Video: Teaser for a Chilean Fly-Fishing Conservation Film

When he saw yesterday’s “Picture of the Day,” Chilean reader zlachevsky sent us a link to this gorgeous trailer for an upcoming film about fly fishing and conservation in the mountains of Patagonia. You’ll note that the billboard at the end of the film shows the very same mountains—part of the Torres del Paine—visible in the background of yesterday’s picture, but with a shocking addition to the landscape. The slogan “Sin Represas!” means “Without Dams,” and here’s a brief description of the struggle being waged in Chile:

HidroAysén is a $3 to $4 billion hydroelectric scheme that, if fully realized, would build five massive dams by 2020 in the Aysén region of Chilean Patagonia. Two would go on the Baker River, three more on the Pascua – along with 1,500 miles of transmission lines.

The dams would capture the furious turquoise flow emanating from the two largest ice caps outside Greenland and Antarctica to spin turbines for electricity. The transmission lines would run north, held by towers more than 200 feet high. Following a winding corridor almost 400 feet wide, a thousand miles of forest would be clear-cut and the rest of the corridor’s path similarly cleared. The corridor would intersect 64 communities and 14 protected areas. It would divide endangered forests and some of Chile’s most spectacular national parks.

You can read more about the issues at the Sin Represas website. But first, watch this gorgeous film at full-screen and in high-definition to see what is at stake.