I'm Kushan Avidar. I'm Arianna Brocious. And this is Climate One.

Today we're looking at two very different environmental success stories, where communities, smart scientists, innovation, and unexpected allies came together to make a real positive impact.

Along the California, Oregon border, indigenous leaders led a successful effort to bring down

four dams on the Klamath River, restoring hundreds of miles of habitat, rejuvenating the ecosystem

for both the salmon and the people.

And in Los Angeles, a combination of science, activism, and policy turned some of the dirtiest

air in the country into something dramatically cleaner.

Both of these efforts took decades. Both faced powerful opposition.

And at a time when we're seeing the federal government significantly pull back from climate and environmental policy, these stories are good to remember that when enough people get involved and coalitions are built, real change can actually happen.

I know sometimes that can feel hard to believe, which is why stories like these are so important.

These aren't just stories about environmental winds.

They're stories about persistence, about strategy, about time, because, man, it took some time.

But after decades, change did happen.

Amy Bowers Cordales is a Uruk tribe member whose ceremony family is from Reckoi at the mouth of the Klamath River, which runs through southern Oregon and northern California.

In spite of losing much of their land during colonization, the Urock people were never forcibly relocated and have remained deeply connected to the river and its salmon.

In the first half of the 20th century, hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Klamath River.

While they provide a zero-carbon form of energy, hydroelectric dams come with real environmental costs,

altering the river's flow, degrading water quality,

and devastating fish habitats.

For more than a century, Cordales' family has been part of a multi-generational effort

to heal the Klamath, ultimately leading to the largest dam removal and river restoration

project in U.S. history.

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