As general counsel for the Yurok Tribe and founder of the Indigenous conservation group Ridges to Riffles, Amy Bowers Cordalis has been instrumental in the removal of the Klamath River dams. To see her in action, watch Undammed—a film about the fight to free the Klamath River.

Salmon hold deep significance for the Yurok Tribe, whose ancestral lands border California’s Klamath River. In 2002, an ecological crisis caused by high water temperatures and dam-related disease led to the death of more than 65,000 adult Chinook salmon in the Klamath. At the time of the fish kill Amy Bowers Cordalis, a Yurok Tribal member, was working as a fish technician on the Klamath River.  This pivotal event spurred Amy to pursue a career in law with the goal of preventing such disasters in the future.

Since then, Amy has committed herself to advocating for her community, particularly in the fight to remove the dams on the Klamath and restore the natural flow of the river. Having served as general counsel for the Yurok Tribe and as a staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, she now leads Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group, an organization dedicated to empowering Indigenous communities in conserving and revitalizing their natural and cultural heritage. Thanks to her efforts, alongside many others, the Klamath River is currently undergoing the largest dam removal project in history.

Photos: (Top) Amy Bowers Cordalis at home in the waters of the Klamath. SHANE ANDERSON (Bottom) The time it took the machines to remove the Copco 2 Dam on the Klamath River pales compared to the time, people, and effort it took to make the removal happen. SWIFTWATER FILMS