- Andy Filming in Congo
Andy Maser is a National Geographic Young Explorer, filmmaker, and conservation advocate. You may have recently seen him tromping around the jungle of Congo on an elephant conservation expedition, kayaking the Green Truss section of the White Salmon River, or locked in his video editing cave in Portland, OR. Visit his website and check him out on Facebook, Twitter and Vimeo! (email Andy)
- Steve Installing the Timelapse Camera Mount
Steve Stampfli is the Watershed Coordinator for the Hood River Watershed Group in north central Oregon. He recently worked with PacifiCorp to document the removal of Powerdale Dam on the Hood River, which blocked fish passage for more than 80 years. Steve lives in Husum, WA, a stones throw from the White Salmon. (email Steve)
Condit Hydro Project Map
Project Concept:
Use timelapse photography to document the deconstruction of Condit Dam and the river restoration that follows. Two cameras—one trained on the dam site and one on the area upstream of the dam site—will shoot one photo every daylight hour for two-five years. When these images are played in sequence as video and sped up thousands of times, the multi-year restoration process will unfold in a matter of minutes, presenting a clear picture of the complete process of dam removal. This video will be a powerful tool for the science, nonprofit, and educational communities to use in learning about dam removal projects and river restoration.
Timeline:
July 2011: Cameras installed at Condit Dam, deconstruction work begins
October 2011: Explosion of “drain plug” at Condit Dam, lake drained in 6 hours
Winter 2011/12: Bulk of trapped sediment built up over 100 years flushes out of lake
Spring/Summer 2012: Condit Dam deconstructed, concrete removed
Fall 2011-???: River channel reforms and re-vegetates
Equipment:
Harbortronics timelapse housings
We’d like to extend a huge thanks to Pro Photo Supply in Portland for helping to make this project possible. Thanks for supporting local photographers and being the local source for equipment and information!
Need to get ahold of us?
Andy Maser: amaser@mac.com
Steve Stampfli: stampfli@gorge.net
Andy and Steve,
Thank you for all of the hard work in documenting this historic event! It will be wonderful to see the White Salmon flowing freely again. I have photos from prior to a lot of the work. Some friends of mine and I walked the length of the old “plank road” leading down to the secondary spillway and the powerhouse. Please mail me if you are interested in getting them for the project and I’ll get them posted somewhere yo ucan download them.
Regards,
Sean
Great work in performing the documentation, the video quality is amazing. Can you post some more information about (or links to) the actual river restoration project? Why is the dam being destroyed, why restore the river, etc.?
Thanks!