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Anchor: Antonia Gonzales
Tribal, state, and federal officials hailed the removal of four dams along the Klamath River near the California-Oregon line this week, as a major step toward restoring a once-thriving watershed.
Christina Aanestad reports.
It was a decades long battle, but soon, removing four dams along the Klamath River will open up hundreds of miles of wild river habitat to salmon, a fish that is sacred to nearby Native American tribes.“My dream is to not only bring the salmon back, but bring back a way of life.”
Karuk Chair Russ Attebery was among the tribal, federal and state leaders who gathered to celebrate the largest dam removal project in the country.
Work begins next year, completion set for 2024. But Attebery says more work will remain for decades to come.“There are ways we can actually restore those creek and streams that feed our rivers and plants and understand mother natures way andcombine ecological knowledge and knowledge of observation from generation to generation with modern science. That’s the best way togo.”
Removal of the dams will also return California’s second largest river to a free flowing wild river for the first time in more than a century.
Photo: Jeffrey Zeldman via Flickr CC
A bill to stop the export of sacred Native American items to other countries recently passed the Senate.
Aaron Bolton has more.
The Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony or STOP Act, passed through Congress last week.
The law will prohibit the export of tribal cultural items that were obtained illegally.
Doing so could result in fines or up to a year in jail for first time offenders and up to 10 years for second-time offenders.
The bill had been introduced in Congress for years and had previously passed the senate, but never made it through both chambers until now.
It’s unclear when President Joe Biden will sign the bill into law.
A rocket loaded with a cluster of communications satellites lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Thursday.
They’re part of OneWeb’s efforts to create a worldwide network of low earth orbit satellites.
The rocket is carrying 40 satellites, the most it’s ever sent into space at one time.
OneWeb’s Katie Dowd says this latest expansion could be a game changer for some of Alaska’s most isolated communities, with little or no internet access.
She says her company already serves a few communities in Southwest Alaska and hopes to add more.
“Today’s launch will allow us to not only strengthen service and also expand coverage but also expand coverage.”
Chris Cropley, oversees the Tlingit and Haida Central Council’s tribal broadband program. He says his tribal government serves about 20 communities in Southeast Alaska, and while fiber optic cable is normally the preferred option, it’s too expensive to reach many small, isolated villages.
“It’s gonna take more billions of dollars than are in the entire federal budget to bring fiber to everybody – where with satellites, they can bring broadband to the world.”
Cropley says his tribal government has about $60 million from the federal government to spend on broadband projects over the next four years. And while that may sound like a lot, it’s not when you consider Alaska’s challenging geography.
Lesil McGuire represents OneWeb in Alaska and says federal money for tribal broadband helps put tribes in the driver’s seat.
“Prior to that, I think tribes were relegated to the back seat, where decisions would be made by companies, and they would hope they would be benefiting, but not always.”
OneWeb says it’s planning three more satellite launches next year, which will allow the company to offer global services.
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