Leaf Hillman, Karuk Tribal Council Vice-Chairman
Leaf Hillman is the vice-chairman of the Karuk Tribal Council. He also serves as the chairman of the Klamath River Inter-Tribal Fish and Water Commission, which is working to secure the removal of dams on the Klamath River that are blocking the passage of river salmon and degrading water quality.

Why is the Klamath River important to restore?

The Klamath River was once the third most productive salmon river in America, returning over 1.2 million adult salmonids. Before contact with Europeans, four Tribal nations managed and benefited from the abundance the river provided.

Today, the river is a shadow of its former self. Last year, the second lowest number of wild salmon on record, returned less than 30,000 fish.

Our people are salmon people as are the people of the Hoopa, Yurok, and Klamath Tribes of Oregon. Our culture, our spiritual beliefs, and our economies are dependent on this fishery as are the cultures and economies of many non-native communities in the region.

The Klamath hosts some of the most diverse and unique ecosystems in the world.

In short, there is a moral as well as economic imperative to restore this river.

What needs to happen in order to restore the Klamath River to health?

As opposed to many river systems, the Klamath is wholly restorable. We do not have large industries or communities of people that would have to be displaced in order to restore the Klamath. In fact, most of the Klamath Basin is publicly owned lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management or U.S. Forest Service.

The Klamath River has declined for many reasons including poor logging and mining practices, the diversion of water to ranchers and farmers, and the six hydropower dams that block salmon’s access to the river.

To restore the Klamath to health, we must ensure that logging and mining is done responsibly and old logging roads must be removed. We must work with irrigators to strike a water balance between water for fish and water for agriculture and finally, four of PacifiCorp’s six hydropower dams must be removed.

What is the Karuk Tribe doing to help achieve these objectives?

Within our department of natural resources we have a variety of projects and programs.

We have a very active watershed restoration program that has removed over 46 miles of old logging roads. We’ve removed enough sediment to fill 30,000 dump trucks.

We are actively engaged in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s re-licensing of the Klamath Dams and we are demanding that four dams be removed.

We have undertaken a variety of research projects to better understand the needs of salmon, sturgeon and other fish species. And we also have a water quality program to evaluate the effect that dams, logging and mining have on the river.

How did Environment California Research & Policy Center’s report “Clean Water Future for California” help your efforts?

Half the battle is getting the word out. Reports like Clean Water Future for California gives us an educational tool, provides an opportunity to get our issue in the news, and shows solidarity between Native American tribes and the environmental and social justice communities.