Shane Anderson is a former professional skier turned filmmaker whose documentaries—including “Wild Reverence,” “Guardians of the River” and “A River’s Last Chance”—have received numerous awards. Anderson won a Northwest Emmy for “The Lost Salmon” in 2023. As a native to the Pacific Northwest and a dedicated salmon and steelhead angler, Anderson has striven to use film to highlight the plights of these species and the habitats and ecosystems that sustain them.

For the past few years, Anderson and the crew at Swiftwater Films have been documenting the largest river restoration in US history—the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. This project has been years in the making, but by the end of August 2024 all four planned dam removals are projected to be complete and the Klamath River will flow through it’s natural course for the first time since the 1970s. To learn more about the decades-long fight to remove the dams, watch “Undammed: Amy Bowers Cordalis and the fight to free the Klamath.”

In this episode Anderson talks about the monumental task of documenting the dam removal, the importance of impact in his filmmaking, and how he finds balance in the midst of a work-life whirlwind.

To support Shane Anderson and Swiftwater Films’ work documenting the Klamath River restoration, visit https://www.redfordcenter.org/films/undamming-klamath/ to make a tax-deductible donation.

Thanks to our sponsors: Decked and Patagonia Fly Fishing.