About the Film

AIRING ON PBS NATIONALLY

Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon narrates the remarkable, inspiring story of how a rugged pocket of America’s Pacific Northwest has endured 150 years of logging, mining, and dam-building to remain one of the largest strongholds of old-growth forest in the nation. The beautiful, scenic Klamath-Siskiyou eco-region, straddling the border between California and Oregon, is a wonderland of biodiversity and 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.  Filmed in more than a dozen wilderness areas and national monuments, A Wild American Forest showcases the Klamath-Siskiyou’s natural splendor and vividly illustrates why this area is recognized as a globally significant bioregion. 

Like the rest of the Pacific Northwest, the Klamath-Siskiyou bears the impact of more than a century of resource extraction.  Yet a remarkable set of circumstances--including topography and a landmark court ruling preserving spotted owl habitat--has left the 20,000 square-mile eco-region with more than a third of its old-growth forest intact, a higher percentage than the Pacific Northwest overall. How this happened is explored in the film with the help of those who know it well, from scientists and foresters to an economist, Native Americans, and other local residents.  But what will the future bring?  Only one-fourth of the area’s old-growth forest 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.  A Wild American Forest reveals how creative solutions to these problems have been set in motion in the Klamath-Siskiyou, setting a precedent for the world.

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.