ECONEWS
The Newsletter
Trucking Through Redwoods Steers Into Controversy
All travelers driving north on Highway 101 know
they’ve arrived in a special place when they reach the
narrow, curvy section of highway that runs through
Richardson Grove State Park and its towering redwoods.
I remember my own first journey to Humboldt, packed
into an old Volkswagon van with no air conditioning on
a sweltering summer’s day. With windows rolled down,
desperate for a breeze, we drove up 101 through the hot
valleys and mountain passes. When the road suddenly
narrowed and we glimpsed the spreading shade of that
first looming redwood it was as if the tree spirits had
waved a wand of cooling relief. The shade of the huge
trees, coupled with the cathedral-like beauty of the grove
took our breath away. We pulled over to gaze up in awe.
No trucks roared by as we stood contemplating the
majesty of the redwood forest that so magically crept
right up to the side of the highway.
Times have changed in this region since that hot
afternoon in the early 1980s, but Richardson Grove still
remains a gateway to this unique area – the embodiment
of the Redwood Curtain. We are forced to slow our
vehicles when we hit those curves just as a visit to our
forest and beach trails makes us take a breath and slow
down for a few moments.
Now a highway-realignment project proposed by the
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
and backed by some area businesses and community
members, threatens to change the character of that
passage through Richardson Grove forever.
The agency wants to remove dozens of trees,
straighten some of the curves and construct a 300-
foot retaining wall, in order to allow access for STAA
trucks – extra long trucks approved by the Surface
Transportation Assistance Act, which are currently
prohibited from passing through this section of highway
(see information box, p. 5).
The proposed project, now estimated to cost
taxpayers $7.7 million and slated to begin early next
year, has stirred passionate reactions.
Opponents say that there has been inadequate
opportunity for public comment and participation,
cite environmental concerns about threats to the old-
growth redwoods and accompanying wildlife and worry
that increased access will bring unwelcome traffic and
development.
Diminishing Coastal Fog Threatens Redwoods
By Scott Greacen
Summer fog has decreased along the California
coast over the last century, threatening redwood forests threaten the viability of familiar ecosystems. But it
and their dependent species, reports a recent study
published by the National Academy of Sciences.
The paper’s authors, UC-Berkeley scientists Todd
Dawson and James Johnstone, say the mighty trees and
the species that live in and beneath them depend on the microclimates, the news of their vulnerability may
cool, damp microclimate provided by the ubiquitous fog. surprise the casual visitor.
Dawson told the San Francisco Chronicle, “The
redwoods along our coast are highly dependent on fog long argued that one of the key flaws in clearcut-based
as a source of water during the summer when water
in the ground is scarce. Foggy nights are needed to
rehydrate the trees that can’t tolerate long droughts.”
Even if established trees can tolerate the increased
drought stress, the authors say, fewer young trees will
be able to grow to maturity in the same areas where
redwoods stand today.
Redwoods’ inability to regulate their water use as
closely as other tree species is thought by scientists to be 20th century the California coast had about 30 percent
the key reason the enormous conifers are restricted to
the cool, moist coastal belt that extends from the central
California coast to just north of the Oregon border.
The study of summer fog decline is the latest to
Inside This Issue
Klamath Settlement Deals Signed...........3
What Happens Now?
Wave Energy...............................................3
Humboldt May Pioneer Energy From The Ocean
Solutions For Water District Dilemma...5
What To Do With The Excess Water In The Mad
How To Preserve Humboldt’s Forests.....6
General Plan Options To Preserve Our Resource
Kin To The Earth: Bruce Cockburn........7 Eco-Mania...............................................15
Making A Difference Through Music
of the Northcoast
Environmental
Center
By Sarah O’Leary
Those in favor point out safety concerns on
this narrow stretch of highway and bemoan
the economic disadvantage to Humboldt
County’s small businesses due to lack of
access to the industry-standard trucks.
The Caltrans Draft Environmental Impact
Report (DEIR) cites a 2003 study which found
that “local businesses and residents pay about
10 to 15 percent more for goods due to poor
truck access, increasing the decline of locally-
owned retail business out of Humboldt
County.” The report states that, “Several
businesses including lumber, floral, food and
other manufacturing, as well as the local
newspaper, have noted higher costs and have
considered relocating out of the county.”
A small number of STAA trucks do pass
through Richardson Grove because cattle
trucks and moving vans currently enjoy a
legislative exemption from the STAA truck
restriction through the Grove. However, this
is scheduled to expire in 2012, and Caltrans
wants the road open to unlimited access and
to realign the highway to allow two such
trucks to pass one another safely.
Barbara Kennedy, a Weott resident
and member of the Save Richardson
Grove Coalition, claims that people in the
community have been closed out of the
process from the beginning.
“At first they were not even going to do
an EIR (Environmental Impact Report),” she
said. “We had to mobilize and we made such
Photo: EPIC
a clamor we got them to issue a Draft EIR in
December of 2008.” A proposed Caltrans highway realignment project that would allow unlimited
Safety A Non-Issue? access to large “STAA” trucks to Humboldt County is provoking passionate reaction
in the community and polarizing different interest groups.
Kerul Dyer, outreach director for the
Environmental Protection Information Center
Dyer added that according to the CHP report to the
(EPIC), said the organization had reviewed California
Legislature there have been no collisions, citations,
Highway Patrol (CHP) records and found very little to
verbal warnings, complaints or highway incidents with
back up the safety claims in the DEIR.
regard to the livestock STAA trucks allowed to go
“For a five-year period there were only six accidents
through Richardson Grove.
involving trucks in the stretch of Highway 101 that is
Environmental Impacts
the project area, and only one involved trucks going in
opposite directions,” she said. Although Caltrans does not propose to cut any old
growth, 54 trees are slated for the ax, including six
redwoods. Of specific concern is the plan to cut deeply
into the roots of some of the giant redwoods flanking
the highway.
“Redwood science is clear that redwood root
systems are shallow, lateral roots, which graft to other
suggest that changes in the global and regional climate
redwood roots to develop an interconnected root
system for several trees,” said Dyer.
is among the first to point to specific climate-related
Dyer said that the proposed realignment will
concerns for the redwood forest.
harm the trees during construction by cutting and
Because redwoods are such long-lived organisms,
compacting these structural root systems. “Soil
and old-growth redwood forests create their own
compaction of a tree’s root system can disrupt
respiration processes which power every function of
the tree,” she said.
Advocates for redwood forest conservation have
Acknowledging that Caltrans enumerates several
methods in the DEIR that it will use to minimize
plantation forestry for redwoods is that it reduces the
damage to the roots, Dyer questioned the agency’s
productivity of the overall forest by creating monocultures
ability to follow through. “The project will be
more vulnerable to drought and heat stress.
outsourced to contractors,” she said.
The study used the records of fog levels kept at local
But Caltrans project manager, Kim Floyd said that
airports since 1951, including McKinleyville, analyzing
the contractor’s work will be strictly monitored.
data together with temperature records from 114 stations
“We’ve agreed to have a certified arborist on site
that go back to the beginning of the 20th century.
while the contractor is working,” she said. Additionally
The analysis showed that in the early part of the
a wildlife biologist will be employed specifically to
work within the tree root zone.
more summer fog than has recently been the case.
“We have permits and a set of specifications,” said
The foggiest year on record was 1951, with 62 percent
Floyd. “They have to abide to them. It’s not a choice for
of summer days seeing fog, while the least foggy was
the contractor.”
1997, with only 27 percent fog through the summer. y
Additional concerns from State Park Officials and
others include the project’s impact on threatened and
endangered species, including the federally protected
marbled murrelet that nests in old growth trees.
NorCal Salmon Season Recap...............8 The North Coast Redwoods District’s (NCRD)
Chinook Stocks Up But Coho Declines comment letter lists six different threatened and
endangered species, and questions the adequacy of the
Improving Water Quality.......................9 DEIR in mitigating impacts.
Low Impact Development and Local Monitoring The potential impacts on threatened species are
Outdoor Activities, All Ages.....10,12,13 alarming enough to have garnered the attention of
Kotke Quest, Environmental Education, Hikes the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), which has
New Rules For Organic Livestock.......14 allied itself firmly with the opposition to this project.
What Does It Mean For Humboldt Ranchers? An Action Alert on the organization’s web site urges
A Monthly Melange of Salient Sillies Continued on Page 4

ECONEWS
is the official monthly publication of the Northcoast
Environmental Center, a non-profit organization,
791 Eighth Street, Arcata, CA 95521; (707) 822-6918;
Fax (707) 822-6980. Third class postage paid in
Arcata. ISSN No. 0885-7237. ECONEWS is mailed free
to our members and distributed free throughout the
Northern California/Southern Oregon bioregion. The
subscription rate is $35 per year.
Editor: Sarah O’Leary sarah@yournec.org
Advertising: Sarah O’Leary, ads@yournec.org
Proofreaders: Midge Brown, Sid Dominitz
Staff Photographer: Sam Camp
Writers: Nathaniel Page, John Osborn, Ian Jewett, Tara
Stetz, Jennifer Kalt, Eileen Cooper, Sylvia Ann White,
Allison Poklemba, Sarah Marnick, Jay Wright, Sue Leskiw,
Scott Greacen, Pete Nichols, Ron Wells, Maggie Stoud-
nour, Wendell Wood,
Artists: Mark Jacobson, Terry Torgerson
Cover Art: Jason Lawrence
NEC Mission
To promote understanding of the rela-
tions between people and the biosphere
and to conserve, protect and celebrate
terrestrial, aquatic and marine eco-
systems of northern California and
southern Oregon.
NEC Board Of Directors
California Native Plant Society
Jen Kalt (Secretary) jkalt@asis.com
Redwood Region Audubon Society
C.J. Ralph theralphs@humboldt1.com
Sierra Club North Group, Redwood Chapter
Felice Pace unofelice@gmail.com
Humboldt Baykeeper
Pete Nichols pete@humboldtbaykeeper.org
Friends of Del Norte
Eileen Cooper upsprout@yahoo.com
Safe Alternatives For Our Forest Environment
Larry Glass (President) lglass@foggy.net
At-Large
Jim Clark (Vice President) dancebirds@sbcglobal.net
Martin Swett (Treasurer) mswett@pacific.net
Bob Morris (Trinity County Representive)
bob.morris@wildblu.net
Volunteer submissions are welcome! Full articles of
500 words or fewer may be submitted by the 15th
of each month, preferably by e-mail. Longer articles
should be pitched to the editor, contact
sarah@yournec.org or call 707-845-3902. Include
your phone number and e-mail with all submissions.
Ideas and views expressed in ECONEWS are not
necessarily those of the NEC.
Every issue of ECONEWS is printed on recycled paper with
soy-based inks. Please Recycle.
Bouquets
This month’s floral tributes go to:
 Andy Alm, our amazing tech
support guru and webmaster, who not
only created the NEC web site back in the
days when the World Wide Web was new,
but recently spent countless volunteer
hours updating the site and bringing it
into the current decade. Take a look at
http://www.yournec.org - you can view
current and past ECONEWS stories, see
what's upcoming on the Econews Report
radio show, take note of Action Alerts
and upcoming events relating to all things
environmental, check out breaking news
pertinent to our area’s environmental
concerns, and even friend us on
Facebook. Coming soon: A calendar of
local events. Thanks Andy for your years
of dedication to the NEC!
 Ted Halstead, who has tirelessly
removed garbage and detritus from
Liscom Slough, a tributary to Humboldt
Bay, for the past 10 years. Halstead didn’t
stop at just picking up the trash, he took
a sledge hammer to old junk cars and
hauled them off in his Toyota pickup, and
enlisted local businesses and nonprofits
to help to clar the channel of debris .
 Judge John R. Morrison, who in
February dissolved the Del Norte County
Pacific Shores Subdivision Water District,
saving acres of sensitive habitatafter more
than 20 years of legal limbo.y
2 www.yournec.org
News From the Center
At the NEC, we look forward to
spring on the North Coast and the
opportunities that a new season can
bring. The NEC is no stranger to
change and we appreciate all who’ve
been supportive through the recent
transitions.
Some of our members have been
asking about the annual event, it’s time
to announce yet another change.
Traditionally the NEC has held our
annual event - a dinner and art auction
- in April. Because our focus has been
in other areas, we’ve decided to switch
the timing of our event to September
– and we are also making some
changes to the nature of the event. On
September 18, after the North Country
Fair, your NEC will host a special
celebration including an All Species
Ball, silent auction, music, dancing and
many other fun activities.
If you’re the sort of person who
thinks planning a party is just as
much fun as the party itself: We need
We Want Your Letters!
Feeling irritated by something you read here in ECONEWS? Or maybe one of this month’s
articles made you jump for joy. Tell us about it! Try to keep your letter to 300 words or
fewer and include your full name and city of residence. We may edit for space and clarity.
E-mail letters to sarah@yournec.org, or mail to P.O. Box 4259, Arcata, CA 95518.
We welcome your thoughts and comments!
Stop Managing
Dear ECONEWS,
For all the years I’ve been looking
on, environmental problems have
gotten worse and worse. While
environmentalists win some battles,
groups like yours and many others are
missing the big picture. You win the
same battles over and over and over
again. But overall, the situation still
deteriorates.
If you go back and read your
literature from 30 years ago, you’ll
find the same stories are being written
right now. That says only one thing to
me. Environmentalists have to change
their approach because the “change the
management” approach is not working.
Environmentalists need a new strategy.
There are proposals right now to
make new national parks like none
before. The new parks are huge.
Waldo Lake to the Klamath marshes,
The Trinity River to the Rogue River
(Ancient Forest National Park, Oregon
and California’s Yellowstone), all the
Klamath “Everglades”.  Such complex systems are generally
Nationwide there are a
hundred proposals documented
by www.newnationalparks.org.
Environmentalists’ whole thrust for the
past hundred years has been to manage
the land properly. Manage. That’s a very
small idea. A bigger idea is to set aside
enough so that nature can manage
some of the earth without human
interference. What a concept!
I don’t know why this is so hard
for people to accept, that humans
have nothing to offer nature when it
comes to management. Management
is a ridiculous concept that logging,
mining and corporations in general
have made up to manipulate the tree
hugging community. Look at yourself,
encouraging land management agencies
to manage, manage, manage by constantly
responding to their requests for input.
Please help us with the new national
parks and lets quit this management
game once and for all, at least for a
small portion of the planet.
I am not a radical, just a critical
observer. This is an observation. This is
a part of where we need to go. Let’s not
waste any more time. Get onboard.
Very Truly Yours,
Alden Moffatt
you! We’re looking for folks to help
in specific areas such as decorations,
activities, silent auction donations,
raffles and other coordinated events to
take place throughout the evening.
We will be holding our first event
planning session on Thursday, April
15, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It’s our
hope that long-time NEC supporters
will offer their ideas and energy and
we also encourage new volunteers to
participate. You can sign up for this and
other volunteer activities by calling the
center at 822.6918 or by emailing
tara@yournec.org.
Enjoy the longer days and spring
blossoms - and don’t be a stranger!
Visit us in Jacoby’s Storehouse Monday
through Thursday 9 a.m. - 1p.m. and
Fridays 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. We’re also open
for Arts! Arcata every 2nd Friday of the
month.
~Tara Stetz
Interim Office Manager
Greywater Revisited
Dear ECONEWS,
I was happy to see a letter to the editor
in your last issue that responded to my
article on California’s revised Greywater
Code (December 2009). I appreciate the
comments, and would like to offer a few
clarifications:
Prior to February 2009, California’s
greywater code only allowed for
elaborate systems that relied on pumps,
filters and other high-tech components.
These systems, typically designed by an
engineer and installed by a professional,
are prohibitively expensive for the
majority of households wishing to
utilize their “waste” water for irrigation.
more appropriate for new housing
developments where the system cost can
be absorbed in the sale price.
California’s new code, as I stated in
my article, works to address simple,
single-household greywater systems.
Simple systems, when mindfully
designed, constructed and maintained,
provide for immediate re-use and
exceptional treatment of household
greywater. Furthermore, they last longer,
require less maintenance, demand less
energy and cost less money than their
high-tech counterparts.
I agree with the letter writer. Dale
Watson, that greywater should never be
run onto the open ground as a matter
of disposal or in order to escape the
cost of proper treatment. Pursuant to
the current regulations – and common
sense – greywater should not daylight
to the soil surface at any point. A well-
designed system will utilize mulch
basins or constructed wetlands where
the water will remain sub-surface,
providing moisture and nutrients for
the vegetation while effectively treating
household effluent.
Greywater should also never discharge
to another water source such as a
stream, river or high groundwater table.
Arts! Arcata
At The NEC
Join us on
Friday, April
9 for another
fun-filled
Arts! Arcata
celebration.
As always
we will host
the event at
our Arcata
Plaza office
on the
ground floor
of Jacoby’s
Storehouse.
This month we will be showing
nature watercolors painted by Nathen
Sipan and Cassandra Carlson.
Sipan, a self-taught artist, has
experimented with different mediums
since 1985. Although his earlier
work was in abstracts, he has found
inspiration in the natural wonders of
Humboldt County. Carlson, an HSU
art student, recently showed her work
at a portrait show at the university.
Although her primary medium is
paint, she is also a sculptor and her
latest sculpture will be part of HSU’s
upcoming Sculpture Walk.
As always we’ll be serving a
selection of savory snacks and
beverages including wine supplied by
Libation.
Coming in May: We will be
showing the art of David Schumaker a
local photographer and educator.
Artists: Show your work at the
NEC! If you are interested in showing
your art during our monthly Arts!
Arcata celebrations, contact us at
nec@yournec.org. y
Nutrients will fertilize plants on land, but
will cause algae to grow and rob water of
oxygen, harming aquatic organisms.”
Furthermore, a properly designed
greywater system is installed with the
option for diversion to the building’s
septic system or city sewer. This gives
the household the option to redirect
greywater in times of landscape
oversaturation or for diversion of
diaper wash water or other prohibited
contents. The greywater code outlines
several other basic health and safety
requirements, including avoidance
of contact with greywater except as
required to maintain the system, and
not using greywater to irrigate root
crops or edible parts of food crops that
touch the soil.
Dale mentions another good point:
toxic chemicals. Again, the aim of the
article was to address simple, home-
based systems where the people living
in the house are active participants in
managing the greywater system and
ensuring that no harmful substances are
going down the drain. When employing
greywater for irrigation purposes, it is
crucial to use biodegradable products
that are salt- and boron-free. These
systems may not be appropriate for
situations with a high population
density or rotation of individuals not
committed to taking care as to what
gets put down the drain.
One reason that the new regulations
are so exciting is it allows homeowners
who weren’t able to install systems
previously due to the burden of cost
to get involved with their own simple
system at home. This has benefits not
only in water savings, but it brings us all
closer to understanding the role of water
within our human communities and the
surrounding environment.
Dan Ehresman
Arcata
April/May 2010 ECONEWS
 Klamath Settlement Deals Signed - Now What?
The February signing of the Klamath settlement
agreements marks a major turning point for the
Klamath conflict and could eventually lead to the largest
dam removal and river restoration project in history.
The deals call for removal of the lower four mainstem
Klamath River dams in 2020, and spending more than
$985 million on agricultural diversions and basinwide
restoration projects.
Although the signing was a major accomplishment,
the path ahead looks daunting and even murkier than
late summer flows from Iron Gate Dam. Now that
the media spotlight has passed, many readers may be
wondering, “Now what?” and “What happens between
now and 2020?”
The next battles will be fought in the halls of
Congress as the twin agreements will require legislative
approval for funding and enactment into law. It is not
yet clear who will be introducing the legislation, but
the odds are on North Coast Representative, Mike
Thompson. Without federal legislation, the deals will
die on the vine.
In addition, the $250 million California portion of the
funding for dam removal is currently dependent upon
passage of the $11.1 billion water bond in November.
Passage of this mega-bond seems unlikely in a state
already drowning in bond debt.
Bailout Blasted
Even the United Farmworkers Union blasted the Bond in
late February and joined a growing group of conservation,
fishing, environmental, tribal and family farming groups
opposed to the bailout of corporate agribusiness.
Oregon has already passed a ratepayer surcharge
that will cover $200 million for dam removal.
However, without the California contribution, either
the Secretary of Interior must find that dam removal
can be accomplished for substantially less money
or an alternative mechanism for California funding
must occur. Failing this, the agreement does contain
a provision for private funding of dam removal, so
perhaps a deep-pocket benefactor might appear?
The driving factor for the next two years is
Humboldt May Pioneer Energy From The Ocean
The race to find workable alternative energy sources
is heating up, and no natural resource is being left
untested. So it is with the waves.
The infinite power of the Pacific Ocean could soon be
harnessed for what would be the first wave-energy project under the ocean bed, drilled into the shore underground,
in the United States – and it may happen right here in
Humboldt County. But the project faces its share of
challenges, mainly due to the newness of the technology.
Portugal built the world’s first “wave farm” in 2008,
generating a meager 2.25 megawatts, but the project fell megawatts, and that’s still considered small.
through due to technical and financial issues
Scotland and England also have projects in the
works, and utility companies across the U.S. are
scrambling to find suitable locations.
Although there are a variety of ways to
capture the energy of the ocean, the process
generally involves using waves to drive turbines
in one manner or another – kind of like how
wind drives turbines on wind farms. But
unlike wind power, the waves are much more
predictable and pack more of a punch.
Based on current calculations, wave power
has a small carbon footprint – 20 grams of CO2
per kilowatt-hour compared to 90 for solar
photovoltaic, 105 for biodiesel, and a staggering
974 for coal. It also has a decent energy return
on energy invested – 15 to1 compared to 8 to 1
for solar pv and coal, or 2 to 1 for biodiesel.
In Humboldt County, PG&E has been studying Photo: Sam Camp © campimages.com
the ins and outs of launching an experimental
wave energy system off the coast for the past two years.
It hosted a public meeting about this project in February
in Eureka. Although PG&E has been eyeing sites up and
down the coast, the good waves and harbor infrastructure
put Humboldt on the company’s radar.
Making Waves
The company wisely chose to take the transparent
route with this project, involving government officials,
environmental groups, fishing organizations, and even
surfers from the beginning. These groups have formed
into a coalition - the Humboldt Working Group.
The project, called Humboldt WaveConnect, proposes
to test two dozen prototype wave energy conversion (WEC)
devices, supplied by three to four different manufacturers,
three nautical miles off the coast of Arcata.
The devices would generate five megawatts of power, Advocates worry about unforeseen environmental
most of which would go to Eureka, for a 5-10 year
ECONEWS April/May 2010
By Jay Wright, NEC Klamath Campaign Coordinator
the “Secretarial
Determination” process
which could ultimately
lead to a decision by the
Secretary of the Interior
by March 31, 2012, that
Facilities Removal of
the four dams is in the
public interest, and will
advance restoration of
salmonid fisheries.
Part of this
determination requires
an economic analysis
that removal can occur
within the $450 million
cost cap. A change
to the definition of
Facilities Removal in the
agreement could mean
that a substantially cost- Upper Klamath Lake National Refuge. The fate of the refuge, the Klamath salmon, and water allocations to ag-
reducing “blow-and-go” riculture remains in question until the newly signed Klamath agreements are supported by federal legislation..
option is possible, rather Photo: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
than accomplishing full
removal of all the facilities and appurtenances.
Another important requirement will be full
concurrent state and national Environmental Impact
Reports, with opportunities for public input.
Many More Studies
A government agency panel at the recent Klamath
Basin Science Conference in Medford included
representatives from the Bureau of Reclamation,
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and National Marine
Fisheries Service. Each agency representative ticked
off a long laundry list of supporting scientific studies
and assessments that will be necessary as input for the
Secretarial Determination.
It’s clear that there will be many opportunities for
the agencies to stall on studies and delay the process
in getting to dam removal. It will be critical for the
public and environmental groups to force the timeline
By John Osborn
period to see what environmental impacts this type of
energy production would have and how economically
viable it is.
These devices will feed energy to land via cables dug
then relayed through power stations in Fairhaven.
Five megawatts isn’t much in the scheme of energy.
Consider that the natural gas power plant being
constructed in King Salmon is expected to generate 163
PG&E claims there is the equivalent of three Diablo
Canyon nuclear power plants – about 5,500 megawatts
– in the waves licking the California coastline.
Economic And Environmental Worries
Although the subject of cost was addressed only
vaguely at the February meeting, federal grants have
paid for the initial studies and the manufacturers and
PG&E will foot part of the bill. PG&E officials estimated
wave energy to cost between $6,000 to $7,000 per
kilowatt, mainly due to its experimental nature. In
comparison, it is $1,000 per kilowatt for natural gas and
$3,000 for wind.
Some environmentalists have expressed reservations
about the project. As of yet there is very little research
on how these devices affect the marine environment.
effects and disruptions to marine life and ecosystems,
www.yournec.org
and ensure that the numerous additional layers of
scientific study do not lead to a delay in the Secretarial
Determination.
One of the largest questions remaining centers on
the lack of a completed Drought Plan. A draft is due by
September 30 of this year, but it is not yet clear where
and when the public will have meaningful input, or if the
plan will be supported by external scientific peer review.
Confounding efforts to craft a Drought Plan is the
looming actual drought predicted for this season. It is
expected to reach historic proportions and may push
the Klamath Basin into conflict along the lines of the
2001 water crisis.
Oregon’s Governor and Senators have already called for
“immediate and coordinated” federal aid to help Klamath
farmers, fish and wildlife cope. The 2010 water year will
be an important test of whether the Klamath settlement
agreements hold fast or whether the Basin once again
devolves into intractable conflicts over resources. y
especially to salmon and whales.
Officials say that these devices would be monitored
extensively to test for impacts and to make sure there’s
no hydraulic oil leaking into the ocean.
Some of the loudest cries of concern have come from
fishermen, particularly crabbers, who worry about
how this project would impact their already struggling
industry. Additionally, they are concerned about the
safety of navigating their boats around these devices.
There is another unknown with this project: the
Marine Life Protection Act. Representatives
from the North Coast are currently working
to designate what parts of the coast will be
protected, as mandated by California. If the
proposed wave project area gets designated a
“Marine Reserve” – the most restricted type of
protection – that could derail the entire project.
As to potential benefits to Humboldt County,
a big project like this will stimulate jobs, and, if
this project succeeds, Humboldt could very well
become a center of renewable energy research.
Of course the benefits of having a viable
alternative to fossil fuels in a time where the oil-
based economy is about as shaky as the earth
lately are obvious. Wave energy could be a step
toward energy resilience for this community.
PG&E is applying to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission for a Draft Pilot License
which, if approved in 2011, would get the ball
rolling. Public hearings will be announced at
that point. But it would still take two years before the
project is up and running, according to PG&E. y
John C. Osborn is a local writer who recently developed
an interest in community resilience and sustainability.
He freelances on occasion with local newspapers and
keeps a blog at www.johncosborn.com, where he posts
short fiction, local political commentary, and other
flights of fancy.
For more information, visit PG&E’s web site:
http://www.pge.com/waveconnect/
or download the PDFs at:
http://www.pge.com/includes/docs/pdfs/
shared/environment/pge/waveconnect/HWG-
MembersList.pdf
3
Trucks Versus Trees - Highway Realignment
Locations of proposed tree removal, map from Caltrans DEIR
members to send letters to Caltrans opposing the
highway realignment at Richardson Grove.
CBD is a national organization with an impressive
track record of successful lawsuits forcing government
agencies to back off projects that threaten endangered
species, so the project’s opponents have gained a
formidable ally.
Floyd said the Final EIR is almost completed and will
be available to the public in early May. “All comments
we received during the comment period will be
responded to,” said Floyd. Caltrans received nearly 1,000
comments.
“We are still getting comment cards and letters,”
Floyd said. “We certainly are looking at those and
reviewing them for anything new that might need to be of the company’s fresh chevre line.
addressed.”
People can still call with questions or send letters
and comments even after the release of the FEIR, said
Floyd, but once that document is certified the agency
will be going ahead with permitting and obtaining the
environmental clearance to begin the project.
Originally scheduled for this year, the project is now
planned to begin this winter, and Floyd anticipates it
to be completed, and the road open to normal traffic,
including STAA trucks, by the end of 2011.
Boon For Business?
Several local business owners and their advocates
disagree with the assessment that a highway
realignment will cause damage to the redwoods, the
ecosystem and to the esthetics of the park. They argue
that the highway changes are minor and that the
benefits of removing a severe economic disadvantage
are significant enough to warrant this project.
But critics say it will hurt small businesses in favor of
big box stores, confound local emergency services and
add to the damage already suffered by local Tribes from
the desecration of their traditional sacred places within
the redwood region.
The InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, which opposes the proposed highway realignment, held a cultural event
at Richardson Grove last August. An afternoon of traditional prayer and song was intended to recognize, honor and
pray for their relation the Kahs-tcho (redwood tree.) Top: InterTribal Sinkyone banner, Bottom: Alaki singers from
Round Valley Indian Tribes. Photos © Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council.
4 www.yournec.org
Continued from page 1
Jacqueline Debets, Humboldt County
Economic Development Coordinator, said that
many of the county’s small manufacturers and
exporters have suffered for years from these
restrictions. These businesses, she contends,
provide good-paying jobs and name-recognition
to Humboldt County.
“Exporting businesses exponentially drive up
our economy,” said Debets.
 Bob McCall, sales and marketing manager for
Cypress Grove Chevre, a local manufacturer of
award-winning cheeses, said the restriction “very
much limits our ability to be more successful with
our products.” He added that the Arcata company
supplies 45 good-paying jobs with benefits.
 “We sell the vast majority of our cheeses out
of the area,” he said. “Small(er) trucks create a
problem because we have to ‘cross-dock’ This
takes time, money and it’s hard on the cheeses’
short shelf life.” Cross docking, he said, means
they must drop the product off in the San
Francisco Bay Area and then load it onto a bigger
truck in order to be transported to its final
destination.
 Once the cheese is wrapped at the manufacturing
facility it needs to get to the consumer within four
to eight weeks depending on the specific cheese. “So
we sell very little of the cheeses with 6-8 weeks shelf
life on the East Coast,” McCall said, noting that there are
just too many time consuming steps that gobble up shelf
life to guarantee the cheese’s freshness when it reaches the
consumer.
 The lack of access to STAA trucks also
affects the company’s ability to import
needed supplies. “Coming and going we
pay more than any of our competitors on
the West Coast,” stated McCall.
 But he said it’s definitely the
additional cost of exporting their
product that is hampering the company’s
ability to grow and develop more jobs.
He gave the example of 950 Safeway
stores that had authorized three flavors
However, “because of the complexity
and additional costs of shipping, several
of the chains decided not to continue to
carry it,” he said.
 “This would have been a significant
increase in our sales and we could
possibly have gotten a couple more
employees out of that deal,” McCall
added. “The distributors just can’t believe The road is popular with bicyclists who must ride on the narrow shoulder. This
they can’t get their trucks up here.” highway project does not include additional bike trails or other accommodations for
  Other businesses have faced similar bicyclists. Photo: Caltrans.
losses of revenue due to the restriction,
including Sun Valley Bulb Farm whose flowers are
high volume and low weight. Representatives say they
could fit far more flowers on the larger trucks, saving
greenhouse gas emissions as well as money.
Lost Coast Brewery is another area exporter that has
been forced to absorb additional shipping cost.
Debets said that the lack of access creates such a
significant disadvantage that some businesses, such
as Premier Meats and Amulet Manufacturing, have
relocated out of the area.
“Also, there’ll be businesses that won’t move here
because of it,” Debets added.
Is It Worth It?
But Dr. Ken Miller, a community member working to
stop the project, wonders if business concerns warrant
endangering one of the last groves of old-growth redwoods.
“These businesses aren’t really hurting right now,”
Miller said, “so is
it worth it?”
“If you look at
the entire business be sacred to native peoples.”
community,
there’s the
argument that
this will actually
destroy jobs,” he
added, pointing
out that since
Wal-Mart and
Home Depot will
only site on STAA
routes, allowing
these trucks
unlimited access
into the county
will just make it
easier for such
big-box stores to
move here.
Miller thinks this would cause local businesses to lay
off employees and even force closures.
Some business owners agree with Miller and oppose
the project, despite the potential benefits to their
bottom line from savings in shipping.
“Our biggest industry is tourism,” said Talia Rose,
owner of Organic Grace in Garberville. “They come up
here for the vibe and the way of life. All that’s going to
change if we have big trucks coming through.”
Increased truck traffic through Eureka poses another
set of problems, Miller pointed out.
He said that citizens have not been given an
opportunity to assess the impacts of increased traffic
from large diesel trucks passing through the city and
driving on side streets which are ill-equipped to handle
such vehicles.
Emergency Responders Worried
The prospect of more truck traffic along this section
of highway raises red flags for the Piercy Fire Protection
District, whose volunteers respond to emergencies and
accidents on the long rural stretch of highway between
Willits and Fortuna.
Commissioner Jeff Hedin said he is hugely concerned
about a significant increase in truck traffic without
better funding for emergency response.
“We’re underfunded and underequipped,” he said,
adding that emergency response from Willits to Fortuna
is 100 percent volunteer during most of the year.
“It bothers me tremendously that as we improve our
[highway] transportation systems we are not improving
our funding for emergency services to respond to the
increase in accidents,” Hedin lamented. “The system in
place was developed in the ‘40s and ‘50s and has not
been upgraded since.”
Hedin is worried that the bigger trucks are less stable
than their California certified counterparts, and he
is not sure if their stabilizing equipment will work to
rescue big trucks going off embankments.
As it stands now, Hedin said, they often have to call
down to Laytonville and wait hours to rescue truck
drivers who are trapped in their cab after an accident.
The Tribal Redwood Connection
The InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council,
a nonprofit Native land conservation organization
comprised of 10 federally recognized California Indian
Tribes, is emphatically opposed to the project.
“Richardson Grove and the area around it represents
a very important part of local Indian peoples’ cultural
heritage,” said Hawk Rosales, executive director of the
Council. “The Redwood trees are a critical part of the
significance of the grove because they are considered to
In testimony read to Caltrans during a June 2009
town hall meeting, the Council stated, “The genocide
of this land’s Indigenous Peoples in the mid-1800s was
followed by the decimation of more than 96 percent of
the region’s old growth redwoods. As Indigenous People
and survivors of this holocaust we are taking a stand
on this land of our ancestors to protect our relative the
redwood tree, which is unable to defend itself.”
The InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council
issued a letter of comment to Caltrans expressing its
opposition and advocating the “No Build Alternative”
along with additional traffic-calming measures as an
alternative solution.
“The amount of space devoted to alternatives is tiny
in the Caltrans DEIR as opposed to the data supporting
the highway widening project,” said Rosales. “The No
Continued next page
April/May 2010 ECONEWS

Build Alternative is barely discussed. The DEIR is weighted
unfairly towards promoting this project.”
Indeed the 182-page DEIR devotes less than 10 pages
to describing proposed alternatives to the project and
refuting their viability. Included in that discussion were
other widening proposals, including a compete bypass of
the park, but most of these were rejected because they
would require the removal of many more trees.
Alternate Choices?
Signalization alternatives – which would use traffic
lights to restrict two-way traffic through certain sections,
or allow STAA access only at night when a signal was in
operation - were also dismissed, as were warning systems
such as signs, lights and reduced speed advisories.
Caltrans rejected a No Build Alternative saying that
Various local manufacturers and exporters,
Sun Valley Bulb Farm, Lost Coast Brewery and without construction to remove the physical constraints,
Cypress Grove Chevre among them, experi- safety hazards would continue to exist and STAA trucks
ence difficulty exporting and importing goods would continue to be restricted, placing businesses at an
because industry standard trucks are prohibited economic disadvantage.
from entering the county.
Many argue, however, that other measures can be taken
that would both preserve the integrity of Richardson
Grove and the
surrounding area and
What is an STAA Truck? allow businesses to
Industry standard-sized trucks conform- improve their options
ing to the State Transportation Assistance for moving freight.
Act of 1982 exceed 65 feet in overall Short sea shipping
length - the maximum length for has been touted as a
“California Legal” trucks. potential viable option
STAA trucks have been prohibited from for some exporting
the Richardson Grove section of 101 businesses. But Steven
because the tight curves between large Pepper, owner of
redwood tress make it difficult for the Humboldt Maritime
longer rucks to stay within the travel Logistics, cautioned
lane without using part of the opposing that although this will
lane or the unpaved shoulder. However be a useful option for
our region’s shippers,
legislative exemptions exist for cattle
the mode has
trucks and moving vans. limitations.
Graphic from Caltrans web site
It will be limited to
businesses that ship heavy goods and it is much slower
than direct trucking. Additionally, it will be at least two
years before it comes to fruition in the county.
“It is not a solution in and of itself,” said Pepper. “But
it’s an important tool to assist businesses.”
Meanwhile, critics of the Richardson Grove highway
realignment say that a combination of other alternatives
could allow limited access of STAA trucks into the
county hence serving the needs of local exporters, while
preserving the integrity of the Grove and preventing
Highway 101 from becoming another big truck corridor.
Some are advocating a combination of traffic signals,
and speed limit reductions, along with an effort to
lobby for a legislative truck exemption for specific small
businesses.
“Our stance is not to ignore the economic needs of
the county’s businesses,” as one opponent put it. “We
are a creative, resourceful community. We can find
alternative economic solutions.” y
Learn More/Take Action
Extensive details on the proposed highway
realignment can be found on the Caltrans web
site for the project: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/
d1projects/richardson_grove/
You can find additional information about the
potential impacts of the project and suggested
alternatives, and sign a petition to save the grove
at www.saverichardsongrove.org
Although the official comment period has
closed, Caltrans will review new information
submitted. Send your comments to:
Caltrans
Kim Floyd, Project Manager
P.O. Box 3700
Eureka, CA 95502-3700
Kim_Floyd@dot.ca.gov
(707)441-5739

What To Do With The Mad River’s Liquid Assets

Faced with too much water and a
shortage of funds, the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water
District (HBMWD) held two public meetings early this
year to address the future of the Mad River’s flows.
Three solutions emerged. The HBMWD will either
sell its extra water inside the district, sell it outside
the district or find a way to make money by allowing
it to run into the ocean. Each option presents various
problems, but according to District board member
Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, the ultimate solution will
involve a combination of the three – or else the
remaining customers will have to foot the bill.
The easiest option would be to sell the water inside
the district via the existing system of pipelines. That
would require luring a water-intensive industry to a
location on Humboldt Bay, or the reopening of the pulp
mill.
The latter event is still possible, but not in less
than two years. The District is in negotiations with
Freshwater Tissue co-founder Bob Simpson and hopes
to sell his company 15 million gallons per day – about
a quarter of the District’s permitted capacity – if the
facility does reopen.
Sopoci-Belknap said that while negotiations have
been going well, the two parties have encountered
sticking points. For example, mill leadership does not
want to pay the varying electric bill for pumping water
to the mill.
“We sure would like to sell him the water,” said
District board member Aldaron Laird. And because the
mill has no other source of water, and the District no
By Nathaniel Page
Left: Mouth of the Mad River.
Photo: Sam Camp: © campphoto.com
comparable customer, the parties will have to
settle on compromise terms if the facility does
open. But, because the pulp market is so volatile,
the District would prefer not to depend on it
forever.
“Pulp is a fluctuating market,” Sopoci-Belknap
said. “We can’t depend on the pulp mill going
forward.”
The District could also expand its boundaries
to include Fortuna, Ferndale, Rio Dell and
Scotia in the south, and Trinidad in the north.
However, those small communities would not
be able to afford the cost of laying the lengths of
pipe necessary to reach them.
“If it was feasible, it would have already been
done,” Laird said. Furthermore, those towns
would not consume anywhere near as much water as
the District is permitted.
The second solution, selling the water outside the
district, is the most contentious. Humboldt Baykeeper
executive director Pete Nichols, who represents
environmental interests on the District’s advisory
committee, called it “the least palatable solution.”
It would involve transporting water by some untested
method to some as-yet-unidentified outside customer,
perhaps a city in southern California. Whether such a
scheme would preserve the District’s ability to control
its water, and whether it would be a good deal for
local ratepayers, would depend upon the details of a
hypothetical contract with the unidentified customer.
No Takers
No outside entity has yet expressed any interest
in buying Mad River water. Despite its undeveloped
nature, however, this option has the most obvious
potential for rescuing the District from its financial
straits.
The third option is to allow the extra water to simply
flow into the ocean. The biggest problem with this
option is that there is no clear way to make money on it.
One idea is that the District might be able to enter
into a mitigation scheme with a community that would
pay to maintain fish populations in the Mad River to
offset its own effects on another waterway.
But increasing flows might be detrimental to the
river’s fish. Laird said that fish do their fastest growing
in the brackish water zone near the mouth of the river
before setting out to sea, where bigger fish tend to
survive more frequently. Increasing the amount of fresh
water flowing down the river would shrink that brackish
zone unless the estuary was expanded to encompass its
historic breadth across the Arcata bottoms.
No water district in the state has ever justified its
water use on the basis of preserving in-stream flows.
However, the State Water Resources Board does offer
the option of doing so – as long as the permit holder
can demonstrate that the permitted flows are helping
fish populations.
“We’d definitely have to prove that the water would
be benefitting salmon populations,” Sopoci-Belknap
said, adding that the ecological effects would be more
widespread. “There’d be species that would benefit and
some that wouldn’t,” she said.
Since the Mad River has not flowed naturally since
the 1960s, there is very little data about its salmon
populations. No studies of that sort have been done
on the main stem, and only two have been done
on tributaries – the North Fork and its minuscule
contributor, Canyon Creek.
No one knows how manipulated flows have
affected the salmon populations. To demonstrate an
improvement in the fish populations over time would be
impossible without major studies, and it is unclear who
might undertake such studies. Laird suspects that the
river’s extra flows have not significantly improved the
fish population, based on anecdotal evidence.
“Since we’ve increased summer flow, you’d think we’d
get a big bounce from that,” he said. “But it doesn’t look
like we do.” y
Nathaniel Page occasionally writes for ECONEWS.
More Meetings Planned
Phase 3 of the water resources planning process
is now underway, with a series of public meet-
ings scheduled for June.
HBMWD urges citizens to participate in this
year-long effort at community engagement.
Meetings are scheduled as follows:
Tuesday, June 1 - Azalea Hall, McKinleyville
Thursday, June 3 - D Street Neighborhood Cen-
ter, Arcata
Tuesday, June 15 - Wharfinger Bldg, Eureka
All meetings begin at 6 p.m.  
For more information, visit www.hbmwd.com

ECONEWS April/May 2010 www.yournec.org 5

 Options For Preserving Humboldt’s Forest Resource
How to maintain large tracts of timberland, and the
jobs and environmental qualities they support, is one of
the complex problems confronting Humboldt County as
it completes its 20-year General Plan Update.
Property taxes on Timber Production Zones (TPZ)
are about 10 percent of standard property taxes. But
over the last two decades, residential value has begun to
eclipse timber value.
As land is subdivided into smaller parcels and land
values increase based on residential use, the economic
viability of sustainable timber harvesting diminishes.
Unless policies to protect working timberlands are
adopted, Humboldt County could lose its timber base
and vital forested landscape. Such policies are needed
to protect working forestlands from being divided up,
while allowing small landowners to live on the land they
sustainably manage.
Between 1997 and 2008, 35,000 acres of Humboldt
County’s industrial timberlands were divided up
through “Certificates of Compliance,” according to
the North Coast Regional Land Trust. Obtaining
a Certificate of Compliance is a way to divide land
without any environmental review or land use planning.
Since 2008, owners of an additional 15,000 acres
initiated the steps to divide TPZ lands using this same
process. These Certificates allow for the construction of
residences on land that would otherwise be primarily
used for timber production and habitat values.
Though many rural areas in the county have long
been homesteaded, there is currently no way to
distinguish between homesteading and breaking land
up for less environmentally friendly lifestyles.
Timberlands can be protected by promoting
well-planned development in areas served by public
infrastructure, while discouraging widespread
residential development of rural forestlands. Focusing
most future residential development in existing
communities will protect timberlands and open space,
ensuring long-term viability of the timber industry – an
essential economic base for our communities.
So the question for planners is how can the General
Plan Update encourage small landowners to manage for
forest ecosystem values while discouraging the sale of
TPZ land to people who lack a land ethic?
One current policy option in the General Plan
Update would create different rules for industrial
and non-industrial TPZ lands. Another policy being
Planting Project To Benefit Salmon
By Ryan Wells
The North Coast Regional Land Trust (NRLT) is
seeking volunteers for the revegetation phase of its
habitat restoration project in Freshwater.
NRLT owns and manages the 54-acre Freshwater
Farms Reserve located on diked former tidelands
along Humboldt Bay, just west of Three Corners
Market. The area is historically dominated by salt
marsh but was converted, through diking and
simplification of the slough systems, into drier land
for agriculture.
Endangered and threatened fish species, including
coho salmon and steelhead and coastal cutthroat
trout, have been impeded from entering the greater
Freshwater slough system by a levee and gate, so the
habitat-restoration project was initiated in 2006.
The revegetation phase will begin on March 31
and is expected to be completed by April 15. More
than 46,000 native wetland-associated plants will
be planted across some newly constructed tidal
hummocks and along the margins of the new slough
The 29-acre wetland restoration site during an 8.4-foot high tide. Twenty acres
of the Land Trust property remain unflooded and in agricultural production,
creating a mixed-use management of this conservation property. Photo cour-
tesy Ryan Wells, NRLT.
6 www.yournec.org
By Jennifer Kalt
discussed would limit houses to one per 600
acres on industrial TPZ lands, while allowing
smaller landowners to live on the land they
manage.
Several other proposals would give small
TPZ landowners more flexibility while
ensuring that the large contiguous areas of
TPZ can’t be broken up into small individual
parcels.
If different rules are adopted for large industrial
landowners, the following policies would apply to
landowners of less than 5000 acres:
•Easier “Rollout” of Smaller TPZ Parcels:
Currently a four-fifths vote of the Board of
Supervisors is required to remove land from
TPZ zoning and tax status, typically with a
10-year waiting period. This new policy would
allow easier rollout for parcels under 160 acres.
Rollout to rural residential or agricultural
zoning would allow one house per legal parcel.
•Option to Remain in TPZ: The Healthy
Humboldt Coalition recommends giving
owners of smaller TPZ parcels (fewer than
160 acres) the option to remain in TPZ with
demonstration of active forest management,
such as an approved timber harvest plan,
non-industrial timber management plan,
erosion control plan, habitat restoration
plan, or fuels reduction plan. This would
distinguish landowners who are working to
restore forest ecosystem values from those
who are not so dedicated. Photo: Jen Kalt
•Planned Rural Development Program:
Environmentally sound residential development
in appropriate areas would group houses together
while keeping the remainder forested under
conservation easements. TAKE ACTION
A combination of such policies would guide future Express your opinion on the General Plan Up-
development to benefit small TPZ owners while date by emailing mspencer@co.humboldt.ca.us.
protecting the long-term base of Humboldt County’s For more information on the Forest Resources
chapter of the Land Use Element, visit www.
Jennifer Kalt is Policy Analyst for Healthy Humboldt, a healthyhumboldt.org.
coalition of public interest organizations (including the
To read the policies under consideration, see
NEC) working for a County General Plan that provides
the Forest Resources Voting Chart at http://
healthy transportation and housing choices while
protecting resource lands and watersheds by focusing
co.humboldt.ca.us/gpu/documentsKeyIssues-
PlanAlt.aspx.
future growth in existing communities.
Satisfy Your Soul
Bulk Herbs & Teas * Essential Oils * Herbalist Supplies * Books
And So Much More
Serving Humboldt County since 1985
channels. The revegetation plan, developed by John On the Arcata Plaza Open 7 Days 707-822-5296
Bair, riparian botanist for McBain & Trush, mirrors
Want a Cabin by a River?
natural conditions at the site.
This phase of the project follows the installation
of fish screens and the excavation of four slough
networks – totaling about 3,200 feet in length – from Have Ours
the historic marsh plain.
Two existing seasonal ponds were also excavated
to provide year-round habitat for tidewater goby
(Eucyclogobius newberryi). Tidewater goby were
known to inhabit the existing pond south of the Wood
Creek tide gate and it is hoped they will migrate
Jade River Lodge
through the new slough system and utilize these
Joe & Sally Gillespie
newly-excavated brackish water pools.
jaderiverlodge.com (707)954-1641
An existing wooden flap tide gate at the mouth
of Wood Creek was opened in October, allowing
full access to the project site for fish, crustaceans
and other aquatic species, as well as the tides that
bring them in. Once the project manager and project
engineer agree that the restoration site has settled,
the tide gate will be dismantled in place and
removed.
Volunteer planting days are scheduled for
April 1 and April 10, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Smaller groups are also welcome to come and
work alongside the California Conservation
Corps weekdays between April 5 and April 15.
The project area is tidally influenced and
receives some periods of flooding, though
planting times will be scheduled for low- GLOBAL VILLAGE GALLERY
tide periods. Because of standing water and Textiles • Beads 973 H Street Arcata
saturated wetland soils, rubber boots are Clothes • Jewelry 826-2323
Open 7 days a week
recommended, along with gardening gloves,
water, and snacks. A portable restroom will be
available nearby.
To help, contact Ryan Wells, NRLT Project
Manager, at (707) 822-2242. y
Ryan Wells is the project manager for the North
Coast Regional Land Trust.
April/May 2010 ECONEWS
Kin to the Earth
Making A Difference Through Music: Bruce Cockburn
Deforestation, land mines, mass extinctions – these
are just some of the environmental and humanitarian
issues that Bruce Cockburn sings about, inspiring
activists and ordinary citizens the world over to act to
end injustice and environmental destruction.
“My role is as an attention-getter,” said Cockburn.
“People come to me with a request to help get attention
and raise awareness about something.”
And the Canadian singer/songwriter has been
doing just that for the bulk of his career. This year he
was presented with Earth Day Canada’s Outstanding
Commitment to the Environment Award, in
recognition of three decades of being an outspoken
voice on issues relating to the environment.
“There’s a steadily unfolding tragedy out there,” said
Cockburn. “And it’s enough to piss us all off.”
In addition to producing a repertoire of 30 albums,
Cockburn has performed benefit concerts for a myriad
of small environmental organizations in the U.S.
and Canada, including an upcoming concert for the
Siskiyou Land Conservancy scheduled for April 23 at
the Arcata Theatre Lounge.
One of Cockburn’s most popular songs, “If a Tree
Falls” penned in the mid-‘80s, poignantly evokes the
devastation wrought by overlogging. The song later
became the title cut for a 1996 album produced to
benefit Southern Humboldt’s Trees Foundation.
Although some interpret the lyrics to describe the
destruction of the Amazonian rainforest, Cockburn
said that the song was inspired by a radio documentary
on the disappearing woodlands in Borneo along with
his own experiences driving through the diminishing
forests in British Columbia.
“It was easy to make the connection between the
tropics and the northwest rainforest,” said Cockburn.
Born in Ottawa in 1945, Cockburn attended Berklee
College of Music in Boston in the early ‘60s, but gave
up jazz guitar for rock ‘n’ roll and folk music. His 1979
hit, “Wondering Where the Lions Are,” gained him
recognition on this continent when it reached the top
25 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
A Respect For The Wild
Cockburn said he learned to love the wilderness
as a young child during summers spent at a camp at
Algonquin Park in Ontario.
“We would go on extended canoe trips, sometimes
a hundred miles,” he said. “Paddling through that
wilderness and seeing traces of where there had been
logging in the past drove a respect for the wild into me,
and that shaped my whole attitude toward the world”
His awareness of the fragility of the environment
grew in the early ‘70s, Cockburn said, when he lived in
a truck and spent much of his time traveling through
western Canada.
“You’d see something for the first time and it was
amazing,” he said. “Then the third time through you’d
notice it wasn’t there anymore – it’s got a development
Oceans Become Perilously Acidic
By Pete Nichols
Much of the discussion revolving around climate
change has focused on carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions into the atmosphere as the major culprit
impacting our global climate. However, as in any
natural system, ecosystem functions and processes are
inextricably linked and now scientists are beginning to
look at the impacts of CO2 emissions on the world’s
oceans.
A new study, published in Nature Geoscience,
found that ocean acidification is occurring about
10 times faster than a similar event 55 million years
ago. That event resulted in massive extinctions in the
world’s oceans.
Scientists are concerned that high levels of CO2 are
being released into the atmosphere at a much greater
rate than occurred millions of years ago and that,
coupled with rising ocean temperatures could have a
significant effect on the biology of the seas.
The ocean absorbs approximately one-fourth
to one-half of the CO2 that humans add to the
atmosphere each year, greatly reducing the impact of
this greenhouse gas on climate. However, when CO2
dissolves in seawater, carbonic acid is formed, which
lowers the natural pH of the ocean.
This phenomenon, called ocean acidification, can
trigger significant impacts to the marine environment,
especially on species that rely on calcium carbonate
ECONEWS April/May 2010
By Sarah O’Leary
sitting on it.”
“There’s a heartbreak in that,” he said. “It’s like this
was a beautiful thing and it ain’t there anymore and it’s
never coming back.”
Music isn’t the only medium that Cockburn uses
to raise awareness about environmental and political
issues. During the late ‘90s he was deeply involved in
creating the film “River of Sand” about the effects of
desertification in Mali, and 2008 saw the release of the
Canadian film, “Return to Nepal” in which Cockburn
examines the connection between humans and the
environment.
“The desertification of Mali is a lot about
deforestation. When you talk to the old people in those
villages, they can remember looking up at the hillsides
and seeing them covered with trees, ” said Cockburn.
“And there were animals in the bush - lions, birds.
And it was all cut down for firewood – there’s no more
animals, there’s no more trees, there’s no more water.”
The musician has worked since 1995 on the
international effort to ban land mines worldwide.
“Landmines are evidence that war is the biggest
polluter of all,” he said.
The musician joined with activists in an effort to
bring about a international ban on the destructive
military practice.
to make their skeletons. Coral and many types of
shellfish will find it much harder to build their shells
as the ocean becomes more acidic. Moreover, it can
also impact the species that rely on those organisms as
a food source.
While the study’s findings are certainly
troubling and reveal the true complexities of global
climate change, an opportunity to impact how the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates
carbon emissions may result from this crisis.
The agency has agreed to explore ways to tighten
its regulations regarding ocean acidification under the
Clean Water Act.
The decision results from a 2009 lawsuit filed by
the Center For Biological Diversity, which argued that
the coastal waters off Washington State had become
acid enough to violate EPA standards, and that these
waters should be designated impaired under the Clean
Water Act.
The ruling will require EPA to create a process for
all states with coastlines to address ocean acidification
through monitoring the chemistry of their coastal
waters and to provide support as they develop
regulations to control CO2 emission levels. y
Pete Nichols is the executive director of Humboldt
Baykeeper.
www.yournec.org
Enough pressure was brought to bear that an
international treaty was signed in 2007 banning
landmines, said Cockburn. Around 450 countries,
including Canada, are signatories to that treaty.
“But the big ones haven’t signed yet,” he said,
noting that the U.S., China and Russia have resisted
signing the treaty. Cockburn has performed several
benefit concerts to raise awareness on this issue and
to galvanize grassroots support in compelling the U.S.
government to sign the treaty.
Take A Stand
Whether your pressing issue is deforestation,
species extinction, climate change or another
manifestation of a world out of balance, Cockburn
says to get involved in whatever way you can.
“To the extent that we still have democracy
you’ve got to keep pounding your representatives in
government about this stuff – because they run on
votes and if they think they’re gonna get voted out
they’re gonna listen,” he said.
“It’s a slow and frustrating process but it’s the best
thing we’ve got right now – other than taking direct
action of course and getting in the way.”
Cockburn acknowledged that the direct action
route is not open for everyone.
“That is an option of course for those who can do it
and are inspired to do it,” he said. “ But for everybody
else, the 9 to 5ers, those with kids in school or other
concerns – it’s through the political arena that we can
make things happen.”
He pointed to the Siskiyou Land Conservancy
(SLC) as a positive effort to make effective change.
The organization purchases land parcels to hold in
conservation.
“The strategy is effective and it’s a way to do an end
run,” he said. “This is how we got the land mine treaties
signed, they did an end run around the formal political
processes and went ahead and fixed it.”
Finding ways to circumvent obstacles makes good
activism, Cockburn said. “If the government isn’t going
to protect the land in question, buy it and protect it
yourself.”
You can’t take on everything, Cockburn tells those
who would change the world. “Go for the thing that
looks like you can grab it. If everybody did that I think
the world would be in a less dire state than it is,” he said.
“And for those that are spiritually inclined at all –
pray like hell.” y
Bruce Cockburn will perform a benefit
concert for the Siskiyou Land Conser-
vancy on April 23 at the Arcata Theatre
Lounge. For ticket information visit
http://siskiyouland.wordpress.com and
click on the Bruce Cockburn tab.
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Save Yourself 888-694-2537
7
 Chinook Stocks Up Slightly, But Coho Stocks Decline
Submitted by the Hoopa Valley Tribe Fisheries Department

Despite devastating destruction to Pacific salmon reach of the Trinity River was 4,249. The total tribal
stocks, the magnificent fish is showing small signs harvest was 28,565, with the majority harvested on the
of recovery. Yurok Reservation in the estuary.
After two years of recreational ocean salmon Of the total tribal harvest, 15,700 were sold
fishing closures, and four years of ocean commercial commercially by Yurok Tribal members. A portion
salmon fishing closures, the 2010 season forecast for of Hoopa tribal harvest was sold commercially. The
Klamath River and Central Valley stocks show levels of remaining fish were used for subsistence and ceremonial
abundance that could allow fishermen to get their boats purposes.
back on the water, briefly. The number of commercially harvested salmon in
The Pacific Coast Fishery Management Council 2009 was up by 3,500 fish from the 2008 commercial
(PFMC) released its post-season recap in mid March harvest. Ocean commercial fishing was banned on the
detailing the 2009 fall salmon runs and suggested California coast during the 2009 season.
options for the coming season. Recreational harvest for the Klamath and Trinity Rivers
“Although the 2009 Klamath River run was lower than totaled 7,790. The California ocean recreational season was
predicted, 2010 holds slightly more promise,” Hoopa limited this year with brief late-season openings on the
Valley Tribal Fisheries Director, Mike Orcutt said. North Coast. There were 5,400 recorded ocean vessel trips
“The PFMC predicts that an abundance of four-year- with 673 chinook salmon caught.
old salmon will migrate up Klamath and Trinity
rivers this year, with a slight increase in harvest
opportunities for tribal and non-tribal fisheries.” More than 112,000 Chinook Salmon returned to the Klamath Basin to
2009 Spawner Overview spawn during the 2009 season. Data retrieved by several tribal, state,
and federal organizations is compiled and used to determine the run
On the Trinity River more than 23,000 fall run size. Over half of the Chinook returning to the Klamath Basin entered
chinook spawned naturally in the mainstem and the Trinity River to spawn in the Trinity Basin.
tributaries. Another 7,500 were spawned at the Trinity
River Hatchery. On the Klamath River nearly 30,000 season. Tribal and recreational harvest information
spawned naturally and about 13,500 were spawned will be available on May 1.
at Iron Gate Hatchery. The total for the Klamath The PFMC proposed the following options:
Basin, including the Trinity River, was 52,702 natural Sport Season Options - California ocean sport
spawners and 20,986 hatchery spawners. fishing options for the Fort Bragg, San Francisco, and
Escapement goals, the Monterey areas range from entirely closed to nearly full
amount of adult fish the summer seasons that would begin April 3. One option
PFMC determine need is to raise size limits from 20 to 24 inches in the San
Francisco and Monterey areas to protect ESA listed
to spawn naturally and Top: The Willow Creek Weir is installed in early to mid Sacramento winter chinook stocks.
in the hatchery setting, August before the fall run reaches the Trinity River. The Weir
Chinook ocean sport fishing options for the Eureka,
is co-managed by the California Department of Fish and
were met and exceeded Game and the Hoopa Valley Tribe. Constantly attended, the Crescent City, and Brookings areas have start dates
by about 4,000 – a slight fish passing through are counted. The numbers are just one ranging from late May to early July, and all options run
part of a complex formula designed to estimate the total through Labor Day.
boost that can be expected
to improve runs in 2013 Left: Hoopa Valley Tribal Fisheries technician Loren Aubrey For the Tillamook, Newport, Coos Bay, and
measures and takes scale samples from a fall run chinook that Brookings areas, recreational options include mark-
and 2014 if river flows was harvested on the Trinity River in Hoopa. Scale samples are
used to build an age composition report for the Pacific Fishery selective coho fishing seasons starting in June or July
and restoration projects
Management Council, the organization that determines the and running into August, with quotas between 25,000
provide favorable habitat. pre season allocation and post season harvest. and 35,000, less than half of the 2009 quota. Chinook
Data gathered by the fishery options range from two to six months.
Hoopa Valley Tribe, What to expect in 2010 Commercial season options - Commercial ocean
Yurok Tribe, California The PFMC released options for public review chinook salmon fishing options in California range from
Department of Fish and and will hold a hearing in Eureka to discuss the closed to substantial seasons in all areas. Options for
Game, and the U.S. Fish coming season’s options. The hearing will be the Oregon season in the Brookings area range from
and Wildlife Service is combined and mulled over each at the Red Lion Hotel March 30, at 7 p.m. For more small quotas in June and July to traditional time and area
year to calculate the season’s run. That data will be used information, visit the PFMC website at www.pcouncil. quota-based seasons running from May through August.
to estimate future runs. Data is gathered by surveying org. Click on the salmon tab. There will not be any commercial fisheries for coho
counts at weirs and surveying spawning beds (redds). Klamath River fall chinook are forecast to meet salmon in central and southern Oregon this year.
2009 Harvest Overview the minimum natural spawning goal of 35,000, and More information on these options and public
The Yurok tribal harvest was a little more than the 2010 management objective of 40,700. Coho hearing dates and times can be found at the Fishery
24,300. The Hoopa tribal harvest on the lowermost returns are expected to be lower than the 2009 Council website, www.pcouncil.org. y

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8 www.yournec.org April/May 2010 ECONEWS

Low Impact Development: New Tools to Improve Water Quality By Jennifer Kalt
Left: This grassy “bioswale” in a parking lot is Monitoring of swales has documented significant
an example of a low impact design feature that
helps filter heavy metals, oil and grease so that removals of metals and total suspended solids, though
polluted runoff does not reach nearby streams. reductions in pollutants such as nitrates and phosphates
Photo: Jen Kalt have been variable.
Site-specific design features that generate LID works equally well in new development and
less surface runoff, less pollution, less erosion, redevelopment projects, and can also be used to retrofit
and less overall damage to lakes, streams, and existing development.
coastal waters are the essence of LID. Such In many jurisdictions, these development
features also reduce the need for expensive principles are mandated in new residential and
centralized conveyance systems. commercial developments by local ordinance.
Vegetated swales, or “bioswales,” are In Humboldt County, however, LID is often
essentially shallow, sloped, grassy ditches made difficult by existing ordinances and polices
that act as both stormwater conveyance governing development.
and treatment systems. Pollutant removal The General Plan Update is a good opportunity
in swales is accomplished via filtration to adopt new guidelines to promote the use of Low
through channel and side slope vegetation, Impact Development to protect local creeks, rivers,
infiltration into the channel bottom and and coastal waters. y
activity of soil microbes.
Low Impact Development (LID) is
a suite of design features that reduces the environmental impacts of Common pollutants in urban runoff, their causes, and potential LID solutions*
development practices.
For example, rain gardens, bioswales, rain barrels and Pollutant: Cause: LID Solutions:
permeable paths and driveways all help filter pollutants from Petroleum products, Impermeable pave- Permeable pavement, paving stones, reduction
stormwater runoff before it flows into creeks and rivers. heavy metals ment in paved surfaces, bioswales in parking lots and
In a typical residential neighborhood, much less rainfall adjacent to streets.
infiltrates the soil to be taken up by plants, and less evaporates into Nitrogen, phospho- Fertilizers and pesti- Rain gardens or bioswales to intercept runoff be-
rus, pesticides cides used for lawns fore it gets to storm drains. Infiltration into the soil
the atmosphere. Because of the increase in impervious surfaces and other landscap- allows breakdown by soil microbes; interception
associated with most development, about 20 to 30 percent of ing by plants that take up water and pollutants keeps
rainfall becomes stormwater runoff. them out of storm water.
This runoff carries pollutants and causes erosion as water runs Fecal coliform Pet excrement, leaks Rain gardens or bioswales, regular testing and
across rooftops, roads, and parking areas. Storm drains flow from municipal maintenance of sewer and stormwater systems.
sewer lines or septic Shallower sloped, longer, sandy soiled, and
directly into creeks, sloughs and marshes, carrying untreated systems densely grassed swales have the highest pollution
stormwater to Humboldt Bay and other coastal waters. removal rates. 
Pollutants such as oil and antifreeze, brake pad dust, fertilizers Suspended solids Construction sites, Stormwater prevention “Best Management Prac-
and pesticides, sediment, and heavy metals from roofing material roads tices” such as straw wattles, tarping soil heaps,
are common in stormwater runoff and can have significant effects cleaning heavy equipment, etc.
Copper Roofs, vehicles Use of gutter runoff in landscaping, e.g. rain
on water quality. gardens, rain barrels and cisterns, green roofs, and
LID aims to control the problem close to the source, a new roof gardens; street sweeping.
approach to conventional practices of collecting and disposing of
stormwater off-site. This is achieved by reducing the amount of *Water conservation is always the first solution that should be employed. Planting na-
stormwater that needs to be treated through lessening the impervious
tive and/or drought-tolerant plants and using mulch are examples of water conserva-
footprint of a site. The end result is improved water quality.
tion measures for landscaping that will help protect water quality by reducing runoff.

Local Efforts Stem The Tide Of Water Pollution

By Jennifer Kalt

Nationwide, approximately 50 percent of water commonly found in stormwater runoff, including

pollution is caused by stormwater runoff. In California,
pollution accumulates during dry summers, and with
the first heavy rains, these pollutants are flushed into
storm sewers, creeks, and rivers, eventually flowing
into the ocean and estuaries such as Humboldt Bay.
Runoff from parking lots and roads, faulty septic or
sewage systems, agricultural and residential pesticide
use, and industrial sources all contribute to stormwater
pollution. Sediment from logging, roads, construction,
and landslides is also major source of polluted runoff.
Humboldt Baykeeper’s Citizen Water Monitoring
Program began in 2005 and now includes more than
30 sites in 12 streams, including several stormwater
runoff ditches.
The goal of the Water Monitoring Program is to
document the present condition of local streams, to
identify problem areas for future monitoring, and to find
solutions that reduce such pollution.
The data compares snapshots of water quality during
the dry weather period in late summer and the “First
Flush” after autumn’s first big storm sends pollutants
washing off streets into storm drains and creeks.
Samples are tested for a variety of pollutants that are
fecal coliform bacteria, heavy metals, nutrients
such as nitrates and phosphates, and pesticides
frequently used on lawns and landscaping.
Physical parameters such as turbidity, pH, and
total suspended solids are also measured.
2009 Results
After the season’s first major storm,
Humboldt County waterways often contain
much higher levels of fecal coliform bacteria
than water quality standards recommend
for recreational waters. These bacteria are
indicators of other pathogens, many of which
are difficult to detect.
Faulty septic systems, pet and livestock
feces, and leaky sewage pipes can all
contribute to the high levels of fecal coliform Jen Kalt trains volunteers for the Humboldt Baykeeper Citizen Water Monito-
in local creeks. This year, several locations rin Program along Butcher’s Slough in Arcata. Photo: Humboldt Baykeeper.
were found to have extremely high levels
of fecal coliform, though the causes are and washing cars at car washes, where chemicals and
unknown. (See graph below.) soaps will not runoff into storm drains and creeks.
The Humboldt County Environmental Health You can also create rain gardens and direct rain
Department monitors fecal coliform near creek gutters to them. Such gardens can absorb much of
mouths that deliver stormwater into the ocean. the stormwater that would otherwise flow into storm
Sampling results at Moonstone drains, ending up in creeks and Humboldt Bay.
Beach, Clam Beach, Trinidad For more information on Humboldt Baykeeper’s
State Beach, Luffenholtz Creek Citizen Water Monitoring Program, visit www.
and the mouth of the Mad River humboldtbaykeeper.org.
are posted on the county’s website Baykeeper thanks the dozens of dedicated volunteers
at http://co.humboldt.ca.us/HHS/ and partners, including the Cities of Eureka and Arcata,
PHB/EnvironmentalHealth/ Pacific Watershed Associates, Salmon Forever, and
OceanMonitoringProgram/. North Coast Laboratories, who help make this program
The County Health Department a success. y
recommends that beachgoers avoid
contact with coastal waters and
streams until at least three days after Jennifer Kalt is Humboldt Baykeeper’s Citizen Water
a heavy rainfall. Monitoring Coordinator, and advocates for better land
You Can Help use planning to protect our local waterways.
Citizens can help reduce
stormwater pollution by maintaining
septic systems, keeping livestock To get involved in the Citizen Water Moni-
out of creeks and rivers, picking up toring Program, call 707-268-8897, or
pet feces, reducing fertilizer and email volunteer@humboldtbaykeeper.org.
pesticide use in lawns and gardens,

ECONEWS April/May 2010 www.yournec.org 9

 Go Play Outside: The Kokté Quest By Allison Poklemba
Left: The Kokté Quest follows the lowest stretches of the meandering The result is a beautifully written set of clues and
Jacoby Creek while teaching followers about native and non-native drawings that lead visitors from spruce grove, to willow
plants and animals along the way. Photo: Allison Poklemba
thicket, to berry patch, to salmon pool, to creek side
vista and back again – all within easy access of Old
The Jacoby Creek Land Trust’s Arcata Road.
(JCLT) Kokté Land is an ideal spot for easy riparian Interested in additional hands-on activities to do
exploration. To encourage visitors to spend time getting along the walk? Check out the JCLT’s “Collection
to know the plants, animals, and history of this stretch of Activities for the Kokté Ranch & Jacoby Creek
of creek, wooded flood plain and pasture, Land Trust Watershed” (also available online) for a key to Amazing
staff and student advisory board created “The Kokté Aquatic Arthropods, insights into Repairing the
Quest: A Treasure Hike Along the Jacoby Creek.” Riparian, and more. y
Quests are place-based “treasure” hunts, often
written in rhyme, leading to a treasure in the Allison Poklemba is the CREEC (California
community. They encourage participants of all ages Regional Environmental Education Community)
to utilize their senses to experience and celebrate a Network’s regional coordinator. To learn more about
community’s rich natural and cultural history, stories, environmental educational opportunities for youth, visit
and special places. www.creec.org/region1.
Regional Questing programs are continuing to
develop around the world. The Kokté Quest is the latest
addition to a growing collection of Quests here on the
“Listen to the music of the birds, North Coast which already includes the Humboldt Bay
Many can be seen or heard: National Wildlife Refuge and the Arcata Community
The warblers and woodpeckers,
Getting There:
Forest. From the JCLT headquarters parking lot at 2182
The phoebes and the flickers. Since Quests share community treasures, often a Old Arcata Road in Bayside, stop at the trail-
The tallest snag can be a perch, community of people work together to create them. In
head kiosk to pick up a Kokté Quest brochure
For birds to sit, predators to search. this case, a team of high school students joined with
(or print one beforehand at www.jclandtrust.
In the creek and the field live abundant prey, JCLT staff and topic experts to learn about this unique
ecosystem before beginning the work of weaving words
org). The walk will take about an hour.
From in the trees, the hawks survey.” together into a poetic hiking tour.
–Exerpted from The Kotké Quest

Hey Kids! Learn About The Aleutian Goose

By Sarah Marnick

Word Puzzle! Find these words (under picture)

Did You Know…..the Aleutian on the chart below. Can you tell why they are
goose was once thought to be extinct?
In the 1800’s Russian fur trappers put foxes on about the Aleutian Goose?
the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska so they
could grow and breed. They would go back and trap
the animals for their fur. Well, the foxes took over
Y R C A S M Y R I A H M K L B
the islands where the Aleutian geese live and ate the T Z O E B E A G T W A T R W H
geese, making the goose almost extinct.
In 1967 the Aleutian goose was put on the E E N D A N G E R E D L F O N
Endangered Species List. Then, a man named Bob
Jones rowed out to a far away island where the fur W R S S K M N G R T J W O F W
trappers did not put foxes, and found a small number
of Aleutian geese. Everyone was excited at his find.
Y R E T R E D I S C O V E R A
No one had seen an Aleutian goose for more than 25 T I R U E L A E L O W T K E Y
years.
Since then, their population has recovered and they Z Z V G S U C C E S S G W T H
were taken off of the Endangered Species List in 2001.
They are a migratory species which means they E Z A R G A C G K R N A A Y
breed and have babies in one place, and they fly far Words To Find O L T F J L G N W E B I M W E
away to spend winters in a different place. In the case CONSERVATION MIGRATION
of Aleutians, they spend their winters in Northern R W I W E N B I I H T T A H R
ENDANGERED NEST
California feeding on grass and getting fat for their
three day flight back to the Aleutian Islands to breed FEATHER REDISCOVER E D O T I F F P L T H N M A O
and have their babies. FLYWAY SUCCESS
These birds are truly a success story for the
G A N L E N P D A O U U R L
GOOSE TRAPPING
Endangered Species Act. You can see thousands of S N S S T J G A L E R H H V W
Aleutian geese right here in Humboldt County. They GOSLING WATERFOWL
stop here for our yummy grass. GRAZE WING O O A A H E R R I F L Y W A Y
Did you know that in one day 35 geese can eat as HUNTING ALEUTIAN
much as one cow? That’s a lot of eating! y G A W A L E U T I A N A Y L F

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10 www.yournec.org April/May 2010 ECONEWS

 15th Annual Godwit Days Celebration
Welcome to the 15th Annual Godwit Days!
At the Arcata Community Center, April 16-18
Godwit Days is a 3‑day spring migration bird festival
– operated by the nonprofit Godwit Days
organization – that celebrates the Marbled
Godwit and all the birds of the coastal
redwoods, bays, marshes, and mudflats on
California’s Redwood Coast. The Arcata
Community Center at 321 Community
Park Way serves as the departure point
for nearly all fieldtrips and houses our art
show and Bird Fair. Choose from nearly
100 field trips, lectures, workshops, and
boat excursions. Pre‑ and post‑festival trips
can extend your experience from April
15-21. Advance registration is strongly
recommended! Sign up online at www.
godwitdays.com or call 707-826-7050;
toll-free: 1-800-908-WING (9464)
Look for the free Godwit Days tabloid,
produced by The Arcata Eye, at the Arcata
Marsh Interpretive Center and many other
local outlets
Something for Everyone
“Early birds” can catch the dawn chorus at
the Arcata Marsh, while “night owls” can
literally look for owls until 10 p.m. Go on a
trip to see as many bird species as possible
by bus in a day, or one ones focusing on
rare birds like snowy plover and spotted
owl. Trips range north to Del Norte County,
south to Ferndale, and inland to Willow
Creek and Hoopa. Workshops teach about
local insects and mammals, as well as how
to identify birds by their sounds. Boat trips
on our rivers, lagoons, bays, and ocean
are a highlight, ranging from 1-hour tours
of Humboldt Bay, to half-day kayaking or
rafting trips, to all-day trips on the Pacific.
You can even bird by bicycle!
New offerings for 2010 are a shorebird
spectacle at the Arcata Marsh, a condor
seminar, a redwood forest ecology field
trip, trips focusing on raptors or West
Coast specialties, kayak tours of Mad River
Slough, and a visit to Humboldt Coastal
Nature Center.
Just for Kids (& Other Free Events)
The Festival offers many free activities of interest to
children, including:
•Live birds of prey
•Display of all entries in the 7th Annual Student Bird
Art Contest
•Family nature & craft activities on Saturday
from 12:30-3:30 p.m. (sponsored by Friends of the
Arcata Marsh)
•A Bird Fair with commercial vendors and information
booths from nonprofit groups and government agencies
Children are the focus of two field trips and two
workshops, which have no cost but participants
must preregister:
•Kids’ Owl Pellet Dissection Workshop, Friday, 4-5 p.m.
•Kids’ Birding Field Trips, Saturday & Sunday,
9:30-11:30 a.m.
•Art Workshop for Kids, Saturday, Noon-1 p.m.
ECONEWS April/May 2010
Godwit Days also offers free field trips for ALL ages to
Patricks Point State Park, Arcata Marsh, South Jetty,
Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Lanphere
Dunes, and Stone Lagoon that require preregistration
but no payment. Children interested in participating
in the many for-fee field trips and workshops may
register for most at no charge when accompanied by a
paying adult.
Live Birds of Prey
Experience a close encounter with owls, hawks, and
other raptors. Wildlife Images of Oregon will be
back with injured birds of prey on Saturday (10 a.m.-
5 p.m.) and Sunday (10 a.m.-3 p.m.). Additionally,
Avian Ambassadors from the Humboldt Wildlife Care
Center will be on hand during the Friday night opening
reception (5-7 p.m.). Registration Options
Registration plans range from a top-of-the-line $80
Value Package – which includes all events except bus
and boat trips, pre- and post-festival trips,
and the banquet – to a one-day $22 Basic
Registration where each event added on carries
a fee. Student registration is half the Basic rate,
with some events excluded.
Not otherwise registered and want to attend
a Sunday event? Stop by registration Saturday
night to sign up for unfilled field trips at
the cost of the trip only (no registration fee
required).
Godwit Goodies: Buy & Bid!
Stop by and look over the goodies on display
in registration as part of the silent auction.
Bid on binoculars, outdoor clothing/gear,
wine, artwork, and much more. All auction
contributors are recognized on signage at the
Community Center. To donate, call 826‑7050.
Also in registration will be 2010 Godwit Days
T-shirts featuring the poster design by Carol
Andersen, baseball caps, visors, and knitted
beanies. Discounted merchandise from prior
years may be available.
A Word about Our Sponsors
Staging this festival would not be possible
without strong support from local businesses,
media, government, and nonprofit groups.
Following is an alphabetical list of entities that
have donated at least $250 in money, goods,
or services (as of March 8): Arcata Chamber of
Commerce, Arcata Eye, Bicoastal Media (KKHB/KGOE),
Bloomfield Studio, California State Parks (North Coast
Redwood District), City of Arcata, Coast Central Credit
Union, Earth Map Photo, Friends of the Arcata Marsh,
Friends of the Dunes, Green Diamond Resource Co,
Hum‑Boats Kayak Adventures, Humboldt Baykeeper, Kayak
Zak’s, KHSU, KIEM News Channel 3, Kokatat, KURY, LBJ
Enterprises, Libation, Lost Coast Communications (KHUM/
KSLG/KWPT), Miller Farms Nursery, Murphy’s Market,
Neuroscape Communications, Nikon Sport Optics, North
Coast Cooperative Inc, Northcoast Environmental Center,
Pacific Gas & Electric, Pierson Building Center, Provolt
Design, Quality Inn (Arcata), Redwood National & State
Parks, Redwood Region Audubon Society, Rookery Books,
Strictly for the Birds, Tomas Jewelry, Violet-Green Winery,
Wildberries Marketplace. Over 40 additional donors gave
less than $250.
Crescent City Festival May 7-9
Keynote Lecture The free Friday night lecture at Godwit Days will
For the past five years, Jeff Bouton has worked as feature Rick Hiser talking about the evolution of the
product specialist to the birder/naturalists markets Aleutian Goose Festival into the California Redwood
for Leica Sport Optics. He has written many articles Bird & Nature Festival. See page 18, or visit www.
on birds/birding, including a column in Wild Bird caredwoodsbirdfest.org for details.
magazine. Jeff has given dozens of workshops and other
presentations over the years. A research biologist and All Photos © Beth Deibert
professional tour leader for over 25 years, he was a
contributing author for the ABA Bird-finding Guides to
Alaska and Florida.
Wildlife & Landscapes Art Exhibit
A fabulous showcase for local artists’ depictions of
wildlife and landscapes. Creations will be displayed in
the main hall on Friday from 5-7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-
5 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Student Bird Art Contest Display
Redwood Region Audubon and Friends of the Arcata
Marsh have teamed to sponsor a student bird art
contest at Godwit Days. A total of $500 will be awarded
to Humboldt Country students in grades K-12. Winners
will receive awards at a ceremony at 11:30 am on April
17. Copies of prize-winning artwork will be shown at
the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center during May
Registration & Important Information
On-site registration hours: Friday, April 16, 3-7 p.m.;
Saturday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-noon.
Visit www.godwitdays.com for descriptions of the nearly
100 field trips, workshops, and lectures and to register.
There, you will find the cancellation policy, how to
register children, and instructions to sign up for free
community sessions.
www.yournec.org 11
 A Natural Education By Ian Jewett

Arcata Recycling Changes
By Allison Poklemba
The Arcata Community Recycling Center’s (ACRC)
9th & N Street drop-off yard will see some big changes
on April 30.
This is the day that ACRC’s contract with the City of
Arcata will come to a close. City funding has supported
the collection of “everyday” recyclables (papers and
containers) at this location since 1994.
Unless additional funding is secured, the recycling
dumpsters for mixed papers and containers will be
removed on the last day of April.
But this does not mean that ACRC plans to close up
shop. The change will actually provide the Resusables
Depot Thrift Store with much needed space to expand.
Freed up space will allow for a great improvement in the
variety and supply of recycled building materials.
Other services such as the buy-back for CRV
materials will continue. The CHaRM (Center for Hard
to Recycle Materials) will continue to serve as the
complement to curbside recycling by offering recycling
and safe disposal for items that require special handling
and are not accepted in curbside collection bins.
Accepted items include electronic waste, motor oil
and antifreeze, medical sharps, CFLs, batteries, and
appliances. Visit www.arcatarecycling.org for a complete
list of materials accepted at the CHaRM.
The City of Arcata chose to terminate their contract
with ACRC because residents are now provided with
convenient and efficient recycling service for paper and
containers at their curb.
The segment of the population most affected by
this change are those that reside outside the city
limits of Arcata, Blue Lake, or Eureka (which all offer
curbside recycling service) and who are accustomed to
using ACRC’s 9th and N Street drop-off for everyday
recyclables.
Residents in this situation are encouraged to call their
service hauler for garbage collection to inquire about
curbside recycling service – the sphere of which is
continuing to expand – and let them know this service
is desired.
Requirements for recycling are being discussed
by county officials and waste haulers serving the
unincorporated areas of Humboldt County – residents
can contact their County Supervisor’s office to expresses
their wishes in regard to recycling.
Paper and containers will continue to be accepted
at the Humboldt Waste Management Authority (1059
W. Hawthorne St., Eureka) and Humboldt Sanitation
(2585 Central Ave., McKinleyville). For a complete list
of county-wide recycling service options visit www.
humboldtrecycling.org.
Over time, bundled refuse and curbside recycling
service will continue to expand beyond the official
city limits of Arcata, Eureka and Blue Lake. Recology
(formerly City Garbage of Eureka) has already expanded
curbside recycling service into areas surrounding
Eureka (including Myrtletown, Cutten, Humboldt Hill,
and other neighborhoods) and is looking at further
expansion of service from Ryan Slough through the
Freshwater area. y
This region of Northern California is special for so program through FOD and lend a hand (literally) by
many reasons: plentiful redwoods, seemingly endless removing invasive beach grass and ice plant from native
coastal bluffs, salmon runs, and scenic rivers. Unique dune ecosystems. This program allows kids to develop a
opportunities to learn about the natural environment personal relationship with environmental stewardship.
should be added to this list.
Allison Poklemba, coordinator for California
Marnin Robbins with California State Parks works to
coordinate education programs throughout the North
Regional Environmental Educational Community Coast, which includes 22 state parks. “We are trying to
(CREEC) on the North Coast, explained, “We have reach audiences who are normally not coming to parks,
an amazing collection of environmental education especially kids as they are becoming disconnected from
programs due to the variety of organizations involved, nature,” said Robbins.
including private nonprofits, educational, and A new and creative initiative links state park rangers
government entities”. to classrooms via video conferencing. The PORTS (Parks
CREEC offers many opportunities for exploration. Online Resources for Teachers and Students) program
A marsh madness quest is currently posted on the takes students throughout California on a virtual fieldtrip
homepage that provides a creative tour through the of redwood ecology.
wetlands. April events include ‘Get Outside’ day, the “These programs never replace a real field trip, but
Santa Rosa Earth may be a child’s first
Day Fair and the experience [in the
California Native redwoods], especially
Plant Society Spring for inner city kids,” said
Wildflower Show in Robbins.
Manila. Although most of
Michael Kauffman, Northern California is
a Fortuna Middle devoid of the ‘big city’
School teacher vibe, many children
takes every who live very close to
opportunity to get natural environments
his students out haven’t had the chance
of the classroom. to explore or learn
He recently took about these living
his students on a ecosystems.
field trip with the The Humboldt
Bureau of Land Bay National
Management to the Wildlife Refuge
Headwaters forests. Photo: © campimages.com (HBWNR) also offers
“It was neat for outdoor educational
kids to travel from opportunities.
in-town and within ten minutes to be within old growth Guided bird walks leave from the Richard J. Guadagno
redwoods,” he said. Headquarters (south of Eureka) the first Wednesday and
Kauffman has also taken classes on overnight trips second Sunday of every month at 9 a.m.
to Wolf Creek Education School and Mendocino Lanphere Dunes and Ma-le’l Dunes walks take place
Woodlands Camp. “In addition to experiential learning from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the first Saturday and
the kids get to play outside, which is equally important,” fourth Sunday of the month respectively.
he said. “Play in nature creates that comfort [with the A “Wetlands and Watersheds” curriculum offered
outdoors] that students are losing touch with because of through HBNWR allows students to experience the
structure in school, after school activities, and so forth”. wetlands up close March through May. Educators can
Opportunities to learn about the environment contact Andrea Harris at andrea_harris @fws.gov for
aren’t limited to youngsters though. Friends of the more information.
Dunes (FOD) is one organization with something for Want to get involved, either learning or teaching?
everyone. Anyone who wants to get outside and enjoy CREEC is a great place to start. The website (www.
the sunshine (or fog) on a weekend can take part in a creec.org/region1/) offers a searchable database for
guided tour. These guided walks last about two hours on educational opportunities in the area. One can also
the weekends and occur at Humboldt Coastal Nature find a calendar of upcoming events and a newsletter
Center, as well as Manila, Ma-le’l, and Lanphere Dunes. containing contests, grants, and workshops occurring
FOD also gives regular trainings to become a coastal throughout the year.
naturalist and lead walks through the dunes. There is no such thing as too much knowledge about
Volunteer opportunities to remove invasive species Mother Nature, but there is such a thing as too little. y
and assist in dune clean-up also occur weekly and are
open to the public. Ian Jewett is a recent transplant to the North Coast,
Student groups participate in an adopt-a-dune hailing from Maryland. A trained biologist, he enjoys
the outdoors and is currently an ECONEWS intern.
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 It’s a Bunker…It’s a Hobbit House…It’s
The Humboldt Coastal Nature Center! By Maggie Stoudner

Del Norte Dispatch By Eileen Cooper

Artistic rendering of the Humboldt Coastal Nature Center in its completed form. Submitted by Friends of the Dunes
If you’ve passed through Manila recently,
you’ve probably noticed a lot of activity at the dome-
shaped building on the western side of Rt. 255. This
structure will soon be transformed into a state of the art
nature center.
Theories abound about this building’s past, including
the airplane hangar of a wealthy Humboldtian, a World
War II bunker, and a home for small ring-bearing
gnomes. In fact, it was once home to Charles and
Rachel Stamps, who built the house in 1985, and it is
now owned by Friends of the Dunes (FOD), a local non-
profit dedicated to the conservation of coastal habitats.
In 2007, FOD purchased the building and 113 acres
of surrounding property, collectively known as the
Humboldt Coastal Nature Center (HCNC).
Passersby and visitors to the site have seen the
removal of a stand of eucalyptus trees near the building,
as well as vegetation, sand and thousands of tires being
removed from the roof.
The invasive eucalyptus trees will be replaced by
native beach pine or Sitka spruce. The tires, used to
hold sand in place atop the earth sheltered building, will
be recycled into tire-derived products. Removing the
tires allows for repairs to the roof and the installation of
a new waterproofing system that will be virtually leak-
proof, and much more compatible with plans to install
an earth-sheltered green roof of native plants.
The HCNC and You
Although the area immediately around the building
is closed to visitors while under construction, the
Wildberries Trail, made possible by a generous donation
from (you guessed it) Wildberries Marketplace, remains
open during daylight hours. The trail head has been
relocated from its original place in front of the building
to the north end of a temporary parking area.
While under construction, the structure itself is off-
limits, but once open, the Nature Center will serve a
multitude of purposes. LEED-certified and designed to
incorporate green building principles, the Center will
include an exhibit space that easily transforms into a
lecture hall/classroom, a visitor services desk and a small
gift shop, a resource library and meeting space, public
restrooms and workspace for FOD staff and volunteers.
Construction is taking a phased approach, with the
exhibit room and restrooms slated to open in the fall,
and the rest early next year. Surrounding the building
is a trail system that links to over 1,000 acres of
coastal dunes.
The new Nature Center will allow FOD to expand
and develop their programs for the community. The
organization offers free weekend guided walks and
volunteer restoration workdays at various coastal
properties, field seminars and training programs –
including an extensive fall Coastal Naturalist Training,
family-focused educational events and workshops
and school education programs which include both
classroom and field components.
Free weekend walks depart from this location, the
Manila Dunes Recreation Area and the Humboldt Bay
National Wildlife Refuge. The walks cover a variety
of interesting topics, and each is different. To find
out about a specific walk, check out the ECONEWS
calendar on page 19, or visit FOD’s website at www.
friendsofthedunes.org.
“Family Fun Days” is a new offering that provides
families with an opportunity to explore coastal habitats
through games and activities for all ages. Also new is
the Trailkeepers program, a group of volunteers who
provide FOD with eyes and ears to ensure that the trails
are maintained, safe and accessible.
School programs offered in the fall and spring
include classroom presentations and hands-on field trip
experiences in coastal habitats. FOD uses community
volunteers to lead these programs, including trained
walk leaders, classroom presenters and field trip guides.
Training for volunteers and paid interns (yes, FOD
offers paid environmental education internships!)
who would like to lead school field trips is happening
now—check out the ECONEWS calendar for training
dates and times.
Volunteers are needed to help restore the
property, assist with landscape plantings, become a
Trailkeeper and more.
For more information about the Humboldt Coastal
Nature Center project and Friends of the Dunes’ many
program offerings and volunteer opportunities, visit
their website at www.friendsofthedunes.org. y
Maggie Stoudnour is the Education Program Manager
at Friends of the Dunes.  She first came to the area eight
years ago to attend the Environment and Community
Master’s program at HSU and loved it here so much,
she stayed. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her
husband, one-year-old son and two dogs.
A Golden Turkey Award
　If there was a Golden Turkey Award given for
“Worst Environmental Violation by a Public Entity,” Del
Norte County would surely win it this year.
Although it lacked the required Coastal Permits
and had not held any public hearings, Del Norte
County supervisors decided to authorize off-highway
vehicle (OHV) use at Tolawa Dunes State Park and
adjacent public lands.
The county had not consulted with the adjoining
State Park and Fish and Game jurisdictions when they
authorized this activity within fragile coastal dunes
that have been designated Environmentally Sensitive
Habitat Area (ESHA).
County employees erected signs designating OHV
use along Pacific Shores Subdivision roads. These
county roads lead nowhere except into state-owned
dune habitat that abounds with endangered wildlife
and plant communities.
 The damage could be seen immediately. Peter
Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal
Commission, noted in a recent visit, “It’s going to take a
long time to restore the resource damage that was done.”
The signs have now been removed, pending action of
the California Coastal Commission.
Tolowa Dunes contains fragile dune mat that takes
hundreds of years to develop and can be destroyed
instantly by careless riding. It is home to endangered
plants that grow nowhere else. Delicate violets support
the largest recovery population of the endangered
Oregon silverspot butterfly, and brown pelicans like to
rest at the Tolowa lagoon estuary.
 Del Norte County spent about $30,000 on the OHV
signs and on clearing and regrading unused portions
of the Pacific Shores road system. This too was done
without Coastal Permits, although a previous Coastal
Grading Violation is on record for the county because of
the same activity about five years ago.
The roadwork entailed clearing fairly large rare
shore pines from the roadside. The resurfacing
was accomplished by pushing aside large volumes
of accumulated trash, including illegally dumped
appliances, and partially burying this trash into the
wetlands running alongside the road.
Now the waters of Tolowa Dunes run copper. All
agencies including the US Army Corps and the Water
Quality Control Board have been notified.
“This is the most egregious violation by a local
jurisdiction that I’ve ever seen in the history of the
Coastal Commission,” said Douglas.
Airport Coastal Hearing
 The Friends of Del Norte/Coastal Commission
appeal of the Del Norte County Airport will be reviewed
at the upcoming California Coastal Commission
agenda for April. Hopefully, the Coastal Commission
will uphold protection of the rare shore pine forest and
numerous wetlands that are considered ESHA.
New airport designs have been drafted, as a response
to Coastal Commission staff and Friends of Del Norte
suggestions. A Friends of Del Norte representative will
attend to circumvent any possible last minute mischief.

• Eel River Dam Removal Now! Pacific Shores Finally Resolved

• Expand Community Forests
• Rails-to-Trails Projects Now!
• Promote Alternative Energy
• Implement Ocean Conservation &
Expand Sustainable Fisheries
• Foster Rural Development that
Maintains Healthy Watersheds,
Forests, and Farmland
PO Box 1102
Blue Lake, CA 95525
839-4987
On a note of celebration, the infamous Pacific
Shores Water District, a district that for over 25 years
collected several million in tax dollars but was unable
to provide any service (See Feb/March ECONEWS), is
finally declared dissolved by the Court. 
No longer will tax dollars be illegitimately spent to
petition for the draining of Lake Earl Coastal Lagoon. 
But, it’s not over till it’s over.  The judge’s decision is
being appealed by plaintiff, Janice Wilson, a placeholder
for the water district. y
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ECONEWS April/May 2010 www.yournec.org 13

 Humboldt Cows Easily Meet Tighter Organic Standards
New stricter federal regulations for organic dairy and
beef farmers take effect in June and could prove to be a
boon to Humboldt County.
The new rules clarify the amount of time that
organically raised livestock must be pastured and what
percentage of their diet is allowed to be grain. The
updated standards also apply to beef cattle.
Some larger organic farms have benefitted from the
looser language of the previous standards, which only
specified that cows should have access to pasture, but
not how long. These large-scale producers only put
their cows out to pasture during short periods when the
animals are not giving milk and often feed them almost
exclusively on grain.
“Most Humboldt County farms already follow
these [new] guidelines,” said Blake Alexandre, a dairy
farmer based in Crescent City who also farms in
Ferndale. “These rules are certainly going to work to our
advantage and set us apart from the crowd.”
Jim Regli, a Ferndale dairy farmer, agreed, “It’s
great for my operation because we’ve already been in
compliance anyway,” he said.
“I don’t know any place else that can grow as much
grass year round.” Alexandre added.
Alexandre worked with small organic dairy farmers
across the nation for the past ten years to get the more
stringent federal regulations passed.
The main components of the new rules include the
requirement that animals must graze pasture during
the grazing season, which must be at least 120 days per
year, and obtain a minimum of 30 percent of their food
intake pasture grazing.
Producers must also manage their pasture as a crop
to meet the feed requirements for grazing animals and
to protect soil and water quality.
Life Form Of The Month
The California Butterclam: Ranging Into Northern Waters
The California Butterclam, Saxidomus nuttalli,
commonly lives buried at least a foot or more in mud
or sand, in the low intertidal zone of bays, as well as in
sandy areas near rocks on the outer coast.
The range of this native butterclam extends from Punta
Rompiente, Baja California, north to Humboldt Bay.
However, it has now been observed in Del Norte County
as well.
Recently while “delving through the
dredges” at the Crescent City Harbor, I
discovered several shells of the species,
60 miles direct distance – as a crow flies
– north of the previously recognized
northernmost range at Humboldt Bay.
This clam species is also known as the
“Washington Clam.” However, the often
shared common name “Washington
Clam” is better applied to a related, but
different species: Saxidomus gigantea.
This is the only species of the two that
actually does occur in Washington
State, ranging from central California to
Alaska.
Both species are sometimes also
known as the “Money Clam” (or Koo’-
tah), because it was once used by the
Coastal Miwoks (Olamentko group of
Bodega Bay) for this purpose.
In Latin, the name “Saxidomus”
means “stone house”, and “nuttalli” is in
honor of Thomas Nuttall – an English
botanist and zoologist who made one of the earliest
inventories of local shellfish species when he passed
through California and the Pacific Northwest between
1834 and 1835.
Several fresh shells of both Saxidomus species, some
with bits of flesh still attached, were found at Crescent
Robert Berg, D.D.S. Dandelion Herbal Center
212 J Street Eureka, CA 95501 707-445-0784
14
By Sarah O’Leary
In addition to the benefits to consumers and local
dairy farmers, the pasture requirement will benefit
the environment by reducing water-quality impacts.
This is because CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feed
Operations) previously unregulated due to agricultural
waivers, will have to comply with the new standards.
The manures and fertilizers used by these operations
cause surface water pollution, which in turn causes
algal blooms and groundwater contamination.
Alexandre said that the new standards will only
give local organic dairy farmers a competitive edge,
however, if the Humboldt Creamery markets it that
way. But, since the Creamery is no longer a cooperative
of farmers it is unknown how the new owner, Foster
Farms, will promote Humboldt Creamery organic dairy
products.
But Alexandre believes the updated USDA rules give
local farmers the ability to have a new and improved
marketing campaign for their milk. “I’m going to use
it as a tool to market our milk and hopefully develop
something that evolves into more value for our milk
with or without the Creamery,” he said. “I certainly
would like to work with Foster Farms, but I’m not going
to let them hold me back.”
Although most local dairy farmers already meet
the new standards – our climate provides 6-8 months
of unencumbered excellent grazing, according to
Alexandre – they will have to make a few minor
adjustments to their practices. Farmers will be required
to use organic straw as bedding for example, and submit
some additional documentation. But both farmers said
that these will be easy requirements to fill.
The new rules are a welcome change for consumers
who can now be more confident that the organic dairy
products they consume are actually made from milk
By Wendell Wood
City during a 2009-2010 dredging of the Crescent City
boat harbor.
Saxidomus nuttalli shells and other mollusk species
shells, mostly partially broken, were found at a small
dredge pond on the northwest end of the Crescent City
Harbor, as well as at the principal beach, and the dredge
disposal site at the southeastern end of the harbor at
the end of Anchor Way (road) next to Whaler Island.
Photo: Wendell Wood
The identification of four voucher specimens was
confirmed (and distinguished from also collected
Saxidomus gigantea shells from the same location) by
Paul Valentich-Scott, Curator of Malacology, at the
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
These voucher shells, provided to the museum in
February, were entered in the Santa Barbara Museum
Herbal Classes &
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www.yournec.org
New USDA rules requiring more pasture time won’t faze Humboldt’s
already happy cows.
produced by animals that are not factory farmed.
“We are delighted by the new rules,” said Mark Kastel
of Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute, a watchdog
group that aims to assure the credibility of organic
farming methods and the food it produces.
“Cheap organic milk flowing from the illegitimate
factory farms has created a surplus that is crushing
ethical family farm producers.,” Kastel added.
Alexandre is excited about the economic possibilities
for Humboldt County.
“This is an opportunity for us to market more of a
niche product,” he said. “Our dream at our dairy is to
market 100 percent grass-fed milk, just like we currently
do with beef. We believe there is a nutritional advantage
to that.” y
of Natural History Collections and Research Online
Databases at http://www.sbcollections.org/
The Saxidomus nuttalli shells collected ranged in size
from 3.5 inches to 5 inches across. Saxidomus nuttalli
lives 10 to 15 years or more, has a shell up to six inches
long, and can grow to be about 1/2 inch longer than the
maximum size of their so-called “giganteus” cousins
(about 5 1/2 inches).
The fossil record shows the California
Butterclam has been around a long time,
dated in California from as early as the
middle Miocene.
The California Butterclam is reported
to make a very tasty dish, and is one of the
more important edible clams occurring
primarily in sheltered waters north of
Morro Bay.
Remarkably, the first shell I ever
collected of this species was retrieved for
me from the bottom of Morro Bay by a
local area sea otter! As the otter finished its
clam meal, an alert western gull snatched
the shell right as the otter released it,
before the shell could sink back into the
bay.
The gull then flew up to an adjacent
boat dock (near where I was standing),
removing a few bits of remaining fleshy
morsels before accommodatingly providing
me with the shell refuse.
Now that’s what I call getting included in
a symbiotic relationship! y
Wendell Wood was one of the first volunteer staffers of
the Northcoast Environmental Center, and also initiated
the first Arcata Recycling Center. A “life” member of
NEC, Wendell presently lives in Crescent City, Calif.
April/May 2010 ECONEWS
 Eco-Mania
A monthly melange of
salient sillies....
A BARGAIN? Potential buyers got a break when
NASA cut the price of the space shuttles it is selling off
from $42 million to less than $29 million.
One shuttle, Discovery, has been promised to the
Smithsonian, but Atlantis and Endeavor are still up
for grabs.
FLYING FISH: Hundreds of small white fish, many
still alive, recently fell over two days on a town more
than 300 miles from any river in Australia’s Northern
Territory.
Weather experts believe the fish, spangled perch,
were sucked up in a thunderstorm before being dumped
over the tiny town of Lajamanu. It was the third time in
less than 30 years that the town has been bombarded by
falling fish.
❂ under continuous darkness tended to have declining or
NO LEGAL EAGLES: Swiss voters have decisively
rejected a proposal that would have allowed animals to
be represented in court by state-funded lawyers.
Critics argued that animals enjoy sufficient
protection already, citing as example rules that
parakeets can’t be caged alone, gerbils are entitled to
more than 1,500 square centimeters of space and that it
will soon be illegal to tie horses up in stalls.
Plans also are afoot to extend Europe’s welfare laws to
crabs and lobsters.
❂ washes and blow-dries dogs and cats for the equivalent
ETERNAL CELL PHONES: Your cell phone may
never again run out of juice while you’re on the go, says
Nokia of Finland, which just filed a patent for a handset
that recharges itself by harvesting energy from the
owner’s motion.
As the user walks, or otherwise moves the phone, the
motion generates electricity. This charges a capacitor,
which in turn trickles a charge into the battery, keeping
it topped up.
ECONEWS April/May 2010
WOE IS US: In a new study by the U.S. Geological
Survey, every single fish tested from 291 freshwater
streams across the United States was found to be
contaminated with mercury.
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that mainly enters the
environment from burning coal for electricity. It builds
up in the food chain at ever higher concentrations and
is especially damaging to developing nervous systems of
fetuses and children.
Researchers tested the water, sediment and fish of the
291 streams between 1998 and 2005. Fish tested were
mostly larger species near the top of the food chain,
such as largemouth bass.
❂
SEXY PLANTS: Overturning conventional wisdom,
scientists have reported discovering the female sex
hormone progesterone in a plant.
Until now, it was thought that only animals could
make progesterone, a hormone secreted by the ovaries
that prepares the uterus for pregnancy. Researchers
SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT: Wild crows can speculate that the hormone, like other steroid
recognize individual human faces and hold a grudge for hormones, might be an ancient bioregulator that
years against people who have treated them badly. evolved billions of years ago, before the appearance of
That’s the result of a University of Washington study modern plants and animals.
which had researchers donning caveman masks and Using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass
then capturing and banding the crows. If someone spectroscopy, scientists detected progesterone in leaves
later approached the birds wearing the same mask, of the common walnut tree and also identified five new,
they would be loudly scolded. But if the same person progesterone-related steroids in a plant belonging to the
approached wearing a mask of Dick Cheney – which buttercup family.
no one had worn during the bird banding – the birds
would ignore him.
What’s more, the crows’ antipathy to the caveman
mask has lasted more than three years, even though
they have had no further bad experiences with people
wearing it.
❂
ATTENTION, POPEYE: The fluorescent lighting in
supermarkets actually can boost the nutritional value
of fresh spinach and perhaps other veggies, according
to chemists.
They exposed fresh spinach leaves to continuous light
or darkness during simulated retail storage conditions
for three to nine days. Spinach stored in light for as little
as three days had significantly higher levels of vitamins
C, K, E and folate. In contrast, spinach leaves stored
unchanged levels of nutrients.
PET LAUNDRY: Pet owners in Japan are washing
their dogs and cats in specially designed vending
machines to save money.
At Joyful Honda in the Tokyo suburbs, a machine
of just $5.75. Pet stylists usually charge more than $30.
❂
WEB SEARCH: By the end of 2008, more than 1.4
billion people on the planet were on the Internet,
according to a U.N. study.
PRIVATE OUTDOOR HOT TUBS • TRADITIONAL SAUNA CABINS
LUNAR EXCURSION: If you could drive a car at 70
miles an hours to the moon, it would take at least 135
days to get there.
Now Accepting
USED POTTING SOIL
in Arcata
2400 LK Wood Blvd. CAPPPUCCINO • JUICE BAR • PASTRIES
Avant Gardening/ Dave 822-8366 Corner 5th & J Arcata 822-2228 reservations
TOFU SHOP • Fresh • Locally-Made •
• Certified Organic •
• Waste-Reduction Award Winner•
Look for Tofu Shop products in fine
markets, delis, and restaurants.
www.TofuShop.com
www.yournec.org 15
 CNPS HAPPENINGS
News and Events from the North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society
Beginners and experts, non-members and members are
all welcome at our programs and on our outings. Most
events are free, all are made possible by volunteer effort.
EVENING PROGRAMS
Refreshments at 7 p.m.; program at 7:30 at the Six Rivers
Masonic Lodge, 251 Bayside Road, near 7th and Union, Arcata.
April 14, Wednesday, “Our Coastal Grassland Treasures.”
Bureau of Land Management botanist and range
conservationist Jennifer Wheeler will share the historical
and modern plight of grasslands on the North Coast. What
defines coastal grasslands, where they are, why and how
fast they disappear, and how small restoration projects
could make a big impact. She will share her experiences and
passion with modern methods of enhancing and restoring
native perennial grass populations.
May 12, Wednesday ,“Hiking the South Fork Trinity River.”
Artist, photographer, woodworker, and naturalist Rick
Tolley has documented many faces of this popular trail. He
will share wildflowers, vistas, and adventures from 20 years
of hikes. Indian warrior, dogwood, blazing star, fawn lily,
trillium, scarlet larkspur, Indian pink, Indian paintbrush,
and brodiaeas are some of the treats he will show us.
FIELD TRIPS AND PLANT WALKS
April 11, Sunday, Humboldt Redwoods Day Hike.
Several short trails in Humboldt Redwoods State Park
should find milkmaids, western trillium, and, hopefully,
fawn lilies, as well as other early bloomers under the
magnificent redwoods. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at Pacific
Union School, 9 a.m. at the McDonalds end of Bayshore
Mall parking lot, or arrange another place. Dress for the
weather. Bring lunch and water. Return late afternoon.
Please tell Carol you are coming 822-2015.
April 24, Saturday, Ferns In and Around the Dunes.
10 a.m. -12 noon, with Carol Ralph. Meet eight species
of fern and learn about their morphology, reproduction
and identification on a walk along the Lanphere Dunes
entrance road. Bring a hand lens. Meet at Pacific Union
School and carpool to the protected site. Co-sponsored
by CNPS and Friends of the Dunes. Please register by
calling 444-1397 or contact denise@friendsofthedunes.org
April 25, Sunday, Flowers in a Fir Forest. 1-3 p.m. An
easy plant walk near Hydesville, hosted by landowners Bill
and Linda Shapeero. A grand fir forest, stream, pasture,
and pond offer a rich assortment of flowering herbaceous
plants, including two trilliums, two fairy bells, two violets,
skunk cabbage, delphinium, inside-out-flower, checker
A List of Events & Conservation Updates From the North Group Redwood Chapter Sierra Club
Camper Applications & Donors Sought
Monday, May 17 is the deadline for applications to attend
two overnight nature camps at the Wolf Creek Education
Center in Redwood National and State Parks, Orick. The
Towering Trees & Tidepools camp this July 11-16 is intended
for children in grades 4 and 5, while the Redwoods Field
Study from August 1-6 is aimed at grades 6-8. Details on
the curriculum for each session are available at the Oregon
Museum of Science & Industry website (www.omsi.edu).
North Group hopes to support a total of four students
living in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity Counties, two
at each camp. Applications can be obtained by calling (707)
442-5444 or e-mailing sueleskiw@suddenlink.net. Past
camp scholarship recipients are not eligible. Contributions
to underwrite the $555 per child tuition should be sent to
Environmental Education Fund, c/o North Group Sierra
Club, PO Box 238, Arcata CA 95518.
Community Involvement
•NG is tabling at PlanIt Green’s Building Green
Communities IV: Local Self Reliance Conference & Expo
April 3 at Arcata Community Center. (see p. 18)
•NG urges bicyclists to participate in Green Wheels
Future Sea Level Rise Awareness Day April 10. Event
starts on the Arcata Plaza at 3:30 p.m. Speakers, street
theater, costume contest, Tour d’Arcata bike ride, Samba
dancing. www.green-wheels.org.
•NG donated to the silent auction at Godwit Days
Spring Migration Bird Festival, to be held at the Arcata
Community Center April 16-18. See page 11.
•NG is co-sponsoring a Healthy Humboldt Coalition
Forum in early May focusing on the Humboldt County
General Plan. See www.healthyhumboldt.org.
•NG continues to support the Humboldt County
Sheriff Department’s application for grant funding
to underwrite law enforcement on our beaches.
Recognizing Ed Wayburn
North Group founder Lucille Vinyard asked that we remark
on the passing of Dr. Edgar Wayburn, MD, who died March
5 at age 103. Wayburn, a 5-term Sierra Club president, was
16
lily, redmaids, candyflower, and bleeding heart. From 101
at south end of Fortuna, exit Kenmar Dr., go left under
101, right on Eel River Drive, left on Drake Hill Rd, right
on Rohnerville Rd, and 1.7 miles to Puddin Lane at the
bottom of a gulch. Follow signs to Shapeero. The ground
may be damp. 768-3287 or 822-2015.
May 23, Sunday, Azalea Reserve Plant walk. 1-3 p.m.
with Pete Haggard. See many native plants that are
recommended for gardens, including the native azalea,
which should be blooming. Take North Bank Road off
101 just north of the Mad River, turn left on Azalea Dr.,
then left into the parking lot. Pete Haggard 839-0307.
May 28-31, Friday-Monday, Mendocino Field Trip.
Stay for all or come for part. Explore many of
Mendocino’s favorite botanical sites, including the
Pygmy Forest and the Mendocino Botanical Garden.
Overnight in campgrounds or motels; short day hikes
in the Fort Bragg-Mendocino area. Tell Carol you are
interested, 822-2015.
June 13, Sunday, Blooms and Bugs at Mad River Beach.
1-3 p.m. Guided walk with Pete Haggard to see blooming
beach buckwheat, seaside daisy, sand verbena, and others
where the sand meets the firmer, damper soil of the
willowy, rushy swale. Easy walking. Meet at the beach
parking lot at the very end of Mad River Rd. 839-0208.
Watch for new additions on our Web site (www.
northcoastcnps.org) or sign up for e-mail announcements
Northcoast_CNPS-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Everyone is welcome. No botanical knowledge required. your chance to help, while exploring the Ma-Le’l Dunes,
OTHER ACTIVITIES
April 17, Saturday, English Ivy Bash at Patrick’s
Point State Park. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., includes lunch.
In honor of Earth Day CNPS is supporting State Parks
in tackling the invasive English ivy on Ceremonial Rock.
Bring gloves if you have them. Volunteers will receive a free
day pass at entrance gate. Take the first left after leaving
the entrance station, then take your second left into the
Beach Creek Group Camp. Additional parking directly
across from the Beach Creek Group Camp entrance at the
Campfire Center. 677-3109, 443-204-2411, or 822-2015.
April 30, May 1 & 2, Friday, Saturday & Sunday,
27th Annual Spring Wildflower Show! Manila, just west of the bridge and lumber mill, turn west
At the Manila Community Center, admission is free.
CNPS presents hundreds of wildflowers, both native and
non-native, from seashore to mountains, labeled and
displayed by family. Other groups, including Friends of
NORTH GROUP NEWS
(From left) Dr. Rayburn,
Lucille Vinyard, and Don
Reesor of the National
Park Service at dedica-
tion of the RNP visitor
center south of Orick,
6/7/85.]
a fierce advocate for
wilderness. A San
Francisco resident,
he spearheaded
expansion of Mt
Tamalpais State
Park, establishment
of Point Reyes
National Seashore,
and formation
of Golden Gate
National Recreation Area – amounting to 200,000 acres
of open space near the city. He also was involved in the
decades-long struggle to found, and later expand, Redwood
National Park.
Meetings & Outings
Saurday, April 10 - Headwaters Forest, Eureka. 11
miles, medium difficulty, more than 500-foot elevation
change. Level for 3 miles, last 2 miles steep climb and
loop through old-growth. Return along same route.
Meet 9 a.m. Herrick Park & Ride or 9:30 am at trailhead,
end of Elk River Rd. Leashed dogs OK. Leader Xandra
(707) 441-0702.
Sunday, April 11 – Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park,
Trillium/Lost Man Trails. 10 miles, medium difficulty.
Hike goes past mossy waterfall and blooming trillium,
continues up Lost Man Creek through old-growth
redwoods and maples. Meet 11 a.m. at Elk Meadows
Day Use Area, end of paved part Davison Road or
carpool 10 a.m. from McKinleyville Safeway. Leader Bill
(707) 839-5971. Rain cancels.
Tuesday, April 13 – Executive Committee Meeting.
Join discussion of local conservation issues 8-9 p.m., or
www.yournec.org
the Dunes, present displays on topics including edible
!
plants, plants in the dunes, plants in the redwood forest,
local insects, invasive plants, rare plants, and sudden
oak death. Presentations on native plant gardening,
invasive weeds, lupines, wild medicinal plants, and
Native American culture, as well as guided walks in
the neighboring dunes to look at dune vegetation,
flowers, and pollinators. Friday evening artists gather
to draw and paint flowers. See the schedule at www.
northcoastcnps.org. Information: 822-7190; 822-2015.
Saturday & Sunday, Native Plant Sale. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Hundreds of native shrubs, trees, perennials, ferns, bulbs,
and annuals will be for sale during the Annual Spring
Wildflower Show. Experienced gardeners will help you
choose which to take to your own yard.
Teachers wishing to bring students to the show should
contact Judie Snyder immediately 707-826-7735;
snyderj1@suddenlink.net. A schedule of four lessons,
including a dune walk, will be offered.
You can help this festive event! We have small and big
jobs, indoor and outdoor jobs, public and behind-the-
scene jobs. Most jobs require no botanical knowledge.
To volunteer call 822-2015 or 822-7190.
May 8, Saturday, Save The Dunes From Annual Grasses.
A work party and educational dune exploration. 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Having saved the foredunes from European beach grass,
dune managers are now focusing on annual grasses, which
also can convert colorful dune mat to solid grass. This is
an area not yet open to the public, among blooming beach
pea, sand-verbena, dune gilia, Humboldt Bay wallflower,
beach layia, beach strawberry, and more. Learn to identify
dune annuals and perennials, as well as at least four species
of non-native, annual grasses. Refuge staff will describe
the dune restoration project. The work will be pulling
these small grasses from the sand, to the music of the surf.
Dress for the weather, especially wind, and wear good
walking shoes. Bring at least a quart of water, a lunch, and
gardening gloves if you have them. Cookies provided.
Meet at 9 a.m. sharp at the Ma-Le’l North Parking Lot:
Take State Route 255 from Eureka or Arcata. North of
onto Young Lane. Turn right at the T and go north to the
end of the road, through 2 gates that will be unlocked for
us. Information and to say you’re coming: 443-204-2411;
sklein@streamlineplanning.net; or 822-2015. y
come at 7 for business meeting. Adorni Center, Eureka.
Info: Gregg (707) 826-3740.
Saturday, April 24 – Table Bluff/Mouth of Eel.
9 miles, medium difficulty. Hike begins below Table
Bluff; follows beach south 4.5 miles. Return route
varies along dunes and McNulty Slough and North Bay.
Meet 9 a.m. Herrick Park & Ride or 9:30 a.m. at beach
below Table Bluff. Leader Xandra (707) 441-0702. Rain/
tsunami warning cancels.
Saturday, May 8 – Headwaters Forest, Eureka. [See
April 10 description.]
Sunday, May 9 – Clam Beach/Mouth of Mad River.
7 miles, medium difficulty. Walk south along Clam
Beach to mouth of Mad; return by Hammond Trail.
Leashed dogs welcome. Two shallow stream crossings.
Meet 1 p.m. northernmost paved Clam Beach lot.
Leader Bill (707) 839-5971. Rain cancels.
Tuesday, May 11 – Executive Committee Meeting.
[See April 13 description.]
Saturday, May 15 – Fay Slough Wildlife Area Parent
& Child Walk. Bring your child(ren) to walk 1.5 miles
on level state Fish & Game wetlands trail. Jogging
strollers OK. Optional extra 0.5-mile loop. Meet at
trailhead 9:30 a.m. Exit Hwy 101 at Harper Ford,
immediate left onto gravel road into parking lot. Bring
snacks, water; wear sturdy shoes. Leader Allison (707)
268-8767. Rain cancels.
Wednesday, May 19 – Six Rivers National Forest
South Fork Trail. 8 miles, medium difficulty. From
trailhead southwest of Salyer, hike through mixed
forest, eastern slope of river gorge, descending after 4
miles to riverside grotto. An all-day adventure; must
advance register with leader Melinda (707) 668-4275 or
mgroomster@gmail.com.
Saturday, May 29 – Centerville Beach/Mouth of Eel.
11 miles, medium difficulty. From Centerville Beach
parking area, follow beach north between dunes and tide
line. Return route along Salt River. Meet 9 am Herrick
Park & Ride or 9:45 a.m. at beach. Leader Xandra (707)
441-0702. Rain/tsunami warning cancels. y
FebruaryMarch ECONEWS
 The Good News Page
Candlefish Gets A Chance
Federal protection was extended in
March for the Pacific Smelt, also known
as candlefish.
The 6-8 inch fish, which was traditionally
caught and eaten by American Indians using
dip nets, is at risk from climate change and
diminished water flows in the Pacific Northwest.
Candlefish, so named because its high body fat content during spawning allowed it to be dried, strung on a wick
and burned, were once plentiful in the Klamath River. Yurok Indians dried the fish to eat over the winter months.
Sport fishermen often fried the oily fish and ate them whole. No Credit For Clear-Cutters
A scientific review team with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) determined that
the smelt is declining throughout its range. Further declines are expected as climate change affects the availability Responding to public outcry and a formal legal
of the smelt’s food sources and spring river flows critical to successful spawning. analysis submitted by the Center for Biological
In addition to the threats from a changing climate, the Pacific smelt are threatened by shrimp fisheries, predation Diversity, The California Air Resources Board has voted
from birds, seals and sea lions, and lower water flows in the Klamath and Columbia river basins. to withdraw the “Forest Project Protocol.”
NOAA said it would list the fish, officially known as the “euchalon,” as threatened under the Endangered The policy would have allowed logging companies to
Species Act. y earn valuable carbon credits for forest clear-cutting and
other destructive practices.
Not only did the board vote to withdraw the policy, it
also committed to a review of environmental impacts to

Giant Seed Vault May Avert Future Food Crises
An enormous vault, built into a Norwegian mountain
near the North Pole, contains more than half a million
diverse seed species.
The vault, which has been billed as “the final defense
for agriculture in the face of growing populations, a
changing climate and rising threats to food security”
now houses the world’s most diverse collection of crops.
The most recent addition is a wild strawberry species
carefully collected from a remote Russian archipelago.
Climate change is expected to have negative impacts
on agriculture, and saving seeds that have traits to cope
with these challenges is a first defense. Since wild plants
show greater adaptability and genetic diversity, these
seeds are being collected for preservation.
Scientists are making great efforts to locate and
collect the wild forefathers of domestic crops such
forests and the climate.
In September, the Air Resources Board adopted a
version of the protocol that would grant carbon credits
as wheat and to damaging forest-management projects – a first
maize. The vault step toward allowing forest landowners to accumulate
is intended to credits for the CO2 stored in trees and forest products.
serve as the last Polluters would have been able to buy those credits
repository for instead of reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions
such seeds and the under AB 32, California’s global warming law.
ultimate resource “We commend the Air Resources Board for its
if disaster strikes commitment to addressing the critical environmental
local seed banks. questions related to forest carbon credits,” said Brian
Unlike other Nowicki, California climate policy director at the
such banks, daily Center for Biological Diversity.
transactions do not occur. “It’s crucial that the state not give incentives to
Since the vault is built into Arctic permafrost, it is business-as-usual clear-cutting and other destructive
expected to remain frozen for centuries. Additionally logging practices that hurt our forests and do nothing
the remote location is hoped to keep it safe from to address the immediate impacts of climate change,”
political and geological threats. y he added. y

ARCATA
Ramone’s Wildberries Market
826-1088
Bakery & Cafe EUREKA
2223 Harrison Ave.
Freshly Roasted Coffee 442-1336
Espresso • Breakfast Pastries 209 E Street
Sandwiches, Soups & Salads 445-2923
Wedding & Specialty Cakes At Pierson’s
476-0401
Cookies • Truffles • Bread
Pizza • Desserts • Catering MCKINLEYVILLE
Shopping Center
OPEN DAILY 839-3383

~ Certified Herbalists ~
Effective, Natural & Economical

Healthcare
for your life. Open 7 Days a Week
• Over 400 medicinal
and culinary herbs Wine Bar!
Friday & Saturday, 3-9 p.m.
• Organic teas
• Custom formulas Wellington Vineyards Pouring
• Unique gifts Thursday, April 1, 5-8 pm, $5/ person
Belgian Beer Tasting
Thursday, April 15, 5-8 pm
$20/ person includes Food Pairing
Sake Tasting
Thursday, April 29, 5-8 pm
300 2nd Street, Old Town, Eureka $30/ person includes Sushi
(707) 442-3541 • www.humboldtherbals.com
“We Help You Understand Nature’s Pharmacy” 8th Street on the Plaza, Arcata 825-7596

ECONEWS February/March 2010 www.yournec.org 17

 Plan It Green Conference The 4th
Annual Plan
It Green
Conference
takes place
on Saturday
April 3 from 8
a.m. to 8 p.m.
at the Arcata
Community
Center.
Admission is
free.
The theme
of this year’s conference is local self-reliance and its
relation to a thriving community. The keynote speaker
is longtime Mother Earth News contributing editor and
green energy specialist, Steve Heckeroth, scheduled to
speak at 6:00 p.m.
Heckeroth has been writing for the national magazine
since its inception 40 years ago. He brings an archive of
solar energy and electric car know-how to the podium,
as well as 40 years worth of personal knowledge from
living off the land in Northern California.
The conference includes an Expo/Trade Show that
Student Race For
Endangered Species
High school students are invited
to compete on Saturday, May 22,
in the Sunchaser Challenge – a unique adventure race
that helps save endangered species. 
Winners will receive eco-adventures, sports
equipment and other prizes. Students, 15-18 years old,
can compete against each other for individual prizes
and a special prize for the High School that scores the
highest number of points at each location.  government
This exciting and unique event is made up of four
fun adventure races – one in each time zone of the
continental U.S. – with the goal of raising awareness of
the plight of species on the brink of extinction.   acres as
Entrants can participate as a team or solo, and race
disciplines include running, trekking, mountain biking,
kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, road cycling and
basic navigation. Racers will participate at four U.S.
locations, the California location is in North Lake Tahoe.
Learn more at: www.sunchaser challenge.com. y
Bird Festival: No Longer Just Geese
Known as the Aleutian Goose Festival for ten years
and now renamed with a new date, the California
Redwoods Bird & Nature Festival has moved from late
March to May 7-9, 2010.
The reinvented festival held in Del Norte County,
promises the same quality workshops and fieldtrips as
in the past. Online registration is now available and
registrants can choose from 70 events including many
new programs.
Bird watchers, nature enthusiasts, and cultural
history buffs can enjoy charter boat ocean excursions,
harbor and lagoon kayaking, native plant and wildflower
walks, and Tolowa and Yurok cultural programs.
New bird programs include rising early to watch
Sun Frost Energy Efficient
Refrigerators & Freezers
Customized To Fit Your Needs
4 Available in DC
or AC
4 Select From Over
10 Models
4 Choose from 1000’s
of Colors, Finishes
& Woods
“Higher efficiency standards for refrigerators
have saved the equivalent of all the energy
generated in the US by wind and solar.”
Dr. Chu, US Secretary of Energy
Please Contact Us For More Info
P.O. Box 1101, Arcata, CA 95518
tel: (707)822-9095 • fax: (707)822-6213
info@sunfrost.com • www.sunfrost.com
18
features more than 50 booths, with green, sustainable
Feinstein’s Fish-Killing
and local companies and organizations prepared to
inform and inspire.
Water Bill On Hold
Discussion panels and workshops comprised of local Environmental activists, along with conservation,
experts and invited guests will be held throughout the scientific and fishing organizations, slammed Senator
day. Topics include energy, economics, green jobs, and Dianne Feinstein with letters, e-mails and phone calls
the many reasons why turning locally raised grain into early this year expressing their opposition to her water
bread is important to the sustenance and health of the legislation that would have weakened Endangered
county. Species Act protection for endangered fish in the
It’s a fun and informative day,” Plan It Green Sacramento Delta.
organizer Steve Salzman said. “Every year we open up Agricultural water users had pressured Senator
the parking lot to local groups like Farmer’s Market and Feinstein to attach language to the Senate jobs bill
the Humboldt Electric Vehicle Association (HEVA). that would have diverted Northern California water to
This year a petting zoo will be out there along with a Central Valley farmers.
bicycle repair demonstration.” Activists’ efforts were successful, and in late
Everyone can participate in the “Kinetic Electric February, the federal jobs bill passed the Senate without
Samba Parade” at noon in the HealthSport parking Feinstein’s contentious rider.
lot. Performers in the parade include the Humboldt Feinstein’s proposal received heavy media scrutiny
Circus, Samba D’Alegria, members of the Kinetic Lab, resulting in the release of crucial information from
bicyclists, HEVA, members of Del Arte’ and more. state agencies and universities that has helped to
A “Locally Delicious” lunch of soups and tri-tip debunk some media myths generated by the corporate
sandwiches will be available along with an evening agricultural industry. Data showed that recent Delta
appetizer spread. pumping restrictions were not the primary driver of
For more information and a complete schedule, visit very high unemployment in Central Valley towns hit
www.humboldtplanitgreen.org or call 822-0597. y hard by the collapse of the building industry.
The LA Times noted that, “Grape production was
down slightly, but still among the highest on record.
And although photographs of farmers bulldozing their
Learn To Be A Bay Docent
Humboldt Baykeeper will hold a training on Saturday,
almond groves for lack of water were a media favorite,
California had more acres of bearing almond trees last
year than ever.”
April 10 and Sunday, April 11 for people interested in
becoming docents for the upcoming Bay Explorations
Although Feinstein put her rider on hold, she has
stated she reserves the right to bring it back should it
become necessary. y
tour season. Deadline for registration is April 1.
Baykeeper docents lead small-group, bay-oriented
Critical Habitat
boat tours for people of all ages. 
This is an opportunity to share your passion for the
Designated For Frog
bay by educating others about the bay and the work
Humboldt Baykeeper does to protect and enhance the
health of our local marine environment.
The U.S.
Experienced docents will teach you about the history,
ecology, geology and other aspects of Humboldt Bay, as
has
well as how to convey your knowledge to others.
designated
For more information, call 707-268-8897, e-mail
1.6 million
volunteer@humboldtbaykeeper.org, or drop by the office
at 217 E Street in Eureka. y
critical
habitat
for the
threatened
California
red-legged
frog. It is the third attempt to protect the frog’s
habitat in the last nine years.
In 2001 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
attempted to gain designation for more than four
marbled murrelets fly at dawn, learning about the Yurok million acres for the frog, but their effort was
Tribe’s California condor reintroduction program, and overturned in federal court. Then in 2006 the
witnessing American dippers foraging on the Smith Service revised the rule, intending to set aside
River. about 450,000 acres.
The keynote speaker for the Friday evening program The red-legged frog was once California’s most
is National Geographic’s Explorer-In-Residence, abundant native frog, and it was immortalized in
Mike Fay. Fay will share his adventures and findings Mark Twain’s short story, “The Celebrated Jumping
from his recently completed one-year 1100-mile hike Frog of Calaveras County.”
transecting California’s coastal redwood forests. Fay’s But the frog has now lost 90 percent of its
journey was featured in the October 2009 issue of historic population due to the fact that its habitat
National Geographic magazine. has been contaminated by pesticides. Amphibians
More information and online registration is now with their permeable skin are particularly
available at www.calredwoodsbirdfest.org. y vulnerable to such toxics. y
New book, On This Day In Arcata,
honors and makes Arcata newspaper history
Since 1886, Arcata’s weekly newspapers have captured the town’s colorful history ą the
wonders and woes, celebrations, calamities, milestones and always-interesting people,
places and things that make Arcata the most intriguing city in Humboldt County. Now, in an
unprecedented collaboration, Arcadia Publishing presents On This Day In Arcata, featuring
stories from the archives of the Arcata Union and Arcata Eye newspapers. Using images
from several local collections, On This Day In Arcata offers insights into Arcata’s history
sometimes familar, often surprising but always as fascinating as the town itself.
In On This Day In Arcata, you’ll read all about the installation of the statue of William
McKinley and the Arcata Women’s Christian Temperance Union fountain, the opening
of the Hotel Arcata, Minor Theatre and Humboldt State University’s Founder’s Hall
and Behavioral and Social Sciences Building, the creation of the iconic Humboldt
Honey and the fires that have changed Arcata through the years, plus the scandalous
deliberations of Arcata’s Spinsters’ Matrimonial Club, and more!
Compiled by Arcata Eye editor Kevin Hoover, author of The Police Log: True
Crime and More in Arcata, California, and The Police Log II: The Nimrod Imbroglios,
On This Day In Arcata connects Arcata’s past and present, bringing history to life
as never before. Available at stores locally.
www.yournec.org April/May 2010 ECONEWS
 19
25 DAILY CALENDAR
• Redwood National and State Parks call 464-6101 for road, trail and campground info.
Centers open daily in Crescent City 465-7306. Prairie Creek, Jedediah Smith, and Kuchel.
Call for times.
• Every Saturday Friends of Arcata Marsh tours of Arcata Marsh or Wastewater
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Treatment Plant at 2 p.m. Info: 826-2359
• Every Saturday Redwood Audubon Society’s free field trips of the Arcata Marsh and
Upcoming Events In May 1 2 • Friends of the Dunes (FOD) 32nd Annual
3 Wildlife Sanctuary at 8:30 a.m. at Klopp Lake Parking Lot.
• May 7-9, California Redwoods Bird and Nature Festival, in Del Norte County. Info: www.calredwoodsbirdfest.org or 465-0888 EcoNews Report, • Arcata Community Recycling Center open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Lupine Bash, Info: 444-1397 Info: 822-4542
• May 8, Humboldt Coastal Nature Center Restoration, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Meet at Humboldt Coastal Nature Center. Info: 444-1397 1:30 p.m. • Redwood Region Audubon Society (RRAS)
• May 9, Friends of the Dunes Property Tour, 2 p.m. Meet at Humboldt Coastal Nature Center. Info: 444-1397
KHSU FM 90.5 • Eureka Community Recycling Center open 9 a.m. daily. Info: 442-2541,
Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary Hike,
• May 15, Manila Dunes Restoration, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Meet at Manila Community Center. Info: 444-1397
Meet at parking lot end of South I St at 8:30 a.m.
For more recycling options visit www.humboldtrecycling.org
April Fool’s
• May 15, Manila Dunes Guided Walk, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Meet at Manila Community Center. Info: 444-1397 • Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center, 569 South G St. Hours: Tues.-Sun. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Info: 442-5444
• May 22, Lanphere Dunes Restoration, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Meet at Manila Community Center. Info: 444-1397
Mon. 1 to 5 p.m. Info: 826-2359
Day
• Plan It Green Festival at the Arcata Community
• May 23, Ma-le’l Dunes Restoration, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Meet at Ma-le’l Dunes south parking lot. Info: 444-1397
Center. 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. See page 18. • Every Tuesday “The Environmental Show,” KMUD-FM, 91.1(88.3 FM Arcata) at 7 p.m.
• May 23, Ma-le’l Dunes Guided Walk, 2 - 4:30 p.m. Meet at Ma-le’l Dunes south parking lot. Info: 444-1397
• County Hazardous Waste facility open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
• Friends of the Dunes (FOD)Little River • North Group Sierra Club EcoNews Report, Arts! Arcata • Future Sea Level Rise Awareness Day Rally on
State Beach Restoration, 9:30 a.m.
Info: 444-1397
(NGSC) Executive Committee
Meeting, 6:45-8 p.m. at Adorni
1:30 p.m.
at the NEC
Artist: Nathen Sipan
the Arcata Plaza at 3:30 p.m. Costume Contest.
Be inspired by the Ocean. Info: 633-8847 Speak Up and Speak Out
Center. Info: 826-3740 KHSU FM 90.5 and Cassandra Carlson • RRAS Shay Park Field Trip, meet at Shay Park
Jacoby Storehouse, 6 to 9 p.m. parking lot at 9 a.m. Info: 822-5095 or 616-9841
President Barack Obama Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger North Coast Regional Water
Easter Sunday •The Environmental Show Info: 822-6918 • The 9th Annual Klamath River Cleanup, meet
Community Room of the Yurok Tribe office, 9 a.m.
The White House State Capitol Building Quality Control Board

www.yournec.org
on KMUD-FM (91.1, or 88.5) 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Sacramento, CA, 95814 5550 Skylane Blvd., Suite A
Info: 954-0462 Santa Rosa, CA 95403-1072
7 p.m. Washington, D.C. 20500 Phone: 916-445-2841
Comments: 202-456-1111 gov.ca.gov/interact#email 707-576-2220 or 707-523-0135
• FOD Property Tour, meet at 220 Stamps
11 12 13 14 EcoNews Report,
15 Bruce Cockburn Benefit
16 17 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 www.swrcb.ca.gov/northcoast/
www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/ Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro about_us/contact_us.shtml
Lane in Manila, 2 to 3:30 p.m. Concert for Siskiyou Land 15th Annual Godwit Days, at the Arcata
1:30 p.m. Community Center. See page 11 for more details. State Capitol
Info: 444-1397 Conservancy Senator Barbara Boxer P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA Secretary of Agriculture
• RRAS Humboldt Bay National Wildlife KHSU FM 90.5 • FOD Manila Dunes Guided Walk, 10 a.m.
Next Friday U.S. Department of Agriculture

• RRAS Conservation Meeting, Washington, D.C. 94249-0001
Refuge Hike, meet at the Refuge Vistor Info: 444-1397
Center off Hookton Rd. at 9 a.m. meet at Golden Harvest in Arcata at April 23. 112 Hart Senate Office Building Tel: 916-319-2001 1400 Independence Ave. SW
Tickets available at • RRAS Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary Washington, D.C. 20510 710 E Street, Suite 150 Washington, DC 20250
Info: 822-3613 •The Environmental Show noon Info: 442-9353
The Works, or visit Hike, meet at parking lot end of South I St 202-224-3553 or 415-403-0100 Eureka, CA 95501 AgSec@usda.gov
on KMUD-FM (91.1, or 88.5) •NEC Annual Event Planning

• NGSC hike on Trillium and Lost Man at 8:30 a.m. Info: 442-5444
7 p.m. http://siskiyouland.word- boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/ Tel: 445-7014
Trail, meet at Elk Meadows Day Use Area at Meeting, meet at NEC Back Office,
press.com index.cfm legplcms01.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ Environmental Protection
11 a.m. Info: 839-5971 6:30- 8:30 p.m. Info: 822-6918
ContactPopup.aspx?district=AD01& Agency
18 19 20 21 22 23 •Green Wheels 3rd Annual Gala, Arcata 24 Senator Dianne Feinstein www.epa.gov/epahome/hotline.
•The California Coastal Vet’s Hall at 6 p.m. $40 for Local Foods Dinner. United States Senate Humboldt County Board of htm
• RRAS Southern Humboldt EcoNews Report, Commission is hosting a free Music Starts at 8:30 p.m. $7 Info: 633-8847 331 Hart Senate Office Building Supervisors
Community Park Field Trip, meet in 1:30 p.m. habitat restoration, Meet • FOD Lanphere Dunes Restoration, 9:30 a.m. Washington, D.C. 20510 825 Fifth Street, Room 111 Air Pollution Hotline
at the Humboldt Bay National Info: 444-1397 Phone: 202-224-3841 or Eureka, CA 95501 1-800-952-5588
parking lot of Kimtu Road in KHSU FM 90.5
Wildlife Refuge in Loleta from • RRAS Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary 415-393-0707 (707) 476-2384
Earth Day
Garberville at 8:30 a.m.
•The Environmental Show 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Info: http:// Hike, meet at parking lot end of South I St feinstein.senate.gov/public/index. co.humboldt.ca.us/board/ Humboldt Bay Municipal Water
Info: 444-8001 www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ at 8:30 a.m. Info: 442-5444 cfm?FuseAction=ContactUS. District
on KMUD-FM (91.1, or 88.5)
UNBweb/diggingin.html • NGSC 9-mile Table Bluff Hike, meet at beach EmailMe California Department of 828 Seventh Street/P.O. Box 95
7 p.m.
below Table Bluff at 9:30 a.m. Info:441-0702 Forestry Eureka, CA 95502
Congressman Mike Humboldt-Del Norte Unit HQ Phone: 443-5018
25 26 27 28 29 30

ECONEWS April/May 2010

Thompson 725-4413 www.hbmwd.com/contact_us
RRAS = Redwood Region Audubon Society 231 Cannon Office Building 118 S. Fortuna Blvd, Fortuna,
• FOD Ma-le’l Dunes Guided Walk, EcoNews Report, Washington, D.C. 20515 95540-2796 California Coastal Commission
NGSC = North Group Sierra Club
Phone: 202-225-3311 Mailing Address: PO Box 944246, 45 Fremont Street, Suite 2000
11:30 a.m. Info: 444-1397 1:30 p.m. FOD = Friends Of The Dunes
317 3rd Street, Suite 1 Sacramento, CA 94244-2460 San Francisco, CA 94105-2219
KHSU FM 90.5 Eureka, CA 95501 Physical Address: 1416 Ninth Street, 415-904-5200
Phone: 269-9595 Sacramento, CA 94244-2460 710 E Street, Suite 200
mikethompson.house.gov/ Eureka, CA 95501
•The Environmental Show Send calendar submissions to: contact/e-mail.shtml 445-7833 or 445-7834
on KMUD-FM (91.1, or 88.5) sarah@yournec.org www.coastal.ca.gov
7 p.m.
 ECONEWS
Northcoast Environmental Center

April/May 2010 ECONEWS

NON-PROFIT ORG. Arcata, California Vol. 40, No.II April/May 2010
791 Eighth St., P.O. Box 4259 Arcata, CA U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Arcata, CA
PERMIT NO. 3
Informing The North Coast On Environmental Issues Since 1971
 Family Planning Join the NEC and support
our conservation work.
In our fast-paced lives, the indispensable life More Trucks
If you’re thinking of having a baby, supports like air, water and wild nature are often
then the Redwood City start-up
company Counsyl suggests that you
overlooked. Your tax-deductible membership
donation will get ECONEWS delivered into your
In The
first simply spit.
That’s because the firm, for $349,
mailbox every month – and allow us to continue
to educate and inform the public about crucial Redwoods?
runs genetic tests on saliva samples environmental issues that affect this region and Highway Work
to see if prospective parents carry our entire planet.
recessive genes that lie behind more Mail in this membership form, or join Proposed at
than 100 inherited conditions such as online at www.yournec.org. Richardson Grove
cystic fibrosis or Down syndrome. Membership Levels:
  Counsyl says screening could spare
countless parents from heartache, $20 Student/Retired $35 Regular
allow fertility centers to first test $50 Family $65 Overseas
embryos before implantation and $1,000 Lifetime
save society from the millions it can

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 My check is enclosed Also:
cost to care for even one severely ill
person over a lifetime. But critics say Please bill my credit card: Klamath Deals
such testing is a step toward ‘designer VISA MasterCard Wave Energy
babies’ by allowing parents to choose
traits of their children.
Or sign up for a monthly pledge and enjoy the Bruce Cockburn
comfort of knowing that you are continually
Here at the NEC, where we supporting our efforts to protect this region.
understand that overpopulation Monthly Pledge Amount $__________
is a driving force behind many
Bill my credit card
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no simple test that can prevent global warming, forestall the decline of fish Send me a pack of envelopes
stocks and other species, clean the air or even solve the mysteries of sudden
oak death. Credit Card # Exp. Date
But your center has been working since 1971 to rectify the environmental Name
‘inherited conditions’ that threaten the bioregion—and our children. We do it Address
through education, agitation and even litigation, and it often costs as much as
developing a DNA screen on a computer chip. City State
We’ve ‘mutated’ somewhat in the last year or so, but please consider
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making a contribution today to your environmental screening service.
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