Thursday, July 5, 2012 at 12:00AM agazine, dam removal, damnation, felt soul media, outside in Film and Video Wednesday, July 4, 2012 at 12:04AM DamNation | Trailer from FELT SOUL MEDIA on Vimeo.
On this 4th of July 2012, what better way to celebrate our nation's independence than by celebrating the long overdue independence of her rivers through the lens of Felt Soul Media.
Ninety-nine years after Olympic National Park’s Elwha River was illegally dammed, wild Chinook salmon still instinctively gather at the foot of the lower dam as if they sense a change in the current. Upstream, the usual low rumble of antique turbines generating electricity has faded, and the piercing sound of an excavator-mounted jackhammer reverberates off the 210-foot tall Glines Canyon Dam. De-construction crews have begun the painstaking process of chipping away at its mossy, con-caved facade. This moment marks the beginning of the largest dam removal in US history, unveiling the best opportunity for wild salmon recovery in the Country.
Dam removal is no longer the work of a fictional Monkey Wrench Gang. It’s real, upon us, a cornerstone of the modern environmental and cultural movements. The benefits from dams, including hydropower, urban water supply, irrigation, and flood protection have played a critical role in the development of the United States—but river ecosystems and Native American heritage suffered greatly. Now, many of these antiquated relics of the industrial revolution are classified as public safety hazards by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The short-sighted development of a bygone era is growing more prevalent—In many cases, the high cost of retrofitting an aging dam, and meeting current environmental standards has led to a surprising shift in thinking: Dam owners, impacted communities, and politicians are now reevaluating the usefulness of certain dams and often advocating for decommissioning and removal. Some call it a movement, others call it a generational shift in values. Regardless of what it’s dubbed, an undeniable momentum behind river restoration has begun.
DamNation is a collection of empassioned voices and spirited stories from the people entrenched on both sides of this devisive issue. Examining the history and controversy behind current and proposed dam removal projects, DamNation presents a dynamic perspective on Man’s attempt to harness and control the power of water at the expense of nature. Nothing lasts forever, not even the concrete monoliths that have impounded America’s free flowing rivers in the name of “progress” for ages. —BK
dam removal, damnation, ffelt soul media in Film and Video Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 12:03AM dam removal, damnation, great works dam, the penobscot river in Conservation, Dams, Environment Friday, June 8, 2012 at 12:02AM 
The removal of the 1,000-foot-long Great Works Dam in Maine is the result of a collaborative effort by a coalition of conservation groups, hydropower producers and state and federal agencies to tear down two out-dated, inefficient dams on the Penobscot River and restore sea-run fish runs.
LINK (via:The Bangor Daily News)
Next year the Veazie Dam, which is larger and closer to the ocean, is scheduled to be removed. Once both dams are gone, Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish will have access to 1,000 miles of ancestral river habitat.
dam removal, damnation in Conservation, Dams, Environment Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 12:00AM 
The epicenter of dam removal news is set to shift from the Elwha River to the Penbscot, Maine's largest River.
Patagonia fly fishing ambassador Topher Brown outlines the scope of the Penobscot project and what it mean's for the river's habitat and fish, most notably the Atlantic salmon.
Dam busting is a hot commodity on both the left and right coasts of North America. On December 17, 2010, the Penobscot River Restoration Trust – a joint venture between American Rivers, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Maine Audubon, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Nature Conservancy, the Penobscot Indian Nation, and Trout Unlimited – purchased the Veazie, Howland and Great Works Dams on the Penobscot River in Maine at a cost of 25 million dollars. Phase Two of the Penobscot River Restoration Project begins with the removal of the Great Works Dam in 2012 and the removal of the Veazie Dam over a two-year period beginning in 2013. Construction of a fish bypass at Howland Dam runs concurrently with dam removal. The estimated cost to implement this phase of the project is 30 million dollars.
LINK (Via: The Cleanest Line)
Friday, March 30, 2012 at 12:03AM 
An update from Felt Soul Media's Ben Knight from the Mountain Film Telluride web site regarding their new film Damnation.
Currently we’re locked in the editing cave, hoping to drop the DamNation trailer and the film’s website in conjunction with Patagonia’s Dam-themed Summer catalog this June. Our hope is to hit the festival scene in early 2013. DamNation is the brain child of Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and Biologist Matt Stoecker — Travis Rummel, Beda Calhoun and I (of Felt Soul Media) are bringing it to life. We’re a proud recipient of a 2012 Mountainfilm Commitment Grant and look forward to bringing our seventh film to the Telluride audience.
Read More (Via Mountain Film Telluride)
damnation, felt soul media, patagonia in Film and Video 
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