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A Wild American Forest is a one-hour television documentary, narrated by Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon, that tells the fascinating story of how a rugged pocket of America’s Pacific Northwest has become one of the largest remaining strongholds of old growth forest in the nation. The beautiful, scenic Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion, straddling the border between California and Oregon, is one of the world’s most important temperate forest regions. The tallest trees on earth grow here, and the greatest concentration of wild and scenic rivers in the nation tumble through the steep terrain. Such natural splendor, filmed in more than a dozen of the region’s wilderness areas and national monuments, vividly illustrates why the Klamath-Siskiyou is recognized as a globally significant bioregion.
This area is little known and remote, but not untouched. It bears the impact of a century of logging and dam building. Yet a remarkable set of circumstances has left the 20,000 square-mile Klamath-Siskiyou with more than a third of its old growth forests intact, much more than the Pacific Northwest overall. How this happened is explored in the film with the help of scientists and foresters, an economist and local residents. But what will the future bring? Only one-fourth of the area’s old growth enjoys full legal protection, putting the rest of it at risk. Salmon populations are on the brink of collapse here and elsewhere on the Pacific coast. The film reveals how creative solutions to these problems have been set in motion in the Klamath-Siskiyou, setting a precedent for the world. Length: 57 minutes. Funded by the Headley-Pehl Family.
Credits:
Narrated by Susan Sarandon
Written and edited by Diane LaMacchia.
Cinematography by Doug Prose.
Music by Todd Boekelheide and Doug Prose.
Produced and directed by Diane LaMacchia and Doug Prose.
