Run, Rogue, Run!

November 11, 2008 | Most Endangered Rivers, Protecting Rivers, Wild and Scenic Rivers

I am so excited to tell you about a new film produced with support from American Rivers. Click here to see "Run, Rogue, Run." The film premiered this past weekend (November 7th and 8th) at two Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festivals in Medford and Portland, Oregon. This film takes viewers on a journey down the Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue River in southwestern Oregon and explores the need for protecting the river and its salmon and steelhead streams.

As many of you may know, the Wild Rogue is among the nation’s most iconic wild rivers. It was one of the original rivers designated under the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (whose 40th birthday is this year!), and the Rogue remains a world-class whitewater rafting destination. The river and its tributaries are also home to vibrant runs of salmon and steelhead, which are the cornerstone of the multi-million dollar commercial and sport fishing industries. Overall, tourism generated by the river provides over $14 million and 225 jobs in southern Oregon.

Despite clear incentives to preserve the Wild Rogue, it is listed in America’s Most Endangered RiversTM: 2008 Edition due to the threat of harmful logging. The logging would destroy the shade that keeps stream temperatures cool in the Rogue's tributaries, and harm the overall health of the river, its fish and wildlife, and the vital income the river generates for the community.

American Rivers has been working over the past year as part of the Save the Wild Rogue Campaign to try and designate the fish-bearing tributaries in the Wild Rogue basin as Wild and Scenic, therefore securing long-term protection.

As part of this effort, we partnered with the Epicocity Project, a film-making enterprise of adventure journalists, and with the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, the Siskiyou Project, and Echo River Trips, to create a film highlighting this unique river and what would happen if logging were to occur. We filmed during September of this year on the Wild Rogue, at the end of a high-water rafting season.

We hope this film helps Oregonians and all Americans understand the need to take action now by contacting their congressional leaders and urging them to support Wild and Scenic legislation for the Wild Rogue's fish-bearing streams. Enjoy the film, and get involved by using your voice to Save the Wild Rogue.

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