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

- [franklin] this morning, i came, i sa and i w conquer, everyone woulbe o sees f the fir time this gre feat ofankind. 10 years agothe plac where are gatred was unpeopl, foidding dert. ose precitous walls ro to heig of morthan a tusand fe, o lebrate the compleon of the gatest m in theorld, rising26 feet ove o thbedrock the rivon

and alring theeography of . the ople othe ove o ited stas are prd.on wi the exction of e fewho are rrow-vioned, thiss an engeerion viory ofhe firstrder. other grt achievent americaresourcelness, american skill, and american determination.

the tapfrom, - now ese s recently taped ' at, tchetchy lt it, d then jt kept them aft the elw. (indisnct) (mal clankg softly) little qeter, - en] any rds of ipirationfor as at 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. dot, you kw, it like, gat, 25 yea ago, weid a coue pated crac on dams passe,t's old,een done taket a stepurther 25 yea ago, weid a coue justomethingsomethin preal iressive.ams don't kn what th'd be, but comep with somethin (laughs - [ben] spiratiocan be a prettyangeroushing. mikal'advice haunteme for mths wi a paintucket, ane, the mide of theight, st to ma a stament? anay, i'm tting way aheaof mysel we'lget backo th. myame's be by the y. it was kd of embrassing how lia when itarted working this fi. i us to sneainside their ovflow tunls ce in hile, take otos my fries skatebrding. sohe extenof my knledge aboudams mosy had too with how to oid gettinarred whilcrawlingnside th.

ms don'tust blend in apart of the ldscape tme anymo. kning what i kw now, it's impossiblfor 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 da and hydropowereesent ago. a pital pa of u. history to look at dams the same da there'no denyi that. ago. but st like y other source velopmenin the u.,istory weooit too f. there ar75,000 ds erhree feehigh in the uted stat. at's thequivalen of blding on everydayince thos jeffern (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. ound theime edis had e light lb dialein, the u.sside niagaraalls. one poi, nearlyhalf theounr was being feby hyopower ane. nedams wer beinbuilt soast that the eineering thnology ruggled to keeup. 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. led by t legenda sierra club fn, to flood nationapark.

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. byhe te coul's gerators wt online

the u.s.ydropowes syem was fding byannsatiabldemand for elecicitynline to bui airplan, ships and bomb. 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. 30,000 pvate and fedal dams wercompted between 50 and 10. byhat poin the yelwstone was one very fe altered tersheds left it. when the bureau of reclamation began running out of ideal locations to build dams, shit starting getting weird. massive dams were proposed in grand canyon 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, a lile known nation tr, but while brower's attention withery litt oppositn. he wld've ught tooth a nail. brer now ss thatas the biggest stake hever made [ben] in973, the endangedt was set into motion by president nixon. a bold movto protect endanged species fromxtinctn, a conseence of econic dev. could now hel accotable byaw. 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, becadecled 2011 thejor dam remoar of thriver,story. cludinthe largt in.s. histy, onashingtos elwhriver,r dam in olymp nationapark.story. (soft muc contins) - we areere todato say we'rhere to y welcom backo the saon.free. want u to livfree aga. ere are grand tol, in tt pool or ther somee countethem wantsterday,3 salmona.

not 72not 74. (peoplchuckln love peoe with sheries d wildli, "tre are ectly 73, gor" (pple laugng) so, to tse, we s we wt 73,000ore. weome backcome on ba. that what th day all abo. (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, u learn listen certain soundl

but thachine, r asatre not . ny yearss its ra we would block load it, and she'd just run and run smooth. i think she'd kept on runnin' just for years and years. beonest wi y. that wl to st down t perfect goodunning per plant 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. and 're not st tang dams t, but 're hang toemoving and ey're losing the jobs. ah,escially bngbablyave me pa dropoweruy.towards

country, to remo every d.ious r thers not dot about at. s this thing rlly wortit? was worth t $370 millio tohe amerin taayer to this? d it reay make aifferee? d if in or 20 years do the road, we looback anday, "notng rely chang that mu," dthen think we' yeaall gonna mead, some simir conclusions. 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) - m not nning fossume not polics, ddy. (lahs)aughs) - made a stament out taki out eha dam in mfirst mohs in ofce

- made a stament and itaused a t of trole the esident, psident inton, tk me asi and sai "bce, what all thi ta about rovg dams - en i fir med to th statof washiton in 11, i was told"gotta g involve - en withhe elwhaamh statoreval projt!n 11, 's gonnaappen anyear n." so, 20 yrs later it's aually haening. the damsboth of em, re illeg to starwith, so, 20 yrs later 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 - adulsnook saon stilbeating eir head - all the species of wild fish agait the boom of thdam.elwha to getpstrea into olympic tional pk. rennectingt with e fish tt were tre fohundredsf thsands of yea, it's very porful expience.

- the's threthings that ce to n there'hope, hulity, d happins. plac like sohwest alkathe hult and her plac where you see e abdance, d just aasic spitual hainess at you c't find , and her plac where i cat findn a lot oftherhings.e, - it w the elds that kept theemory ale. it w the elds that passedhat knowdge, the knledge ofhis they don forge th don't me on.. they rember an theyersisteny seek restorion of wt was on. ani'm ju gratefu thate're abl to s it happen in o lifetim

thfish comback for mang t and suain the ople. - thpeople othe loweelwha,mang t th enterednto treaty i1855 that gavthe word of thenite, thathey woulbe able contue theiray of li, of thafreer thathey woulbe able alough the.s. constution says that treaties are the supreme law of the land, the people of the lower elwha saw only injustice foabout 10years. t there'a healinnow, becae thats changi.. all of iian couny is here in spirit,

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

- "whe had thecome fro the aner sound like fai tale. the r reacheof the s. how had ey arriv? anher fairtale. bywimming ainst onof the mt poweul rivers on eth, past eig deadly dams, all the waup from e pacifi why hathey madsuch aninsane jrn. poweul rivers on eth, these lored stonesnd clr curren so highnd far om the s, once gave thelife. noegs, hves, ft. by smming ho, at thetocertaice e pebbleof the birth,

inorth arica of hydy and e largesconcrete structe ia n of wer a secd, going through each of theig penstks, and when it's really cranking good, it will actually vibrate through the bedrock, you can sometimes feel it cleaacross the river. so you just really know there's a lot of power there. there are those that would take out every dam, so you just really know st to sa a couplof salmothere. ere are ose thathink tha the tive amecans t a raw al. and have theirative saon ru and live off the nd. but ings proess. (chkles) solete iterms offficienc so iweant to but selectivy take okles) me of thos olde smallerams, not rely a proem there

wbut is dam, can't conceivef anybodes, ally, seously,anting to take is damut. a dam, f salmon,essentiay is, l. thr basic fe histo reques the jenile fi and the ult fisho come back to eir spawng strea so, anytng that ocks a river,ike a dadoes, isnd of sty, in tes ofheir abity to acss spartf the wothey nee ato cplete thr life cle. - [ben] me peoe still fine spthpacific rthwest gion at anywhersalmon c swim. it a romanc thing say, b that wod mean thterritorhas been cut inalf by ds. one poi, the combian ake rive shown he in red we the mosproducti wild smon fishies inhe lower8. w the ns hoverround 8% of thr formerlory.

the onlyhance r their offsprg tn isf the dams a spilng water buthat eques to wted powe so you'lcommonly see junis being trsported barges and trk, used tmake the 900-mi journen in ida's redfi lake. in 1992,nly one sh made it hom. th have rerned i the years sce, the amot of mon spt on recery effos, it com to $9,0 per fis thethe vers are run li mae spt on recery effos, everaspect otheir fl is ctrolled compute in a ptland ofce. duringpring ruff, when then the's actuly a surus of energy ithe gr at time leaving wind-generatedpowero the's actuly a surus of enand one to y for it seeinghousandsf wind turbines generating wind power in the cumbia gorge, wh no impt

estion ato how definily re dropowerould be market as gr. one ings forure thou, the pro-m crowd ems a little t. haveeanie baes. everyby h we, wind ia fad, tt evybody hato have nd. anthen, you buall these bnie babi everyby h d you lo up the elf d you t all of these anie s and wh arehey goodor? d you t all of these anie s wellnot much and wh arehey goodor? d- en] it'seally ha to wive a balced convsation on theubject o damsersusalmon en the mt outspon pro-da politians in the coury fused alof our quests f intervis. - wellone of them reluctany let usn, fused alof our quests f intervis. and en not sreluctany ked us tleave. i can'say i rely ble these ys fused alof our quests f intervis. and en not sreluctany for not nting talk tos, i can'say i rely but couldn't hp but woer luckfor us, heard ty re throwg a ttle pty introduce a bill at wod prohib federalunding

from ever ing used for dam moval, the stu of dam moval, less expcitl authized by congre. - ank you,r. chairman, thk you, eeciall for hoing thisearing some pple see at beforthe era of damon, the endless cye of witring oughts a violentloods, ey turd desertinto oas, but over theast w decade dical anretrogra ideolog it sings fm the birre tion thamother ethlicy. must be stored ther prtine preistoriconditio

iteven if it mea restori tithe man poputionlicy. tots priine prhistoricondition ey're nosatisfie witherely blking ery wad electrityvery op od in theirleak andtifling andimly. mes in which gravel has replaced green lawns and toilets constantly back up. to m these gring hypocrisies destroy their credibility and real an unashedly nihilid this is e kind o luna we are cing. you deawith the peop, you ben to reaze of ourublic pocy on tse issue becae we lethem. we're not going let em anymo.

(crowd alaudin (cro cheerin (sofmusic) an chaering fatly) - en] as tpting ast was to staand highive all r new prdam fries, the was a ace st a fewiles awa commted whatoday the ar r what wou be caed an act of ctural gecide. - as srman alee, a spone cor d'alenindi says, the euchist, le, the bld and dy of rist, at roveshe cale froranches and lls cooys that they'rdoingr

at roveshe - [wom] this icelilo fls. the age-d fishinground of t columbiriver inans. re is a sherman, swingi t gaering fi for e salmoneast and my d woke meup and iwas. "ce on, so let's g the fi are comg." itounded le a thound pele with oar, ating onhe water was saln cong up thriver. - the celo fallsas e grande rendezvs placfor our ople, and pleau trib, in geral. it matted not ether yowas yama,

wha, dn't mter. u was a rt of it. this mist and the roar of that water is just, ings tha in my mories, that'st en i thi about i i can tually hr it. - this is the firs a unfortunately 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 will dispear fever.nds, and the way of life that i(sofmusic coinues)re (vicles whring) - lilo fal was gon knew whawas therand knew whathey'd de. somemes i geout andi look oa d i can ill see ere mehings shld be, d they'rnot ere noore.

the windas chang, because ofhe flat rfaces coming uthe coluia. the mperatur of thewaters he e dead wer makes it harr h to getp and do. d now alit is, ia big body of ter, is l it is. it meansothing tme. d noalit meanssia big body owh they to away.s. wh these ds have de, ast was th we remeer.iss not y - en] dati back re than ,000 yea, celi was onef the olst,ss not y 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,