Oral history interview with Reed Burkholder

Collection

Identifier: SR 2719

Staff Only

Transcript and digitized audio recording of interview

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Scope and Contents

Audio recording and transcript of an oral history interview with Reed Burkholder that was conducted by Clark Hansen in two sessions, on July 3 and July 4, 1999, at the home of Joe Bowlers in Portland, Oregon. The interview was conducted as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. At Burkholder's request, portions of the interview are restricted; the corresponding sections of Tape 3 and Tape 4 have been redacted from the interview transcript and from the digitized version of the audio recording that is available online in OHS Digital Collections.

In the first interview session, Burkholder discusses his family background and early life in Boise, Idaho, including his Mennonite upbringing and memories of hunting and fishing with his family. He talks about studying music in college; about working as songwriter in West Hollywood, California; and about his reasons for returning to Boise after his eldest child turned five. He describes how he became involved in the movement to remove the dams on the Snake River. He discusses the reasons why he's passionate about the restoration of salmon runs, including his Mennonite faith. He speaks extensively about his advocacy work, about how the dams affect salmon, and about costs and benefits of breaching the Snake River dams.

In the second interview session, Burkholder discusses his Mennonite faith and its connection to his advocacy for the restoration of salmon runs. He speaks about organizations he worked with, including the Sierra Club; shares his thoughts about methods to protect salmon other than dam removal, including fish ladders and drawdowns; and describes what the results would be if the dams were breached. He also discusses concerns about silt build-up behind dams. He discusses the Army Corps of Engineers’ proposal for spillways on the Snake River dams in the early 1990s, and how conservative politics in Idaho impeded progress on those plans. He speaks extensively about speeches he gave around Idaho in favor of breaching the dams, about support the idea received, and about the economic case for dam removal. He speaks extensively about the Port of Lewiston, Idaho, and closes the interview by discussing clean energy sources that could replace hydropower.

Dates

Creation: 1999 July 3-4

Creator

Burkholder, Reed (Interviewee, Person)
Hansen, Clark (Interviewer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

At the request of the interviewee, portions of the interview on Tape 3 and Tape 4 are restricted until the Snake River dams are removed. Researcher access to the audiocassettes is restricted, and the corresponding portions of the interview have been redacted from the transcript and the digitized version of the audio recording that is available online in OHS Digital Collections.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Reed Owen Burkholder was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1946. Two years later, he moved with his family to Boise, Idaho. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, then a master's degree in music from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. He married Anjolne Bates in 1974, and in 1978, the couple moved to West Hollywood, California, where Burkholder worked as a songwriter. In 1988, they moved to Boise to raise their two children, and Burkholder worked as a full-time piano teacher. In addition to his career in music, Burkholder was active in advocacy for removal of dams on the Snake River and restoration of salmon runs.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Burkholder in his interview; “Hero 1996: Reed Burkholder,” by Nicholas Collias, Boise Weekly, August 9, 2006.

Historical note

In 1990, the Washington State Historical Society, Portland State University, and Washington State University Vancouver formed the Center for Columbia River History (CCRH) to promote research, education, and public programs about the Columbia River Basin. The center operated for more than 20 years. Among its work was the Columbia River Basin Project (CRBP), an umbrella project supported by a 1997 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The CRBP included online exhibits, oral histories, and high school curricula about the history of the region's land, wildlife, and people.

As part of the project, CCRH partnered with the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program, headed by Jim Strassmaier, to gather interviews. Oral Historian Michael O’Rourke spearheaded the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Series, while Oral Historian Clark Hansen oversaw the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, with aid from two Portland State University research assistants, Dannette Rowe and Tania Hyatt. In addition, CCRH conducted oral history interviews for a third project, Columbia Communities, and later donated the interview recordings and transcripts to the OHS Research Library, where they are designated SRC 1.

The Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series culminated in 59 interviews (approximately 184 recorded hours) conducted between 1998 and 2001. Interviewees included Native people, activists, farmers, conservationists, fishers, and others who contributed to the shaping of policies that have had, and continue to have, significant impacts on the Columbia River Basin in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. The interviewees opposed policies by agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and advocated for alternative visions of management and use of the Columbia River.

Sources: “Voices of the Columbia,” by Bryan White, PSU Magazine, Fall 1998, Page 17; Center for Columbia River History brochure, undated (circa 2000); Center for Columbia River History website (accessed July 10, 2025), https://columbiariverhistory.org/; email correspondence with Donna Sinclair, 2025; email correspondence with Tania Hyatt, 2025; Oregon Historical Society Research Library internal documentation.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (5 audiocassettes (3 hr., 54 min., 48 sec.) + transcript (113 pages))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Reed Burkholder, conducted by Clark Hansen in two sessions on July 3 and July 4, 1999, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Burkholder discusses his advocacy for the removal of dams on the Snake River in Idaho.

Existence and Location of Copies

Audio and transcript available online in OHS Digital Collections.

General

Forms part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series.

Processing Information

This interview was previously cataloged as part of SR 2700.1, the Center for Columbia River History Oral Histories. SR 2700.1 included oral histories gathered for two separate projects: those conducted by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library for the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, and those collected by the Center for Columbia River History for its Columbia Communities Project. In 2024-2025, as part of digitization of the Dissenters interviews, the collection was reprocessed to separate the two sets of interviews for improved access. Each of the 59 Columbia River Dissenters interviews was cataloged individually under the name of the interviewee. The interviews for the Communities project were kept together as a single collection that was redesignated as SRC 1, Columbia Communities Project oral histories.