In this episode, I interview Amy Cordalis, Yurok Tribal member, attorney and environmental activist about the historic decommissioning and removal of the four lower Klamath dams — the largest U.S. dam removal project in history. Amy shares the Yurok creation story about living in balance with a living river and the tribe’s responsibility to steward salmon and water. She discusses the history of U.S. violence and dispossession of the Yurok and other California tribes, including unratified treaties, reservation reductions, and the allotment era. The conversation centers on the 2002 Klamath fish kill—about 70,000 adult salmon perished—linked to drought-year water diversions ordered over scientific objections by then vice president Dick Cheney, which propelled Amy to law school and helped spark the movement that led to removal of four Klamath dams in 2024 through grassroots organizing and FERC relicensing. She discusses the Yurok rights of nature ordinance granting the river personhood under tribal law, early signs of ecological recovery after dam removal, ongoing upper-basin water quality challenges (including groundwater connections, grazing impacts, and the endangered sucker fish), and how Indigenous and non-Indigenous environmentalists can better work together.
Purchase Amy’s Book - The Water Remembers
04:07 Meet Amy Cordalis
05:39 Why Yurok Country Hasn’t Changed Much
08:12 The Yurok Creation Story
15:01 Living Connection to Place
26:17 2002 Klamath Fish Kill: Drought, Diversions, and Politics
31:38 “It’s Your Turn”: Off to Law School
35:36 From Grief to Movement: Grassroots Organizing and the FERC Relicensing Path
41:03 Rights of Nature for the Klamath: Personhood Under Yurok Law
44:03 Why Ecosystems Need Standing: Limits of U.S. Environmental Law
46:37 Behind-the-Scenes Dam Removal Lesson: Fight for All Four Dams
51:10 After the Dams Came Out: Salmon Return, Cleaner Water, River Reborn
59:13 Upper Basin Challenges: Sucker Fish, Groundwater, Grazing & Public Lands
01:02:41 Working Together For a Better Future
