Passing on the Paddle

What if I told you the first people to paddle the length of the undammed Klamath River will be a group of high schoolers who had no whitewater experience a few years ago. In this episode I visit the Paddle Tribal Waters Program, which is teaching Indigenous youth to whitewater kayak so they can make the first descent of a freed Klamath and become educators and advocates for the river. It's an audacious plan--the undammed Klamath is unknown territory with some serious rapids. But it turns out the next generation is a group of incredibly capable, hopeful, uncommonly determined young people who are bringing their knowledge of and love for the river back to their communities and out into the world. It's enough to make the future seem a little more encouraging.

This podcast was made possible by support from American Rivers and was produced by Blue Canoe Studios with invaluable guidance from Kerry Donahue.