The audio version of this report is available for listening!
In August 2021, Del Norte County District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey found out that because Sutter Coast Hospital is overflowing with COVID-19 patients, they had to close their cafeteria to prevent an even wider spread of Covid-19. When she heard this she decided to call out to the community to donate food and water to our healthcare workers to make sure they are being taken care of.
Robert DeRego, owner of Sticky Grove, heard Valerie’s plea and decided to give back to the community that’s unique to his dispensary business. Redwood Voice Reporter E. Corcovelos Interviewed Rob to get more information on how he was going to give back to his community.
E. Corcovelos You wanted to give out some of your products to medical professionals. How did that all start?
Robert DeRego Actually, we saw Supervisor Starkey’s post about giving something back to healthcare workers, and started thinking of what I could do. And a couple of people came to the window in scrubs on, and got something—they seemed to be in a hurry. I figured that’d be an easy way to get back and show to me, and I thought maybe so far it’s been underutilized. If anybody wants to take advantage of that, we would like to help out anybody and show a little love that’s being shown at the hospital right now.
E. Corcovelos What does it entail exactly?
Robert DeRego It’s been underutilized so far. We’ve got a few regulars that help out infusion center in different places like that. But I have a couple of gummies, some joints if somebody comes in with an order and generally been trying to take care of them on that, we kind of had a budget for it in mind, and so far it’s nowhere been near exhausted.
E. Corcovelos Are you going to stop this anytime? Is it just going to go until your budget runs out for it?
Robert DeRego You know, I’m not sure. Sometimes I get jaded with our local government, but the community is just great. And so we’ll do it until it until we can’t do it. And so far, I haven’t had any sign that I can’t do it. Nobody is exhausting my resources on it. And maybe in the future, we’d like to recognize retail workers as well. And so we might switch gears here if we can get the hospital empty to say thanks to the retail workers in a similar way.
E. Corcovelos Oh, that’s so cool, man. So people just show up in their scrubs and be like “I’m a medical professional“?
Robert DeRego Yeah, and I’m stoned a lot of the day. Sometimes you might need to save scrub, or there’s something to remind me a little bit, but I’ve got masks on the window there. And the masks on the window are trying to remind me to look for scrubs. Sometimes I do forget there. And still, I probably might forget. So any little gentle hint to remind me is helpful in these situations.
E. Corcovelos I think that’s really cool personally. And it’s just a way to give back, and I dig it.
Robert DeRego Yeah, I was afraid some people will say, hey, these people don’t have time for this. But actually, if you’re working, the only thing I’ve ever done is food service and that kind of thing. And then you’re working on a high paced environment, it’s so hard to get to bed when you do have a chance. All of a sudden you’re wound up. And so I think some people could take some benefit out of that when they do get a chance to go to bed, to actually get to bed for a few hours. I know our medical community’s up against quite a quite a really proud and grateful to them.
So if you are a medical worker in need of some help relaxing or even falling asleep after a long shift, head on over to Sticky Grove. Let Rob know you work for the medical field, and he will give you the hook up.
This project was a collaborative effort from the Redwood Voice team. This project was led by Eleni Corcovelos. Video above created by Persephone Corvid Rose. The article and interview transcript below were proofread and edited by Avi Critz.
RPG Research is a non-profit charitable research and human services global volunteer-run organization studying the effects of cooperative music and all role-playing game formats and their potential to improve lives around the world. All of our staff and executives are 100% unpaid volunteers who believe in our Mission and Vision to make a real Impact. This includes research into role-playing game therapy (RPG Therapy), role-playing games for education (RPG education), applied role-role-playing gaming (applied RPG), and many other uses.
Video Interview Transcript
PERSEPHONE Hi, this is Persephone Corvid Rose with Redwood Voice.
ELENI Hi, I’m Eleni with Redwood Voice.
PERSEPHONE We are joined by one John Degler.
JD That’s my dad and grandfather, I’m JD.
PERSEPHONE We’re joined with JD today because Paul Critz, station manager of KFUG, told me something interesting about recreational therapy Dungeons and Dragons. And we’re joined with JD to talk about what that means.
JD Well I’ve been doing training with a company called RPG Research where they use tabletop role-playing games as recreational therapy for people who have a variety of issues that they deal with. It’s been a huge learning experience for me. I’ve been doing D&D for the better part of three decades or longer, but I haven’t approached it from this particular side so it’s been an adventure.
PERSEPHONE Awesome! You said it helps with various issues. What kinds? Like, if there’s just a laundry list.
JD There really isn’t. There’s all kinds of benefits of playing role-playing games from learning critical thinking skills to socializing skills. And mainly what it brings to the table is helping people who have troubles with those types of skills actually access them in an environment that is inclusive and non-threatening.
PERSEPHONE So, you’re currently in the training yourself. How’s that going? Tell me about that.
JD Oh, it’s absolutely lovely. It’s kind of fun, the original 12-week program for the level one training system was turned into 16 weeks. As I finished the last half of the 16 week program, Hawk, the gentleman who runs the company, discovered that his workbook wasn’t actually working and extended it to an 18-week program. It makes sense because some of the information is pretty intense. This isn’t just learning how to play a game, it’s learning the terminology that you need to become a recreational therapist over a number of trainings and how to apply it in an RPG setting and be effective without just playing the game and going “oh look we did it”.
PERSEPHONE I was going to ask, what are you doing for those 18 weeks?
JD Well, I have my workbook here. It’s a 302 page workbook.
PERSEPHONE Not only is it 302 pages, it’s like textbook margins so it’s a lot of stuff!
JD It’s stuffed with all of my notes, and my notes are copious because I don’t have experience in this particular aspect of RPGs, so I have to work harder at doing this. It’s been a really interesting stretch of my comfort zone.
PERSEPHONE What got you into doing this?
JD Well, I was actually online doing some research for one of my games and on Facebook I came across a post about RPG Research. And then I went to their website and I went “oh my god, I want to do this”. Our area is underserved. We don’t have a lot of programs for kids and the last after school program we had, the person who was running it got arrested. So yes…
PERSEPHONE Interesting.
JD So, I would like to return something like this to the area to give kids who are interested something to do. You have to learn multiple game sources and there are multiple different types of games. You have to learn the terminology involved with the games. Because, for example, you cannot call all of the “Choose Your Own Adventure Books” that are out there “Choose Your Own Adventure Books” because CYOB INC., the company that owns that trademark, just settled a lawsuit with Netflix over a program Netflix was doing that was a “Choose Your Own Adventure” program. You have to know the correct terminology so that people understand you and you don’t get sued.
PERSEPHONE It’s funny you gotta balance both those out. And is there anything you found since you’re learning different game systems and how that kind of translates to different kinds of recreational therapy?
JD Well, one of the one of the game systems I just recently played since week six was No Thank You, Evil! It’s a really simple almost LARP kind of game. It is tabletop based, you have a character sheet that’s very minimal and you have a guide. You bring the kids along through the quest. The one we did was something about “Dragon Snot Fountain” or “Dragon Snot Falls”. It was great! And it involves a lot of “get up and move” activities. In one part of the adventure you have to pretend you’re climbing a ladder. In another part, you have to do the bee dance to get the directions to where you need to go. And there’s a lot of activity involved to help stop what they call the wiggle butt syndrome little kids have and people who have really bad ADHD have.
PERSEPHONE Yeah, as one of those people that sounds great! I’m like yeah!
JD When you get up and move, you get involved more and that really helps with that aspect of keeping people involved and helping them focus. There’s other games out there like Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space. It’s a really simple system. It’s a lot of fun to do, and it really involves a fan base that people can get involved with. It helps them focus on that because, you know, they like Doctor Who let’s see what we’re gonna do!
PERSEPHONE Nice! Maybe sometime we gotta get, like, the full Redwood Voice team and you should bring us through one of these.
JD Oh yes! Oh, you guys would have so much fun with No Thank You, Evil! Another fun thing about that is if something seems too much for a kid, they have a little token that they can put down that says “no thank you evil” and they can skip it entirely. It’s a really interesting and fun system that I have never even seen before and it’s one of the things I’ve been exposed to because of this training.
PERSEPHONE I haven’t either because that’s much more of a like kinesthetic thing with people moving around. I don’t really see that in a lot of tabletop games.
JD It’s kind of a hybrid between tabletop and LARPing and it’s a lot of fun.
ELENI So, I personally really love that because I’ve had friends who tried to get me into D&D and the reason I can’t is because choices and like saying “oh can I do this?” makes me really anxious and panic a lot, so I like having the option to be like “no, no thanks”.
JD And then that’s something that tabletop RPGs in a recreational therapy setting could help people confront along with like decision making abilities. And it’s really beneficial, according to the research that Hawk has put together.
PERSEPHONE Kind of along the same lines of people who panic with decisions, I’ve run many a game where there’ll be someone on their phone the whole time and not paying attention or taking in the details and then conflict from there.
JD That’s actually really common at my table as well. And it’s worse because I use digital devices to help get content out to the players and it’s getting even worse now in COVID because everything is digital. So, I don’t have any personal strategies for getting around that other than “pay attention”.
PERSEPHONE So, that is actually a good segue question. Is this available during COVID times?
JD Yes! RPG Research is headquartered in Spokane, Washington, so all of the training I go through remotely and it’s really fun. We start each training module each week with our administrative stuff making sure we’ve done our homework and that kind of thing. We do a pre-test to show what our baseline competency is. We do applied gaming where we actually play a certain game system, and then we do our lecture which focuses on the questions of the initial quiz. Then, we do the applied gaming section again to finish it out and then we do our post test to see if we retain that information. It’s a really good system Hawk has worked up. I’m really really into this system. Of the 18 weeks, I think I have done 16 now. I started the first nights at week 10 and we kind of went and repeated several weeks because people weren’t able to show up. That happens during the winter. I’ve gone back through and started with week one and it’s been very informative and very very interesting.
PERSEPHONE Nice! Sounds very thorough.
JD Very thorough kind of application process! And it’s a lot of fun too. I’m on the radio, so people don’t think of me as being an introvert, but I am. And this has been education for me and how to interact with other people that I don’t know and that I’ve never met before and how to be open with them right from the get-go. Because that’s not usually who I am.
PERSEPHONE So, even the people like administering and kind of leading get to learn something from it too.
JD Oh yeah, absolutely.
PERSEPHONE And because it is remote, obviously it does have the thorough application process, but could anyone sign up to see if they’re eligible?
JD There is an application process. You basically go to the website rpgresearch.com, you click on recruitment, and it’ll take you to what jobs are available. If you’re interested in any of the numerous positions they have from research assistant to volunteer player level 1 training, you click on the link, you fill out the application and send a resume. And then they get back to you. It could be me because i’m the volunteer coordinator now! And not only do they have these volunteer positions open and paid positions on the LLC side, Hawk has invested in a bus and a trailer that he takes up and down the coast and all around the country. He takes role-playing games and tabletop role-playing games to different communities that are underserved. He’s actually passed through Crescent City before on his way down to Santa Rosa, where he’s originally from. I’m wanting him to bring that bus here so that we can get the interest going and get some kind of recreational therapy system based on tabletop roleplaying games going here.
PERSEPHONE I would love to see that. If you need any media help- [laughs]
JD It’s constantly growing. There’s more than 150 volunteers on six different continents. One of the other volunteer coordinators I’m training with is in Germany and he’s from Nigeria. It’s a very diverse crowd of people who are interested in making this happen and that growth has happened in the last 18 months which is amazing.
PERSEPHONE Like, so it started like 18 months ago?
JD No, he’s been involved in the therapy side since 1977, I believe. Hawk, John, and Danielle got together and put together RPG Research and they filed as a nonprofit in 2016, I think. So, RPG Research has been an official non-profit since 2016, but Hawk has been doing this since the mid-80s. I’m really hoping that we get more attendance at the trainings because right now it’s been three to four people including the coordinators in all the trainings that I’ve done. And it’s really difficult. For one of the trainings, you play Neverwinter night’s expanded edition and there’s all kinds of different things you can do with it. One of them is running the DM Client which is, basically, you’re an invisible player that provides rewards or consequences to the other players as they go through the module you’ve created or that’s already been created. And this is all of it is based on teaching you how to make decisions and how to help players move forward in their game. It’s a way of playing D&D electronically because Neverwinter Nights is actually based on second edition rules. So, it’s all actual Dungeons and Dragons, just on a computer and a whole bunch of people can play it. And the idea with the training is to get a whole bunch of people together on the server and they pass the responsibility around and lead through different parts of the adventure. We’ve barely been able to get two people together during the winter and I’m hoping this summer, that’s gonna change and we can get more robust training.
PERSEPHONE Sounds like you might need even more people to join in.
JD Absolutely!
PERSEPHONE And again for people at home, if they are interested in joining, how would they go about doing that?
JD Go to rpgresearch.com and at the top of the website you’ll see a row of links you can click. One is volunteering and you can click on that link and it’ll give you a list of all the jobs that are there, and there’s paid jobs there as well if you want to move to Spokane.
ELENI Something I was curious about: do you think it’s like an advertising issue as to like why there’s only just a handful of people involved? Or just, you know, we are in the middle of an almost two year long pandemic. Why do you personally think it’s only just a handful of people that are currently involved with this? Because like you said, there were only, like, two to four people at a time. I was just curious if you had any personal theories as to why that was?
JD I agree with Hawk’s comment on it. He’s been doing this for years and what he has seen is, during spring summer fall they have a swell of volunteers who get involved and do things, and then over the holiday break you know Thanksgiving and Christmas they fall off because they’re all doing things with family. So, you know, that makes a lot of sense. It kind of goes dormant and there’s a few dedicated people who stick to it, and a few new people, but not usually a lot. I was kind of an apparently unusual person getting on board during the winter session and it was really more focused because there were fewer of us and we were able to be more involved with the questions and the training. It goes through a cycle like a lot of other volunteering. Locally, I volunteer for DNACA and Community Concert and we don’t plan events during that three-month time period for the most part. The latest we’ll really go is November and then we’ll skip through to February because there’s so many other things going on. I also do Community Concert and you know there’s so many things going on during the winter that people are really too compressed to do something else.
PERSEPHONE Understandable! Yeah, is there anything else that we’ve not asked that you would like to make sure gets said?
JD They’re developing a brain computer interface for allowing people who are complete shut-ins, you know, paralyzed from the neck down to be able to do yes no questions to do a computer game and participate in a tabletop role-playing type games like Neverwinter Nights. And this is something that Hawk has already done. He’s used a cheaper interface to get characters to move in Neverwinter Nights just by thinking about it. Yeah, so he and a group of researchers are putting together a computer game based entirely on the brain computer interface to help these people who are literally laying in a bed staring at the ceiling and doing nothing but have full cognition. They’re conscious and they’re aware, but they can’t do anything so they’re trying to develop this so that they can do something. They have research going on about this subject constantly. On how tabletop RPGs, LARPing, electronic role-playing games, and hybrid role-playing games help people. So this is a constant body of knowledge that’s expanded and is constantly expanding and he knows more about all of that than I do. They have community outreach programs, they’ve got the bus, they’ve got just so many different things happening!
PERSEPHONE Awesome! Thank you so much for talking to us. For Redwood Voice, I’m Persephone Rose.
ELENI And I’m Eleni.
If you’re interested in this work, you can find everything you need about them on their website, or even go straight to their volunteering section.
Though this project exists as a video, it is also included below as an article for your reading leisure.
It’s made national news and things are finally heading in the right direction, but it’s only the beginning. Throughout 2020—yes, that 2020—The Yurok Tribe rose up and at last has reached their goal of undamming the Klamath River, now with a set year for the dams to finally come down. But it wasn’t an easy journey… nor a short one, and certainly not a simple one. Here’s how we got here.
This report is meant to document what led to the move to finally undam the Klamath River, after a solid decade of effort being put into the matter.
Those who made it through the constant negotiations and reworkings involved the Klamath Justice Coalition, who are, quote, “formed by local Natives and people from the Klamath around the Un-dam the Klamath campaign,” (x) as well as the Yurok Tribe as a whole, whose reservation rests in Klamath. In fact, to part the curtain, this video was inspired while I was looking for information to teach myself about the entire ordeal, and noticed that information was… a little bit all over the place.
Which, hey, in its defense: this story just developed over the last few months, and the developments in between were quite spaced out. So the purpose of this report will be to capture the narrative and have it all in one easy-to-digest place.
So without further ado—let’s jump right in.
CHAPTER 1. Exposition
Well, actually, we’re not going to jump right into the real meat of it. Since we’re broadcasting this story to people who may have no idea what’s up: just a bit of a rundown of what you need to know.
The Klamath River is a 257 mile long river that cuts through both Northern California and Southern Oregon. Over in Klamath it empties into the Pacific Ocean, and it starts all the way back in, of course, Klamath Falls. It’s the Second Largest River in all California, second only to the Sacramento River. The river is so large that along its trail, it satiates four different tribes: the Yurok tribe, the Karuk tribe, the Hoopa tribe, and the Klamath tribe.
The Klamath is an absolutely vital part of the area. To our neighbors, the Yurok Tribe, it gives a sense of identity and livelihood. It gives sustenance to the ecosystem and is where the salmon population is meant to thrive. The fishing of salmon in the Yurok Tribe, as this report will likely hit a few times, is an incredibly important part of Yurok culture. Salmon is used in ceremonies. Salmon is a source of food. And for many, salmon is a source of income.
I don’t think I need to explain why that’s, y’know, a big deal. Imagine a resource so vital, so important to you. It’s been part of your culture since as long as your culture’s been around, it keeps you fed, and chances are high it’s what you do to keep the lights on and the bills paid.
Now imagine something happens. Something bad. No, that resource isn’t taken away: it’s made sick from the source, and withers before your very eyes.
CHAPTER 2. The Day of the Dams
Klamath River, again, is a big river. I probably made that clear. And you know this story is about dams so you know where we’re going with this.
What happens when you put a dam on a river? According to Michael Belchik, the Yurok tribe’s senior fisheries biologist, quote “Anytime you put a dam on a river, it always has profound effects: it chops the river into two pieces. Rivers carry a lot more than just water. The water goes down river, fish move upriver, but not only that: there’s nutrients, sediment and other organisms.” Rivers move a lot of vital stuff, and when you put a giant wall in the way, it’s going to mess it up. And mess it up it has, as the salmon population that we’ve established as important on both an identity and livelihood basis has been utterly decimated. Glen Spain, northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, explained that the salmon catch rate has gone down 98% over the past 4 decades due to the dams. In a more scientific phrasing: “Scientists state that the dams create deadly algae blooms that contribute to disease and parasites infecting Klamath River salmon,” according to a Wild Rivers Outpost article by Jessica Cejnar. If you’d like to see more of this effect, Congressman Jared Huffman conducted a livestream August 18th, 2020—a hefty 2 hour examination of the impact it’s had on the tribes that rely on it and the environment itself whilst PacifiCorp turns profits.
The aforementioned Jared Huffman livestream examining effects.
Even more so, an interesting point on these dams is that while their list of cons piles high, their pros aren’t so positive either. It would actually be tremendously better for the economy of Del Norte County to have these dams taken down. Bringing back the salmon population would reintroduce commercial fishing from the Tribe and Independent Fisheries. Instead, the salmon numbers have been simply so low along the Klamath River that from end to end, Northern California to Southern Oregon, fisheries have had to disband solely because there’s not even enough fish to pass the minimum threshold, Glen Spain further elaborated in a Wild Rivers Outpost article.
Basically? The Dams aren’t really doing much for anyone besides PacifiCorp themselves, the profiting party. And even that is put to question. The same article said of Spain, quote, “Spain argued that the 82 megawatts of electricity the dams generate has been replaced at least 17 times over with renewable energy since Berkshire Hathaway purchased PacifiCorp in 2005. He noted that in a 2007 environmental impact statement, FERC concluded that the dams actually produce 26 percent less power than originally thought, which has to be sold at a rate that loses the company $20 million a year.”
So if I told you these dams—yes, plural—have been up for a solid century, well, I don’t have to tell you that’s going to be rough on the environment. The four dams, which are named J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and the Iron Gate, spanned several decades of construction, the first beginning construction around 1908 with it finishing around 1917, and the last finally constructed in 1962, standing strong and in the way ever since.
The Yurok Tribe has had a rough relationship trying to get these dams removed, an obvious goal because these dams, as Belchik said, chopped the river into separate pieces. Since the mid-2000s, some progress had finally been made between the various stakeholders who are involved with the Klamath River and the Dams, which includes the Yurok Tribe and Pacificorp (who actually operates the Dams), though also includes the Karuk Tribe, a few environmental organizations, and the states of California and Oregon. This settlement became known as the “Klamath Hydro-electric Settlement Agreement,” or KHSA. As Amy Cordalis, General Council of the Yurok Tribe puts it,
[…] Since the mid-2000s [there] has been an agreement in place: the Klamath Hydro-electric Settlement Agreement, that would effectuate dam removal. That agreement has been amended and changed a few times.
Amy Cordalis, General Council of the Yurok Tribe
These amendments and changes have altered how things work out regarding Dam Removal, which has made it a bumpy road in terms of getting the dams… well, actually removed. The most recent of these amendments happened in 2016, when the responsibility of Dam Removal was taken out of Congressional Approval, as it had previously been, and back into the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC. FERC’s involvement would provide a bit of a “Curveball,” as Amy Cordalis and many others have come to put it, and I’ll let her take it away with what exactly that meant for Dam Removal:
And in July of last year, 2020, we received an order on one of the initial applications. And in the order, it basically approved the license surrender of the Klamath Dams FERC License that’s required in order for PacifiCorp to operate the dams. So it approved the application of surrendering that license, but it required PacifiCorp to stay on the license through the transfer process of that license to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, which is the Dam Removal Entity. And that requirement was a bit of a curveball, it was a bit different from what we had contemplated in the 2016 amendment to the [KHSA], and so there was this decision point of… what do we do? How do we continue to move forward with dam removal with this little curveball? And so what happened was the Yurok Tribe called the CEOs of Berkshire Hathaway – Warren Buffet, the CEO of PacifiCorp – […] And so we called their leaders and basically said, “Meet us on the banks of Blue Creek on the Yurok Reservation and let’s figure this out.” And to their credit they responded, and although we didn’t get Warren Buffet to the river we did get a few of his number one and number two CEOs to the river, and we had a long talk. And our Tribal Leaders were clear that failure is not an option, that dams will come down, and that we needed to work collectively together in order to remove the dams. And they basically responded, and what that did was then trigger negotiations for a new agreement that happened over the late Sumer and early Fall.
Amy Cordalis, General Council of the Yurok Tribe
Backing up just a bit, the FERC decision and its effects thereafter came about late Summer, as Cordalis explained. Ideally, prior to the decision, plans were to bring the dams down in 2022. This curveball, however, meant all the stakeholders were back in the negotiations phase. As Jessica Cejnar, Wild Rivers Outpost Bureau Chief, wrote on the matter in an article on August 20th, 2020, Quote: “This decision changed the terms of the 2016 Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, [Utility Representative Scott Bolton said], and makes PacifiCorp liable for all project costs and liabilities.” And, obviously, PacifiCorp didn’t want that.
The actual cost to remove the dams is estimated at $434 Million. The renegotiations that made the KHSA happen helped form the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, or KRRC: the organization Cordalis mentioned the license would go to. As such, they had their own budget, and at the time it was set at $450 Million. $200 Million of that actually came from a PacifiCorp surcharge to its California and Oregon customers, and the other $250 million came from California water bond dollars. But for a while, a tension brewed between the Yurok Tribe and PacifiCorp. It seemed to some that PacifiCorp wanted to pass everything onto the tribe, and, therefore, get out with their profit and quietly move along—but the ruling of the license threw that out the window.
CHAPTER 3. Rising Action.
You know, PacifiCorp thought they were going to be off the hook, and left the management of the dismantling of the dams to a non-profit. And the federal Government said, “No I’m sorry, you’re not off the hook actually,” and so it’s really important to me to hold those corporations accountable. Corporations have deeply impacted the health of all of us, including our Earth and natural world, our ecosystem. At some point we need to start holding them accountable. They often are able to get out of lawsuits and keep doing the kind of dirty work they do by using the law against us.
Chrystal Helton, Local Activist & Resident of Klamath Glen
A month after renegotiations started, the FERC Order wasn’t the only thing pinning PacifiCorp to take responsibility. At this point, too, we should mention that the owners of PacifiCorp were being drawn to attention, Berkshire Hathaway and its CEO, Warren Buffet. It was a bit of a perspective shift, from the daunting task of fighting an entire corporation to remembering that… Yes, there was a person behind this. A name and a face, an identity, a reputation. Remember this, it’ll come up again later!
On September 24th, 2020, Congressman Jared Huffman suddenly proposed legislation that specifically targeted PacifiCorp for the impact its Dams have had.
The legislation came with a large news release that you can read online in its entirety, but the important gist of it: it’s H.R. 4447, the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, which included the KHSA Tribal Fairness amendment, led by Rep. Jared Huffman. Quote,
“The amendment is designed to safeguard Tribal communities against further harm to the Klamath River and its ecosystem and remediate existing problems in the Klamath River basin and downstream communities caused by four aging dams owned by PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
If PacifiCorp turns its back on the negotiated agreement to remove the dams, the Huffman amendment would impose new relicensing conditions for the dam owner, including a requirement that the dams comply with state and tribal recommendations to reduce harm to fisheries, as well as numerous public disclosures related to water pollution, fish recovery, dam safety, and the facility’s financial status.” End quote.
So, at this point… everyone’s eyes are on PacifiCorp. FERC dropped their order to stay liable, the Yurok tribe made it clear that failure is not an option, and now the House of Representatives has passed H.R. 4447.
And all the while? Something big starts to form.
CHAPTER 4. The Day of Action
October 23rd, 2020: Activists around the region and the country planned a day of action to put pressure on Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway, PacifiCorp’s Owner, as well as other stakeholders and politicians regarding the removal of the Klamath Dams.
KFUG Community Radio interviewed local activist and Klamath Glen resident Chrystal Helton (who you heard cue us into the previous section), one of many involved with the Day of Action. Plans involved some good ol’ fashioned banner bombing across Highway 101 to bring attention to PacifiCorp. Virtual rallies took place in both Portland and Omaha, Nebraska, the former being where PacifiCorp is located, the latter being Warren Buffet’s hometown. A San Diego rally also took place, joining not only the movement to Undam the Klamath, but to also push back against PacifiCorp’s attempts to dominate Southern California as a utility, which was spoken further of in a California Save the Salmon press release. In Klamath, signs were hung from various Tribal families addressing Warren Buffet, Berkshire Hathaway, Pacificorp, and both the California and Oregon Governors, Gavin Newsom and Kate Brown (respectively.)
And the thing is? It really took off. Social Media was filled with tens of thousands talking about the Day of Action, and that creates an interesting thing. See, as we said earlier, it wasn’t just about PacifiCorp. While everyone was already on board knowing the troubles that corporations have caused for our health and the natural world, the realization of its sole owner, Warren Buffet, meant that these calls could be far more targeted.
So when Warren Buffet’s reputation fell on the line and he noticed that all eyes were on him, the Day of Action had accomplished its mission. Like Amy Cordalis said: “Failure was not an option.”
CHAPTER 5. Resolution & What’s To Come
Negotiations were suddenly a lot smoother, and by mid-November 2020, the Yurok tribe finally had some good news.
Folks probably saw the press releases from not only Berkshire Hathaway, but Governor Newsom, Governor Brown in Oregon, as well as the tribe announcing the new memorandum of agreement that we were able to negotiate. And I’ll move into the terms of what those are[.] So the terms of the agreement basically adressed the issue that FERC required of PacifiCorp staying on the license, by having both the states of Oregon and California, and then PacifiCorp would stay involved in a technical capacity but would not come onto the license. So that is the sort of compromise that everyone agreed to. In addition to that, Oregon, California, as well as PacifiCorp, are contributing an additional $15 million to dam removal—$15 million each— for a total of $45 Million, on top of the existing $450 Million Budget.
Amy Cordalis, General Council of the Yurok Tribe
With these new terms of agreement, the deal was made, negotiations… were negotiated. While it’s certainly an ambitious project, it’s finally, truly underway. By 2023, the dams should be gone. So what comes next? What does this mean, exactly?
For one thing, this is historical for a few reasons. The most tragic of which being that this is a nation based on the struggling, pillaging, and theft of Indingeous tribes who populated the continent far before its colonization by White European settlers. Historically they’ve been damned by us, and even more recently, our government has been truly cruel to the Indigenous tribes whose land we live our lives on. Mt. Rushmore prior to the carving of the Presidential faces was an incredibly sacred, religious place, called the Tunkasila Sakpe Paha, or Six Grandfathers Mountain. Which, of course, our country stole and carved the faces of various figures who each played roles throughout history in taking the land and power of those who were already here. The Standing Rock protests, where peaceful protesters were maced and brutalized, was just back in 2016. But now, we see a noticeable victory for the Yurok tribe, as well as the various other tribes who rely on the Klamath River.
It’s back to what Amy Cordalis said: failure is not an option.
My final point I’ll make is: in the process of negotiation the new MOA, the tribe really focused on the importance of the fishery, to preserving tribal life ways and protecting Indigenous cultures. And that was really heard by Berkshire Hathaway, and I think also by the states. And the states, as well as Berkshire Hathaway, were really willing and did step up and make commitments to protect the tribal interest, to work to restore the environment. I think that’s one of the first times I can think of that Indigenous communities were able to put their rights, their life ways, at the same level as the business interest. You know, the force of the tribe that: we’re never going to stop here, failure’s not an option. But I also think the tipping point was the decision Berkshire Hathaway made to support this project, they really stepped up, and equally valuing diverse interest. I think that’s such a good model of how we can move forward with resource development, and also resource restoration.
Amy Cordalis, General Council of the Yurok Tribe
Who would have thought, listening to people actually helped us understand. So there are a few things to take from this. For one, people are powerful when they’re together and have a voice. Indingenous folks in this country have faced the brunt of colonialism since the start, but still they fight for what is rightfully theirs. Hopefully, this case will become a wondrous precedent for future movements of tribes to reclaim what is rightfully their own, especially when everyone is working together. Electing leaders who listen to their concerns and genuinely act on them.
We may not know what the future holds. FERC could introduce a new order, legislation could change how these operations work out, or another Indigenous landmark could be put in danger. But if nothing else, this ordeal has shown the strength of these Tribes and what comes from elected officials who genuinely care—who DO something. So, look forward to 2023 for a damless Klamath, take the time to listen to Indigenous folks, and take the time to make some noise for them.
For Redwood Voice, I’m Persephone Rose. This is how we got here.
The following is a press release from the Yurok Tribe.
In response to the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the region, the Yurok Tribal Council voted to close the Yurok Reservation for three weeks starting today.
“We are taking every available precaution to protect our elders, individuals with preexisting health conditions and the whole community. Since the start of this emergency, we have exercised an abundance of caution because we know the potential impacts of widespread disease,” said Joseph L. James, the Chairman of the Yurok Tribe. “We will reopen when we see a consistent decline in infection rates. The closure is one part of a comprehensive plan to prevent the spread of the illness.”
“We need everyone to play active role in stopping the spread of the virus,” said Serene Hayden, the Yurok Tribe’s Incident Commander. “We strongly encourage residents to practice all of the personal safety measures, such as wearing a face covering in public, avoiding large gatherings and staying home as much as possible.”
To date, there have been 15 COVID-19 cases on the reservation, ten of which were confirmed late last week. In addition to wearing a mask while outside of the home, reservation residents are advised to refrain from travelling off-reservation unless it is for essential purposes, such as medical appointments and visits to the grocery store. COVID-19 testing is available five days per week in Klamath and Weitchpec.
The COVID-19 Temporary Closure Order applies to nearly all non-residents. Those authorized to enter the reservation include but are not limited to the following: essential Tribal staff, law enforcement, emergency medical personnel, commercial service providers, social service providers and through travelers driving on the local highways and county roads.
On March 13, 2020, the Yurok Tribal Council declared a state of emergency to activate the Tribe’s incident management team. In early April, the Tribe closed the reservation following a local rise in COVID-19 cases. A phased reopening of the reservation began in October when there were far fewer instances of the illness and local non-essential businesses were allowed to resume operations on a modified scale. The conditions did not permit a full reopening. However, the tribal government is functioning at full capacity with non-emergency staff working from home.
The Yurok Office of Emergency Services recently moved the Yurok Reservation to Tier 1 on the community risk level chart, which is the most restrictive stage. Humboldt and Del Norte Counties are also in Tier 1.
All non-essential tribal buildings are currently closed. Pem-mey and Pek-Tah Fuel Marts were deemed essential. Both facilities have altered operations to keep patrons and staff safe. The Redwood Hotel Casino is closed to tourists, but essential personnel will continue to occupy a small number of rooms.
The Yurok Tribe has mounted a comprehensive effort to confront the public health, social and economic aspects of the COVID-19 crisis. Tribal staff have delivered thousands of food boxes and PPE to Yurok elders. Students have received high quality distance learning tools. The Tribe implemented a forgivable loan program for Yurok businesses. It has also distributed direct aid to Yurok elders, families and individuals as well as many other types of assistance too.
For additional information on the Tribe’s COVID-19 response effort, please visit Yurokoes.org or the Tribal government’s primary social media pages. If you have a question, please call the Yurok Tribe’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-888-225-8952.
News Now is a co-production of KFUG Community Radio, Wild Rivers Outpost, & Redwood Voice. You can listen live to News Now live every other Wednesday at 5pm on 101.1 FM or kfugradio.org. On tonight’s stories:
On Tonight’s Stories: The COVID-19 Pandemic is surging all across our nation, including right here in Del Norte County. A positive new agreement has come around on the Klamath River Dam Removal. CalTrans looks into refining new routes that would move around Last Chance Grade. You can listen to these and many, many more on this production of News Now, linked below.
The following is a press release from the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation.
As a precautionary measure, the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation Tribal Council agreed to close the physical offices of the Tribal Government operations until Monday, December 21, 2020. Recently we have had multiple governmental employees test positive for the COVID19 Virus.
Contact tracing has been performed, and those with second or third-party exposure to known positive cases have been identified. They are currently isolating and will be required to test negative before returning to work.All staff will be continuing to work from home, and there will be no reduction in pay. Staff will be contacted by their supervisors to facilitate this new 100% remote-work status.
Critical services for Tribal Members will continue through electronic means, including email, telephone, and other telecommunication services. This closure is an effort to curb the possible spread of exposure throughout the organization.
We will also be taking the necessary steps to sanitize and clean our facilities and equipment. Staff will also be required to test negative for the COVID19 virus prior to returning to on-site operations.
News Now is a co-production of KFUG Community Radio, Wild Rivers Outpost, & Redwood Voice. You can listen live to News Now live every other Wednesday at 5pm on 101.1 FM or kfugradio.org. On tonight’s stories:
On Tonight’s Stories: Oops, it’s all election! And it’s LIVE! (Or, well, the recording of the live show.) Discussion and updates on the election as they happened with commentary from the Redwood Voice Crew—Persephone Corvid Rose, Gwendolyn Rose Lucas, and Avi Critz—alongside KFUG Station Manager Paul Critz. But in other news things to give you a break in-between, Pelican Bay experienced its first cases of COVID-19, and there will be prescribed burnings near Orick. You can listen to all of this on this episode of News Now, linked below!
Our present year has been one of departure from norms, and, regardless of what we might prefer, that has spread into voting in this year’s elections, now on the extremely near horizon, as well. These changes affect both Humboldt and Del Norte County in many ways, and will change the way voters engage with the polling process for the foreseeable future.
All registered California voters should have received a mail-ballot after October 5th. If you have not received your ballot, it is recommended you contact your County Clerk’s Office. You can contact the County of Del Norte Elections Office at (707)464-7216. You can also contact the County of Humboldt Elections Office by calling (707)445-7481 to request a voting ballot be mailed to your address, or ask for additional information.
The Election Offices of Del Norte County and Humboldt County have partially set aside in-person polling stations as a measure against the COVID-19 Pandemic. For the sake of voter health and cleanliness, ballots will instead be dispatched and collected by mail.
Mailed ballots will be counted up until November 20th so long as it is postmarked by November 3rd; this is a result of recent emergency legislation passed in order to ensure that, in this changed environment, with oft-delayed mailing times, every Californian vote is counted with some allowance for adjustment to what may be an unfamiliar voting method to some. All mail ballots sent by November 3rd and received prior to the 20th will be vetted by county staff in order to ensure authenticity.
If you would like to vote in person, you will be asked to surrender your vote-by-mail-ballot, or, in absence of possession of a mail ballot, by voting a provisional ballot. Those who will be dropping their ballots off or voting in person due to either preference or lack of alternative options should remember to take care to remain masked, hygienic, and aware of their proximity to others as both common courtesy to fellow voters and themselves. The official drop-off locations for ballots in Del Norte County are the Flynn Center, Senior Center, and City Hall.
If you would like to vote in person, in-person voting assistance stations will re-opened in 18 locations across Del Norte County, but only for November 3rd, “Election Day” itself, as well as 9 locations across Humboldt County, for both Election day, as well as the three days proceeding it.
And remember, once again, that as with most things during quarantine, voting is more easily, safely, and responsibly done from home (by mail), if at all possible.
Station Manager Paul Critz takes the charge on gathering the team for a discussion on the 2020 Election, and, more specifically, the process of voting. What’s it like for the youth? What’s it like for marginalized folks? What was different? What are you hoping for? What exactly IS Cottagecore? All this and more in this sweet little production, linked below!
News Now is a co-production of KFUG Community Radio, Wild Rivers Outpost, & Redwood Voice. You can listen live to News Now live every other Wednesday at 5pm on 101.1 FM or kfugradio.org. On tonight’s stories:
On Tonight’s Stories: Klamath takes a day of action to demand that their voices are heard in their goal of taking down the dams affecting their rivers and salmon populations. There is a case of Sudden Oak Death Pathogen in the area, this report tells you what, exactly, that means. The promo for an upcoming segment, much longer form than you’d expect from short news segment, about voting and the upcoming election! You can listen to these and many, many more on this production of News Now, linked below.
Telling the untold stories of Del Norte and Tribal Lands through amplified youth voices.
