Brook Featured on the Podcast Blue Dot: Stream restoration on the Klamath River

Date: March 24, 2023

Listen to episode here: https://www.mynspr.org/show/blue-dot/2023-03-24/blue-dot-stream-restoration-on-the-klamath-river-and-big-chico-creek-with-california-trout

"Host Dave Schlom visits with an array of guests that are involved in major watershed restoration projects being conducted by the conservation organization California Trout.

We find out about the science behind restoration with Andrew Rypel, Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis, then dive into the world's largest restoration project, the dam removal on the Klamath River, with UC Davis aquatic research ecologist Robert Lusardi.

Brook Thompson, a Yurok and Karuk tribal member who is a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz, weighs in on her homeland watershed and indigenous ecological principles that will be put into place during the Klamath restoration effort.

Then we turn our attention to a stream that literally flows past the NSPR studios, Big Chico Creek, with Cal Trout's Regional Director for Mt. Shasta and Klamath, Damon Goodman, and Holly Swan, the new Project Manager for the Mount Lassen office of California Trout in Chico. Finally, He Lo Ramirez, scientist, educator, and Mechoopda tribal member tells us about how the tribe is helping to restore Big Chico Creek, waters that his people have lived by for millennia that were once filled with abundant salmon and steelhead."

Pacific Coast Indigenous nations see a glimmer of hope for the future of salmon

Date: Feb 04, 2023

Link to radio recording: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/pacific-salmon-indigenous-1.6736096

Rhiannon Johnson · CBC News · Posted: Feb 04, 2023 1:00 AM PST | Last Updated: February 4

Brook Thompson grew up along the shores of the Klamath River in Northern California, where her family would spend their summers camping and catching salmon.

"It's where I got a lot of connection about my culture and my family history," said Thompson, 27, a member of the Yurok and Karuk tribes, to Unreserved host Rosanna Deerchild.

The Klamath River, which flows from Oregon through Northern California and is part of the Yurok and Karuk traditional territory, once provided a bountiful supply of salmon in its cool, clear waters. But since 1918, salmon populations along the river have been declining and habitats have disappeared as six hydroelectric dams were built.

In 2002, when Thompson was seven, she witnessed the most devastating fish kill in the history of her people. According to a report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 34,000 salmon died. The cause of death was a parasite able to spread through the warm, stagnant water, due in large part to the low flow from a nearby dam.

Undamming the Klamath What's at stake in America's biggest-ever river restoration?

Date: 2/28/2023

Watch video Here: https://projects.voanews.com/undamming-the-klamath/ Episode 3

What happens when you release 170 billion liters of water? Engineers and biologists are working on strategies to release water and tons of accumulated sediment without damaging the species they are trying to save. More than 1,000 hectares of land will be uncovered, and tribal crews are already at work collecting more than 90,000 kilograms of native seeds that will be needed to revegetate the landscape.

REPORTER, PHOTOGRAPHER AND VIDEO EDITORMatt DibbleANIMATION AND GRAPHICSMark SandeenWEB DESIGN/DEVELOPMENTDino Beslagic, Stephen MekoshSPECIAL THANKSMia Bush, Michelle Quinn, Scott Stearns, and the interview contributors who took time to share their stories with usDRONE FOOTAGEMichael Wier / CalTrout