the Klamath requires us to delve into its history, examining the mythologies that affect the Basin's political culture. The Klamath is affected by the same broad narratives that influence the rest of the West; those of rugged 'pioneers' and self-sufficiency, and of dams as a force for good in 'taming the wild.' The Klamath also has a culture of opposition to its two state governments in Salem and Sacramento, best represented by the local "State of Jefferson" movement, which aims to carve a 51st state using the Klamath and its surrounding area. I argue that these local and general mythologies create a unique culture of opposition to dam removal in the Klamath, which is born not of the area's isolating geography or by colonial history but by specific twentieth-century acts of narrative creation. Along the way, I provide a series of 'interludes' from my research process to provide personal insights into the modern conflicts of the Klamath Basin.