Monday June 19, 2023
Jefferson Public Radio —
The impending removal of four hydroelectric dams on the main stem of the Klamath River has thrown the normally tranquil community of Copco Lake into turmoil.
The Copco Lake store has been closed for over a decade; still, it’s easy to imagine stopping in for some bait and sandwich fixings, or chatting with a neighbor in one of the mismatched rocking chairs on the front porch. The sidewalk in front of the store is cracked, but the building is tidy, and on a sunny day in late May, Francis Gill is mowing the lawn. Danny Fontaine, Gill’s husband, recalls a time when rafters, still breathless after riding in on the Klamath River’s Class 3 and 4 rapids, crowded the grass.
“It was really lively,” says Fontaine. “And so we’re thinking, well, that would be really cool to recreate that out here.”
Home to about 100 residents in Siskiyou County, California, Copco Lake is just 30 minutes from Interstate 5 and Yreka. The store, fire station and community center are clustered on the lake’s southeast end—what Fontaine calls “town.”