EcoNews Vol. 52, No. 7 – August 2022 by EcoNews

51 Years of Environmental News

Reproductive Justice is climate justice.

Arcata, California

Vol. 52, No. 7

August 2022

NEWS Published by the Northcoast Environmental Center Since 1971

Bans off our bodies.

Dea r EcoNews

EcoN ew s Distr i buti on Volu nteer s NEeded We are looking for monthly volunteers to help distribute EcoNews around Arcata, Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity County. Are you interested in helping? Email N E C @ Y O U R N E C . O R G

Community submissions We want to feature your work. Do you have nature art or poetry you’d like to share? How about photos of your catio, compost bin, garden, solar array, etc? Email NEC@yournec.org

Letters to EcoNews

We want to hear from you! Write us a letter 300 words or less that’s relevant to EcoNews and we’ll consider publishing it! The NEC reserves the right to reject any submitted material for any reason.

Email NEC@yournec.org

NEWS

415 I Street, Arcata, CA 95521 PO Box 4259, Arcata, CA 95518 707- 822-6918 | www.yournec.org

Guests on Goudi’ni, Wiyot Territory EcoNews is the official monthly publication of the Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC), a non-profit organization. Third class postage paid in Arcata. ISSN No. 0885-7237. EcoNews is mailed to our members and distributed free throughout the Northern California and Southern Oregon bioregion. The subscription rate is $50 per year.

The ideas and views expressed in EcoNews are not necessarily those of the Northcoast Environmental Center

Do you have a burning environmental question? Write to “Dear EcoNews” and we’ll get a professional in that field to address your eco quandaries, concerns, and queries.

Email nec@yournec.org

Greetings from the - Northcoast Environmental Center The mission of EcoNews is to inform and educate the public on environmental issues around the world, state and bioregion. Many of these issues are complex and have varying levels of support throughout the environmental community. Our goal is to provide a platform to explore, discuss and debate these topics in order to better understand their nuances. The ideas expressed in EcoNews do not necessarily reflect the positions of the NEC or its member groups. We appreciate and welcome alternative points of view.

NEC Staff

NEC Board Of Directors

Executive Director & EcoNews Editor Caroline Griffith, director@yournec.org

President: Larry Glass, Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment

Administrative Coordinator: Carlrey Arroyo, admin@yournec.org Coastal Programs Coordinator: Ivy Munnerlyn, Ivynecmail@gmail.com Outreach Coordinator: Chelsea Pulliam, chelseanec1@gmail.com EcoNews Journalist: Elena Bilheimer, econewsjournalist@gmail.com Office & Event Support Staff: Reina Trombetta, reinanecmail@gmail.com

Vice-President: Margaret Gainer, At-Large

Proofreaders: Kris Diamond, Fhyre Phoenix, Shaely Sullivan Authors: Larry Glass, Caroline Griffith, Rosalind Cuneo, Martha Walden, Elena Bilheimer, Emily Owen, Andrea Pickart, Tyrone McDonald, Tom Wheeler, Morgan King, Jen Kalt, Felice Pace, Ivy Munnerlyn, Karina Ramos Villalobos, Gary Graham Hughes, Dan Sealy, Susan Nolan, Michael D. Pulliam Cover: Internal reproductive organs. Source: Freepik.com. Designed by Chelsea Pulliam.

Secretary: Scott Sway, At-Large Treasurer: Chris Jenican Beresford, At-Large CJ Ralph, Redwood Region Audubon Society Gregg Gold, Sierra Club, North Group Tom Wheeler, EPIC Dan Sealy, At-Large Aisha Cissna, At-Large

NEC Member Groups

• Sierra Club, North Group, Redwood Ch. www.redwood.sierraclub.org/north/

• California Native Plant Society North Coast Chapter www.northcoastcnps.org

• Redwood Region Audubon Society www.rras.org

• Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment (SAFE) www.safealt.org

• Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) www.wildcalifornia.org

NEC Affiliate Members • Humboldt Baykeeper

www.humboldtbaykeeper.org

• Friends of Del Norte www.fodn.org

• Zero Waste Humboldt

www.zerowastehumboldt.org

• Californians for Alternatives to Toxics www.alt2tox.org

• Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP) www.transportationpriorities.org

• 350 Humboldt world.350.org/humboldt

News From the Center Larry Glass, NEC Board President Caroline Griffith, NEC Executive Director

In This Issue 3

West Virginia v. EPA Decision

Letters to EcoNews: Greenhouse Gases

Letters to EcoNews: Population Control

Reproductive Justice is Climate Justice

7 8

Microplastics In Our Blood Los microplásticos en nuestra sangre

Dune Native Plants

10 Salmon and Drought 11 EPIC --

The Sandpiper

12 Zero Waste Humboldt 12 California Native Plant Society 13 Humboldt Baykeeper 14 Sierra Club 15 Community Coastal Column 16 Cal Poly Humboldt 17 Carbon Science 18 Eye on Washington 19 DIY Zero 20 Get on Board for the Climate 21 Solutions Summit 22 Farm Feature: Foggy Bottom Boys

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

Fire A recent study appearing in the publication Nature shows tree density in parts of the Klamath Mountains is at a record high, and at risk of serious wildfires. The study, which was a collaboration between scientists and Indigenous tribes, attempts to construct a 3,000 year timeline that suggests that parts of the forest are much denser than ever before, meaning they are at higher risk of severe wildfires. This research is part of a growing effort to combine Indigenous knowledge, in this case historical accounts and oral histories from Karuk, Yurok and Hoopa Valley Tribal members, with Western scientific data to improve understanding of ecosystem histories. The research shows that the tree density in this region of Klamath Mountains started to increase as the area was colonized, partly because the European settlers prevented Indigenous peoples from practicing cultural burning. In the twentieth century, total fire suppression became a standard management practice, and fires of any kind were extinguished or prevented. In some areas, the tree density is higher than it has been for thousands of years, owing in part to fire suppression. Including Indigenous voices in research is crucial for decolonizing conventional scientific methods. According to Frank Lake, a respected US Forest Service research ecologist and a Karuk descendant, it, “becomes a form of justice for those Indigenous people who have long been excluded, marginalized and not acknowledged.” Going a step further and centering Indigenous people in forest management practices can help right an historical wrong and move us closer to bringing balance back to these ecosystems. On July 7, the Biden Administration did just that when it named the Karuk Tribe’s Natural Resources Department Director, Bill Tripp, to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. The commission, which is tasked with coming up with recommendations to prevent, mitigate, manage and recover from wildfire, will benefit from Tripp’s traditional knowledge of cultural fire practices which were passed down from his great grandmother. The Supreme Court With the EPA effectively eviscerated by the Supreme Court (see article on page 3), the alreadyexisting disproportionate effects of pollution on people of color will only get worse. Studies show most people think poverty is why pollution disproportionately affects people of color, despite evidence that institutional racism is the major cause. Research over the years has shown that people of color and poor people are significantly more likely to www.yournec.org

live in areas of high pollution. This is because of the deliberate construction of polluting industries in or right next to these communities. The public continues to identify poverty as the main cause of environmental inequalities, instead of blaming the more obvious and uncomfortable structural racism. Unfortunately, this is in part based on the widespread belief in the United States that everyone has equal opportunities and that existing inequalities aren’t due to race. Instead, some Americans think that the only barriers facing marginalized racial groups are personal choice, responsibility and hard work, and that people could get out of harmful living situations by simply working harder. This fundamental lack of understanding that racism is causing environmental inequality undermines efforts to fix those disparities, even when race is the biggest predictor of exposure to pollution. The Supreme Court’s other bombshell decision, to overturn Roe v. Wade, will likewise have a disproportionate effect on those who are already experiencing the effects of race and class in America, especially those who live in pollution hotspots. Legal experts warn that overturning Roe will affect more than just abortion access and will also impact reproductive healthcare and the healthcare that pregnant people are able to receive. When we consider that pregnant people living in areas of high pollution, whether from traffic emissions, agricultural pesticides, or petrochemical plants, are not only more likely to be Black, Asian, Hispanic or Latino but are also more likely to experience pregnancy complications, then we can start to see the dire implications of these two decisions. The recent session of the Supreme Court highlights that we need to do all that we can at a state and local level to protect bodily autonomy and the rights of people and nature to exist and persist. Ecotopia Maybe it’s time to rethink the 1975 proposal by Ernest Callenbach called Ecotopia, which was based on California, Oregon and Washington breaking off from the United States to form their own country! This concept has come up again after the January 6 coup attempt and stacking of the Supreme Court. Things that once seemed unthinkable now have everyone worried; the step-by-step disenfranchisement of women, LGBTQ+ people, people of color, basically anybody who’s not a white Christian male or a corporation seems set to lose rights. To be real, states and territories don’t technically have rights to just secede. There are no plans, no lines in the Constitution saying how it can be done, but in times like these it can be a comforting thought to entertain.

West Virginia v. EPA Decision Highlights the Importance of Local Environmental Action Rosalind Cuneo, EPIC Legal Intern West Virginia v. EPA involves a regulation that was never enacted and emission reduction goals that were achieved without regulation. Rather than wait for the inevitable fossil fuel industry challenge to a new Biden administration emissions rule, the Supreme Court opened its discretionary docket to issue a warning to any agency seeking to enact progressive regulation. In its attack on federal administrative power, this decision reminds us of the importance of state and local environmental action. The Environmental Protection Agency enacted the Clean Power Plan in 2015. The Clean Power Plan implemented, in part, a system of emissions reduction called “generation shifting.” Under this measure, power plants would be required to shift from firing coal to natural gas. In an unprecedented action, the Supreme Court voted along party lines in 2016 to stay the Clean Power Plan while it was still under review in lower courts. The plan was then repealed by the Trump administration and never took effect. Regardless, the expense of running old, coal-fired power plants led the energy industry to shift to lower-emissions natural gas plants. That the Clean Power Plan’s goals were achieved so quickly without regulation shows how moderate the plan was. Yet, the Court’s right-wing majority found it necessary to rule against the long-dormant plan on the grounds that the Clean Power Plan was of such “economic and political significance” that it was outside the EPA’s regulatory authority. Chief Justice Roberts relied on the recently conceptualized “major questions doctrine” to find that the EPA lacked the authority to implement

generation shifting measures. Under the major questions doctrine, the Court examines whether a regulatory action is so politically and economically significant that the Court must hesitate to conclude that Congress intended to authorize the regulatory activity in question. The majority opinion does little to define what circumstance may trigger a higher level of skepticism toward agency actions. However, Justice Gorsuch’s concurring opinion gives far-reaching examples such as regulations over which there is “earnest and profound debate across the country” or which regulate “a significant portion of the American economy.” If the Court finds that skepticism is warranted, the Court looks to whether Congress has explicitly authorized an agency to engage in regulation of this type. The problem with such an analysis is twofold. One, the vague language allows the Court’s conservative majority to subject any regulation it disfavors to a higher level of scrutiny. There is a great deal of subjective interpretation allowed by “politically and economically significant.” Two, Congress frequently grants administrative agencies broad authority to regulate emerging problems in the best way the agency sees fit. Such grants of authority allow civil servants to apply modern science and work quickly to address issues. In this case, the Clean Power Plan relied on Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, enacted in 1970, which states that the EPA must regulate any pollutant not regulated by other air quality programs using “the best system of emission reduction which … has been adequately demonstrated.” Had the Clean Air Act included language that dictated what that system should be, it would be outdated in 2022. Despite statutory language giving broad authority to the EPA to implement the best system of emissions reductions, Chief Justice Roberts asserts it is not “plausible” that Congress authorized the EPA to adopt system-level regulations requiring powerplants to shift from coal to natural gas or renewable energy. Instead, the Court points to legislative history to show that the EPA may only regulate carbon dioxide through technology-based standards, such as carbon capture. Notably, carbon capture is more expensive and less effective than generation shifting. In West Virginia v. EPA, the Court's conservative supermajority uses the major questions doctrine to make policy judgments and give itself veto power over regulations it finds unsavory. Pro-fossil fuel www.yournec.org

politicians were quick to recognize the broadreaching impact this decision will have. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released a statement praising the piece and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) told reporters the major questions doctrine, “could be a very positive tool in the ongoing fight against federal overreach.” Though McConnell insists this decision affirms the public’s say in the lawmaking process, Congress has consistently failed to act on climate change despite rising public support for climate action. With a Supreme Court adverse to federal power, state and local action are necessary to fight climate change and the biodiversity crisis. California has already implemented programs, such as the Advanced Clean Cars Program, that strengthen federal regulations to protect our environment. However, this program relies on a waiver from the EPA which could be – and once was – rescinded by a fossil fuel-friendly administration. As a leader in environmental protection, California must act to strengthen state-level environmental legislation and implement regulations in a way that is consistent with California’s ecological values. On a local level, Californians can advocate for landscape-level conservation efforts under the Natural Community Conservation Planning Act and make their voices heard at public hearings on environmental issues. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority is unlikely to change its hostile stance on federal power or environmental regulation. Despite the improbability of bold federal action, environmental advocates should not lose hope. Rather, it is time to focus on existing grassroots movements pushing for local pro-environmental change.

AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

Letters to EcoNews Super Greenhouse Gases Jordan Smith, globalFACT

I read with interest the recent article written by Martha Walden about super greenhouse gas. I am the Executive Director of the Global Forum for Advanced Climate Technologies (globalFACT), a non-profit organization that promotes the important role of lowGWP (Global Warming Potential) HFCs, HFOs, and HFC/HFO blends. Specific to environmental protection and sustainability, low-GWP HFCs, HFOs, and blends help businesses achieve greater energy efficiency and reduced emissions. They can also be used in system retrofits, giving older hardware new life, rather than sending it to a landfill. We often say that there is much more to consider than GWP when evaluating refrigerant choice. We are glad to see that you are interested in the topic of refrigerants and their environmental impact. With that said, we would like to clarify a few points in your article and request that you print a correction to the story. You write, “Some HFOs have an impressively low GWP, but they’re toxic…” Regarding toxicity, ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and AirConditioning Engineers) has classified HFO-1234yf as a “class A” refrigerant, meaning “low toxicity.” Also, it is worth noting that HFOs can be blended with HFCs to reduce the overall GWP of a blend, enabling operators to meet environmental regulations while getting more life out of their existing equipment. We view this as a positive development for the industry. We hope that you will consider revising your story and will view globalFACT as a resource as you cover related topics in the future.

Martha Walden, Get on Board

Yes, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers has classified 1234yf, the particular HFO I wrote about in my column, as "lower toxicity," a relative term. As I noted in my column, manufacturing 1234-yf entails the use of carbon tetrachloride, a known carcinogen that was being phased out until 1234-yf was introduced for automotive AC. Now with ramped up production, carbon tetrachloride has a rosy future. Also, 1234-yf degrades into trifluoroacetic acid [TFA], an undeniable toxin, but its association with 1234-yf currently falls within industry standards for what is considered safe for the environment. TFA is a type of PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals”), the prevalence of which greatly concerns health practitioners and environmentalists alike. It's not surprising that Mr. Smith's organization, globalFACT, has different standards for acceptable toxicity than I do. It also has different values as he demonstrates with his contention that "there is much more to consider than GWP when evaluating refrigerant choice." The global warming potential of a refrigerant is absolutely tops in my book. The low GWP of most HFOs is elevated when blended with HFCs, a common industry practice that Mr. Smith seems to regard as pure advantage. A little reminder: hydrofluoro-olefins [HFOs] are the latest fix from the chemical companies to deal with the extreme climate threat they made with their hydrofluorocarbons [HFCs], which they introduced to fix the ozone destruction they'd caused with their chlorofluorocarbons [CFCs] and hydrochlorofluorocarbons [HCFCs]. But I guess a high enough profit margin means never having to say you're sorry.

Population control George Clark, Eureka, CA

Kudos for Econews' persistence pointing-out human lifestyle as the primary cause of climate change, both in overconsumption and inequitable resource distribution, ("Unpacking Outdated Environmental Ideologies" by Elena Bilheimer, May, 2022). According to every Census, U.S. population is bigger, fatter and sicker, still demanding brief, overseas junkets, each time burning one-ton of jet fuel per-person and those fat SUV's parked outside garages overfilled with landfill-ready commodities…

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

despite witnessing accelerating climate chaos; or the world's last "cheap" oil wasted on seizing the world's last oil; or the tens of millions of climate and oil-war refugees. Transitional strategies like population reduction, fossil fuel-dependent solar panels, windmills and hybrid vehicles, remain necessary, (but eventually inadequate), until everyone voluntarily, or by force of nature, alters wasteful, self-destructive behaviors individually and in our community. Locally, we could add the choice of "adoption over live-birth" to graduate's "Social Responsibility www.yournec.org

Pledge" at Humboldt Polytechnic University, or nationally by adding a tax-credit. Eugenicist's nefarious exploitation of overpopulation at their elite bionomics conferences is insufficient reason to dismiss populate reduction, similarly, the concept of a U.S. Constitution shouldn't be dismissed due to racist's gun-toting free speech. Greed is the greatest challenge to overcome, historically oblivious to self-destruction. Can Humboldt's history of economic independence from grain-production be reproduced and expanded to energy? Can we plan the return of Eureka's efficient trolley-system? Eureka's rediscovered value in its Old Town's mixed-community of shops, services, housing and history and the local expansion of public trails, (what tourists travel overseas to experience), mirrors efforts in Scandinavia where competing new businesses cannot keep-pace with demand for peddle-assist "pod-bikes" fulfilling most daily travel needs by young workers and retirees. What other products and services can be produced locally that extract us from greed's historic self-destructive grip?

Ken Burton, McKinleyville:

It would be an understatement to say that I was disappointed by Elena Bilheimer's article in the April Econews discussing the role - or supposed lack thereof - of population in causing climate change. She stated that the problem - and, by extension, most other environmental problems - stems not from overpopulation but from overconsumption and inequitable resource distribution. What?? They are inseparable, two sides of the same coin. We humans have done a better job, with worse consequences, than other species in manipulating our environment and developing technologies to increase the planet's carrying capacity for us, but resources are still finite. Wackernagel et al. (2002) suggest that humanity's demand on the environment was 70% of global regenerative capacity in 1961, surpassed it in the 1980s, and reached 120% in 1999. Population increased 96% during that period; can anyone legitimately claim that there's no connection? Fewer people can sustainably consume more resources and produce more waste per capita; the opposite is true of more people. It's pretty simple math, really. Population control seems to have become a taboo topic of discussion but I believe it is a necessary component, along with reduced consumption, waste reduction and reuse, technology shifts, and equitable resource allocation, of fighting climate change and other global environmental problems.

continued on next page

Population control Ken Burton, McKinleyville: continued from prior page

But we can't take a one-size-fits-all approach. The relative weights of the factors contributing to the problems vary from one part of the world to another and so must the solutions. Reducing resource consumption and waste and moving away from fossil fuels should be the foci here, but in places such as Bangladesh and the Sahel, population control is going to be more effective. That may appear racist, but I would argue that the advantages of smaller families are more obvious and appealing than those of reverting to simpler, less consumptive lifestyles. Most of the world's people aspire to more comfortable lifestyles involving more consumption and more waste and they're entitled to them; but they can't attain them without controlling their populations. Ms. Bilheimer extensively quoted sources debunking 19th Century Malthusian theory without presenting any opposing views. This exposes her apparent personal bias (what is her agenda, anyway?) and makes her article more of an editorial than a balanced piece of journalism. Does this piece represent NEC's opinion? Perhaps Econews, as much as I agree with most of its content, is the wrong place to look for balanced journalism. It's absolutely true that many population control arguments have been based on racist and sexist ideologies, but no amount of wokeness can exonerate overpopulation as a factor contributing to climate change and the myriad other environmental problems facing us. I would have hoped that the NEC recognized this.

NEXUS

The intersection of human rights, the <<<>>> environment, social justice, and the economy

Reproductive Justice is Climate Justice Elena Bilheimer, EcoNews Journalist Editor’s Note: For context on this article please reference the Letters to EcoNews: Population Control on page 4. Those letters were in response to an article written by Elena Bilheimer in the May 2022 EcoNews issue titled Is Overpopulation to Blame for Climate Change? Dear Readers, Thank you both for taking the time to respond to my article. As expected, a topic as complex as this one generates discussion and controversy, and I appreciate having the opportunity to respond to some of the questions and concerns that were raised. Engaging in these difficult conversations is necessary as we work towards creating an environmentally just movement that more accurately reflects the needs of those who have been, and will continue to be, most affected by climate change. I want to make clear that my main goal as a journalist for EcoNews is to create content that educates and supports the development of this more environmentally just movement. Locally, EcoNews provides a platform through which we can engage with these topics and learn from each other. It is important to note that EcoNews is an environmental newspaper, and thus the articles that are printed in it often reflect the bias of those whose agenda includes environmental protection and flourishing. However, as stated at the beginning of every issue, the ideas expressed in EcoNews do not necessarily reflect the positions of the NEC and its member groups (see page 2 of every issue). As mentioned in my first article, although the U.S. is in the midst of an 80 year birth rate decline, our greenhouse gas emissions have been steadily increasing. Perhaps even more striking is that the world’s richest half-billion people, about 7 percent of the global population, are responsible for 50 percent

The world’s richest halfbillion people, about 7 percent of the global population, are responsible for 50 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. 5

www.yournec.org

there is no linear relationship between how many people there are and how many resources we use and how much pollution we produce. of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. This is in comparison to the poorest 50 percent, who are responsible for just 7 percent of emissions. These numbers make it very clear that overconsumption and pollution are associated with wealth, not the amount of people that exist. Deepti Chatti, an Assistant Professor of Environmental Justice in the Department of Environmental Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt said, “People use terms like carrying capacity and other kinds of ideas like that, but there is no linear relationship between how many people there are and how many resources we use and how much pollution we produce. And that's not because people don't use resources or people don't cause pollution, but it's because of how people live and how people relate to the environment. How much they use and what they use is so varied across places in the world, across cultures, across political settings, and across wealth categories, so it becomes almost impossible to make a statement about people because that category is not one homogenous group.” It is clear at this point that the earth would not be able to sustain 11 billion people if everyone had the lifestyle and resource use of the average Californian. However, this indicates that the focus should be on finding ways to make the lifestyle of the average Californian more sustainable and less wasteful, rather than trying to tell others what kinds of reproductive choices they should be making. As the journalist David Roberts pointed out, “Another way to approach the problem would be, rather than prevent the birth of extremely wealthy people, prevent the creation of extremely wealthy people. In other words, prevent the accumulation of massive wealth.” In response to concerns about the growing population in parts of the Global South and the potential impact this will have on the world as living standards increase, a recent study found that even if extreme poverty was eradicated for hundreds of millions of people, global emissions would be raised

continued on next page AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

NEXUS <<<>>> continued from prior page

millions of people, global emissions would be raised by less than 1 percent. It therefore becomes clear that even with substantially fewer people and a much lower birth rate, our governments and systems of resource use in the Global North are contributing significantly higher carbon emissions so as to make the potential future contributions of those in the Global South of minimal consequence. As Jade Sasser, Professor of Gender and Sexuality at UC Riverside and author of Infertile Ground recently said, “The thing about it is that focusing on how many babies people have and trying to control those numbers is a way of letting these powerful institutional actors off the hook, which is very dangerous given that for example, as of 2017, the US Department of Defense alone with its 585,000 facilities around the world, was responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than some entire nations, including Sweden and Portugal.” Concentrating the attention on population can not only obscure the other causes or contributors to climate change, it can lead to scapegoating, as it is much easier to blame people across the world than to look more closely at our own role in the current crisis. Anxiety about population has been embraced by eugenicists and white supremacists alike, and has been used to justify violence by mass shooters in El Paso and Buffalo. While most people agree on the horror of that behavior, it is important to examine both the usefulness and ethical tenability of even more mild population control or population reduction endeavors. Efforts to limit population growth either require that people who are already alive cease to exist, or the prevention of new people from being born. The first option is obviously ethically dubious, while the second can easily be misused when it is framed as a method of control rather than as a tool for bodily sovereignty. When access to reproductive healthcare is framed as a way to control or reduce population, these efforts can disproportionately affect women and those capable of getting pregnant as theirs are the bodies that are seen as needing to be managed in order to achieve less people. While we should be fighting for absolutely everyone to have access to reproductive healthcare, that access shouldn’t come with strings attached or with the pressure to limit reproduction in service of saving the earth.

population control efforts don’t exist in a vacuum outside of prejudice, harmful histories, or unfair systems. ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

I haven't seen any evidence that fixating on the number of people in the world is the most effective, or indeed a meaningful way at all, to care about climate change. Additionally, population control efforts don’t exist in a vacuum outside of prejudice, harmful histories, or unfair systems. Unjust population control efforts involving coercion are still alive today, as exemplified by the forced sterilizations happening on our southern border in an effort to control those deemed undesirable for migration. The real-life implications of race, class, gender, sex, and various other identities also influence who gets access to reproductive healthcare. If we were to hypothetically offer tax credits to those who have fewer children, we would first have to address the myriad of systemic injustices that make it more difficult for marginalized communities in the U.S. to

Pro-choice protestor. "Bans off our bodies." Source: Freepik.

access the reproductive healthcare they need and want, injustices that have only become more pronounced with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Otherwise, a policy like that would further increase the disparity between those who are privileged with access to reproductive healthcare and those who aren’t. Fortunately, there are more useful ways to frame the solution that don’t rely on coercion, control, or pressure. As Dr. Chatti said, “I haven't seen any evidence that fixating on the number of people in the world is the most effective, or indeed a meaningful way at all, to care about climate change. We should be caring about the way that corporations and organizations that profit from fossil fuels block any substantive action on climate change, or the ways that our economic systems incentivize people to make profit off things that make the world inhospitable and dangerous for many people.” Limiting income inequality has also shown to be extremely useful for mitigating emissions, www.yournec.org

and increasing reproductive justice allows for people to make their own choices and have the kind of family structures that make sense for them. Reproductive justice is a term that was coined by a group of black women in 1994 and is defined as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” Working for reproductive justice is significantly less controversial than fighting for population control. It is inherently connected with environmental justice, and can be advocated for in our local communities, especially after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Overall, the numbers are simple: our population will stabilize within the century, but as of right now, our carbon emissions will not. This is not a result of the many new babies that have the potential to be born in the Sahel or Bangladesh, but because of decades of purposeful apathy from corporations and governments. If anyone or anything needs to be controlled, it's these entities. If that isn’t sufficient, focus your efforts on helping further reproductive justice, so that everyone everywhere gets to decide when and what kind of family structure they want. Advocate for those whose rights and choices about their bodies have long been denied due to the systems that are causing the climate catastrophe. We will not save ourselves and this earth with the same efforts of control and coercion that caused this mess, instead the only way to create change is by implementing new systems of interdependency and sovereignty. As Sasser said in a recent talk, “Reproductive justice is the anti-overpopulation approach. It's the anti-population control approach. And it is the only comprehensive social movement that truly fights for full reproductive bodily autonomy in all regards, specifically in response to policies that are racist and anti-poor.”

Resources:

• When Climate Anxiety Leans Right: Eco-fascism, Buffalo and Roe, www.climatepsychology.us • I’m an environmental journalist, but I never write about overpopulation. Here’s why. www.vox.com • The People Who Hate People, www.theatlantic.com • Consumption Dwarfs Population as Main Environmental Threat, www.e360.yale.edu • Reproductive Justice, www.sistersong.net • Against the EcoFacist Creep, asle.org • Population, www.un.org • Eradicating ‘extreme poverty’ would raise global emissions by less than 1%, www.carbonbrief.org

Overall, the numbers are simple: our population will stabilize within the century, but as of right now, our carbon emissions will not. 6

Microplastics Are In Our Blood Now? Emily Owen, Guest Author Plastic has infiltrated everything. It’s everywhere. One recent study has shown that it can even be found in our blood. Specifically, microplastics are taking up residence in our bodies. Microplastics are exactly what they sound like, particles of broken-down plastic so small that they can’t be seen by the naked eye. Smaller than 5 millimeters! For perspective, an inch is 25.4 millimeters. You would need a microscope to see microplastics, which have also been found in the deepest depths of the Marianas trench and up on the peaks of Mt. Everest. Plastic doesn’t ever biodegrade, it just gets smaller and smaller. Every single piece of plastic that has ever been created since the invention of plastic in 1907, still exists. That means the plastic fork you used that one time at a picnic three years ago is still out there. Now we know these polymers are ending up in our blood through the cups we drink out of, the food we eat, and the air we breathe. More surprisingly, trace amounts of plastic can be found in tattoo ink, lip gloss, and toothpaste. What are the implications of these foreign objects existing within us? Scientists are hypothesizing that it’ll be years before we have a full grasp on what exactly the consequences could be. Microplastics were first found present in blood samples in a March 2022 study conducted by the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Researchers discovered an accurate way to measure the concentration of microplastics in our blood and their pioneering study found that microplastics were somehow finding their way into the human bloodstream through many of our dayto-day activities. In 2018, microplastics were also found present in human stool samples. Other studies have also located them deep inside the tissues of our lungs and in other major organs. Scientists have stated that microplastics in our blood could potentially lead to inflammation and DNA damage among other

risks. However, the World Health Organization comments that “there is no evidence indicating any human health problems” thus far. They also acknowledged that it could be many years until we understand more about what is happening and the consequences. There is no clear indication of what the impacts could be, but the professors who ran the Dutch study do call for concern about the findings. With microplastics circulating through our bodies, there is cause for alarm about them permanently lodging within us. To put it into a local lens, Jennifer Savage, the senior manager of the Plastic Pollution Initiative at Surfrider Foundation’s Humboldt chapter, was asked how bad of a situation we are in. “It's terrifying,” she says. “We don’t know what eating, breathing, and drinking plastic will do to us.” In the samples taken for the Dutch study, half of the donors had PET plastic in their blood, the type of plastic used in bottled drinks. They also discovered that polystyrene, which makes up most food packaging, was present in a large percentage of the participants’ blood. The third most quantifiable compound the study found was polyethylene, a material used to make shopping bags. The seemingly obvious solution to this problem of tiny plastic particles finding their way into our bloodstreams is to halt all consumption and production of plastics. However, that’s very unlikely to happen. Instead, there are alternatives to petroleumbased plastic being invented. Plastic substitutes made of biodegradable corn husks seem to be the most ideal replacement as we have so much corn readily and cheaply available. Bamboo is another promising option. It could be used to replace cutlery that was traditionally made of plastic or as an alternative to single-use plastic straws. It is also very plentiful and therefore affordable. Mycelium from mushrooms is another biodegradable alternative. There are new, more biodegradable packaging options to be found. It seems like everywhere you look, there is another

www.yournec.org

plastic-free option, even if it’s just using a reusable cloth shopping bag or drinking your morning smoothie out of a mason jar. An NBC News article reports that there is not enough research to fully understand the consequences of what it means to have plastic within us. The Dutch study was just the first of many studies needed to fully understand the effects that our dependency on plastic is having on us. A way to get plastic particles out of the bloodstream after they find their way in has yet to be discovered. New information is coming out that certain vegetables have been shown to attract microplastics in nature, so maybe they could work to eliminate them from our blood, too? But first, we should focus on preventing plastic from finding its way into our bodies. Savage’s closing comment during our interview was a plea for moving away from our dependency on plastic as well as a plug for her organization that you should definitely check out if you haven’t already. “If people want to stop plastic pollution, they can go to surfrider. org to find resources and learn more.” To learn more about recent exciting developments in the state of California to reduce plastic production and consumption, see Solutions Summit on page 21.

AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

¿Los microplásticos están ahora en nuestra sangre? Emily Owen Traducido por Carlrey Arroyo El plástico se ha infiltrado en todo. Está en todas partes. Un estudio reciente ha demostrado que incluso se puede encontrar en nuestra sangre. Específicamente, los microplásticos se están viviendo en nuestros cuerpos. Los microplásticos son exactamente lo que parecen: partículas de plástico descompuesto tan pequeñas que no se pueden ver a simple vista. ¡Son más pequeños de 5 milímetros! En perspectiva, una pulgada son 25.4 milímetros. Se necesitaría un microscopio para ver los microplásticos, también se han encontrado en las profundidades más profundas de la Fosa de las Marianas y en los picos del monte Everest. El plástico nunca se biodegrada, solo se vuelve más y más pequeño. Cada pieza de plástico que se ha creado desde la invención del plástico en 1907, todavía existe. Eso significa que un tenedor de plástico que usaste una vez en un picnic hace tres años todavía existe está ahí. Ahora sabemos que estos polímeros terminan en nuestra sangre a través de los vasos en los que bebemos, los alimentos que comemos y el aire que respiramos. Hasta se pueden encontrar pequeñas cantidades de plástico en la tinta para tatuajes, el brillo de labios y la pasta de dientes. ¿Cuáles son las implicaciones de estos objetos extraños que existen dentro de nosotros? Los científicos tienen la hipótesis de que pasarán años antes de que tengamos una idea completa de cuáles podrían ser exactamente las consecuencias. Los microplásticos se encontraron presentes por primera vez en muestras de sangre en un estudio que se llevó a cabo en marzo de 2022 por la Universidad Vrije de Ámsterdam. Los investigadores descubrieron una forma precisa de medir la concentración de microplásticos en nuestra sangre y su estudio pionero descubrió que los microplásticos de alguna manera estaban llegando al torrente sanguíneo humano a través de muchas de nuestras actividades cotidianas. En 2018, también se encontraron microplásticos presentes en muestras de heces humanas. Otros estudios también los han localizado en lo profundo de los tejidos de nuestros pulmones y en otros órganos importantes. Los científicos han declarado que los microplásticos en nuestra sangre podrían provocar inflamación y daños en el ADN, entre otros riesgos. Sin embargo, la Organización Mundial de la Salud comenta que "no hay evidencia que indique ningún problema de salud humana"

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

hasta el momento. También reconocieron que podrían pasar muchos años hasta que entendamos más sobre lo que está sucediendo y las consecuencias. No hay una indicación clara de cuáles podrían ser los impactos, pero los profesores que realizaron el estudio holandés están preocupados por los resultados. Con los microplásticos circulando por nuestros cuerpos, hay motivo de alarma acerca de que se alojen permanentemente dentro de nosotros. Para dar un perspectivo local, se le preguntó a Jennifer Savage, gerente mayor del iniciativa de contaminación plástica en el capítulo Humboldt Surfrider Foundation, qué tan mala es la situación en la que nos encontramos. "Es aterrador", dice ella. “No sabemos lo que nos hará comer, respirar y beber plástico”. En las muestras tomadas para el estudio holandés, la mitad de los donantes tenían polímero termoplástico de uso general en la sangre, el tipo de plástico que se usa en las bebidas embotelladas. También descubrieron que el poliestireno, que constituye la mayoría de bolsas de compra, estaba presente en un gran porcentaje de la sangre de los participantes. El tercer compuesto más cuantificable que encontró el estudio fue el polietileno, un material utilizado para hacer bolsas de compras. La solución aparentemente obvia a este problema de las diminutas partículas de plástico que llegan a nuestro torrente sanguíneo es detener todo el consumo y la producción de plásticos. Sin embargo, eso es muy poco probable que suceda. En cambio, se están inventando alternativas al plástico a base de petróleo. Los sustitutos de plástico hechos de cáscaras de maíz biodegradables parecen ser el reemplazo más ideal, ya que tenemos mucho maíz disponible de manera fácil y económica. El bambú es otra opción prometedora. Podría usarse para reemplazar los cubiertos que tradicionalmente estaban hechos de plástico o como una alternativa a las pajitas de plástico de un solo uso. También es muy abundante y, por lo tanto, barato. El micelio de hongos es otra alternativa biodegradable. Se pueden encontrar nuevas opciones de empaque más biodegradables. Parece que mires donde mires, hay otra opción libre de plástico. Incluso si solo usa una bolsa de compras de tela reutilizable o bebe su

Microplásticos en un dedo humano. Foto cortesía Freepik.

malteada de un vaso reusable. Un artículo de NBC News informa que no hay suficiente investigación para comprender completamente las consecuencias de lo que significa tener plástico dentro de nosotros. El estudio holandés fue solo el primero de muchos estudios necesarios para comprender completamente los efectos que está teniendo nuestra dependencia del plástico. Aún no se ha descubierto una forma de sacar las partículas de plástico del torrente sanguíneo después de que encuentren su camino. Está surgiendo nueva información de que se ha demostrado que ciertos vegetales atraen microplásticos en la naturaleza, por lo que tal vez también podrían funcionar para eliminarlos de nuestra sangre. Pero primero, debemos centrarnos en evitar que el plástico llegue a nuestros cuerpos. El comentario final de Savage durante nuestra entrevista fue un suplicio por alejarse de nuestra dependencia del plástico, así como un enchufe para su organización que definitivamente debería comprobar si aún no lo ha hecho. “Si las personas quieren detener la contaminación plástica, pueden visitar www. surfrider.org para encontrar recursos y obtener más información”. Para obtener más información sobre los emocionantes desarrollos recientes en el estado de California para reducir la producción y el consumo de plástico, consulte la página 21.

USED REDWOOD LUMBER

Lorelei Lane, Arcata

OldGrowthTimbers.com 707-834-5340

www.yournec.org

Native Plants Combat Effects of Climate Change Andrea Pickart, CA Native Plant Society For the past seven years, a major collaborative research project has been carried out on Humboldt County’s dunes. Participants include US Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona State University, Friends of the Dunes, the Wiyot Tribe, Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Park Service, and others. Two consecutive four-year grants were funded by the State Coastal Conservancy, Ocean Protection Council, and Bureau of Land Management. The overarching purpose of the research was to better understand how dunes will respond to climate change and how we can intervene in order to adapt to those changes. There are numerous components to the grant, including measuring changes in topography and vegetation on 72 transects distributed along the coast from Little River to Centerville Beach, calculating historic changes in the position of the shoreline since the first air photos were taken in 1939, assessing vulnerability of natural and cultural resources and infrastructure, and documenting the role of native plants in coastal resilience in a demonstration adaptation site. This last study wrapped up recently with the completion and publication of a dissertation by PhD student Zach Hilgendorf of Arizona State University.

The Lanphere Adaptation Site was established in 2015 to test the hypothesis that foredunes vegetated by native plants are more resilient than those vegetated by invasive European beachgrass. A quarter-mile stretch of dunes vegetated by dense beachgrass was sectioned into four areas. In three of these areas European beachgrass was removed and native plants introduced. The fourth area remained as a control on the experiment (no removal). Over the following seven years measurement of change in morphology of the foredune was carried out by researchers from the Arizona State University (ASU) under the direction of Dr. Ian Walker (now with UC Santa Barbara), while changes in vegetation were monitored by Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge staff. ASU researchers used a state-of-theart laser scanner to create topographic surfaces that could be used to detect changes in elevation over time. During the study there were two “extreme events,” storms during which tides were extraordinarily high combined with strong wave energy. This resulted in erosion of the foredune and enabled us to measure recovery time. The native foredune recovered almost two years faster than the control. This is significant given the increasing frequency and intensity of storms due to climate change. If foredunes are not able to recover between erosive events, shoreline retreat occurs.

Native dune mat and American dunegrass (Elymus mollis) on the restored adaptation site. Source: Andrea Pickart.

www.yournec.org

Block slumping in a scarped foredune.

Foredunes are a sand-sharing system between the beach and the dunes. During storms when water levels and wave energy are high, the foredune is scarped (cliffed). To recover, a sand “ramp” slowly builds up against the scarp during calmer weather until it reaches the top, when sand can again be transported on to the foredune and, if native plants are present, beyond. We observed that invasive foredunes responded with intact block slumping, retaining the vertical scarp. In contrast, native foredunes were characterized by “avalanching,” contributing to more rapid ramp formation. The study also showed that the restored foredunes increased in elevation and shifted the crest of the foredune back (landward) while maintaining the toe of the foredune, creating a broader foredune with greater volume, a more resilient condition. Invasive foredunes are narrow, steep and remain static. No sand reaches beyond the seaward face of the foredune. The native foredune is therefore more adapted to maintaining a buffering foredune feature during sea level rise. All of this underscores the important role native plants play in dune resiliency. Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge added 300 acres of highly degraded dunes to the refuge over the past decade, known as the Wadulh Unit (Wadulh is the Wiyot term for dune). The management goal at this site is to restore native dunes to increase resiliency while promoting biodiversity, using methods tested in the adaptation site.

AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

Salmon and Steelhead in the Anthropocene Tyrone McDonald

Canter, appreciates process-based restoration. The Wiyot Tribe endorses Indigenous management of forests. Canter states, “Water that could be in the Salmon and steelhead are cold water fish and creeks is being drawn up by young Douglas Fir trees.” have been on Earth for millions of years, surviving Massive Douglas Fir immigration into woodlands numerous ice ages. Our present climate, the and prairies negatively affects the wetlands and new normal, consists of unprecedented climate tributaries of the Eel River Basin. Low water flow heatwaves, droughts and atmospheric rivers of wind increases the Eel River temperature, making it more and rain. Climate extremes disrupt salmon and suitable for the invasive pikeminnow which eat steelhead migrations and increase their mortality juvenile salmon and steelhead. rate. NGO’s have been joining together to restore Salmon and steelhead are spawned and mature habitat. The Yurok Tribe and Trinity River in fresh water and then spend their adulthood in the Restoration have completed restoration of inocean, before returning to spawn in their natal place. channel, side channel, flood Atmospheric warming has plains and salmon pool habitat led to ocean warming, which by Junction City on the Main has caused poor nutrient and Fork of the Trinity River. health conditions reducing the Trinity River Restoration amount of returning salmon Director, Mike Dixon reports, and steelhead. This year, the “Restored pools on the Main return of cold, nutrient rich Fork of Trinity River are now upwelling has improved the full of Coho Salmon!” fitness of returning fish. Friends of the Eel River Prior to climate change, Director, Alicia Hamann said, salmon and steelhead “New weather trends are the populations were drastically new reality. We are living in a reduced by impassable dams, less predictable natural world.” culverts, roadways, water Friends of the Eel River are diversions and tide gates. partnering with Caltrout to Presently dams are creating restore the Cedar Creek fish low water flows, and low flows passage on the South Fork of raise water temperatures to the Eel River and restoration of lethal extremes for salmon and the Salt River in the Eel River steelhead. Often rivers with Estuary. Caltrout, through the dams have non-lethal warm governor’s emergency drought water flows that create algal fund, is preparing a Salmon blooms which foster deadly and Steelhead Restoration Plan diseases for migrating salmon for the entire Eel River Basin. and steelhead. Caltrout is restoring Cochran Pollution from agricultural Dry confluence of Van Duzen and Eel Rivers, 2021. Creek on Organic Matter Farm runoff of insecticides and Credit: Jacob Pounds of the Blue Lake Rancheria Environmental Department and UAV pilot. in Indianola, as well as working pesticides is a problem for with the McKinleyville Community Service District salmon and steelhead. In addition, silt from building Mattole Restoration Council Watershed on the Mad River floodplain restoration and public roads and logging has washed into rivers and streams Information Science Program Director, Nathan access, adjacent to School Road in McKinleyville. covering the gravel beds of spawning salmon and Queener, was very concerned in January through Caltrout is also restoring Prairie Creek in Orick. steelhead. Gold mining has done considerable March of this year when there was no rain and Caltrout is advocating for tribal funding, so that damage to the Klamath and Trinity Basins too. spawning steelhead could not access their higher tribes can lead in fish habitat restoration. Caltrout Increased water temperature, water diversions, reaches, causing steelhead to spawn on top of other North Coast Regional Manager, Darren Mierau pollution and silt covered spawning habitat, all steelhead. Increased densities of juvenile steelhead states, “We have an unprecedented opportunity increase the mortality of these fish during drought reduce the availability of food. The late April rain to advocate for landscape-level restoration in this years. provided higher tributary access for steelhead political environment, and we’re doing what we can Environmental restoration and rehabilitation spawning and allowed for improved disbursement of to protect fish and watersheds throughout the state.” by local Indigenous Tribes, NGOs, and government juveniles. agencies has been regenerating salmon and steelhead Wiyot Tribe Natural Resource Director, Adam

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

habitat. Restoration has never been more necessary than now, due to climate change. The Salmon River Restoration Council Director, Karuna Greenberg, says she has experienced a new state of weather unpredictability, as evidenced in changes of historical patterns of rain and snow. Last summer the Salmon River had a heat dome for forty-two days of over 100-degree Fahrenheit temperatures. Changes in weather have altered Spring Chinook Salmon, and they are returning younger. Greenberg is saddened that, “The giant lunkers, five-year-old Spring Chinook Salmon, have disappeared from the Salmon River.”

www.yournec.org

The Environmental Protection Information Center

The Problems with Post-Fire Logging Tom Wheeler, EPIC Executive Director

Market Dynamics Drive Bad Forest Service Timber Sales

The Forest Service is increasingly abandoning environmental impact analysis required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in hopes of creating commercially successful timber sales. Yet, in timber sale after timber sale the Forest Service has failed to meet their anticipated returns, in the process losing money by subsidizing private logging on public lands. Imagine a large fire that burns across both public and private lands. Several factors converge to inspire the Forest Service to take on overly-impactful projects and to rush environmental analysis which provokes disputes with environmental groups like EPIC. In order to understand this dynamic, it is important to understand the regulations that govern post-fire logging on private and public land.

Forest Service Can’t Move Fast Enough for Timber Markets

First, it is necessary to understand the economic value of post-fire timber. Generally, fire-killed trees retain a large amount of their pre-fire value through the first year after a fire. After the first year, the value of these trees drops, sometimes because of cosmetic issues, like blue stain, and other times because the wood quality diminishes. Thus, after a fire, there is

Joel Mielke

a “ticking clock” that pushes people to act quickly to “salvage” the remaining economic value of a standing dead tree. Doing so is easier to accomplish on private lands than public lands. Because they merely need to provide notice, large private timber companies are able to quickly log their property after a fire and fill up log decks at the few remaining mills with fire-killed trees. This depresses the future price that mills will be willing to pay for logs coming from public lands or small forest landowners, who may not be able to quickly log their forests. The Forest Service has a number of considerations that come into play when deciding how to respond after a fire: it must maintain access to roads, trails, campgrounds and other infrastructure; it must work to restore the ecosystem; and it hopes to recapture the lost value of potential future timber sales. The Forest Service frequently blends these interests together into a single project, so that the proposed logging can simultaneously remove potentially hazardous trees and produce timber receipts. But in tying together multiple project goals, say planning for restoration activities through proceeds from logging, the Forest Service sets itself up for failure because it can’t move fast enough to match the market. Yet, for some reason, it continues to try to do so—and in doing so, the public loses. Post-fire logging projects are also supposed to be evaluated for impacts through NEPA, meaning all the potential impacts from logging in a fragile post-fire environment are to be considered—from wildlife to water quality and air pollution to cultural resource damage, the Forest Service is mandated to take a “hard look” at what it plans to do before doing it. This work takes time, and if the Forest Service wants to log before timber prices plummet, there is an incentive to shortcut meaningful environmental impact analysis. This position—rush NEPA to get out the cut—has been codified as an agency position through a new memo from the Chief of the Forest Service, Randy Moore. www.yournec.org

Earlier this year, Chief Moore wrote a memo to all National Forests that encouraged the Forests to do the minimum analysis necessary under the law, including no NEPA analysis whatsoever, if the Forest could make a good faith argument that an “emergency” existed because of fire-damaged trees that need to be immediately removed. Meaningful environmental analysis is gone—and so too is the right for public engagement in post-fire logging projects.

Profit Rush Encourages Large Tree Logging

It is not only the process that suffers, but the focus on timber receipts also influences the scope of the logging itself, with an increased emphasis on removing large diameter trees because they retain their value longest after a fire. Large diameter trees are the most important in a post-fire environment because they are the most likely to remain standing for long periods of time while a forest regenerates. Regrowing forests of this kind, with a substantial number of snags, are called “complex early seral forests.” These large diameter trees provide necessary shade and structure to the regrowing forest, allowing the forest to perform as if it were older. Snags are also used for nesting, shelter and feeding sites providing essential habitat requirements for cavity-using birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. The removal of snags can negatively impact wildlife populations that are dependent on them as essential habitat components. By focusing on large diameter trees, the Forest Service also tends to remove the trees that pose the least risk. Many timber operators will often focus on logging the large trees first in order to get them to mills while prices are still high. In doing so, they take the most stable trees out of the forest and leave behind the small diameter trees which are the most likely to die and fall after a fire, resulting in more hazardous conditions and a buildup of fuels that can contribute to future fire risk.

- Stay Connected -

www.wildcalifornia.org facebook.com/wildcalifornia IG @epic_wildcalifornia AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

andpiper S

T he

August 2022

Redwood Region Audubon Society A Victory for the Marbled Murrelet

By CJ Ralph

At the end of June, an Oregon federal district court ruled in favor of Portland Audubon, Cascadia Wildlands, and the Center for Biological Diversity to protect an old-growth forest on private lands that is murrelet nesting habitat. The company, Scott Timber intended to clear cut old-growth forest that was previously part of the Elliott State Forest. This ruling is important for reasons far beyond the local Oregon interests. First of all, it is on private land not just federal or state lands. Secondly, the ruling codified best scientific practices for indicating what constitutes murrelet habitat. Key to this very important action is that the judge upheld the validity of the murrelet survey protocol as law. This survey technique was put together by the Pacific Seabird Group (PSG), a professional organization of seabird specialists that determines “occupied” habitat and thus the timbered lands subject to legal protection. “Today’s ruling is groundbreaking because it holds a private timber company accountable for plans to destroy habitat essential for imperiled wildlife in Oregon,” said Nick Cady, legal director at Cascadia Wildlands. “This ruling establishes that private timber companies can no longer violate the Endangered Species Act with abandon.” It’s also relevant because the case discussed the importance for adequate protection of nesting habitat using surveys over multiple years in small residual stands where murrelet habitat may not be entirely contiguous and the birds may not use it every year.

RRAS Field Trips in AUGUST! Sat. August 6th – 8:30-11am. Birding tour of Arcata Marsh, led by Bob Battagin. Sat. August 6th – 8:30-11am. Join RRAS for a bird walk in the Southern Humboldt Community Park, and along the South Fork of the Eel River. Trip leaders Ann Constantino and Andrew Orahoske will focus on riparian species as well as juvenile birds learning their essential life skills. Email Andrew.RRAS@gmail.com for details, or just show up at Tooby Memorial Park to join us. Sun. August 7th – 9-11am. Join RRAS for a Women and Girls’ Birdwatching Walk with trip leader Lila Bowen, a Cal Poly Humboldt Wildlife graduate student studying Western Gull nesting colonies and behaviors on Humboldt’s nearshore rocks. We will meet at Houda Point, on Scenic Drive, to look at activity on Camel Rock, take a trip down to the beach from there, then walk or drive north to Luffenholtz to look at Tepona Point. This trip will likely include gull, cormorant, murre, and other seabird species and will be a great opportunity to observe some of Humboldt’s incredible seabird nesting colonies and the interesting behaviors that occur on them. Sat. August 13th – Join Ken Burton on an exploration of the high ridge between the Eel and Bear river valleys. Expect a mix of forest and grassland species, potentially including Sooty Grouse, Horned Lark, Purple Martin, and Chipping Sparrow. We may also visit the Bear River valley. Walking will be minimal. Take food and water; there are no facilities. Afternoon temperatures may be quite high. Meet at Angelina Woodfired Kitchen in Fernbridge at 7:30 a.m.; we will carpool from there. Plan to be back in Fernbridge by 3 p.m. If you want to carpool to Fernbridge, contact Ken directly with your location (shrikethree@gmail.com or 707-499-1146). Sat. August 13th – Birding tour of Arcata Marsh, led by Larry Karsteadt. Sun. August 14th – 9-11am. Ralph Bucher will lead a walk at the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Sat. August 20th – 8:30-11am. Birding tour of Arcata Marsh, led by Rob Fowler. Sat. August 20th – Explore riparian areas, meadows and other habitats important to breeding birds in Eureka’s forested McKay Tract, with leaders, Jim Clark and Bob Vogt. Email Jim for details: clarkjimw@gmail.com. Sun. August 21st – 9-11am. Ralph Bucher will lead a walk on the Eureka Waterfront. This trail is paved and is wheelchair accessible. Sat. August 27th – 8:30-11am. Birding tour of Arcata Marsh, led by Kathryn Wendel. Sat. August 27th – 9-11am. Wigi Wetlands Volunteer Workday. Help create bird-friendly native habitat and restore a section of the bay trail behind the Bayshore Mall. We will provide tools and packaged snacks. Please bring your own water and gloves. Contact Jeremy Cashen at jeremy.cashen@yahoo.com or 214-605-7368 for more information. Sun. August 28th – 9-12pm. Join RRAS in partnership with local guiding company, Kayak Trinidad, for a morning viewing local seabirds from a kayak. All kayaks and gear are provided. Space is limited and reservations are required. Cost for this trip is $109/person. Contact Andrew Orahoske (Andrew.RRAS@gmail.com) to reserve your spot. *Contact Ralph at thebook@reninet.com for any walks he leads and all Arcata Marsh walks. *Contact Field Trip Chair, Janelle Chojnacki at janelle.choj@gmail.com for all other walks, unless specified.

www.rras.org

“Since their listing 30 years ago under the Endangered Species Act, Marbled Murrelets have moved even closer to extinction in Oregon in large part because state and federal agencies have not done enough to protect and preserve the older forests on which they depend,” said Bob Sallinger, conservation director for Portland Audubon. “Hopefully this win and others that preceded it will encourage state and federal agencies to more aggressively pursue their responsibilities to protect and recover this amazing seabird that depends on Oregon’s older coastal forests to nest.” The new forest resulting from the ruling retains the forest in public ownership, creates a 34,000-acre permanent research reserve on the west side of the forest to benefit murrelets and other imperiled species, protects nearly all of the remaining mature and old-growth forest left on the Elliott, and meaningfully engages western Oregon Tribes in its management. In the Redwood region, there are currently multiple pending/planned timber harvest plans on private land that may impact murrelets and this case should create renewed urgency for more thorough PSG protocol surveys. (For more information on Elliott State Forest, see https://

biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/court-halts-logging-ofelliott-state-forest-tract-sold-to-private-timber-company-2022-06-28/.)

Above: Marbled Murrelet by by Rich MacIntosh, USGS

DID YOU KNOW? Facts shared by the Cat & Bird Safety Committee The Kaua’i, HI County Council has unanimously enacted new provisions to manage cats and protect people and wildlife. Bill 2842, effective January 2023, prohibits the abandonment of cats across the island and the feeding of cats on County properties. Predation by cats is a major threat to Kaua’i’s native birds. The voices of concerned citizens, supported by scientific research, can result in positive action even when there is vocal opposition, as there was in this case. Source: American Bird Conservancy and Kaua’i County Title VII Ordinance 1107

CHAPTER LEADERS: President – Gail Kenny .....gailgkenny@gmail.com Vice President – CJ Ralph ................707-822-2015 Secretary – Andrew Orahoske.. andrew.rras@gmail.com Treasurer – Gary Friedrichsen ..........707-822-6543 Past President – Hal Genger .............707-499-0887 DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE: Ralph Bucher ....................................707-499-1247 Pia Gabriel ........................................707-382-2101 Harriet Hill ........................................707-267-4055 Chet Ogan .........................................707-442-9353 Sue Sniado .......................sueandscott@suddenlink.net Jeremy Cashen ...................................214-605-7368 OTHER CHAPTER LEADERS: Conservation – Jim Clark .................707-445-8311 Eductn/Schlrshps – Denise Seeger ...707-444-2399 Membership – Ralph Bucher …........707-499-1247 eBird Liaison – Rob Fowler …….....707-839-3493 Facebook – Cindy Moyer …...……..707-822-1886 Field Trips – Janelle Chojnacki ......janelle.choj@gmail.com Programs – Harriet Hill ....................707-267-4055 Publicity – Kate Rowe ......................925-391-0468 Publications – CJ Ralph ....................707-822-2015 Website – Susan Penn .......................707-672-3346 NEC Representative – CJ Ralph .......707-822-2015 THE SANDPIPER: Editor, Layout, & Design – Gisèle Albertine ....giseleandco@gmail.com Proofreader/Copyeditor ..........................Pia Gabriel Historian – Gary Friedrichsen ..........707-822-6543 RRAS Web Page ................................www.rras.org RRAS Listserve .............................groups.io/g/rras The Sandpiper is published eleven times a year by Redwood Region Audubon Society P.O. Box 1054, Eureka, CA 95502.

Thinking of Joining the Audubon Society?

By sending in your membership, either directly or on the form below, to National Audubon, (rather than replying to solicitations from National Audubon), the fee is sent directly to our chapter – if you use the Code RRAS C24. However, when you renew with National, the share of membership dues that RRAS receives is only a couple of dollars. If you join the local Chapter, RRAS, directly, we receive the total dues both initially and on renewal. To do so, write a check out to RRAS for $15 and be sure to include your email, write “local membership” on your check, then mail to: Redwood Region Audubon Society P.O. Box 1054, Eureka, CA 95502. You are welcome to join both nationally and locally. -----------------------------------------------------------To join National Audubon: Please enroll me as a member of the National Audubon Society and of my local chapter (RRAS C24), and send AUDUBON magazine and my membership card to the address below. My check for $20 is enclosed. NAME ................................................................................... ADDRESS ............................................................................ EMAIL .................................................................................. Please make checks out to the National Audubon Society, and send with this coupon, to 225 Varick Street, 7th floor, New York, NY 10014

President’s Column By Gail Kenny

After a quiet, winter-bird soundscape, it is delightful to experience breeding-bird songs again. There is a two-to-three-month period when singing migrating birds are passing through and local breeders are singing on territory before it tapers off again. Even experienced birders need to review birdsong seasonally to be able to identify them. A newer birdsong ID tool is the Merlin app. When this free bird ID app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology first became available, I figured I didn’t need it because I know my local birds well and I’ve got the Sibley Bird Identification app on my smart phone which includes recordings of birdsongs. But I will be traveling out of the country this summer and Merlin provides free bird ID all over the world. That beats buying another bird guide, so I checked out what Merlin has to offer. There is some setup for the Merlin app. You download a “bird pack” while your phone is connected to the internet. I downloaded the US: West Coast bird pack. Once you have the pack you don’t need to be connected to the internet for it to work. Merlin can identify bird species by description, photos, or sounds using artificial intelligence (AI). What has recently been improved on the Merlin app is the sound ID feature. Sibley doesn’t have that! After some experimenting with Merlin Sound ID, I learned that it is as simple as opening the app, selecting sound ID, and then record. As Merlin is recording the sound it shows a diagram (called a spectrogram) of the sounds it is detecting. AI identifies what species of bird is singing based on the spectrogram. As the app recognizes the birdsong it lists a picture and name of the best matched bird species. During the recording as the bird species is singing, the name and photo of the bird is highlighted. On playback, below the best matched bird species, it lists recordings of that bird’s song so you can listen to them and compare it to what you are hearing. You can confirm “this is my bird” and either save it to Merlin or eBird. Also on playback, you can select a species in the best match list, and the cursor will go to the place in the recording where this bird was singing, making it easy to find a specific recorded song. There are some precautions with using Merlin sound ID. It’s not always right. It is best used as an aid to identification. I did a recording on Stagecoach Road in Trinidad and Merlin identified a Northern Cardinal, Spotted Sandpiper, and Black-Headed Grosbeak while I was hearing the Black-Headed Grosbeak singing. I think some parts of the grosbeak song sounded like these other birds. The cardinal was obviously wrong because it would be very rare here. Also, Merlin was not able to ID birds singing farther away that I could hear. It also does not seem to be able to ID some bird calls but that could improve with machine learning. What I like about Merlin sound ID is that now I have lost my higher pitched hearing, it will hear those GoldenCrowned Kinglets and Cedar Waxwings I can’t hear. It will also detect the higher pitched parts of birdsong that I’m only hearing part of. What was a surprise to me is that along with the common Wilson’s Warbler, and other

neotropical migrants singing in my local patch, Merlin identified Hermit Warblers that I wasn’t picking up at all. It’s nice to know that they might be here. It is especially fun to use Merlin when I’m hearing an unusual bird singing. It helped me ID a Warbling Vireo recently, but another time, it missed the Hooded Oriole I could hear in the distance. Overall, Merlin sound ID is a wonderful new tool to use for learning birdsong in the field and the price is right! It has certainly added a fun new aspect to my birding experience.

Above: An example of the Merlin Sound App.

Above: New RRAS board member, Sue Snaido, sent in this photo of a Song sparrow feeding a cowbird, at Arcata Marsh.

“What’s in a Name...?”

By Mark A. Colwell, Wildlife Department, Cal Poly Humboldt In an engaging treatise on the origins of biological classification and taxonomy (Naming Nature, 2009. W.W. Norton & Co., New York), Carol Kaesuk Yoon posited that humans have an innate tendency to name and organize living things. Our ancestral ability to make sense of the world evolved from a dependence on the goods and services of nature. Today, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), is a noteworthy example of this; Indigenous peoples maintain a deep ecological understanding of the local ecosystems upon which they rely. Moreover, the ability of humans to name biota was enhanced by our geographically localized existence (i.e., small home range), which presented a limited number of variants (i.e., species) to ponder amidst interactions of the natural world. As humans explored the world, however, we encountered an increasingly diverse assemblage of organisms to be named and classified, which created new challenges. Fast forward to the 18th century and the advent of modern systematics, the science of naming living entities and understanding their relationships. Carl Linnaeus anticipated evolutionary theory by developing the binomial system of nomenclature. To this day, the Latin-based practice effectively conveys the evolutionary relationships among living things based on shared derived characters such as behavior, morphology and, now, almost exclusively DNA. Closely related species are grouped into a common genus, with variants assigned species epithets. The challenge to humans in classification is to make use of the best information possible to resolve these relationships and to be consistent in how we name things. Over the years, ornithologists and birders have become well aware of these challenges, often flavored with the influences of changing societal norms. During my several decades of teaching Ornithology at Humboldt, I regularly updated the 300+ species list (common names only; not Latin binomials! ...that I came across in my advanced, “Shorebirds” class), that I required of students, down to the taxonomic level of Family. Each August, I eagerly awaited the updated “checklist” of North American birds as compiled by the committee of the American Ornithologists’ Society (AOS). Some changes included those based on the collective expertise of committee members who deemed recent phylogenetic analyses significant enough to alter the taxonomic affiliation of a species. For example, the recent move of the

Eel River Estuary Field Trip By Gail Kenny

On June 25th, Gary Friedrichsen and I led a RRAS field trip to Eel River Estuary Preserve in Ferndale. This is a property owned by the Wildlands Conservancy which purchased it in 2008 for restoration primarily to benefit salmon. It has only recently been opened to public visitation, which is by reservation only. The habitat includes tidal wetlands, freshwater marsh, sand dunes, grassland, and part of the Eel River estuary. The day was sunny and warm with little wind. Our group of about 12 participants met at 9 AM at the preserve’s barn where there were at least 26 Cliff Swallows flying around. They nest in the eaves of the barn. A preserve representative gave us an orientation

Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) out of the wood warblers (Parulidae) into its own monotypic family (Icteriidae) came as no surprise given the species’ distinct morphology and behavior. Other changes, arguably more philosophical and resolved at a finer phylogenetic scale, addressed whether or not geographically distinct morphs qualified as “good species.” The Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca), for example, has four distinct subspecies that are easily recognized morphologically, exhibit different ranges and migratory behavior, and represent distinct lineages albeit with some hybridization. But, the AOS has yet to recognize them as distinct species. Other checklist changes to common names were driven not by evolutionary criteria but societal values. If you possess an old version of Roger Tory Peterson’s field guide, delve into the regional names for some species such as Double-crested Cormorant for a stark example of offensive vernacular. More recently, decisions to alter common names were prompted by culturally insensitive names, as exemplified by the Long-tailed Duck’s (Clangula hyemalis) former name. In many instances, patronymic names honored individuals known for racism and oppression. Recently, the checklist committee received a petition and followed through by changing the common name of McCown’s Longspur to Thick-billed Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii) based on McCown’s association with confederate ideology and maltreatment of Native Americans in particular. Curiously, however, the species’ Latin epithet continues to “honor” the individual. While the inclusivity argument for the longspur name change seems justified, I wonder what criteria will be used in future decisions to alter honorific labels, and there are a lot of them (e.g., Lucy’s Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Bachman’s Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler; 10 wood warblers have honorific names). About a year ago, a group of professionals endorsed an effort to replace eponymous common names of species with descriptive labels, which focused on physical or ecological attributes of taxa. I whole-heartedly endorse such an effort (with hope that others grant tolerance for future mistakes I make in mastering the changes to come!). Carol Yoon’s characterization of early human interaction with, and dependence on, nature emphasized that names identified things of immediate and profound importance to the well-being and survival of a localized people. Today, however, we live in a much larger and more diverse world. As such, there is a need for a system of naming and communicating ideas that stresses inclusivity and does not offend, patronize, disempower or degrade others.

about the rules and provided a map which I had not been able to find on the preserve’s website. This was when we realized that it is a 1.5-mile hike through fields to access the marsh and other trails. The marsh loop trail is 2 miles, which would make a 5-mile hike for the morning. We compromised on a plan to hike to the marsh, then take part of the loop to the dunes trail to view the beach, reducing the hike to about 4 miles. On the way through the fields, we had very good looks at Savannah Sparrows and came to know their markings and song well. We counted 36 individuals, our second highest species on the eBird trip checklist. We encountered Northern Harriers in the fields, heard Marsh Wrens in the marsh, there were ravens and RedTailed Hawks, and a flock of 37 Brown Pelicans flew by. Some of us didn’t make it as far as the marsh, but 4 of us carried onward and delighted at the wildflowers and pollinators in the dunes while picking up some seashore birds for the list. We had hoped to have this field trip in winter but found out it was closed on the weekends for hunting during those months. A fall or winter visit would most likely yield more numbers and species of birds than early summer. If you want to visit more than the fields, you will be hiking over 3 miles. Overall, it was a beautiful day to be outside in nature and in good company. To learn more about the Wildlands Conservancy and the Eel River Estuary, visit their website: wildlandsconservancy.org/preserves/eelriverestuary. Above left: Field trip participants, by Gail Kenny.

Above: Cartoon by Leslie Scopes-Anderson.

The Barn Swallow

By Gail Kenny

in appearance between the subspecies are at least partially caused by the presence of different types of parasites in different regions, and geographic variation in which traits the swallows use to choose mates. The American subspecies is found locally. Barn Swallows have a distinctive long forked tail, making it easy to distinguish from other swallows. The America subspecies has a dark blue-black upper side, an orange to whitish underside, and a dark rufous throat. Their song is a sweet chittering. They are often found around water and fields. Their nest is a partial bowl made of mud mixed with grass on the outside of structures such as barns, houses, and bridges. Their diet consists of insects such as flies, beetles, moths, butterflies, and other flying insects. Humans have a special relationship with barn swallows because they breed on our structures, so there are stories and myths about barn swallows from many cultures. Check out this website to learn more about humanbarn swallow relationships: http://ritualsofthisgoodearth.com/. Barn Swallows are migratory birds. They breed in North America and most winter in Central and South America. Some of the Barn Swallows that breed in Colorado winter in Colombia and Venezuela. Most migratory bird populations from specific regions migrate to another specific region in winter. I learned from eBird (https://ebird.org/science/barswa) that although Barn Swallow numbers have dropped in the last 50 years in the US, likely due to the more widespread use of pesticides, their populations have benefited somewhat from human structures by reclaiming their territory. The subpopulations that migrate the farthest, such as those wintering in South America and summering in the US can begin their fall movements as early as July. After breeding, Barn Swallows often stage before migration in large communal roosts in grasslands or wetlands. Some Barn Swallows that winter in Argentina have even started breeding there too. They are present in the Redwood region in late spring and summer for their breeding season. Most of them migrate south for the winter, but there have been Barn Swallows every month of the year at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. They are in the highest numbers at the marsh from April through September. This is possibly a pre-migratory staging area for our local swallows. In my neighborhood in Trinidad, I have observed Barn Swallows arriving in April, flocking over the field and pond near the library, then beginning to nest by June. They start flocking together again in August and September and then they are gone again until spring. It would be fun to know where our Humboldt County population winters.

I distinctly remember seeing Barn Swallows as a child. My father built a houseboat we kept in the San Joaquin Delta, only a few hours’ drive from home in the Bay Area. We enjoyed many a summer afternoon cruising slowly through the delta with barn swallows swooping in front of the houseboat. After I moved to Trinidad, I soon became accustomed to barn swallows nesting in our carport each summer. It has been fun to witness them often raising two broods a season. We have a wire across our backyard connecting to a building. Barn swallows and violet-green swallows often perch there in the summer and we watch the fledgings hang out and get fed. I have an extra interest in Barn Swallows now because my daughter is studying their breeding behavior for her PhD www.safran-lab.com/. Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica), are widespread around the world and I have seen them in several countries while traveling. There are seven subspecies of Barn Swallows worldwide that vary in breast plumage color and tail length. Differences Above left: Barn Swallow in Trinidad, by Gail Kenny.

Comic (above) and text reprinted courtesy of the Yurok Tribe, and Northern California Condor Restoration Program (NCCRP): “Condor (A1) (didn’t) need to wait too much longer for his chance to join the rest of his cohort as a free-flying California Condor.” On July 14th, the NCCRP was finally able to free A1 – the remaining member of the first prey-go-neesh (California Condor) cohort to be released into Yurok ancestral territory. The second group of birds is expected to arrive next month for a late summer/early fall release. The NCCRP, a partnership between the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks (NPS), plans to reintroduce one cohort of prey-go-neesh every year for at least the next two decades. A1 joined Ney-gem’ ‘Ne-chween-kah (A0), Poy’-we-son (A3) and Nes-kwe-chokw’ (A2), which represent the first prey-go-neesh to soar over Yurok skies since 1892. “Like his fellow cohort members, A1 was given a Yurok nickname. His is “Hlow Hoo-let,” which means “At last I (or we) fly!” said Yurok Wildlife Department Director Tiana Williams Claussen. “In line with the heavier names this first cohort carries, I interpret that as reference to the joyous day that all four of our first cohort fly free together,” she said in a statement. “On a lighter note, it’s definitely also a reference to poor Hlow Hoo-let’s extended wait to be let out, due to his faulty transmitter! We welcome Hlow Hoo-let to the skies of Yurok and surrounding lands, and look forward to his journey with us.” Watch live on the Yurok Tribe condor cam: www.yuroktribe.org/yurok-condor-live-feed. Check the Yurok Tribe Facebook page (yuroktribe.org/yurok-condor-restorationprogram) for more specifics on A1’s release.

Donation Dash Reduces Campus Waste

Morgan King This past May, Cal Poly Humboldt’s Office of Sustainability and the Waste Reduction & Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP) hosted Donation Dash, an annual event designed to reduce waste generated by students moving out of campus residence halls. “It takes a lot of hard work from a very dedicated group of students, staff and local organizations to pull this thing off,” says Morgan King, Cal Poly Humboldt’s Climate Action Analyst. “The effort pays off, though, in many ways. The campus reduces its landfill waste, local organizations get some great items for their thrift stores and fundraising, and residents get to be a part of the zero waste movement.” Donation Dash starts out at a trot but ends with a sprint to the finish. “We set bins out around campus before Finals Week to collect any reusable items from residents preparing to move out. We get everything from clothes to cases of Cup of Noodles,” says King. Meanwhile students with WRRAP launch a marketing and outreach campaign and recruit and train volunteers.

NORTH COAST CHAPTER Field Trip

August 5-7, Friday-Sunday. Bolan Lake Overnight Field Trip. At 5,400 f.t elevation, in the Siskiyou Mts. of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest southeast of Cave Junction, Oregon, Bolan Lake is an oasis of green in a landscape incinerated by the Slater Fire in 2020. A 1.4 mile trail to the top of adjacent Bolan Mt. reveals spectacular views and possibly botanical surprises that survived. Before the fire the area was valued for its diverse mountain flora. A Forest Service campground at Bolan Lake will be our base for exploration of the area. Tell Carol if you are interested. To get details as they develop email theralphs@humboldt1.com or call 707-822-2015.

During Finals Week, King sets up three Donation Dash, go to wrrap.humboldt.edu/donation-dash. Stations on campus. Each station is hosted by a For the month of August please round up your different organization – Cooperation Humboldt, purchases at the North Coast Co-op to help fund Sequoia Humane Society, and OH SNAP! Student future projects for us. Food Programs. As residents clean out their rooms, they bring their items to the stations, where student volunteers and staff help sort out reusable goods, compostables and recycling from landfill waste. Throughout the week, the Sanctuary Arcata sorts reusable goods, compostables and recycling around the residence halls without direct access to a Donation Station. This year, eight tons of reusable goods went to participating organizations. Many of the donated items remain on campus, to be redistributed to students moving into the residence halls in August. “We’ve been able to achieve a kind of closed loop economy,” says King. “Through give-aways and a pop-up thrift shop, new students can find lightly used items to stock their rooms instead of buying new. This saves students money while furthering campus sustainability. It’s a win-win.” For more information on Donation Donation Station on the Cal Poly Humboldt Campus.

CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY known as coast goldenrod, it is found in central and northern California, and into Oregon. Dune goldenrod is the dominant species in our local dunes, and is visited by a number of pollinators including the showy leafcutter bee, (Megachile wheeleri). The leafcutter bee saws off pieces of goldenrod leaves that resemble “bites” out of the leaves. The bee uses these to wrap around her

Need to Buy Native Plants?

Plants grown at our volunteer-run nursery can be bought from 1-5 pm on Thursdays and Fridays at the Wild Radish Farm Center, Freshwater Farms Reserve, 585 Myrtle Ave., Eureka. Expanded days and hours of operation are anticipated in the near future. Check our website for updates. If no staff is at the plant stand, look on the opposite side of the big barn in the long, white building by the road.

Evening Programs will resume in September.

Dune Goldenrod on the Dunes by Andrea Pickart August is a great month to visit the dunes and take in the array of wildflowers. The most common plant flowering in August is dune goldenrod (Solidago spathulata). Also

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

egg, packing pollen and nectar into the bundle. If you are lucky you may spot a bee carrying a rolled up pie ce of le af, appearing to be on a flying carpet. You can see dune goldenrod at any of our local dune A leaf-cutter bee takes off carrying an systems. I recommend oval piece of leaf cut from a goldenrod. joining a tour at the Lanphere Dunes on the first Saturday of the month (meet at Pacific Union School, 3001 Janes Rd., Arcata, at 10 am).

Stay Updated:

Female leafcutter bee collecting pollen from a seaside daisy. Pollen is transported on the underside of the abdomen.

www.yournec.org

www.northcoastcnps.org facebook.com/NorthCoastCNPS

CNPS welcomes everyone. No expertise required.

Moonstone Beach Bummer Jen Kalt, Humboldt Baykeeper Director Last month, Moonstone Beach ranked as the sixth most polluted beach in the state on Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card. This annual report compares water quality at recreational beaches throughout California in terms of fecal bacteria. Most concerning to swimmers and surfers are sewage spills, but these pathogens also live in the guts of livestock, pets, and wildlife, and are often flushed into streams and the ocean by rainstorms. The sources that pollute stormwater have been difficult to identify, since traditional lab methods can’t distinguish bacteria from different host animals. Many people are shocked to learn that any Humboldt County beach could be anywhere near the top ten most polluted in California. The amount of rainfall in our region has a major impact: the more it rains, the more stormwater flushes pollution off streets, parking lots, and pastures. In most counties, beach monitoring is done from April 1 to October 31, when people are more likely to be swimming. But this period also coincides with the annual dry period for most parts of the state, resulting in lower bacteria concentrations at beaches in Southern and Central California than here in Humboldt.. Humboldt County monitors bacteria levels at five beaches (Moonstone Beach at Little River, Clam Beach at Strawberry Creek, Luffenholtz Beach, Trinidad State Beach at Mill Creek, and North Mad River Mouth). All but one are impaired by bacteria pollution. The exception is North Mad River Mouth, where much higher volumes of water push polluted waters further offshore. Warning signs are posted when high levels are detected, and additional samples are collected until the levels decrease. Last summer, a study by Dr. Jeremy Corrigan found that birds are the primary source of bacteria pollution in the surf zone at Clam Beach, while cattle are the main source in the Strawberry Creek watershed (see Clam Beach Study Points to Birds in the Aug. 2021 EcoNews). There’s no way to know if similar results might be found at Moonstone Beach/Little River until an intensive study using genetic markers is done there. Since it is one of our region’s most popular recreational beaches, we believe funding this research should be a top priority. Until the sources are identified, water quality will continue to be impacted.

Testing for Bacteria in Local Waterways For many years, Baykeeper volunteers sampled water quality before and after “First Flush,” the first major storm in the fall, to study the levels of various pollutants in

Wherever you are, it’s a good general rule to avoid swimming or playing in the surf zone near creek mouths or storm drains for 72 hours after a major rainstorm. This is especially true for young children, who often swallow water while wading or playing at the beach, like these kids playing in Little River on a sunny winter day in 2014. Exposure to fecal pathogens can cause vomiting; diarrhea; rashes; and infections in open wounds, eyes, or sinuses. Image provided by Jen Kalt.

stormwater. In 2010, Humboldt Baykeeper submitted five years of data to support designating six streams (Janes Creek and Campbell Creek in Arcata, Little River and Widow White Creek in McKinleyville, and Martin Slough and Elk River in Eureka) as impaired by bacteria. In 2015, these streams were added to the Clean Water Act’s Section 303(d) list of impaired waters, compelling the state to take action to restore and protect water quality. In 2012, we shifted our focus to bacteria pollution, since our results showed consistently high levels of fecal bacteria in most streams. And in 2015, the Regional Water Board began a study of dozens of North Coast streams to identify the sources of bacteria pollution. The Humboldt and Sonoma County Public Health Labs developed methods for quantifying genetic markers for gut bacteria from human, dog, bird and ruminants such as cattle, deer, and elk. That same year, Humboldt Baykeeper began focused studies of Little River and Janes Creek to search for hotspots of bacteria pollution. Our findings point to cattle as the primary source along Little River, with one exception: a tributary from Westhaven contained human bacteria during a major rainstorm, suggesting that at least one septic system is failing in that area. Our study was folded into the Regional Water Board study, which was completed in 2019. The draft reports have yet to be finalized and released to the public. In February 2020, we began a study focused on Jolly Giant Creek in Arcata, hoping to pinpoint the sources of human bacteria identified in the 2019 study. This research was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic after just one sampling event. The Regional Water Board took over that www.yournec.org

study in April 2020, and sampling is ongoing. Bacteria pollution is well-known among oyster farmers, who sample North Bay (Arcata Bay) regularly during dry weather to ensure that raw oysters are safe to eat. But during rainstorms, oysters cannot be harvested due to high bacteria levels in stormwater ending up in the bay. Studies in the 1990s pointed to stormwater runoff as the source, and yet here we are, still studying the problem all these years later. In 1972, the Clean Water Act passed with the goal of cleaning up all of the nation’s waterways by the mid-1980s. Significant progress has been made to reduce point-source pollution, but cleaning up non-point sources that cause stormwater pollution has been more difficult. Until state agencies find the political will to implement solutions like fencing cattle out of riparian areas, bacteria pollution will continue to affect coastal streams like Little River as well as Humboldt Bay with every rainstorm. For more info, visit the Water Quality Program section of the Baykeeper website (humboldtbaykeeper.org/ programs/water-quality). The County’s ocean monitoring results are available at humboldtgov.org/1696/WaterQuality-Test-Results.

Stay Connected h u m b o l d t b ay ke e p e r. o r g a l e r t s @ h u m b o l d t b ay ke e p e r. o r g IG @humboldt_baykeeper TW @HumBaykeeper FB /HumBaykeeper

AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

Industrial Logging Along The Bald Hills Road clearcut. It is only then that we will be able to judge how well the current logging rules protect water quality, stream ecosystems and salmon.

Felice Pace, North Group Water Chair Extending from US Route 101 just north of Orick to the Klamath River below Weitchpec, Bald Hills Road offers the opportunity to observe industrial logging up close. On one side of the ridge-top road are views of Redwood Creek, including both industrial forests and Redwood National Park lands. The northerly views are industrial forestlands extending nearly to the Klamath River, the Yurok Reservation along the Klamath River and national forest lands beyond, extending to the High Siskiyou Wilderness. Whether in the Klamath or Redwood Creek watersheds, industrial logging is typically done by clearcut. However, forests in the Coast Range are of the Mixed Evergreen type which means they contain hardwood species, mainly tanoak and alder, as well as conifers. The hardwoods have no value as sawtimber but when converted to chips they are valuable, including for export from ports at Coos and Humboldt Bays. These economic realities impact methods used to extract timber from industrial forestlands located in NW California and SW Oregon. If the forest is mostly conifers, the clearcut method is employed. However, if there are a significant number of hardwoods within the stand, the conifers are often cut and removed while leaving the oak and alder standing. The remaining hardwoods are then killed by cutting into the base and injecting a chemical herbicide to kill the tree. This method is referred to as “hack and squirt.” Often those doing the job will also wear backpack spray units which they use in an attempt to kill any shrubs remaining in the clearcut area. The goal is to kill as much vegetation as possible to make way for a new conifer plantation. The oak and alder hardwoods are left as standing dead trees for a year or so until they have thoroughly dried. They are then logged and converted to wood chips which are exported or converted in the US into manufactured wood products.

View from Bald Hills Road into fog-shrouded Redwood Creek

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

Protecting Water Quality

Hardwoods poisoned and left standing by Green Diamond Corporation along Bald Hills Road. Photo by Felice Pace.

Except for Redwood Park lands and the relatively small amount of land that the Yurok Tribe has purchased, virtually all land on both sides of Bald Hills Road is industrial forest which is managed for maximum profit. On those lands it is economics, not forestry, that determines what gets cut and what gets left behind.

Cutting the Second Growth

Most industrial forestlands in the Coast Range and Klamath Mountains were clearcut in the 1980s. The vast majority of the trees logged were large old growth that had never been previously logged. Extremely weak Board of Forestry logging rules allowed the conversion of whole watersheds from Old Growth to industrial tree plantations. Many roads were built on steep unstable slopes. The result was massive erosion and landsliding during major storms, filling the streams with the fine sediment which destroyed salmon habitat. These days California Board of Forestry logging rules are much improved, particularly with respect to construction and maintenance of logging roads. However, California still allows logging on landslide terrain. Logging of our North Coast second growth forests is now proceeding from the ridges down toward the streams. So far, most second growth logging is up near the ridges. As these clearcuts extend down toward the streams, however, the risk of landsliding will increase dramatically. Although multi-day storm events have not occurred in recent years, they will return. When those storms come, we will likely see new landslides where geologically unstable landslide terrain has been www.yournec.org

Here on the North Coast, the North Coast Water Board is responsible for making sure that logging does not degrade water quality. The Board develops and adopts Waste Discharge Permits for public and private forests. Those permits are supposed to protect water quality. But the permits are weak when it comes to landslide terrain; they allow unstable lands to be clearcut and only prohibit logging equipment on active landslides. Fortunately, the North Coast Water Board revisits the logging permits every five years or so. That provides an opportunity to pressure the Board to strengthen Clean Water Act permits for national forests and industrial forestlands. Recent appointments to the North Coast Board give hope that we can get the Board to strengthen the rules. You can find the national forest permit and the industrial forestlands permit at www.waterboards. ca.gov/northcoast/water_issues/programs/timber_ operations/timber_waiver/. Please help strengthen those logging rules by sending a message to the North Coast Water Board Executive Officer Matt St John. Tell E.O. St.John that logging and roads on landslides delivers too much fine sediment to our streams. Ask him to get behind a prohibition on logging and building roads on landslide terrain. Here’s the contact information: • Matt St. John, EO • North Coast Water Quality Control Board • 5550 Skylane Blvd • Santa Rosa, CA 95403 • (707) 576-2220 • Matt.St.John@waterboards.ca.gov

Green Diamond Corporation’s liquidation logging. Terwer Creek watershed in the 1980s. Photo by Patrick Higgins.

Community Coastal Column September is Coastal Cleanup Month Ivy Munnerlyn, Coastal Programs Coordinator Are you looking for a way to give back to the Earth while spending a day outdoors with friends and family? Lucky for you, Coastal Cleanup Month 2022 is right around the corner. Throughout the month of September, you’ll have the opportunity to join with the north coast community for cleanups at your favorite beaches, parks, trails, and neighborhoods. As always, the NEC will be partnering with amazing local organizations to host these cleanups. Check out our website in August and September to find a list of cleanup events and links to RSVP. If you attend a cleanup, you’ll also be entered into our weekly prize drawing for a chance to receive a gift basket of products from local businesses. What’s not to love? Coastal Cleanups have been a tradition here on the north coast for almost 50 years. In 1979, community members Joe Abbott and Ann Morrissey got the ball rolling with their wildly successful Beach Beautification project, which eventually became our Adopt-a-Block and Adopt-a-Beach programs. The California Coastal Commission took notice, and in 1985 Coastal Cleanup Day was born. Today, the event takes place all over the world with thousands of volunteers collecting millions of pieces of trash. According to the Coastal Commission, over 36,000 Californians removed 363,000 lbs of trash and recyclables from coastal and inland areas alike in 2021. Every year, cigarette butts have consistently been the #1 most collected item, and last year was no exception. However, cigarette butts have begun to take up a smaller share of the total trash collected as other categories like takeout containers and disposable masks have surged during the pandemic. This type of data, which is collected by cleanup volunteers each year, is incredibly valuable for state and local waste reduction efforts. The NEC’s trash data collection methods are well known to volunteers in our Trash Trackers, Adopt-abeach, and Adopt-a-block programs. If you’re interested in volunteering or learning more about how we use data to advocate for solutions,

visit www.yournec.org/trashtrackers. If data and numbers aren’t your thing, there’s another compelling reason to participate in Coastal Cleanup Month 2022: it’s fun! When beach cleanups first began in the 1970s and 80s, they were a way for the environmental community to come together and let off steam in a positive way that benefitted the Earth. These days, environmentalists aren’t the only people who need to take a break from the sadness and frustration surrounding climate change and biodiversity loss. Cleanups are a great way to recharge your energy and let yourself find joy in making a real, tangible difference for the environment. Make it a social gathering by bringing your kids, friends, family, and coworkers along. And remember to celebrate your efforts–you deserve it! You can find more information about Coastal Cleanup Month on our website, at yournec.org/ coastalcleanupmonth. You’ll find a link to RSVP to a cleanup, as well as a portal where you can donate to support the event and our year-round Coastal Programs. A large part of the funding for Coastal Programs, which encompasses our trash cleanup and waste-reduction projects, is generated through this event. It’s thanks to our generous community that we can continue to host this fun and impactful event every year. We are so excited to bring Coastal Cleanup Month 2022 to the north coast, and we hope you’ll join us this year.

NCCS

Inc.

North Coast Cleaning Services The Green Cleaning Specialists Commercial office cleaning, window cleaning, and carpet cleaning services. www.northcoastcleaning.com 707-269-0180 PO Box 177, Eureka, CA 95502

A special thank you to local artist Mir de Silva for creating a beautiful CCM logo.

www.yournec.org

AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

History in Action

Cal Poly Humboldt Plans for Academic Growth Karina Ramos Villalobos, EcoNews Intern There has been a legacy of this local academic institution being known by different names since its founding in 1913 on beautiful Wiyot land. On Jan. 26, 2022, a name change occurred once more in the California State University (CSU) system. Now known as California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, or Cal Poly Humboldt, our local university became the third polytechnic in the CSU system and the only campus in Northern California. The various different names of the institution throughout history went from Humboldt State Normal College (1913-1935) to Humboldt State College (1935-1972) then known as California State University, Humboldt (1972-1974), then changed to Humboldt State University (1974-2022). With the new name change for Cal Poly Humboldt, there are various plans and efforts being made for the positive growth of the university’s development and upgrades in the seven years to come. The university has a $458 million one time investment from Gov. Gavin Newsom, for the polytechnic vision and approval of polytechnic designation from CSU. Cal Poly Humboldt will add a total of 27 new academic and experiential programs by 2029. According to Cal Poly Humboldt’s Polytechnic fact sheet, there will be 12 new programs launching in the 2023 academic school year. “I think there’s value to all students actually from the university becoming a polytechnic,” said Jenn Capps, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. “But what it does, it provides opportunity for students to have hands-on experience and what it does it’s with an alliance of what the workforce

Marine biology. Source: Cal Poly Humboldt Galleries Flikr

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

New campus sign. Source: Cal Poly Humboldt Galleries Flikr

needs are and the priorities outlined for the state of California with the academic programs that we offer. It makes students really marketable and workforce ready to fill the workforce gaps.” A Feb. 3, 2022 article in the North Coast Journal, states that Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson Jr. said Cal Poly Humboldt’s goal is to become a polytechnic for the 21st century, focusing on giving students the experiences needed to find solutions to the critical issues the state is facing, including climate change, raging wildfires, and extreme drought. The proposed new academic programs that will be implemented by 2023 to support Cal Poly Humboldt’s goal to focus on giving students the experiences needed to find solutions for critical issues the state is facing are: Energy Systems Engineering BS, Mechanical Engineering BS, Data Science BS, Geospatial Analysis BS, Software Engineering BS, Applied Fire Science & Management BS, Cannabis Studies BA, Marine Biology BS, Engineering & Community Practice MEng, Cybersecurity Stackable Certificate, Information Technology Certificate, Sustainability Certificate. “We did a ton of research during our self study process,” Capps said. “What we did was we pulled from a couple of different places, we pulled from the workforce data locally and then, throughout the state and seeing where those key areas where there are big job opportunities, big workforce gaps.” These academic programs that the university will offer are on track to launch in 2023. According to Capps, a priority for the institution was to ensure www.yournec.org

that while recruiting faculty for the new programs and courses that BIPOC faculty were hired for more representation of all students. “It’s a really exciting time on campus because we had over 20 requirements for new faculty and we brought on record numbers of diversity, so Indigenius faculty, Black faculty, etc,” Capps said. “We don’t have the exact number because we are still in the middle of verifying and doing offers and that sort of thing. But, it is well over 50-60 percent of our incoming class of faculty are BIPOC faculty.” Before the historical name change, the institution was severely declining in enrollment rates over the last several years. Now as Cal Poly Humboldt, the institution is climbing back up in enrollment rates and has the capacity to build new infrastructure such as dorms and more parking space for the future. The Cal Poly Humboldt spirit is to continue growing and impacting many students, staff and faculty lives positively with a hands-on education experience.

Why should future students apply to Cal Poly Humboldt? “We have the academic programs that are going to be able to allow students to have a lot of hands-on experience and be able to study in the forest, ocean and really be able to live and breathe,” Capps said. “It’s not just going to be in the classroom, most of the time. They are really going to be able to get out and have that experiential learning component and when they get done with their degree, they’re gonna get tons of job offers because the curriculum that we built is really attractive to employers.”

Fire education. Source: Cal Poly Humboldt Galleries Flikr

Understanding Carbon Science to Develop Effective Climate Policy Gary Graham Hughes, Americas Program Coordinator, Biofuelwatch The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is currently developing the 2022 Scoping Plan, the road map for the state’s vision for responding to climate change. Coincidentally, Humboldt County is also considering a Regional Climate Action Plan. As California residents and climate-concerned Humboldt County activists review these plans and assess how private industry, elected officials and regulatory agencies propose acting on crucial energy and environmental justice matters, it can be helpful to review some climate science fundamentals. The majority of climate policy mechanisms in California focus on climate system flows between carbon stocks – flows are what are known as emissions and sequestration. Emissions are the flow out of a carbon stock, and sequestration is the flow into a carbon stock. Carbon stocks, or reservoirs, are where the carbon resides. Despite climate policy focus on flows – on emissions and sequestration – the climate problem is actually one of diminishing biological and geological carbon reservoirs, specifically the mobilization of carbon from stocks where carbon has resided with stability and permanence. The climate problem is rooted in the dilemma of how permanent carbon stocks have been and are being depleted and degraded, mobilizing carbon reservoirs so that an increasing amount of carbon is taking residence in the atmosphere and the oceans. Carbon reservoirs can best be understood by the nature of their stock, and understanding those reservoirs illuminates the significance of sequestration and emissions, both current and legacy. Not all carbon reservoirs are the same, despite the tendencies of policy mechanisms to create a false equivalency, treating a ton as a ton as a ton. Unfortunately, such contrived carbon equivalency misrepresents the geophysical realities of our planet, undermining the effectiveness of the policy mechanisms built on that false equivalency. Fundamentally, understanding the difference between geocarbon and biocarbon is essential for the development of effective climate policy. Carbon reservoirs in the geosphere are known as geocarbon. Primary reservoirs of geocarbon are stored in highly stable sedimentary rocks and deep ocean sediments, as well as the highly stable deposits of coal, oil, and gas that human industry extracts and mobilizes

for many uses, including burning as fossil fuels. The cause of mobilization of geocarbon is almost entirely due to human activities, remaining highly stable until subject to human extraction, and requiring zero cost to maintain in place. Geocarbon has been stabilized for hundreds of millions of years, and once stabilized remains in specific deposit locations. Carbon reservoirs in the biosphere are known as biocarbon. Primary reservoirs of biocarbon are the world’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and include the original old growth forests of the world, of which more than 65 percent have been lost, while in the redwood temperate rainforest The carbon cycle describes how carbon moves between the atmosphere, ecosystem more than 95 percent of the soils, living creatures, the ocean, and human sources. Image courtesy of the Department of Energy Office of Science original old growth primary reservoir of biocarbon has been depleted and widely recognized as one of the most carbon dense degraded. forest ecosystems on the planet, and understanding Biocarbon is located across the entire landscape exactly how much of the original carbon stock was and requires extensive investment for funding lost. As such, carbon sequestration in the redwoods ongoing ecosystem management. Permanence in of California is not compensating for ongoing fossil storage of sequestered biocarbon can be elusive and fuel use – it is simply restoring severely degraded even contrary to ecological succession processes carbon stocks resulting from the indiscriminate which rely on disturbance regimes. Biocarbon logging of the original ancient redwood forest. stocks vary temporally and spatially and are subject Effective policy for mitigating the worst impacts to numerous natural processes that further mobilize of climate change must also recognize that the impacts biocarbon stocks, complicating accounting and of fossil fuel use are irreversible. The mobilization of making statistically reliable estimation difficult. geocarbon reservoirs is basically a one-way injection Biocarbon stocks are not static ahistorical of carbon into the atmosphere. Essentially, it is not repositories of carbon, they must be understood in possible to substitute needed reductions in fossil fuel the context of past land use change. For instance, use with the highly variable and temporally fleeting understanding the role of past deforestation carbon sequestration processes of the world’s forests in carbon sequestration by forests is crucial to and other land-based ecosystems. having an accurate understanding of what current Distinguishing between geocarbon and sequestration reveals about the depleted state of biocarbon is essential to developing climate change the biocarbon reservoir. It bears repeating: carbon mitigation policies that will assist in averting the sequestration in land-based ecosystems like forests worst impacts of climate change. An increasingly can only be properly understood in the context of substantial body of evidence shows that they are past land use change. not interchangeable for climate change mitigation The hard fact is that CO2 removal by the land purposes. Our challenge is to reduce emissions from sector is essentially recapturing past emissions all sources, protect the stable carbon stocks that due to land use or land-use change, and therefore remain to us, recover those stocks that have been cannot and never will compensate for or neutralize degraded and – most importantly – not continue the mobilization of geological carbon in the form with the extracting and burning of fossil fuels of fossil fuels. In California we can imagine this believing erroneously that those emissions can be by conceptualizing the liquidation of the original made up for with sequestration in ecosystems like ancient redwood temperate rainforest ecosystem, forests. www.yournec.org

AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

Eye on

Washington

Dan Sealy, NEC Legislative Analyst

The Power of Congress Americans were awakened to a stark new reality in the waning days of the recent US Supreme Court session finding some rights and programs assumed safe were, in fact, vulnerable to Supreme Court rulings. The 6-3 decision by the Roberts Supreme Court used a very narrow interpretation of Constitutional law to determine that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had engaged in over-reach when applying environmental regulations to climate change. The Supreme Court is now stacked with appointees that were screened and approved by the Federalist Society; a non-profit organization started by law students in 1982 who were concerned about an ever more left-leaning federal judiciary. Today the Society has chapters on over 200 law school campuses and boasts a membership of over 70,000 lawyers. Its objectives are “checking federal power, protecting individual liberty and interpreting the Constitution according to its original meaning”, in other words, interpreting the Constitution literally and challenging Congress to be clear when its intent is to update or change the authorities outlined in the founding document. This Court determined that while Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) including the EPA to protect the public and environment from toxins in the air, water and on land, the more recent inclusion of climate change was a bridge too far and is outside the jurisdictional scope of the EPA. Although Congress can drive the creation of air-related laws such as the Clean Air Act of 1963 which resulted in regulations to protect the general public from exposure to harmful airborne contaminants; a strict interpretation of the legal intent does not include climate change, according to this court. Many of the programs and regulations governing climate change were accomplished through the use of Executive Orders or were derived from scientific reports without the full force of law. It might be helpful to recall how the Constitution empowers the people to make changes to address such grave concerns as climate change. Though activism is important to demonstrate to Congress and the President the concerns about the climate

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

crisis that are not only scientifically valid but are proving to have demonstrable impacts to the public, court cases cannot be won based upon popularity or strength of purpose. Let’s be reminded of how the Constitution is designed for the government to work. Policies: Policies are ideas to address issues such as military defense, civil rights or conservation. Policies do not, in themselves, generally hold the force of law but can shape and inform laws. For example, when a President is elected with a large popular vote showing a strong mandate for a specific policy espoused by a successful presidential campaign, that mandate can be used to lead Congress to act on that mandate. The ability to drive policies flows from people, executive level leaders, agencies, legislators and organized groups on all sides of issues. Laws: Only Congress writes and (sometimes) passes federal laws. Typically, the House of Representatives passes a large number of bills each session but only a few of these are matched with legislation in the Senate. An even smaller number of those are passed by both chambers of Congress and sent to the President for signature. Some potential laws never go from Congress to the President because congressional leaders know the President will veto them and it is rare for Congress to override a veto. Reg ulations: When a President signs congressional legislation into law, the language of the legislation not only identifies the intent of the law but also the methods by which the legislation will be implemented, primarily by the relevant agencies creating specific subordinate regulations. Regulations might identify what pollutants will be monitored and regulated by the EPA or how information regarding an animal’s population and habitat threats will be used to determine if that species will benefit from listing it as a threatened or endangered species. If an agency promulgates regulations that are unclear or extend beyond the scope of the Congressional law, individuals, states and organizations can bring lawsuits to address who is right. In the instance of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the EPA programs to address climate change, the court determined the agency’s regulations were, indeed, beyond legislative scope regardless of good intent. www.yournec.org

All this to get to a solution: Public demonstrations push lawmakers to listen to the people. This is the purpose of the First Amendment that guarantees free speech. However, without follow-up at the polls to elect good leaders, those public demonstrations can seem fruitless. Americans turn out in the largest numbers when there is a President on the ballot without realizing the election of members of Congress are, perhaps, more critical to turning policies into laws and confirming federal judges who will uphold those laws. Citizens express frustration at presidents and courts who do not make change happen. The fact is, change happens first with Congress.

Endangered Species While the Biden Administration was re-writing regulations to protect critical habitat for threatened and endangered engendered species and reverse bad policy for limiting species protection under the last administration, a lawsuit was decided on July 5 by California’s U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar that immediately reversed the Trump regulation rollbacks while the Biden Administration continues to craft language that will be harder for future administrations to hamper. It is likely the Biden Administration will continue to finalize the new regulations rather than appeal the decision.

Make your voice heard Humboldt County Supervisors 1st District - Rex Bohn

707-476-2391 | rbohn@co.humboldt.ca.us

2nd District - Michelle Bushnell

707-476-2392 | mbushnell@co.humboldt.ca.us

3rd District - Mike Wilson

707-476-2393 | mike.wilson@co.humboldt.ca.us

4th District - Virginia Bass

707-476-2394 | vbass@co.humboldt.ca.us

5th District - Steve Madrone

707-476-2395 | smadrone@co.humboldt.ca.us

U.S. Representative - California District 2 Congressman Jared Huffman www.huffman.house.gov

Look up other representatives here: www.house.gov/representatives

California Governor

Governor Gavin Newsom www.gov.ca.gov

Looking for someone not on this list? www.usa.gov/elected-officials

The

Recent EcoNews Reports:

DIY

Supreme Court’s Climate Decisions are Catastrophic (and Not Just for the Climate)

BETTER MILEAGE Susan Nolan

Sure would be nice to have an electric car these days! In the meantime, driving with care and doing routine maintenance can boost your mileage and reduce the carbon footprint of your gas burner. The easiest, most effective way to get more out of a gallon of gas is to slow down. Most cars run at their maximum efficiency around 55 mph. Hard to believe it makes that much difference, but just holding your hand out the window will show that overcoming air drag is a significant part of the work your car does. Fuel efficiency falls almost 30 percent between 55 mph and 80 mph. Another easy change is to drive more smoothly, accelerating and braking gradually. Sudden stops and jackrabbit starts waste fuel. Coast up to a stop sign (where traffic allows). Increasing your following distance will accommodate changes in traffic speed with less need for braking. Turning the engine off for stops longer than 30 seconds is suggested. Idling consumes a quarter to half gallon of gas per hour. Warming up a cold engine is a good habit, allowing oil to splash around and lubricate but, again, ten to 30 seconds is plenty of time. If you’re trying to warm the inside on a cold morning, getting in and driving is the fastest way. Cruise control increases efficiency, except on hills. Combining trips, and planning an efficient route, perhaps with a list of stops in order, will save time as well as gas. Okay, so those are some changes for the driver. For suggestions related to the vehicle itself, good maintenance can increase mileage and extend the life of crucial components.Your car wastes energy (gas!) rolling around on mushy underinflated tires. Gas stations in California are required to provide free air to customers. The amount needed is embossed on the side of the tire. The station’s air nozzle has a pressure meter so you’ll know when you’ve added enough. You can test at home with an inexpensive gauge (under $10) that fits in your glovebox. Proper inflation will extend the life of those spendy tires as well. Oversized tires increase road friction and reduce gas mileage. A tune-up, with fresh spark plugs and a new air filter, will also increase efficiency.

EcoNews Report

Oil’s job is to reduce friction in the engine. Clean oil helps it run cool and increases engine life. Dirty oil will wear down the engine so it runs less efficiently and emits more pollution. On most cars this job isn’t very hard to do yourself with simple tools. Your gearhead friend can get you started, or there's a good introduction here: www.caranddriver.com/features/ a27169631/how-to-change-oil-in-car/ Get the lead out. Take out heavy stuff you're not actually using—when was the last time you needed a tow chain or really used that sports gear? If that rooftop cargo carrier isn’t carrying anything, better to leave it in the garage til you really need it. Besides the weight, it creates significant air drag. A rear-mounted carrier of equal weight will have much less effect on performance. Even empty roof racks contribute to air drag efficiency loss. Air conditioning is a big energy hog, since the engine powers the compressor. Unfortunately rolling down the windows or opening the sunroof creates air drag, especially at higher speeds. Electric cars and hybrids can take advantage of regenerative braking, where the energy lost in slowing gets recaptured. When the driver takes their foot off the accelerator and steps on the brakes, or just allows the car to decelerate, the electric motor actually reverses direction and feeds power back to the battery. This can be maximized by minimizing use of the brakes (when it’s safe). For a major geek-out on these issues, with references, this article is excellent: www.sierraclub. org/pennsylvania/blog/2021/03/energy-efficientdriving. And hey—don’t forget the bus. It only costs $2.10 to go anywhere between Trinidad and Scotia. hta.org/agencies/redwood-transit-system.

July 9, 2022 – The Supreme Court’s recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA not only throws a substantial hurdle ahead of regulating greenhouse gas emissions from coal power plants, it takes a vicious swipe at the entirety of the modern administrative state. Using a new invention—the “major questions doctrine”—the Supreme Court has set up an easy way for conservative judges across the country to invalidate any regulation that a judge finds to be of “vast significance.” All of these controversial decisions were decided by a majority of Republican-appointed judges. This is not a coincidence but the product of a 40+ year movement by conservative activists. How can environmentalists and progressives restrain the Supreme Court before we lose any more rights and still have a democracy? Listen in to hear more.

Elections Wrap-Up June 25, 2022 – What can we learn about the national and political landscape from the results of the 2022 primary election? Those enviro-political nerds at the Redwood Coalition for Climate and Environmental Responsibility and the Lost Coast Outpost’s own Hank Sims break down election results and reflect on lessons learned from this election.

California’s Climate Plan Misses the Mark? June 18, 2022 – Gang Green talks with Professor Dan Kammen of UC Berkeley and Gary Hughes of Biofuelwatch to investigate how the state of California intends to meet its climate targets and whether its plan is sufficient. (Spoiler alert: it’s not). The California Air Resources Board has released its draft scoping plan, a document intended to guide the state’s climate actions moving forward. The plan has been poorly received by environmental groups. Find out more on this week’s episode.

Power Grid Issues Limit Future Wind Development June 11, 2022 – The transmission lines running into Humboldt County are fairly small. This has big implications for local efforts to decarbonize our local electricity supply. It limits our ability to fully realize our offshore wind resource. Arne Jacobson from the Schatz Energy Research Lab joins the show to talk through the lab’s new report on grid constraints.

KHUM104.3 Sat @ 10am

yournec.org/econews-report www.yournec.org

AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

Get on Board for the

Climate

PureWaterSpas 3750 Broadway | jaysooter.com | 707.444.8001

How Does the CAP Affect Rural Lifestyles? 6 Martha Walden Humboldt's draft Climate Action Plan gives Humboldt a nudge towards lower greenhouse gas emissions. It provides incentives, makes zoning changes and sets a good example by de-carbonizing municipal buildings and infrastructure. Few ordinances are prescribed. The authority of the county is limited and subject to the authority of the state. Some people worry the CAP won't make a big enough difference, yet others think it goes too far. At the Board of Supervisors meeting on June 7, Supervisor Bushnell seemed to belong to that last group when she expressed concern that the plan would be hard on rural communities in particular. How does the CAP affect rural lifestyles? The biggest sector of potential emissions reduction is transportation. To accomplish this the CAP incentivizes infill development – which would affect people within city and town limits – but the plan doesn't prohibit development anywhere. Promoting zero-emission vehicles and expanding bus routes are other strategies in the CAP for reducing transportation emissions. The electrification of existing buildings is the second biggest sector where we could feasibly reduce our emissions. The CAP's goals are quite modest: 200 natural gas furnaces and 20 propane furnaces switched to electric furnaces by 2030; 200 natural gas stoves and 20 propane stoves switched out for their electric counterparts by the same date. Essentially, it tries to steer the inevitable appliance turnover towards electric options. That's not a bad idea, considering that California law does away with natural gas in a little more than twenty-two years. The draft CAP promotes all-electric design for new construction, and jurisdictions within the county could possibly create ordinances that require all new construction to leave out natural gas infrastructure. Considering the sundown date for natural gas, how economic would it be to invest in that infrastructure? As for propane, I can't find anything in the CAP that bans propane, which would be an easy retrofit for homeowners who

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

prefer it. The desirability of electrifying in order to curb climate change is obvious, but so is the disadvantage of relying on the electrical grid for everything, including heating the house. Most natural gas furnaces, however, need electricity to operate anyway. Both country and city households on the grid either have backup options during power outages, or they tough it out one way or another. Off-grid households are sitting pretty. Blessed are they whose houses are equipped with solar and storage – whether in the country or city! Living in the country encompasses a range of lifestyles just as living in town does. I lived off the grid for eight years. It was a great time of my life except for my neighbor's generator, which ran all day long. You could hear it for more than a mile up and down the mountain. Nothing in the CAP would prevent that from happening, but I often wished something would. Fortunately, most people, regardless of where they live, are considerate of their neighbors. Whether we live in big city Eureka, or in a small town, or farther out, we're all in the same precarious boat when it comes to climate change. We should all be asking ourselves how we can exceed the modest goals of the Climate Action Plan. How we're responding to this crisis is determining the future of civilization.

www.yournec.org

Mon - Sat 10:30am-5:30pm

Hot Tubs | Saunas | Service | Supplies Serving Humboldt County for over 35 years.

Solutions Summit YOUR DESTINATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS AND SUCCESS STORIES Michael D. Pulliam

GREEN ENERGY JOBS BOOM

from 2020 through 2021. Jobs related to the extraction and manufacturing of coal and petroleum fuels fell by roughly 12 percent (coal) and 8 percent (petroleum). The 2022 USEER also included a demographics breakdown to consider who exactly is working in the energy sector. Women comprised roughly a quarter of the energy workforce, compared to 47 percent of the nation's overall workforce. Most industries had lower-than-average percentages of Black and Latine workers; the report stated, "There are no technologies where Black workers are represented proportionally to their overall representation in the U.S. workforce." One progressive organization, Jobs to Move America, voiced concern about clean energy having patchy levels of diversity, "especially for people of color and women…. However, we are encouraged by the strong initiatives that the DOE has been taking to encourage companies to commit to good jobs and racial equity in U.S. clean energy infrastructure." Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm stressed that more than a third of energy sector job growth last year was in "net-zero aligned areas," such as energy efficiency and storage or clean energy production. "The jobs are growing in industries we need to support a 100 percent clean power sector," Granholm said. "That is a key takeaway from this report." "The President has set forth a goal of getting to net zero by 2050," Granholm continued. "So there is a period of transition here. And it's 'net,' so no one is suggesting that fossil fuel jobs, that the fossil fuel industry, is going to be completely eliminated even as the globe is transitioning to clean energy. We need to have supply meet demand… and it doesn't at this moment, so we want to see an increase in supply. But ultimately, most project there will be a demand curve that comes down. And this transition will happen." Source: E&E News

On 28 June 2022, the US Department of Energy released an annual report showing jobs in the fossil fuel industry had yet another year of decline, while employment in renewable energy sectors (especially electric vehicle-related fields) increased dramatically. The annual US Energy and Employment Report (USEER) compiles public information about labor in nearly every established energy sector: energy efficiency, electric power generation, motor vehicles, and the production, transmission, and storage of fuels, to name a few. This latest report analyzed how American energy workforces fared in 2021. Overall, jobs in the energy sector increased from the year before, though electric and hybrid vehicle jobs grew in leaps and bounds. Electric vehicle-related jobs grew 26 percent in 2021, compared to 8 percent growth in 2020. Hybrid vehicle-related jobs grew 20 percent. Fossil fuel work continued a downward trend

www.yournec.org

NEW CA PLASTIC POLLUTION LAW On 30 June 2022, CA Governor Newsom signed into law a landmark Senate Bill (SB54) geared toward reducing plastic waste across California and the Pacific Ocean. Scientists estimate nearly 11 million tons of plastic waste enters the ocean each year. Ocean Conservancy, a national organization for environmental protection and education, compiled information from 35 years of coastal cleanup missions and found that the majority of litter on American beaches and waterways is singleuse plastic packaging and foodware. SB54, known as the Plastic Pollution Producer Responsibility Act, creates new legal requirements addressing this problem: California businesses must make a 25% reduction in single-use plastic packaging and foodware by weight and item count by 2032; nearly half of this reduction must result from directly eliminating plastic packaging or switching single-use materials for reusable or refillable items (Ocean Conservancy scientists estimate that over ten years, this alone could prevent 23 million tons of plastic waste - that's more weight than 25 Golden Gate Bridges); all single-use packaging and foodware (even if it's not plastic) must be recyclable or compostable within California by 2032, and the state must meet a 65% recycling rate for plastics by then; and hundreds of millions of dollars in funding will go to support communities and ecosystems most impacted by plastic pollution. "It's hard to capture how momentous this feels," said Dr. Anja Brandon, U.S. Plastics Policy Analyst at Ocean Conservancy and a principal contributor to the bill text. "The United States is the number-one generator of plastic waste in the world and a top contributor to the ocean plastics crisis. We can't solve this problem without U.S. leadership, and by passing this law, California is righting the ship. This is a huge win for our ocean." "A few years ago legislation of this magnitude was unimaginable in the U.S.," said Jeff Watters, Vice President of External Affairs at Ocean Conservancy. "We are here today because of an incredible amount of hard work, perseverance, and ambition from Senator Ben Allen, Assemblymember Luz Rivas, their tireless staff, and the team of experts at CalRecycle. This is what strong, forward-thinking political leadership looks like." SB54 passed the CA state Assembly with a vote of 67-to-2 and the state Senate with a vote of 29-to-0. Ocean Conservancy has been negotiating the language of this bill with fellow environmental advocates for months to make it the single strongest plastics legislation ever seen in the United States. Source: Ocean Conservancy Press Release

AUGUST 2022 ECONEWS

Foggy Bottom Boys Elena Bilheimer, EcoNews Journalist Located in the foggy bottoms of the Eel River Valley, Foggy Bottoms Boys Farm offers local, nutrient dense-food and products created by Thomas and Cody Nicholson Stratton and their son (nicknamed Tiny Farmer). Cody’s family has been farming in the area for six generations, and everyday four generations continue to work side-by-side learning from each other. This includes Cody’s grandparents, his parents, Thomas and Cody, and Tiny Farmer. Thomas' family also comes from Tillamook and Gresham Dairy farming communities. Ten years after their first meeting, Cody and Thomas got married and decided to return to Cody’s family farm with the intention of increasing education about regenerative farming. They started by expanding the farm’s animal and dairy operations to include rabbits, chickens, sheep, goats and grass-fed beef. This has allowed them to sell yarn, wool blankets and dryer balls from their sheep’s wool, in addition to home decor and apparel. As part of their goal to further education, they offer barnyard experiences where interested parties can come to the farm and engage through three different opportunities. These experiences allow guests to sample the local food and

Thomas and Cody Nicholson Stratton. Foggy Bottoms Boys is a gay owned, pasture based farm utilizing regenerative agriculture practices to produce an outstanding product while promoting wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. Source: Foggy Bottom Boys Facebook.

ECONEWS AUGUST 2022

ask the farmers any questions about agriculture and their lifestyle. “When looking at the farm as a whole, I realized that we could bring more education, more profit, more functionality and more efficiency through the use of the ground that we have, by stacking enterprises,” said Thomas. “So utilizing sheep and beef and chickens alongside the dairy cows to regenerate the soil. And that's our focus now. As an organic dairy, we treat the animals as well as the land in the best way that we possibly can. But regeneration is the idea that it's the environment as well as the community providing that support, meaning that we actually will utilize compost or waste from our community to build our soil, therefore reducing the waste that's going into landfills and feeding the microbiome community underneath the grass.” This focus on regeneration and blending of enterprises is obvious with their grass-fed beef, as their beef cattle spend a lot of time grazing on dairy cow pastures. Dairy cow pastures have a very large diversity of plants, including soil feeding legumes, which provide a different type of nutrition for the cows beyond grass. The end result is higher quality beef, with more marbling and beta-carotenes. Cody and Thomas bring this attention to detail to all of the animals they raise, including their sheep, which are specifically chosen for their small microfiber wool in order to ensure softness for the yarn and blankets. Cody particularly loves the sheep for their unique personalities, while Thomas loves their chickens because they resemble little dinosaurs. Beyond incorporating more animals and handmade goods into the farm’s stock, Cody and Thomas have been continuing their mission to educate and connect with people through social media. Utilizing Thomas’ degree and experience in marketing and business administration and Cody’s knowledge of farming and knack for creating TikTok videos, they have been continuously growing their influence to reach a broad network of people throughout the world. Part of the reason they are interested in spreading the word about what they do is because of the loss of farming land in the U.S.; in the 1950’s, approximately 50 percent of the population were getting their livelihood directly from a farm, in comparison to less than 1 percent in 2022. A lot www.yournec.org

of this is due to the consolidation of agriculture, but Cody and Thomas are hopeful that number can be brought back up through advocacy and awareness. “We want to advocate for agriculture,” said Thomas. “And we want to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in agriculture. When we started doing this work online we realized that people from all over the country, all over the world, were reaching out to us and stating, ‘We didn't think we had a place in agriculture’. Whether it was their home farm or whether they didn't have a farm at all, they wanted to engage in agriculture and they just felt like it wasn't possible. Because of the stigma, or the challenges, or the frustration, or just the hard knocks of it. And so we realized then that we needed to become the best advocates that we could, not only for regenerative and organic farming, but for making sure that there was a place for those that wanted to participate in farming but were different from the typical, pale, stale and male agriculturists and agronomists.” Both Thomas and Cody wear many hats in addition to their roles on the farm and social media. The variety of tasks keeps their lives interesting and fulfilled. “I never have to work,” said Thomas. “It's just so darn fun. And the cool part is that the fun is accomplishing a lot.” If community members are interested in purchasing any products from Foggy Bottoms Boys, you can find everything on their website, foggybottomboys.com, including meat and eggs (there is an option for local delivery), or find their eggs at most of the grocery stores in Humboldt. In addition to the products already mentioned, the farm will soon offer dog waffles made from eggs that are cracked, malformed, or otherwise can't be utilized for retail. They also plan to release jewelry made from their yarn as a way to spread awareness about the way their sheep and the regenerative farming techniques that feed them help capture carbon from the environment. Additionally, they will be launching a fundraising campaign in the near future to offer 100,000 Free tours to school aged children. Stay tuned! For people who live out of the area, there is the option to have some of their merchandise shipped. You can also follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok and share the posts with your friends and family.

Thomas Nicholson Stratton at the Fortuna Farmers Market. Source: Facebook.com

Help us continue to educate advocate, and bring you

Please join or renew your annual membership to the Northcoast Environmental Center. Name Address City

State

Phone

Zip

E-mail

Annual Membership Amount $50 - Pacific Fisher $500 - Orca $1000 - Redwood

$30 - Trillium $100 - Coho Salmon $250 - Spotted Owl Other __________

Payment Options Check enclosed (Payable to NEC) Charge my Debit or Credit Card Card Number ___________________________________ Exp. Date ___________________ CSV_______________

Memberships include a monthly subscription to EcoNews Do not mail me a print copy. I will read online at www.yournec.org/econews Please mail me a print copy.

I would like to become a sustaining member! I pledge $_______ per month. I will donate online at www.yournec.org/donations Please bill my credit card monthly (fill form above) I will mail a check monthly

This Membership is: (check only if applicable) in memory of

in honor of

a gift

Name ______________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City, State, Zip__________________________________

Cut out and mail to:

NEC, PO Box 4259, Arcata, CA 95518 In recognition of your generosity, we will list your name as a donor in EcoNews once a year. I prefer my donation remain anonymous. The Northcoast Environmental Center is a 501(c)(3), non-profit. All donations are tax-deductible. EIN 23-7122386.

Northcoast Environmental Center 415 I Street, Arcata, CA 95521 MAIL TO: PO Box 4259, Arcata, CA 95518

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Arcata, CA PERMIT NO. 3