Richards came from rural Oregon from people who had worked in farming and mining for three generations before him.  His love of the forests of the west led to filming trips in northern California and Oregon during the 1960s and in the 1970s (The Stump Makers, Wasted Woods and Vanishing Redwoods), and around the nation to document the destructive forestry practices that were devastating the forests of the country (Timber Tigers).
  His interest in mining led to his trip to Butte, Montana to document the struggles of hard rock miners there (Perch of the Devil), and later to a national tour of open pit mining sites that were laying waste to vast areas of our country (Tale of Two Systems).  He also documented the threats to the San Francisco Bay in his film Warning Warning which was part of the movement to Save the Bay which had a major impact in limiting the destructive developments that has filled in bay wet lands and polluted the waters of California.

The Stump Makers
1963, 22 min., color, 16 mm.
The Stump Makers delivers a strong indictment of wasteful forestry practices and ecological devastation caused by the major logging companies operating in California and Oregon. Using some of the same footage as Wasted Woods, this film documents the impact of clear cutting on the environment and logging communities reliant upon the industry.

Wasted Woods
1964, 18 min., color, 16 mm.
Wasted Woods shows wasteful forestry practices on the West Coast during the 1950s and 60s. Focusing on clear cutting and the immense machinery that cut and processed the giant redwoods, the film reveals the rapid deterioration of the forest ecology and the disappearance of towns and businesses that once relied on these destructive forestry practices.

Warning! Warning!
1970, 22 min., color, 16mm, sound.
Warning! Warning! focuses on threats to San Francisco Bay ecological conditions caused by the dumping of municipal, farming and industrial wastes into its tributary rivers and into the Bay itself.

Timber Tigers
1971, 23 min., color, 16 mm.
Timber Tigers resulted from a national tour of forest areas. It shows seldom seen giant forest-cutting machinery that harvests trees across the country. The film exposes the forestry industry approach to logging: "After us, the deluge and the desert."

Vanishing Redwoods
1975, 28 min., color, 16 mm.
Vanishing Redwoods depicts the delicate natural balance required for the growth and survival of redwood forests. It shows how the logging industry's current practice of clear cutting threatens the very survival of redwood trees as a species.

Perch of the Devil
1960, 24 min., color, 16 mm.

Perch of the Devil is about the hard rock miners of Butte, Montana, and the strike of copper miners in l960. The film reviews the history of the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Local Union No. 1 and the many, violent struggles that have rent the mining camps of the western Rockies. There are interviews with miners, and with victims of silicosis, a fatal lung disease among miners. It also contains footage of mining operations a mile below the surface.

A Tale of Two Systems
1978,18 min., color, 16 mm.

A Tale of Two Systems is the last film made by Richards in which he analyzes the issues involved in the acquisition and usage of raw materials in our market oriented society. The film features footage of large scale strip mining and open pit mining operations, as well as transportation and processing facilities in various parts of the United States.

Logging and the Environment Footage
Not In Finished Film
The film (16mm, color) included in this section resulted from numerous trips to forest areas in California, Oregon and elsewhere during the 1970s. Subjects range from logging, lumber mills, and transportation of logs and lumber by rail, road, ship and train, to northern California flooding (1969), the Santa Barbara oil spill, Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, and general photography of ecologies such as marshes, bays, mountain terrain, rivers and grasslands.

Mining Footage Not In Finished Film

This work (16mm, color) was shot in the 1970's during a national photographic tour of the U.S. His photography includes footage of seldom-seen strip mining and open pit mining operations, including immense machinery and huge holes in the earth, as well as transportation and manufacturing related to minerals. The archive holds original film and work print. It is listed here by work print reel number only.

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