I Pity the Fu

January 19, 2012.

O.A.R.S. guide James Rodger states his case for the preservation of the Futaleufu River in Patagonia.

THE FIRST TIME I VISITED PATAGONIA I WAS TOLD TO TRY A LOCAL BERRY CALLED CALAFATE. ONCE I SWALLOWED IT, MY FRIEND AND HOST KAROLINA SMILED AND INFORMED ME THAT I WOULD FOREVER BE TIED TO PATAGONIA AND WOULD ALWAYS RETURN.

That was over 10 years ago—since then many North American winters have been spent with friends and guests on the banks of the Futaleufu River. During the last 10 years I have been watching as the politics of water have been playing out on two rivers to the south of the Futaleufu. The Rio Baker and Rio Pascua have slowly been going through environmental reviews and planning for the HidroAysén project—the largest power project in the history of Chile—which would flood 5,900 hectares of some of the world’s last wilderness and include a 3,000-kilometer long power transmission line heading north past my second home, the Futaleufu. The overwhelming response of Chilean citizens who are affected by this project is negative, with protests and marches demanding a stop to it: “Sin Represas de Patagonia!” All are concerned because it may not stop with the Rio Baker and Rio Pascua.

The friends and guests who have paddled with me down the mighty Futa have been quietly worrying that this project will not just include the Baker and Pascua for the simple reason that the 3,000-kilometer powerline will pass right by our favorite river. The discreet surveys done by the Chilean and Spanish engineers through the Futaleufu valley concern all of us: A little more juice to add to one of the world’s longest transmission lines, through some of the rarest and most beautiful wilderness left on the planet!

And what worries me most is not the loss of habitat, or the end of generations of farming by local families, or the destruction of the world’s best whitewater. What worries me is that we are losing the places that allow us to visit and experience the rawness and uniqueness of our planet. Places where we can remind ourselves that there is something bigger than our cities: that we are part of a larger ecosystem. Something that has a circulation system, a cycle that rejuvenates and sustains us.

The project will affect six mapuche communities and impact six national parks, 11 national reserves, 26 conservation priority sites, 16 wetlands and 32 private protected areas. Meanwhile, Chile is one of the most active tectonic spots on the planet, and the town of Chaiten—where I used to get the world’s best seafood stew—was destroyed by the local Chaiten Volcano after being dormant for 9,500 years. There are a few more volcanos along the proposed transmission line—42 at last count. There have also been a couple of earthquakes there as well.

Chileans have publicly denounced the project: recognizing that Patagonia is a resource, an area that is unique on this planet of ours, somewhere that is worth protecting. As a way of life! There is nothing like Patagonia!

I have worked on many rivers around the world. I have already lost rivers to dams, I have heard the stories and seen the tears of guides and guests who tell me of rivers once free. I wonder when we will stop our alterations to landscapes? I wonder when we will move past technologies and techniques centuries old? I wonder when, or even if, my children will get to see the places that have sustained me and where I have lived my life.

Berberis microphylla—a small Patagonian shrub that produces a berry I ate one morning in 2001. A legend that I have become part of. The Futaleufu River, a place that I call home. I wonder if they decide to drown it, to bury it, will the Calafate berry still taste the same.

This essay was originally created for the 2012 O.A.R.S. catalog. For more compelling stories from other renowned writers, click here to request your copy today!

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