From CalTrout:

This past weekend, Eternally Wild, the CalTrout and Keith Brauneis Productions film, premiered as one of the official selections of the 2016 Wild & Scenic Film Festival.

Now it’s your turn to enjoy.

We’re pleased to share with you the story of the iconic Smith River, a salmon and steelhead stronghold, its history and its current plight.

Here there are no dams, no wretched clear-cut blocks, no mitigating hatcheries. Instead… ancient forest, iconic redwoods and a powerful symbol of freedom — THE SMITH.

But 4,000 acres of the pristine North Fork are threatened by a giant toxic nickel mine operation.

The Red Flat Nickel Corporation has applied to sink 59 drill holes that would pave the way for one of the largest nickel mines in the Western United States. The film examines current conditions, discusses future threats and asks just how much protection is enough?

UPDATE: A proposal was submitted in January 2015 to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior requesting a five year mineral withdrawal on Bureau of Land Management and Forest System lands in the Siskiyou region of southwest Oregon.

The proposed withdrawal has overwhelming public support, support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and that of the four members of Congress who proposed the withdrawal, Senator Ron Wyden [D-OR], Senator Jeff Merkley [D-OR], Representative Peter DeFazio [D-OR] and Representative Jared Huffman [D–CA].

The Legislators are urging the Secretaries to not only ensure the completion of the withdrawal process during the current Administration but also to incorporate an alternative for withdrawing the area for 20 years in addition to the 5 years proposed.