Herald and News: Ebbs and flows of the Klamath River discussed in book

The ongoing, unfolding story of the Klamath River and how its water is used, and misused, along its 254-mile waterway from Upper Klamath Lake to the Pacific Ocean is almost impossible to tell.

That’s because there are so many stories and, depending on who’s doing the telling, prejudices and personal experiences shade how the story is told.

In “River of Renewal: Myth & History in the Klamath Basin,” author Stephen Most tells stories he hopes will enlighten readers.

“I had accumulated stories over the years that I felt had to get into the public realm,” Most explained in a telephone interview. “There’s a great history in the Klamath Basin, and I wanted that story to be told.”

Most, a playwright and documentary storyteller who lives in Berkeley, Calif., largely writes about events along the Klamath River that he experienced, including stakeholder workshops, his participation at Edison Chiloquin’s village along the Sprague River and the 1978 Salmon War. Most’s remembrances of the 2001 Bucket Brigade and following events at the A Canal headgates emphasize unrest generated by outsiders and unevenly chronicles the general overall moods.

Book’s strength

Among the book’s strengths are his telling of “stories usually not told” about Yurok Indian history and mythology. Most will probably provide new insights and enlightening information.
Most says his interest in the Klamath Basin goes back 45 years, and was spurred while researching and writing “Medicine Show,” a play about the Modoc Indian War first produced in 1973. In 2001, while working on a still unfinished documentary about the Klamath Basin, he decided the complex events could only be presented in book form.

“It was then very clear I had to look at the Klamath Basin as one very large place,” he said, referring to what is regarded as the upper and lower basins. “No documentary could do justice to it, so I had to write a book. People are just recognizing that everyone has to be part of this larger entity.”

He believes the Klamath River and its story, or stories, are unique.

“This is a conflict of right against right,” he says, noting farmers and ranchers in the upper basin have been unfairly targeted — “They have every right to feel persecuted.” He says the decision to cut off irrigation water was done because, “It’s much easier to take water from small family farms than large corporate farms.”

In the book, Most says agencies have mostly overlooked the importance of water from the Trinity River. Instead of flowing into the Klamath, large volumes have been channeled to central California.

He also terms ongoing talks by water users, Indians, environmentalists and others as crucial because of threats to urbanization — “It could really lose its quality as an extraordinary rural area.”

Most also is optimistic about potential outcomes.

“The work that’s being done on the ground by the stakeholders is driving the federal government, not the other way around,” he says. “The conflict has often been seen as one between farmers and ranchers against environmentalists, and that’s wrong. Cattle can be managed in a way that’s not harmful to fisheries. Ranching and farming methods are being developed that meet the sustainable needs of wildlife.” Most sees no “quick fixes,” but believes resolutions are possible.

“My optimism comes from seeing how much progress has been made,” Most says. “It requires different communities along the entire Klamath Basin to know one another and to work with each other.”