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Farmer-led Nonprofit Dam Education Group Builds Audience by Matthew Weaver Capital Press, December 5, 2025

"Ultimately, food security and clean energy is a centrist issue."

Momentum for the Center for Sustainability and Working Rivers, the farmer-led non-profit organization advocating on behalf of the lower Snake River dams, is building, group leaders say.

President Leslie Druffel and social media content creator Adam Ratliff, the "Armchair Engineer" on social media, provided an update to Washington Grain Commission board members Nov. 20 in Spokane.

So far in 2025, the group produced 174 unique videos to social media platforms TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, up from 90 videos in 2024. Ratliff expects to double last year's number by the end of 2025, since the non-profit produces at least three videos per week. The videos have 15.5 million views so far, Ratliff said.

"That is significant," he said. "This is not a subject matter that typically draws a lot of traffic."

Upcoming video topics include the lawsuit proposing emergency changes to dam operations that would include more spill and lower reservoir levels; an investigation into the December 2023 federal settlement and a YouTube documentary about the river system, including a four-day ride-along on the marine highway. The group does not lobby Congress or work on litigation. Its primary focus is public education, Ratliff said.

"I can honestly say that I would be talking about the dams regardless of who was helping support it -- that's my passion," he said.

The audience Ratliff estimates that the audience the group reaches is about 60% pro-dam and 40% anti-dam.

"We're not accomplishing anything if we just preach to the choir," he said. "If we just make ag videos for ag people, that doesn't work."

Ratliff gauges response by public comments made on the videos. That's where activists try to make their point.

"I love this, I encourage it and I engage with them," he said. "Sometimes, it's a fight we have to mute. Other times, it's a productive conversation. There's some very lively discussions happening in the comments."

The group's content has stayed out of a "right versus left, red versus blue rabbit hole," he said.

"Ultimately, food security and clean energy is a centrist issue, and we want to lead the charge with that."

Some folks are dug in and just want to make their point. Others come with legitimate questions.

"We see peoples' minds get changed as they watch the content, as they see perspectives they haven't heard before, certainly from the mainstream media," Ratliff said. "Little by little, we are moving the needle of public perception about our dams."

Most responses are based in the Pacific Northwest.

Is he changing anyone's mind?

"Only time will tell," Ratliff said. "They have a 20-year head start on us. For 20 years, they've been saying to school kids in Washington that 'We used to have all these fish, we built dams and then the fish went away.' That is a lie, and it's going to take time to undo that myth."

Thinking strategically The commission in November 2024 funded the group $75,000 per year for two years. The group continues to raise funds, Ratliff said. The group will produce videos about the Colorado River and Hoover and Glen Canyon dams.

"Hoover Dam content gets views," Ratliff said. "It's not actually relevant to this issue, but if I'm trying to build an audience of people who are interested in and see the value of infrastructure, then one can lead into the other.

"We're thinking strategically," he continued. "If you see us do a video about a dam that has nothing to do with the Pacific Northwest, that's the strategy -- we're trying to cast a wider net."

Ratliff hopes to turn the group's social media into a center to provide resources to other content creators to also tell stories about the dams and rivers.

Ratliff spoke during the Washington Association of Wheat Growers annual convention in November and will speak several times during the Spokane Ag Show in February.

'Low-hanging fruit' Elsewhere in the U.S., people aren't questioning shipment of cargo on their rivers, Ratliff said.

"Out here, we have this vital infrastructure in a relatively remote part of the country, where people don't recreate," he said.

That lack of exposure makes the difference, he said.

"There's a reason why the activists are targeting these four dams first; there are other dams they could target that would actually do more for salmon," he said. "They know if they go with the low-hanging fruit, the dams that don't have anybody advocating for them, they're more likely to win. We want to change that by advocating for those structures."

Related Pages:
Groups Seek Emergency Order Against Dams to Protect Fish by Matthew Weaver, Capital Press, 10/15/25
Governors Respond to Ad Placed by Dam Advocates by Matthew Weaver Capital Press, 10/7/25
Dam Advocates Respond to Groups' Bid to Lift Salmon Litigation Pause by Matthew Weaver, Capital Press, 9/13/25