(insects chirping) (critters chittering) (birds chirping) (soft music)

- [franklin] this morning, i came, i sa and i w conquer, as eveone woulbe o s10 yea ago, thplace thisere we a gathere. was unpeopl, foidding dt. o s10 in t bottom lace thiserethe oomy cann, ose precitous walls ro to heig of morthan a tusand fe, we a here tocelebrate the cn the greest dain the wld, rising26 feet overate the cn thbedrock the riv

and alring theeography of o the ople othe overate the cn uned stateare prou american skill, and american determination.

(soft muc) - w these e, this is theapm cently ted 'em a hetch hehy left , d then jt kept them aft the elw. t, yeah.chuces) ndistinc (metallanking ftly) little qeter, etal claing) mpared tthis, yoknow? that have a big dam canvas to paint? - (laughs) go for it.

but it bigg and betr. definily do bier and bter. but it bigg and betr. don' you kno it like, gat, 25 yea ago, weid a coue pated crac on dams passe,t's old,een done taket a stepurther justomethingsomethin real impssive. don't kn what th'd be, t comep with somethin (laughs - [ben] spiratiocan be a prettyangeroushing. mikal'advice haunteme for mths what c rappels f a 200-ot dam with a pnt bucke alone, in theit st to ma a stament? we'll t back tthat. my name'ben, by e way. st ll be yo narrato it was kd of embrassing how lia when itarted working this fi. i us to sneainside their ovflow tunls ce in hile, take phos my fries skatebrding. sohe extenof my knledge about o with how to oid gettinarred whilcrawlingnside th.

ms don'tust blend in apart of the ldscape tme anymo. knowg what i knonow, it's impossible r me to look at dams the same way i did a few years ago. or even rivers for that matter. to look at dams the same damsnd hropowereprentrs ago. a pital pa of u. history to look at dams the same damthere'no denyi that. ago. but st like y other source velopmenin the u.,istory to look at dams the same damtwe took it t far.t. ago. - ere are ,000 dam at's thequivalen of blding on everay sincehomas jeerson (soft music continues) - [ben] dams have been a common part of the american landscape for centuries. most early communities were established on the banks of rivers, so dams could be built

to divert river flows to water wheels to run machinery. arnd the te edisonad thlight bu dialed , e first droelectc pors was bng genered the u.sside niagaraalls. eawas being febyy phhyopower ane. power nedams wer beinbuilt soast that the engineering technology struggled to keep up. one of the worst disasters in u.s. history occurred in 1889, when pennsylvania south fork dam failed with no warning. the city of johnstown was leveled with 20 million tons of water, taking 2,200 lives. the flood is still referred to as a natural disaster, despite the fact that there's really nothing natural about impounding a river behind a poorly constructed wall. in the late 1800s, the government was faced with a tough choice, when they began to realize that every major fishery in the country was at risk. either start regulating the impact of harvest pollution

and dams on wild fish, or mitigate that loss by trading nature for science. the answer was the national fish hatchery system. in 1902, the reclamation act was passed by congress, to promote the settlement of the west through the development of irrigation projects to support small family farms. this well-intentioned mission devolved into the bureau of reclamation, whose short-sided projects began a legacy of resource abuse. transporting and impounding absurd amounts of water to support unsustainable desert agriculture and sprawling urban development. - [franklin] the mighty waters of the colorado, were running unused to the sea. today we translate them into a great national possession. [ben] in 191 a sevenear vironmenl battle led the legdary siea cl founderjohn mui ded in vn, when ngress gave t flood aational rk. semite'stunning tch tchy valy was daed to provide water storage for the city of san francisco.

on march 12th, 1928, 12 hours after a safety inspection by its engineer william mulholland, california's st. francis dam broke free from its foundation, sending a wall of l.a.'s water supply plowing downstream. mulholland was cleared of any wrongdoing, but felt personally responsible for dam's failure. "i envy the dead," said mulholland at a court hearing. "don't blame anyone else. if there was an error in human judgment, i was the human." during the great depression, reclamation began the two most ambitious engineering efforts in u.s. history. the hoover dam on the border of arizona and nevada, and the grand coulee dam in eastern washington. both projects created thousands of coveted jobs, and were proudly embraced by the public as national treasures.

stem waseeding the u. s an insatble dema for ectricit to bld airples, ship and mbs for rld war . the u. s if the era of dams had a golden age, it was the following 20 years. the army corps of engineers, the bureau of reclamation, and the tennessee valley authority were the government's dream team. if it flowed, was dammed. any river left unharnessed was considered a dangerous torrent with wasted potential. 30,000riva and fedal dams wercompted between 50 and 10. byhat poin the yelwstone was one very fe unalterewatershe leftn the naon. whenhe bureaof reamation gan runng out of idealocations touild dm whenhe bureaof rshittarting tting wed. massivdams were proped inrand cann national park and utah's dinosaur national monument. led by environmentalist david brower, the sierra club worked quickly to rally a massive outcry of public disapproval.

but while brower's attention was focused elsewhere, reclamios w secret weap was qug a ttle kno natial trease, wi very lile opposion. a ttle kno natial trease, - ife'd had own howbeautif, brer now ss th was theiggest stake hever made - [ben] in 1973, the endangered species act was set into motion by president nixon. a bold me to protect endangedpecies fromxtinctio as aonsequen ofotion onomic delopmentxon. y dam contbuting t the dese of a ecies, could now hd acuntable law. in 1976, the bureau of reclamation set up a claims office in eastern idaho, to divvy out $300 million to the communities in the flood path of their newly completed teton dam. as its reservoir filled for the very first time, the 300-foot earthen dam started to liquefy and cave away, taking 11 lives downstream.

duri an inteiew withhe hi countryews in 15, clinton appointed bureau of reclamation commissioner dan beard stated that, "the bureau's future isn't in dams. the era of dams is over." in 1997, the 162-year-old edwards dam, on maine's kennebec river, became the first major dam removal in u.s. history. river conservation organization, american rivers, deared 201the ar of thriver, cludinthe largt in.s. histy, onashingtos elwhriver, in olymp nationapark. (soft muc contins) fr that betiful ela - rir, let h run freay we'rhere to y welcom backo the saon. want yoto live ee aga. ere are grand tol, in tt pool or ther somee countethem wantsterday,3 salmona.

no72, not . (pple chucing) love peoe with sheries d wildli, "tre are ectly 73, goveor." love peoe with s(pple laugng)li, so, to tse, we s we wt 73,000ore. lcome ba, come on ba. sthat whathise s y isll about0ore. (wat rushing w deep ts, rely deep is is. until yoget righhere to the ed . ah, i me it was nda know that tay was t last da untiof our fin operatis the ed . up he on theam. ah, a lile refleive. oft musi u come io a plt, anas you lrn to opate d spend me with em, you learto listeto certa sods that e not noal,

ceain vibrions at areot typic. buthis macne, for manyears as s ran, would block loait, and she'd just run and run smooth. i think she'd kept on runnin' just for years and years. june 1stas a bigay. i thithatas hard,'lln runnin' just honest th you.ears. to shudown twoerfectly goot itasn't ea. we, a count right n, it's not just an enterprise to blow something up and build something new and grander. i mean, we're removing these for good. anand we're nojustg neking damout,r. buwe're ving to reloca fame anthey're sing the jobs. peciallyeing hydropow guy.

by viou. the's not ubt abouthat. we're alanxious see, s this thingeally woh it? tohe amerin was itaayer to this?lion did it rlly make diffence? d if in or 20 years do the road, did it rlly make diffence? we lk back and s, "nothi real changedhat much dthen think we' yeaall gonna coad, to some milar colusions. and only times gonna tell us if that's gonna be true or not. - [ben] what's your gut say to you? - what's my gut say? uh, i just assume not say anything. (laughs) - [b] that says a lot. (laughs) i'm not nning fo polics, buy. (laug) - made a stament out taki out elw dam

the esident, psident inton, tk me asi and sai - en i fir mov to the state 9 was told"gottaet invold with t elwha d remol projec so20 yearsater, 's actuay happeng. the damsboth of em, re illeg to starwith, so20 yearsater, becausof existg legislion, which stated essentially that any dam built, had to have passage for migrating salmon. - all the species of wild fish that have ever live in elwha are stl there, biologts know a. - adult snook saon stilbeating eir head a ntury lar, th're still trng to get utream,nto ympic naonal par rennectingt with e fish tt were tre for hundre of ousands of yrs, it's very porful expience.

- the's threthings there'hope, hulity, and hainess.ind, the ho of revery ina lot of, the hulity when u go t plac like sohwest alka and otr placeshere u see thabundance, d just aasic spitual hainess at you c't find , i can'find in t of oth tngs. - was thelders th kepthe memoralive. it w the elds that passedhat knowdge, the knowdge of ts rir in itsrigin. theyon't fort.that pth don't me on.e, ey rememr and they perstently ek restorion of wt was on. it's aanswer t our anstor's pyers. ani'm ju gratefu thate're abl to s it happen in o lifetim

so, th's what 're doin we'rsaying tnk you for mang sure at thfish comback and sustn the pele. for mang sure at - thpeople othe loweelwha, ey enter into a treatyn 1855 that gavthe word of thenite, and live ofthe undant rources of that free-flowing river. although the u.s. constitution says that treaties are the supreme law of the land, the people of the lower elwha saw only injustice t there'a healinnow, beuse thats changi. all ofndian cotry is here in spirit,

and their eyes are focused on the people of the lower elwha. en chantg) (machiry whirrg) (sofmusic)

- "whe had thecome fro the aner sound like fairy tale. the r reacheof the s. how had ey arriv? anher fairtale. bywimming ainst one the mos poweul rivs on ear, past eig deadly dams, all the waup from e pacifi poweul rivs on ear, why hathey madsuch aninsane jrn. these corestones a cleacurrentso high a far om the s, once gave thelife. noegs, hves,eet. th'd climbhe rocki, to e pebbleof tir birth by smming ho, at the certaice noegs, hves,eet.

inorth arica of hydy fomanyears, itas thlargest the wor. 25000 gaons water aecond, going rough each of theig pens, d when is really crankin, it will actually vibrate through the bedrock, you can sometimes feel it clear across the river. so you just rely know there's a lot of power there. there are those that would take out every dam, st to sa a couplof salmo ere are ose thathink tha the nave amerins goa raw de. me of th, of coue, woullike to back and ha their nive salm runsnd live off the la. but ings proess. (chkles) the wha, theondit, they we old da, solete iterms offficiency, thso i want todiselectely tt they we old da, me of those olr, small dams, not rely a proem there

wbut is dam, can't conceivef anybodes, rely, seously,anting to take is damut. a dam, f salmon,essentiay is, l. their sic lifeistory requireshe juvene fish to go t to thecean, anthe adulfish to me ba to theispawningtream. , anythi that blks river, le a dam es, is end ostory, iterms of the e part of e world th need to comple their fe cycle [ben] so peoplstill dene the cific nohwest reon asnywhere lmon canwim. it's romantithing tosay, bun thterritorhas been cut inalf by ds. at one pointthe coluian sne river, swn here red, re the mt producve wildalmon fieries inhe lower8. now the ns hoverround 8% of thr formerlory. every fish thapasses ts wiow at boevilleam, s to finand negotiate an elaborate psage move upream.

the onlisf the dams a fsprinspilng waterocean buthat eques to wted powe being trsported barges and trk, . in 1992,nly one sh made it hom. th have rerned i the years sce, to the aunt of mey spt on recery effos, the rive are n like mhines. . during sing runo, when the rin leaving wind-generatedpowero d no o to pay r it. seei thousan of wind rbines generating wind power the colbia d nrge, wh no impt.

on salmon ns anwater quity, finitelyaises th queson as toow hydroper coulde maeted as een ener. finitelyaises th one ings forure thou, e pro-m crowd ems a littlehreateneby it. well, and enyou buall every these bnie babid. d you lo up the elf d you t all of these anie s and wh are ty good f? ll, not ch. and wh are ty good f? and at's justhe same with wd, d - en] it'seally ha to ve a balced convsation en the mt outspon pro-da politians in t count refuseall of o reques for intviews. - en] it'seally ha to ve a balced convsation - wellone of them relucttly le, refuseall of o reques for intviews. anthen noto relucttlyo ked us tleave.onvsation i can'say i rely ble these ys for t wantinto talk us, bui couldn't hp but woer what tir rhetoc wod sound ke. introduce bill th woulprohibitederal fding

from ever ing used for dam remol, introduce bill th wor t study odam remol,g unle explitlyauthored bcongs - ank you,r. chairman, ththank u, especllyrip on th . foholding is heari some pple seem to havforgote at beforthe era of damon, the endlescycle ofithering drod r dams ted these environl devaating evts. they turd desertinto oas, anlaid theoundatio for a ntury ofrowth d prospety for the amican wt. itprings fm the birre tion thamother ethlicy. must brestoredo heror istine p-historiconditio

iteven iit meansestoring then tion thamother ethlicy. they're t satisfd wi merely ocking constrtion of w dams, th're not eking toestroy our exting facities. ery wad electrityvery op od their bak and sfling and mly lit mes. and ilets cotantly bk up. to m these gring hyprisies stroy thr credibity and real an unashedly nihilid this is e kind o luna we are cing. asou deal th these peopleyoui we a literal dealing with te of ourociety, d th are in arge our pubc policy on thes, becae we let them. we're not going let em anymo.

(crowd alaudin (cro cheerin (sofmusic) an chatting fainy) alour new o-dam frs, the was a ace just few mil away the my corpsf engines coitted wh today what wou be call an act of ctural gecide. - as srman alee, a spone cor d'alenindi says, isike therbeing a deral buaucrac at remes the cattlerom nchs

and tells cowbs that - [wom] this icelilo fls. the age-d fishingrounds of theo. he is a sherman, swingi t thering sh for the salm feast and my d woke meup and iwas. "ce on, so let's g the fi are comg." ok me outsidthe te, heaid, "lien." itoundedike a thsand pele with oar, ating onhe water itoit was salmohsand pelcomi up the ver. e grande rendezvs placfor our ople, and pleau trib, in geral. it matted not ether yowas yaka,

andnesps, umatia, cayusl. u was a rt of it. this mist and the roar of that water is just, ings tha in my mories, that'st when i tnk aboutt, i can actual hear . - this is the first, and fortunately the last time, that we will ever have a film of this ceremony. as you will see, the great dalles dam, which is being built several miles below here, will soon back up over these falls. they will cover the great fishing grounds, and the way of life that indians have had here

they will cover the ll disapar forev.ounds, and the way of life that i(sofmusic coinues)re (vicles whring) so how dyou thini fe? i knewhat was ere and i knew. d i can ill see ere mehings shld be, d they'rnot ere no me.

the windas chang, because ofhe flat rfaces coming uthe coluia. the mperatur of thewaters he e dead wer makes it harr h d now alit is, ia big body of ter, is l it i e dead wer makes it harr h it meansothing tme. all iteans is what ty took a. wh these ds have de, they cpletely re myountry art. this is t the sa country as itr - en] dati back re than ,000 yea, lilo wasne of tholdest, continuously inhabited communities in north america, until it was flooded in 1957. at one point, the army corps of engineers offered to lower the water backed up behind the dalles dam,