EcoNews Vol. 43, No. 3 - Jun/Jul 2013 by EcoNews

Over 40 Years of Environmental News

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Arcata, California

Vol. 43, No. 3 June/July 2013

 R Published by the Northcoast Environmental Center Since 1971

Tsunami Debris on the

North Coast

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1385 8th Street - Suite 215, Arcata, CA 95521 PO Box 4259, Arcata, CA 95518 707- 822-6918, Fax 707-822-6980 www.yournec.org EcoNews is the official bi-monthly publication of the Northcoast Environmental Center, 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/ Southern Oregon bioregion. The subscription rate is $35 per year.

Editor/Layout: Morgan Corviday, morgan@yournec.org Advertising: ads@yournec.org Proofreaders: Karen Schatz, Midge Brown Writers: Sid Dominitz, Morgan Corviday, Dan Ehresman, Sarah Marnick, Dan Sealy, Jennifer Kalt, Jessica Hall, Brandon Drucker, Scott Greacen, Hezekiah Allen, Dan Equinoss, Maggie Gainer, Jacob Pounds, Jean Noble, Rose Braz, Gary Graham Hughes, Vanessa Vasquez Cover Photo: Joe Gillespie Artist: Terry Torgerson

The Northcoast Environmental Center: Our Mission

To promote understanding of the relations between people and the biosphere and to conserve, protect and celebrate terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems of northern California and southern Oregon.

NEC Board Of Directors

Safe Alternatives for our Forest EnvironmentLarry Glass, President, larryglass71@gmail.com At-Large, Trinity County Rep. - Bob Morris, Vice-President, bob.morris@wildblue.net At-Large - Chris Jenican Beresford, Treasurer, thegang7@pacbell.net California Native Plant Society Jennifer Kalt, Secretary, jenkalt@gmail.com Humboldt Baykeeper - Jessica Hall, jessica@humboldtbaykeeper.org Redwood Region Audubon Society CJ Ralph, theralphs@humboldt1.com Sierra Club North Group, - Richard Kreis, rgkreis@gmail.com At-Large - Scott Greacen, scott@eelriver.org At-Large - Dan Sealy, rangerdans@msn.com NEC Executive Director: Dan Ehresman, dan@yournec.org

Member Groups

North Group/Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club, Redwood Region Audubon Society, North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, Humboldt Baykeeper, Safe Alternatives for Our Forest Environment.

Affiliate Groups

Environmental Protection Information Center, Friends of Del Norte, Mattole Restoration Council, Zero Waste Humboldt

NEC Sponsored Groups

Healthy Humboldt Coalition, Green Wheels

The ideas and views expressed in EcoNews are not necessarily those of the NEC.

Every issue of EcoNews is printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks. Please, Recycle!

News From the Center

The past two months have brought several important milestones—some hopeful and some frightening. On Earth Day we celebrated the Northcoast Environmental Center’s 42nd Anniversary—a number of significance not only because of the NEC’s work spanning over four decades but also because, according to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. We hope that this can only mean good things for the year ahead. As part of our Earth Day celebrations we monitored beaches for Japan tsunami debris in Humboldt and Del Norte County and numerous organizations took part in beach cleanups throughout the region. What we found as part of the monitoring efforts was illuminating and the amount of trash picked up was truly inspiring. (Read more about our discoveries and our coastal monitoring and cleanup projects later in this issue.) Immediately following the cleanups, the NEC joined with Friends of the Dunes, Mad River Alliance, EPIC,

Do you have comments, suggestions, or concerns? Write a Letter to the Editor!

We want to hear from you!

Send letters to editor@yournec.org, or PO Box 4259, Arcata 95521

Dan Ehresman, Executive Director

Humboldt Baykeeper, Humboldt Surfrider, Ocean Conservancy, and others for an Earth Day Hoedown at the Humboldt Coastal Nature C e n t e r. It was a

great party and we are so grateful to all who shared in that day. Along with being a fun spring, it has also been educational

and inspiring. In early May we were honored to be joined by nature writer extraordinaire David Rains Wallace for a talk followed by our Eco-film night showing of Aldo Leopold documentary Green Fire. Many thanks to all who joined us that evening. Throughout May there were also some great Humboldt Bike Month Coalition events including Arcata and Eureka Bike to Work Day, a Bike Shorts Film Festival, and a Bike Ride Farm Tour around Arcata. A hearty bike-bell ring to Chris, Emily, Mark, Isaiah, and the many other folks who made it such a success! As mentioned in the last issue, we are also this year celebrating the 40th birthday of the Endangered Species Act— one of this nation’s cornerstone environmental laws. Given all the threats to life on this planet at the hands of one species resembling a scrawny, hairless ape, it is even more important to keep these landmark laws strong to protect biological diversity and the resiliency inherent in it.

Leave a North Coast Legacy Give a gift that will endure beyond your lifetime. Leave a lasting legacy by naming the Northcoast Environmental Center as a beneﬁciary of your will, trust, or other estate plans.

Your bequest will help us advocate for and educate about the North Coast and the KlamathSiskiyou bioregion for future generations. To learn more, call us at 707-822-6918. The NEC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-proﬁt organization, EIN 23-7122386.

Catch the NEC’s EcoNews Report

Every Thursday, 1:30pm on KHSU - 90.5FM Each show features interviews with experts on a variety of important environmental topics! Past shows are also archived on our website for listening online anytime!

www.yournec.org/econews-report

400 parts per What?

While there may be many of the species Homo sapiens wrecking the planet out of ignorance, sheer disregard, or in the name of profit, there are also those willing to stand in the path of such destruction. Leading climate scientist James Hansen recently retired from NASA to devote more of his time to climate activism, and activist Tim DeChristopher was just released from prison after a two year sentence for acting to protect Utah’s wilderness and keep fossil fuels in the ground—both just in time to witness our world cross the threshold of 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (not seen on earth in over 2 million years). In related climate news, our region is in the midst of a moderate drought and, as predicted, the fire season is off to an early start—not boding well for forests, fishes, farmers or other folks. More extreme drought conditions are prevalent throughout much of the West, not only exemplifying the importance of taking action to address climate change, but further illuminating the need to restore our relationship with water, and restore our landscape’s capacity to store it.

Bay Trail Beginnings

There are few items of higher priority for Humboldt County trail lovers, bike-commuters and active transportation advocates than the realization of the Humboldt Bay Trail that will eventually connect Arcata and Eureka. The momentum is building with Arcata’s proposal for a trail alongside rail through Arcata and along the 101 corridor to Bracut. Currently, the City of Arcata is seeking funding for the project and is looking for letters of support! Be part of making this project happen by writing a letter of support today and emailing it to kdiemer@cityofarcata.org.

Volunteer it feels good

Humboldt County Marches Against Monsanto

In his recently published book, Apocalyptic Planet, Craig Childs talks about his quest to find an existing landscape that best symbolizes the end of life as we know it on this planet. He found Iowa. Craig discusses traversing Iowa through GMO cornfields in record-setting heat, and describes the terror of walking down endless rows of corn doused in biocides and bereft of biodiversity. (Iowa is actually my homestate and, growing up, I witnessed daily the folly of our contemporary, industrialized agriculture). Fortunately for our planet there are many who are working to bring our agricultural practices back into balance. The March Against Monsanto in Eureka brought out over 700 citizens to take a stand for bees, seed-saving, and family farms. Thanks to all who organized and made it out to Eureka and around the world! With such involvement at the grassroots level, we can bring our food system back into balance with the world around us. More on the March Against Monsanto on page 6.

Damn the Dams!

Bring Back Free-flowing Rivers

In one significant step towards river restoration here in California, on May 8th, the final permit was granted for the long-awaited San Clemente Dam removal. With decommissioning set to begin in August, this will be the largest ever dam removal in California. Our hats are off to those individuals, organizations, agencies and electeds for seeing this project through. May we build on this success to realize the removal of the harmful dams on the See our Action Alert on page 4. Klamath River.

Rat Poison Resolution On May 14th, the Humboldt County Board of

Supervisors took a step in the right direction in unanimously passing a resolution urging businesses to pull rat poisons from the shelves and discouraging consumers from using them. While this action may lack the teeth necessary to promulgate a significant drop in the use and availability of these toxics that are a deadly threat to the endangered Pacific fisher and other forest carnivores, this Board’s vote helps elevate the call for an outright ban of the deadly substances.

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Nature Writing Californians Against Fracking Rally Zero Waste is Fair Game for Summer Who’s Guiding the General Plan? 16th Annual Coho Confab Hike Into the Wild Kin to the Earth: Goldman Prize Eye on Washington: DC Talk More Eyes on Legislation Tsunami Debris Monitoring & Cleanups Humboldt Baykeeper Friends of the Eel River EPIC Mattole Restoration Council Sierra Club, North Group California Plant Native Society Redwood Region Audubon Eco-Mania Creature Feature: Oregon Silverspot Butterfly Kids’ Page: Pill Bugs and Sow Bugs

Bouquets A life-affirming bouquet to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors for their unanimous support of a statewide ban on singleuse plastic bags and for their support of a resolution urging residents and businesses to do away with rodenticides that are polluting our planet and poisoning wildlife. A bouquet of sand dune flora to Joe Gillespie for his efforts as NEC’s Del Norte beach monitoring and cleanup coordinator, and for being such a positive influence on the leaders of tomorrow by sharing his love of (and oneness with) all of Earth’s inhabitants. An Earth Day bouquet to the many amazing groups and individuals who organized and descended upon the region’s beaches, gulches, and rivers for a much needed spring cleaning. And a wild Iris to Dave Feral of Mad River Alliance for being a motivating force for the Earth Day celebration. A conifer cone bouquet to Michael Kauffman for his work to bring the region’s natural wealth to new audiences with his thoughtful, compelling tree books, and for all his energy in making the eco-film nights such a success.

Interested in our regional environmental history? Get involved with our EcoNews Archive project! Contact us at 822-6918 or write nec@yournec.org! EcoNews

June/July 2013

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On Saturday, May 11, Friends of the Dunes hosted a Nature Writing workshop with conservation and natural history author, David Rains Wallace (author of The Klamath Knot). The two pieces featured here were products of that workshop. Check our website for more submitted works from this rare nature writing experience: www.yournec.org

A Walk at Lanphere Dunes with David Rains Wallace

Jean Noble We walk and we name, trying, it seems, to wrap our heads around the flora and fauna of a (to some) unfamiliar environment. This rare remaining bit of West Coast dune forest was off limits until only a few years ago when it was opened quietly to the public with simple signs, newly hacked trails, and a clean latrine by a tidy parking lot. From a kayak on the slough I had peered with curiosity and desire towards this shore of thick vegetation and scrubby pine slowly being drowned by the high curves of sand dunes above and behind. I understood that a few families (and a few cows) had had this piece of the world to themselves for many decades. This naming—is this one way to settle in—like learning the names of the other kids in your first grade class? We are a group pulled together by the generally defined common interest of “Nature Local nature photography by Ethan Bertz will be on display at Truchas Gallery, Los Bagels for June and July. Photography is a medium for expressing his reverence for the incredible beauty and power of our local area. “I hope that in sharing these photographs with others,” says Bertz, “some will be reminded of the feeling that this rare and precious setting called earth, spinning through an immense expanse of space, is` worthy of our wonder.”

Writing.” Our leader David has made an effort to define for us the threads of science, poetry, advocacy, mythology, and exploration that tangle into this “niche genre” of writing inhabited by nature geeks, dewy eyed lovers of sunsets and other sources of natural wonder, and fiery advocates for more sanity in our relationships with the air, water, mountains, and creatures of this planet. I’ve done these trails maybe a dozen times. I am humbled by how little I really do know about this place—at least in the way that naming gets you to a place of knowing. I do my own quiet orientation to the still damp atmosphere slowly warming with hints of morning sun. I know the misty cool feel of the air, and the dusty shades of green that the sandy soils of the dunes permit, as compared to the deep emerald greens of the Redwood Forest a few miles east beyond the bottom lands. I savor the distant vibration of the ocean that is today overlaid by a lively buzz of birdsong—echoes of other California shores and other morning walks, but—still— undefined (as yet)—different, unique, special. I am not alone to comment on associations to other places I have known—pretty relatives of the Mayflower of New England woods of my childhood make me briefly homesick. Contorted lodgepole pines, twisted by nutrient thin sand and sea salty winds prompt memories of their tall straight cousins on Sierra mountainsides. We gather in a half circle and study a mound of thatch ants—seeking a story to make sense of the boiling pile of black bodies, wings and bits of twigs. We, this group of nature writers, write out our experiences, building a narrative alongside the scientists and volunteers who are making signs and handouts and booklets, to teach me and others of this dune landscape. We make this place “special”. In that effort, the likelihood that this land will be treated unkindly is diminished. Thoreau’s words

Robert Berg, D.D.S.

Pinus contorta ssp. contorta Lodgepole you can't fool me I've seen your Rocky Mountain family - tall arrow - shaft straight stems sunk deep in soil and made into the bones of old cabins. I'll never forget that Thunderstorm in Yellowstone which whipped uniform groves of you into frenzied dance, like those cheezy used-car-lot air-blown noodle tubes. I was terrified, thought for sure those blustery gusts would splinter your trunk into countless toothpicks but you held on. Here on the north spit of Humboldt Bay you grow different short, wearing ground-length branch skirts shaped like your small cones, grown in the sand and salmon winds that ceaselessly shift and swirl about you; carry your pollen off like faerie dust that makes me sneeze in spring. But Your greatest gesture is that of defiance, Letting your long growing tips give a middle finger to all. - Jacob Pounds

inadvertently protected little Walden Pond, which I am lucky to remember as my childhood swimming hole. Famous from his words, a danger only remains of it being loved too much by so many. It is the place without names, empty of stories never given, or with stories lost or stolen away, that becomes a throwaway place. We purposely wrap this place with names, we wrap this place with poems and stories—to make this place matter.

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June/July 2013

EcoNews

Protests Urge Gov. Brown to Ban Fracking

Gasland Filmmaker, Farmers, Nurses, Environmentalists Launch Californians Against Fracking Californians Against Fracking Anti-fracking documentary filmmaker Josh Fox joined farmers, public health professionals, environmentalists and people living near fracked wells to launch Californians Against Fracking, a new statewide coalition to ban fracking. The simultaneous launch events in San Francisco and Los Angeles included rallies and delivery to Governor Jerry Brown of more than 100,000 signatures on petitions to ban fracking. “The more than 100 groups that have come together to form Californians Against Fracking know that fracking pollution threatens the air we breathe and the water we drink,” said Rose Braz of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Fracking also releases large amounts of methane, a dangerously potent greenhouse gas and opens up new fossil fuel deposits. We are here to tell Governor Brown that real leadership on the environment and climate means banning fracking now.” Fracking uses huge volumes of water mixed with dangerous chemicals to blast open rock formations and release oil and gas. A recent Colorado School of Public Health study found that people living near fracked wells in that state were at greater risk of asthma and other respiratory problems, as well as cancer, caused by air pollutants. The controversial technique— currently unregulated and unmonitored by state officials—has been used in hundreds and perhaps thousands of California oil and gas wells. Oil companies are gearing up to frack large reservoirs of unconventional shale oil in California’s Monterey Shale. The area is home to some of the state’s most productive farmland, critical water sources, important wildlife habitat and dozens of towns and cities from the Salinas Valley to the Los Angeles Basin. “Big Oil companies have California in their sights again,” said Dan Jacobson of Environment California. “If we allow Big Oil to frack California, we’re facing an environmental nightmare.” Carrying a banner reading “Don’t Frack the Golden State,” protestors urged Gov. Brown to impose a state fracking ban. Fox spoke as his new

Protesters gathered outside of the Hiram W. Johnson State Office Building in San Francisco. Photo: Patrick Sullivan.

fracking exposé, Gasland 2, opened its grassroots tour of California. “Californians are waking up to the fact that the industry-touted financial gains that fracking may bring to the state are limited, temporary and primarily for the industry itself, while the damage could be long lasting and potentially irreversible,” said Food & Water Watch Pacific Region Director Kristin Lynch. “No amount of regulation can change the fact that fracking and drilling jeopardizes California’s communities, natural resources and public health and Californians across the state are speaking out for a ban.” Californians Against Fracking coalition include: 350.org; Breast Cancer Action; the California Nurses Association; the Center for Biological Diversity, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment; Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community; CREDO, Democracy for America, Environment California, Family Farm Defenders; Food & Water Watch, Organic Consumers Association; and Progressive Democrats of America.

To keep up to date, go to: www.facebook.com/CaliforniansAgainstFracking

Join our Monthly Giving Program For more information, call the NEC at 707-822-6918 June/July 2013

The Senate is holding a special “Klamath Issues” hearing of its Energy & Natural Resources Committee on June 20th, and they want to hear from you! Announcing the hearing, Committee Chair Senator Ron Wyden said people “affected by Klamath issues want— and deserve—to have their voices heard on these vital matters.” This is a great opportunity to tell your own personal story about why Congress should take action. Take Action for the Klamath: Tell your story and let Senator Wyden and the Senate know that it’s time for Congress to Un-Dam the Klamath! Email Senator Ron Wyden, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, at klamath@energy.senate. gov or write to:

Invest in the Future

EcoNews

Take Action for the Klamath!

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Senator Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington, D.C., 20510 tel (202) 224-5244 fax (202) 228-2717

This Summer, Zero Waste is Fair Game “Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the streets”

Margaret Gainer Organizers for the Arcata Plaza’s largest fairs and festivals are hoping to reduce the amount of waste they generate this summer. Zero Waste is the new standard for best practices in integrated waste management because it is comprehensive, thorough, emphasizes prevention first in the strategies employed, and fosters local value-added manufacturing opportunities for the collected materials. Zero Waste establishes goals and action plans. Gone are the old days when we simply provided containers for recycling and composting the discarded materials at events. In summer 2013, event attendees will start to see new collection designs, better signage, and more volunteers trained to help them participate in waste reduction. Results will be monitored and measured in order to learn how to improve the process each year. Zero Waste Humboldt and local event organizers are learning from the successful examples of other large events around the U.S. that

have committed to work toward zero waste goals. The Ohio Stadium at Ohio State University, for example, has become the largest stadium in the country to achieve its goals toward zero waste. In one year, its waste reduction improved from 30.2% to 87.2% of the discarded material at its sports events. This year, the game with the highest landfill diversion rate achieved 98.2%. Pickathon, a three-day music festival held at 80acre Pendarvis Farm outside of Portland, Oregon, is another example. Klean Kanteen has sponsored Pickathon to show the world how people can come together without creating mountains of toxic trash. Pickathon and Klean Kanteen have proven naysayers wrong, by going completely plastic cup and plastic bottle free. In 2009, it was estimated that festivalgoers used about 35,000 plastic cups and about 25,000 plastic bottles. Each year since then, the festival has grown, and the steel pint is now displacing more than 70,000-80,000 single-use cups and bottles per year! The first key to both of these successes was commitment: Commitment of event organizers to set annual goals, to conscientiously monitor and measure activity, and to develop event infrastructure that makes it more convenient to reduce waste. However, this is just a small part of achieving success. Vendors, entertainers, event volunteers, staff, and most

~from “Dancing in the Streets” by William “Mickey” Stevenson and Marvin Gaye

Saturday, June 15

Arcata Main Street’s 23rd Annual Oyster Festival

Thursday, July 4

Arcata Chamber of Commerce’s Fourth of July Jubilee

Saturday & Sunday, September 21-22 40th Annual North Country Fair

importantly, event attendees must commit to being a part of the zero waste effort. In addition, advance promotion of the event must include information about the zero waste goal and how the public can participate. The most challenging aspect of zero waste success, is achieving a major paradigm shift from single-use food and beverage containers to washable, refillable cups and plates. Recycling and composting the huge quantity of single-use plastic, paper, and cornstarch food and beverage containers at events, does nothing to reduce the significant natural resources and energy required to manufacture these single-use items in the first place. In a way, emphasis on recycling actually accomodates wastefulness!

What can you do?

As you make your plans to attend Humboldt County’s summer events, plan ahead for how you will reuse, pack out what you pack in, and be a part of the spirit of reducing waste. Contact Zero Waste Humboldt if you’d like to join the army of volunteers to help at events. Email contact@zerowastehumboldt.org. (Left) Zero Waste Humboldt volunteers were stationed at every trash, recycling and compost station around the Plaza at last year’s North Country Fair, ready to help attendees sort their waste appropriately. Photos courtesy of ZWH.

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Classes with Jane Bothwell Petrolia Seaweeding Weekend With Allison Poklemba & Jane Bothwell June 8-9, 2013

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High Country Herb Weekend

With Allison Poklemba & Jane Bothwell August 1-3, 2013 Bear Basin Butte, Gasquet, CA

Strengthen plant identification skills and practice ethical wildcrafting techniques of medicinal plants. Class size is limited to 11 people.

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June/July 2013

EcoNews

Whose Hand is Guiding the General Plan Update?

On Monday, June 3 (the day EcoNews went to press), a Board of Supervisor’s hearing took place to consider changes to the guiding principles of Humboldt County’s General Plan Update. Just days before the scheduled hearing, Second District Supervisor Estelle Fennell offered a rewrite of eleven guiding principles to Planning Director Kevin Hamblin, explaining that she’s “been hearing from several people” about the existing principles and that both she and 1st District Supervisor Rex Bohn would like to see her alternative version discussed. The guiding principles were originally adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2004 and slightly revised by the Planning Commission in 2012, using public input from many years of public hearings, workshops, and over 1,000 written comments from people all over the County. The County General Plan Update process began in 2000, with the intent of updating the 1984 General Plan, which continues to govern land use and development in unincorporated areas of the County. It should be noted that the only principles she did not rewrite pertain to the importance of transparency and robust public participation. Ironically, her suggested principles were developed behind the scenes, absent public input. North Coast Journal reporter Ryan Burns outlined the changes Fennell would like to make—which would change the approach of the General Plan Update by putting more emphasis on developers’ interests than environmental considerations—in a May 30 post entitled “Fennell and Bohn Seek to Rewrite Guiding Principles of General Plan Update” on the NCJ’s online BlogThing (www.northcoastjournal.com/ blogs/Blogthing/). The following is reprinted with permission:

Let’s do a little compare and contrast. • Existing principle: “Protect agriculture and timberland over the long term, using measures such as increased restrictions on resource land subdivisions and patent parcel development.” • Fennell version: “Encourage, incentivize and support agriculture, timber and compatible uses on resource lands.” Gone are protections for agriculture and timberlands, replaced by incentives to produce on those lands. • Existing principle: “Provide sufficient developable land, encourage development of affordable housing for all income levels, and prevent housing scarcity under a range of population growth scenarios.

Humboldt Marches Against Monsanto

How do Fennell’s guiding principles differ from the existing ones? They put a stronger emphasis on property rights and rural development and deemphasize environmental protections. This shouldn’t come as a surprise given Fennell’s almost three-year tenure as executive director of private property rights group Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights (HumCPR) and her recent votes to appoint that group’s leaders, Lee Ulansey and Bob Morris, to the county planning commission.

• Fennell version: “Promote and facilitate the creation of new housing opportunities to mitigate the decline in availability of affordable housing for all income levels.” These two may seem similar, but the differences are meaningful. The existing principle is geared toward maintaining an adequate housing inventory. Fennell’s version takes for granted a decline in affordable housing, and calls on the county to actively “promote and facilitate” new opportunities. Since the general plan update is a planning document intended to last for 20 years or more it makes little sense to base policy on a variable market assessment, especially one that may already be incorrect. According to the latest data from the Humboldt Economic Index,... Continued on page 8

A young protester dressed as a bee says No to GMOs during Eureka’s March Against Monsanto. Photo: Mo Hollis.

On Thursday, May 25, over 700 Humboldt residents gathered in Eureka to protest genetically engineered foods (GMOs) and the chemical giant Monsanto. Over 52 countries and 436 cities participated in the global “March Against Monsanto” to raise awareness and voice opposition to the growing amount of GMO foods in our food supply. Families, farmers, activists and concerned citizens marched through Old Town, before gathering in front of the courthouse—spilling onto Hwy. 101 and stopping traffic—to listen to several speakers, including 2nd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace. “In Humboldt County, Proposition 37 was approved by over two-thirds of the voters. That shows a very strong support in Humboldt to bring in a mearsure to ban or label GMOs,” said Lovelace. “I would strongly encourage you to get organized, bring that forward—I would be happy to bring that before our board.” He also added, “Banning GMOs in Humboldt isn’t enough. The injustice and significant environmental and health problems created by GMOS are global. Bring something forward here locally, but keep working on the global issue.” Local videographer Mo Hollis attended the March and described the scene as “the biggest protest I’ve seen in Eureka.” Hollis produced a video report about the March, published online by the Lost Coast Outpost. The video is also posted on our homepage at www.yournec.org.

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EcoNews

June/July 2013

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Working Workshops

Like a Watershed

16th Annual Coho Confab Macro-Invertebrate Sampling

RoadField Map Tours and Action Plan for Recovery Workshop: Mid and Lower Mattole River Riparian Restoration • Release of Maturing Adult Coho Salmon as an Innovative Method for Estuary Restoration andAddressing Population Supplementation CohoReintroduction Recovery at Baker Creek: Key Constraints

on the Mattole River—August 9-11, 2013 in the Mattole Headwaters

Coho Confab

• Short-term Strategies to Prevent Human Communities and Working Lands: Roads, FuelsExtirpation

of Mattole Coho Salmon

Forestry, and Water Conservation The Coho Confab Reduction, include: the history • Innovative Strategies to Address Key Constraints to Recovery al Restoration Annuand Erosiont hControl Improvement Projects 6 is an annual symposium in the South Fork EelHabitat and partnerships of River Tributaries to explore watershed Mattole restoration, restoration, learn land and water Workshops August 9 -11, 2013 restoration techniques stewardship, and Macro-Invertebrate Sampling for coho recovery, and Back in the Mattole! the relationships Road Map and Action Plan for Recovery Workshop: Release of MaturingSalmonid Adult CohoRestoration Salmon as an Innovative Method for Forest, Mattole to network with other Sponsored by•Trees Foundation, Federation, Sanctuary between cannabis, Reintroduction and Population Supplementation Restoration Council, Mattole Salmon Group, and California Department of Fish & Wildlife fish-centric people. family farms and • Short-term Strategies to Prevent Extirpation of Mattole Coho Salmon Restoration pioneer • Innovative Restoration Strategies to Address Key Constraints to Recovery watershed recovery. Working Like a Watershed Richard Gienger coined On Saturday, the term “Confab” from several concurrent Field Tours the verb “confabulate” morning field tours Mid and Lower Mattole River Riparian Restoration —to informally chat or are offered, including Estuary Restoration Coho Recovery at Baker Creek: Addressing Key Constraints fabricate to fill in gaps riparian restoration in the Mattole Headwaters in one’s memory. projects, estuary Human Communities and Working Lands: Roads, Fuels Reduction, Forestry, and Water Conservation The 16th Annual Advanced restoration projects, $125,Projects which includes food, camping, and workshops. Erosion ControlRegistration and Habitat Improvement Coho Confab will in the South Fork Eel RiverLate Tributaries and macro-invertebrate Registration, after July 29, is $150. be heldTREES in the sampling. In the FOUNDATION For More Information or to Advanced Registration $125, which includes food, camping, and Register: workshops. Mattole River Valley. afternoon, choose Workshops Late Registration, after July 29, is $150. Macro-Invertebrate Sampling Salmonid Restoration TREES a plenary session Salmonid Restoration Federation at (707) 923-7501, www.calsalmon.org ForandMore Information or to Register: Map Action Plan for Recovery Workshop: Federation and Trees Trees Road Foundation at (707) 923-4377, www.treesfoundation.org focused on creating • Release Restoration of Maturing Federation Adult Coho at Salmon an Innovative Method for Salmonid (707)as923-7501, www.calsalmon.org Reintroduction and Population Supplementation Trees Foundation at (707) 923-4377, www.treesfoundation.org Foundation co-host a road map and • Short-term Strategies to Prevent Extirpation of Mattole Coho Salmon the event and this year are partnering with the action plan for coho recovery, presentations on • Innovative Restoration Strategies to Address Key Constraints to Recovery Mattole River and Range Partnership (Sanctuary coho salmon genetics, a coho salmon rescue and Forest, Mattole Restoration Council, and the rehabilitation discussion, or a panel discussion about Mattole Salmon Group). The Confab is sponsored innovative restoration strategies. by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Sunday concludes with a half-day of concurrent The Confab allows for participants and morning tours, including: exploring innovative instructors to share innovative techniques, approaches in Baker Creek, human communities pioneering experience, and scientific methodologies. and working lands, and erosion control and Participants learn skills and techniques habitat improvement projects in South Fork Eel that can be applied to restore habitat in River tributaries. Advanced Registration $125, which includes food, camping, and workshops. their home watershed. Late Registration, after July 29, is $150.register for the Confab or to view the To TREES The weekend begins with a Friday evening agenda, please visit www.treesfoundation.org or For More Information or to Register: Salmonid Restoration Federation at (707) 923-7501, www.calsalmon.org community dinner. Evening orientation topics www.calsalmon.org. Trees Foundation at (707) 923-4377, www.treesfoundation.org FOUNDATION

Hike Into the Wild

Guided Summer Adventures

Orleans Mountain Roadless Area. Photo: Greg King.

Orleans Mountain Roadless Area Come explore the Orleans Mountain Roadless Area (OMRA), one of the largest unprotected National Forest roadless areas in California, and the mostly densely forested unprotected roadless area in the United States outside of Alaska. The OMRA encompasses 50,000 acres on both sides of the Salmon Mountains, and contains the headwaters of several small, pristine creeks that feed the Klamath and Salmon Rivers. The Roadless Area is adjacent to the Trinity Alps Wilderness to the south, and is very close to the Marble Mountain Wilderness to the north, providing important biological linkages between these two wildlands. Meet us at Pearch Creek Campground at 9am Saturday June 15. Friday night campers encouraged at Pearch Creek Campground on the 14th. For more information, contact hike leader Lynn Ryan 707-845-2825 or lynnr8@gmail.com.

FOUNDATION

Rough Gulch/Chinquapin Roadless Area Come hike the Rough Gulch Chinquapin Roadless Area. Join us for a remote hike through some of the largest old growth Doulas Fir stands anywhere, leading to a rarely-accessed stretch of the South Fork of the Trinity River. This will be an all-day hike that is not for the weak-knee’d, there is steep downhill terrain and you will need serious hiking boots. Hike is tentatively scheduled for Saturday June 29th. If you are interested, contact Larry Glass at larryglass71@gmail.com. South Fork Trinity Weekend Spend two days exploring mid and upper reaches of the South Fork Trinity, a gorgeous stretch of river. With over 1000 square miles of watersheds, the SFT is the largest undammed river in California. Due to long distances from population centers, this will be a weekend camp out that will include swimming, hiking, art and music. Join hike coordinators Bob Wunner and Emelia Berol at Hell’s Gate Campground, off Hwy 36 near Forest Glen, on Friday evening, July 12, or by 9am Saturday the 13th. Contact Emelia or Bob for more information: 707-407-6814; robertwunner@yahoo.com.

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June/July 2013

EcoNews

Fennell

Sure. Why not? [EcoNews Editor’s note: As one of my college professors used to point out regarding the illusion of “common sense”—Who’s common sense? Common sense is far from “common”, and does not always make what you might consider “sense”. One person’s common sense might be nonsense to you.]

Continued from page 6

...home sales have increased by more than 15 percent in the past year while prices have dropped dramatically. • Existing principle: “Ensure efficient use of water and sewer services and focus development in those areas and discourage low-density residential conversion of resource lands and open space.” • Fennell version: “Cooperate with service providers in delivering efficient water and sewer services and infrastructure and support scientifically proven alternative waste management systems in areas not served by public sewer.” This change comes straight out of HumCPR newsletters. Fennell’s suggestion would eliminate the goal of focusing development around existing... services and instead open up the county’s rural lands to development, in part by allowing non-standard waste management systems. • Existing principle: “Protect natural resources, especially open space, water resources, water quality, scenic beauty, and salmonid habitat.” • Fennell version: “Honor landowners’ right to live in urban, suburban, rural or remote areas of the county while using a balanced approach to protect natural resources, especially open space, water resources and water quality in cooperation with state and federal agencies.” Here Fennell explicitly places landowner rights ahead of environmental protections, which she would leave to “a balanced approach.” She doesn’t specify whose definition of balance would be applied. Opinions in this county vary wildly about how best to balance the two opposing values.

• Existing principle: “Preserve and enhance the character of Humboldt County and the quality of life it offers. “

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Lee Ulansey, recently named Planning Commissioner and one of the founders of the private property rights group Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights (HumCPR), and Estelle Fennell. Fennell was HumCPR’s Executive Director for nearly three years.

• Fennell version: “Honor and enhance the diverse character of Humboldt County and the quality of life it offers.” Replacing “preserve” with “honor” implies reverence. To what? You decide. • Existing principle: “Support the County’s economic development strategy and work to retain and create living-wage job opportunities.” • Fennell version: “Support the County’s economic development strategy and work to retain and create living-wage job opportunities.” Here Fennell shows a libertarian’s distrust of government, denying the county’s authority to develop a strategy for economic development. Such development is a goal unto itself, says Fennell. • Existing principle: “Adhere to a practical strategy that can be implemented.” • Fennell version: “Adhere to practical strategies that can be implemented utilizing constructive cooperation and common sense.”

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• Existing principle: “Provide a clear statement of land use values and policies to provide clarity in the County’s permit processing system and simplify review of projects that are consistent with the General Plan.” • Fennell version: “Provide a clear statement of land use values and policies to provide clarity in the County’s permit processing system and simplify review of projects that are consistent with the General Plan.” Fennell would eliminate the requirement that projects be consistent with the general plan, which raises the question: Why have a general plan at all? • Existing principle: “Include actionable plans for infrastructure financing and construction.” • Fennell’s version: None. This one’s simply deleted. Three principles Fennell leaves unchanged: • “Ensure that public policy is reflective of the needs of the citizenry as expressed by the citizens themselves.” • “Maximize the opportunities to educate the public about the planning process, in order to have meaningful participation in the development and maintenance of the Plan.” • “Support a broad public participation program at all levels of the decision making process; including study, workshops, hearings, and plan revisions.”

Whatever the outcome of Monday’s meeting, your voice will continue to be needed. Join NEC’s action alert list to stay informed about the GPU and opportunities to provide input. Speak up, express your opinion, and let your Supervisors know that you care about environmental protections and smart community planning.

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Kin to the Earth: Sid Dominitz Six heroes from different parts of the world have been selected as winners of the 2013 Goldman Environmental Prize, the world’s richest reward for grassroots environmentalists. They shut down two of the dirtiest coal plants in Chicago, restored marshes in war-torn Iraq, began an anti-fracking movement in South Africa, improved waste management across Europe, protected ancient forestland on Timor and organized lowly wastepickers into legitimate recyclers in Colombia.

Goldman Prize

Jonathan Deal, South Africa. With no prior experience in grassroots organizing, Jonathan Deal successfully campaigned against the fracking proposed by Royal Dutch Shell and others to protect the Karoo, a semi-desert region treasured for its agriculture, wildlife and beauty. The area has the richest diversity of succulents

The 2013 Goldman Prize ($150,000) winners are: Kimberly Wasserman, USA After leading local residents in a fight to close two of the country’s oldest and dirtiest coal plants, Wasserman is now transforming Chicago’s old industrial sites into parks and multi-use spaces. The coal power plants closed ahead of schedule and now Wasserman is leading negotiations for a Community Benefits Agreement, which prohibits any fossil fuel industry from operating on the property.

goal of Zero Waste. Ercolini’s efforts have also sparked the beginning of a Zero Waste network throughout Italy. Azzam Alwash, Iraq Giving up a comfortable living and family life in California, Azzam Alwash returned to Iraq to lead local communities in restoring the oncelush marshes that were turned to dust bowls when Saddam Hussein burned, drained and poisoned the home of ancient Sumerians. Known by many as the birthplace of civilization, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was once an oasis of aquatic wildlife and one of the world’s most important migratory flyways for birds. Alwash founded the nonprofit Nature Iraq and put his experience in hydraulic engineering to use, developing a master plan for the marshes, which are starting to flourish again—and slated to be established as the country’s first national park this spring.

Nohra Padilla, Colombia Unfazed by powerful political opponents, Nohra Padilla organized Colombia’s marginalized waste pickers and scored a landmark victory The 2013 Goldman Prize winners, clockwise from left: Jonathan Deal, South Africa; Kimberly Wasserman, USA; Azzam Alwash, Iraq; Rossano Ercolini, Italy; Aleta Baun, Indonesia; Nohra Padilla, Columbia. when she won a court ruling that Aleta Baun, Indonesia now prohibits waste management Despite an assassination on earth, and is home to many unique species contracts that don’t provide job opportunities for attempt, Aleta Baun organized hundreds of local of lizards, tortoises, scorpions and the riverine informal recyclers. villagers to peacefully occupy illegal marble rabbit—one of Africa’s most endangered mammals. Recyclers are now formally recognized mining sites and stopped the destruction of sacred stakeholders in Bogotá’s waste management forestland on the island of Timor. Rossano Ercolini, Italy planning, and they go to work wearing uniforms Some 150 women spent a year sitting on the An elementary school teacher, Rossano and identification cards that acknowledge their marble rocks at the mining site, quietly weaving Ercolini began public education about the dangers profession. Landfill contractors who don’t want their traditional cloth in protest. In a role reversal, of incinerators in his small Tuscan town that grew recyclers to cut into their profits have made because women were responsible for foraging into a national Zero Waste movement. threats to her safety—but in a giant victory, the food, dye and medicine from the mountains, As a result, 40 incinerators have been scrapped mayor issued a decree that mandates recycling they led the protest at the mine while the men or shut down and 117 municipalities—home to in the city and says recyclers are to be paid stayed home cooking, cleaning and caring more than three million residents—adopted a for their services. for the children. ...working with clients to improve the social, economic and environmental performance of their organizations and projects.

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June/July 2013

EcoNews

Eye on

“Public Access”

Not just hiking, but roads in “Roadless” areas, sometimes for hunting and fishing, and sometimes for development.

“Sportsmen”

Hunters and, marginally, those who fish. Rarely includes hikers, campers, birdwatchers, photographers, artists. “Radical Environmentalists” Includes you and me, although we may not consider ourselves as radical. You rarely hear conservative legislators just say “environmentalists” or “conservationists.” It is almost always preceded with “radical” as a means to dismiss anything a conservationist says.

“All of the above energy options”

Literally everything, good bad and ugly— including nuclear (though no one talks about it, or the fact we have no place to dump all the accumulating radioactive waste).

“Bipartisan”

“Miraculously, we got one or two representatives who feel threated by reelection to sign on for our bill.”

“Streamline the bureaucratic mess”

Get rid of environmental review with public input we are guaranteed by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and related natural and cultural resource protection laws.

“Locals know best”

The voice of the congressional representatives constituent groups both local and national— but not necessarily your voice or the voice of local conservationists. Sometimes called “cronyism.”

“Energy Independence”

Ability of energy corporations to make the most money off their commodity whether sold to domestic markets or internationally, such as to China.

Washington

“Transparency”

If I support the issue, then trust me—if there is anything you need to know, I will let you see it; but if I don’t support it—I want all the dirty laundry to be on the table.

D.C. Talk

“Restoration work on national forests” Some brush removal to diminish fire threat but often is a sneaky way to open an area for logging to access those areas that need “restoration.”

Beware when you hear some terms that seem like “Feel Good” terms. There are high-priced K Street political lobbying groups that get paid lots of money to instruct congress and others how to do “eco-speak” in a way that does not rile up the conservation base. Although many of these code words and phrases sound very positive to conservationists, they can also be used in a political context to actually mean the opposite of what we think they mean.

“Exploring for energy” Drill baby, drill. “States know best”

With regard to issues with national importance, it is easier for international corporations to influence ($) local communities than the federal government.

Dan Sealy is the NEC’s Legislative Analyst and a new Board—our eyes (and ears) in Washington, D.C.

“Just answer yes or no”

“It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear” - conservative

political pollster

Frank Lutz

“Jobs”

Implies conservation is always at the expense of jobs.

“Smaller government”

No federal oversight of ecologically destructive practices by mining, drilling, etc.

The legislator wants to hear a self-serving simple answer rather than allow an answer that accounts for real complexity.

Dan's favorite: “Litigious”

Those who use the courts to enforce environmental laws, but does not apply to those who sue agencies doing their jobs to protect the environment. More Eye on Washington on page 11

Something got your goat? If there’s a story you would like to see covered in EcoNews, contact us and let us know! editor@yournec.org

Humboldt’s Advocate for Transportation Choices

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June/July 2013

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Keeping an Eye on Legislation Nation - Dan Sealy

It has been a very busy spring in Washington, D.C. and the Northcoast Environmental Center has been active to strengthen and protect conservation programs that enrich the lives of North Coast residents. These three actions give an idea of what the NEC has been up to. HR 11411 –California Coastal National Monument Expansion Act The Northcoast Environmental Center sent a letter to Congressman Huffman in support of the first bill he has introduced, H.R. 1411. His bill would add over 2,000 acres in Sonoma County for protection as part of the California National Monument, which stretches from Marin County to the Oregon border. This is only the first step of a long process to reach congressional approval, but the bill is widely supported locally and nationally. H.R. 934 to remove a portion of the Merced River from the Wild & Scenic River program While some in Congress are dedicated to programs that assure protections to wilderness and wild rivers for future generations, others are chipping away at these conservation programs. For example, HR 934, introduced by Congressman McClintock (R-CA,) would remove Wild & Scenic River Protection from approximately a half mile of the Merced River. The NEC has actively attended hearings and worked with Friends of the River to stop this attack on our free-flowing rivers.

Merced River. Photo: Beautiful Lilly, flickr.com CC.

Farm Bill Amendments to Weaken the Endangered Species Act As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act—which provides protection to our most vulnerable plants and wildlife—some in Congress keep trying end-runs to tie the hands of biologists and land managers who work to protect endangered species. One example was the attempt to add amendments to the Farm Bill that would restrict federal agencies like the Fish & Wildlife service from using modern technology (such as remote sensing and aerial photography) to measure species and habitat health. The NEC added its voice to oppose these amendments.

State - Dan Ehresman Get the Lead Out and Let the California Condor Take Back its Range Another positive mark for our species, national polling finds that a majority of Americans support switching from lead to nontoxic bullets. Despite the populist plea, not to mention the serious health risks posed by lead to humans and California Condor. Photo: USFWS. wildlife alike, the National Rifle Association continues their relentless attack on California legislation that would help make the switch to nontoxic ammunition. NRA attacks notwithstanding, California’s state assembly passed anti-lead legislation AB 711 in late May. It now faces the state senate, and with enough people keeping pressure on our Senators, we hope to see it soon made into law. And with lead poisoning the leading cause of death for the critically endangered California Condor, such an action could not come soon enough.

CEQA Defense S e n a t o r Noreen Evans, of this region’s second senatorial district, has introduced two important pieces of legislation to help streamline and strengthen the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Senate Bills 617 and 754 will improve environmental protections of the law and enable greater clarity and public participation in the CEQA process. Given recent attacks on one of California’s key environmental laws, it is crucial that your representative hears from you. Senator Evans has our gratitude for her leadership on this issue. For more information go to CEQAworks.org.

Coastal Monument Expansion applaud We Congressman Jared Huffman’s introduction of HR 1411, which would establish the first landbased connection to the California Coastal National Monument. It would bring permanent protection, higher status, and more resources for protecting the land and the species it supports, including the endangered Get the Frack out of California Point Arena mountain A suite of bills aimed at imposing a beaver. The proposed moratorium on fracking in California Point Arena mountain beaver. Photo: Kim Fitts. designation would also recently passed the state Assembly’s protect critical salmon and steelhead habitat at Natural Resources Committee. AB 1301 (Bloom), the mouth of the Garcia River. Get in touch with AB 1323 (Mitchell), and AB 649 (Nazarian) are Representative Huff man and let him know he has next expected to head to the California Assembly your support as well! Appropriations Committee. It is a crucial time to get in touch with State Assembly members to show Food Packaging and Marine Pollution that the public is standing together to ban this toxic practice in California. In other waste reduction and marine protection legislation news, Mark Leno’s Senate Bill 529, the Fast Sea-Level Rise Preparation and Coastal Food Packaging and Marine Pollution Reduction Act, Protection requires fast food establishments to use packaging materials that can State Senator Mark Leno be recycled or introduced legislation to help composted locally. coastal communities prepare This bill will phase for, and adapt to, the impacts of out the majority climate change and sea level rise. of the state’s nonSB 461 will create a fund that provides funding to state agencies recyclable and nonfor programs and activities compostable takeout that combat and prepare for food waste over the sea level rise and other coastalnext seven years. It related climate change impacts. applies to fast food The bill has passed the Senate chains that have 20 Appropriations Committee. Styrofoam clamshell food package. Photo: banjo d, flickr.com CC. locations or more.

Confirmed Japan Tsunami Debris Washes Ashore on the North Coast

NEC’s Japan Tsunami Debris Monitoring teams bring in some interesting finds

Dan Ehresman Early April brought news of California’s first confirmed tsunami debris: a small, barnacleencrusted boat that washed ashore near Crescent City. The skiff was found to have come from Takata high school in the coastal city of Rikuzentakata. As Japan progresses in their efforts to rebuild their ravaged communities, so to does the drifting debris continue to make its journey across the Pacific. While the coastlines of Hawaii, Alaska, and British Columbia have been inundated with tsunami debris for over a year, California is now, two years since the devastating event, beginning to see an increase in trash hitting our shores that was likely swept away from the island nation. To help gain a better understanding of the extent and distribution of tsunami debris in California, the NEC, in collaboration with the California Coastal Commission, has been coordinating monitoring events on Humboldt and Del Norte County beaches. On April 20, as part of the early Earth Day celebrations, the Northcoast Environmental Center took to the beaches for our second quarterly Japan tsunami debris monitoring and cleanup event of the year. What our teams found is pretty illuminating. Our Humboldt County crew covered approximately two miles of Samoa Beach and, along with the usual finds of derelict fishing gear and plastic bags, we also discovered two large, round floats with writing that denoted Japanese origin. Our Del Norte County monitoring team reported back with quite a number of items that originated in Japan, including plastic bottles and a cigarette lighter. Even more unique, the crew also found part of a refrigerator with Japanese text on it and numerous pieces of lumber that were cut in a manner typical of traditional Japanese architecture. At this point in time, while the debris has not yet been definitively confirmed as originating from the tsunami, we think it is quite likely. Of course we will defer to the experts for the final say. In the mean time, the NEC is gearing up for our next Japan Tsunami debris monitoring events the weekend of June 29 at Samoa Beach and June 30 at Point St. George beach. If you’d like to join the monitoring team, email us at marinedebris@yournec.org or give us a ring at 707-822-6918.

Above, clockwise: Dan Ehresman loads a piece of lumber with traditional joinery, closeup of writing on a part of a decaying refrigerator, two bouys, and a half-buried bottle with Japanese writing. Left: Some of the Del Norte County cleanup crew. Photos: Dan Ehresman and Joe Gillespie.

With all the amazing energy directed at cleaning up the region’s beaches so far this year, the NEC is pleased to announce the 29th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 21—part of a global day of action for trash free seas. Last year, 844 volunteers of all ages covered over 60 miles throughout Humboldt County and removed over 13,000 pounds of trash (and 400 pounds of recycling) from our beaches and waterways! We look forward to working with all of you who have participated in the past and are excited to meet new recruits to the coastal cleanup crew! Sign up now to volunteer—either by joining an existing team, or by taking on the role of Site Captain and organizing your own team! We are also seeking volunteers to help coordinate outreach and to staff our table at the North Country Fair (also on Sept. 21), to collect data cards from this region-wide event.

Email coastalcleanup@yournec.org or call 822-6918 to sign up today!

The Halvorsen Quarry Reclamation Plan:

How an unappealing plan led to an appeal to the Board of Supervisors Jessica Hall Should the Planning Commission approve a project with a vague site delineation, incomplete plans, and promised-but-notdelivered documents? Humboldt Baykeeper, along with California Trout (CalTrout), didn’t think so. But this is what happened in early May when the Planning Commission approved the Reclamation Plan for the Halvorsen Quarry. We followed up with an appeal to the Board of Supervisors. The Halvorsen Quarry is a greywacke mine up Rocky Creek Gulch, a salmon-bearing stream that feeds wetlands around Humboldt Bay. (Greywacke is a kind of hard rock used for rip rap and road beds) To clarify, it is the Reclamation Plan, which mitigates the site after mining is completed, that is the subject of controversy. The mining operation, which is a vested right, was not the subject of the appeal or the planning process. The Reclamation Plan lacked sufficient detail to ensure that water quality would be protected, and by failing to ensure that the approved plans were a complete and accurate set of documents, the County stumbled in its duty as lead agency for both the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA). And with the much-loved bald eaglets—and their parents—occupying a nearby nest, we believe that the Mitigated Negative Declaration and biological studies should consider potential impacts. The Mitigated Negative Declaration inaccurately claimed that an “existing” Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) was already in place. The last/only permit on record was filed in 1992. A new permit is required when the mine changes hands—but there is no record of this ever happening. How could the County claim that a non-existing permit was adequately addressing storm water issues? Under the SMARA rules, if there’s no SWPPP

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provided, the Reclamation Plan must provide a sediment and erosion control plan. Yet the documents provided to the public were missing information: the area under question wasn’t well delineated, and there was actually a missing plan sheet, and with these holes, we couldn’t evaluate the site protection measures or the accuracy of the stormwater runoff calculations! You get the picture. These were among the issues raised. Rocky Gulch provides critical habitat to salmonids and other species. Over $1 million in state grants were awarded to downstream property owners to restore the lower reach of the creek. Protecting

water quality is essential on any drainage; failure to ensure adequate protection in this Reclamation Plan sets bad precedent. The public review process is the means by which we, the public, are able to ensure that proposed projects consider and address potential environmental impacts. When the plans presented are inadequate, or incomplete, they should be revised to clarify the intent and demonstrate compliance with the law. These documents represent the applicant’s commitment to government agencies and the public. This commitment should mean something. Let’s hope the Board of Supervisors agrees.

SB405 Fails - Local Ordinances Move Forward

Vanessa Vasquez Despite wide-spread support from diverse interests (environmental to business), a statewide, single-use plastic bag ban has failed for the third year in a row. On May 30, 2013, California Senate voted 18-17, 3 votes shy of passing SB 405 (Padilla). SB 405, a bill that would have phased out most single-use plastic bags by 2015, garnered attention this spring when it received important endorsements from the California Grocers Association, California Retailers Association, California Resource Recovery Association and the Northern California Recycling Association. Several agencies and organizations in Humboldt County also weighed in on a statewide ban. On May 7, 2013 the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter of support for SB 405, a heartening display of solidarity for a clean, coastal environment. While environmental groups including Humboldt Baykeeper, Humboldt Surfrider and the Northcoast Environmental Center explained the human and ecological impacts of single-use plastics, it was the comments from Eel River Disposal, Fortuna’s recycling and solid waste facility that underlined the need to move away from unnecessary plastic products. Eel River Disposal expressed support for single-use plastic bag legislation due to the low

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value of plastic film in the recycling market and the difficulty of processing and re-selling it in bulk. Eel River Disposal’s comments provide yet more evidence that plastic bags while technically “recyclable” are not always economically viable to do so. Over 70 cities and counties in California have passed ordinances prohibiting the distribution of singleuse plastic bags at the point-of-sale in retail locations. It is estimated that up to 20 percent of Californians live in an area where bag bans are already in place. With the failure of a statewide ban, local ordinances become more important, especially in coastal communities where plastic trash easily migrates into waterways and eventually the ocean. In Humboldt County, many stores and restaurants have eliminated plastic bags at the counter. Ray’s Food Place stopped using single-use plastic bags over 8 months ago and decreased their operation costs, as paper bags hold more groceries and many people bring re-usable bags. Currently, the City of Arcata is actively developing an ordinance to ban the bags, and Humboldt Waste Management Authority is working with its other member agencies, including Humboldt County, to develop a model ordinance and the necessary environmental assessment documents. For more information about the Humboldt Ban the Bag campaign, contact Vanessa@humboldtbaykeeper.org.

June/July 2013

EcoNews

Friends

of the Eel River

Summer Water Woes Require Responsible Use Scott Greacen

Summer is coming. Coho salmon that spawn in the South Fork of the Eel River—a population that may still number only several thou sand fish in a good year—are the critical anchor, state and federal experts say, for the survival and recovery of the species in streams south of the Oregon border. No other watershed in the region has as good a chance as the South Fork to recover and rebuild a population that can prove self-sustaining. The combination of record low rainfalls and unprecedented water diversions, however, suggests great struggles still lie ahead for South Fork Eel coho. The North Coast is defined by moisture extremes: wet winters and long, dry summers. This year, unfortunately, the National Weather Service reported the total rainfall from January through April as the lowest on record for the region. Under the best of circumstances, the resulting low stream flows would be challenging for our imperiled native fish. Low flows amplify the impacts of all sorts of pollution, and result in higher water temperatures. Young coho salmon, steelhead trout, and Pacific lamprey are especially vulnerable, because they must stay in freshwater until they are ready to run to the ocean (a year for coho and steelhead—five to seven for lamprey!) These fish have thrived in the Eel River for millions of years, but they may not survive the next decade. While they have survived droughts in the past, their populations and habitat are near a low ebb, thereby greatly reducing their current odds. Human actions are depleting streamflows even further in some key reaches—which is perhaps the one thing that we can do something about—right now. We can’t undo the logging that replaced old

growth forests with thirsty young stands of trees, nor can we fix climate-driven changes in our rainfall patterns. All we can do is watch how we use water during the dry season ahead. Some salmon streams were actually dewatered last summer. Keeping them flowing this year, under even worse conditions, is going to require a lot of effort.

It is also important to understand that decommissioning the Potter Valley Project and tearing down its two dams won’t add a drop of water into the South Fork of the Eel River. The dams and diversion tunnel are on the upper mainstem Eel River, roughly 30 miles east (upstream) of Willits. The mainstem Eel and the South Fork don’t join until Founder’s Grove on Highway 101 (downstream). Thus, the fate of the South Fork coho has absolutely nothing to do with the Potter Valley diversion. Rather, it is very much in the hands of the people living and working in its watersheds. (Chinook, steelhead, and lamprey, however, are more complicated stories.)

These fish have thrived in the Eel River for millions of years, but they may not survive the next decade.

EcoNews

June/July 2013

Thankfully, many people have been working very hard to install more water storage, to fill up from the winter rains we did get, to check their systems for drips and leaks, and to ensure they’re using no more than they truly need for domestic and agricultural purposes. That’s a great start. Pointing fingers at the wine industry, as some tend to do, does not help the situation and offers no excuse for ignoring our own problems. The wine industry’s environmental abuses—while serious and significant—don’t give pot farmers (or anyone else) in the Eel River watershed a right to create other unecessary harms. In fact, if the people of the Eel River are to reclaim the Eel River’s water from Russian River interests, we must be responsible water users ourselves.

Upper left: Aerial view of the Eel River Valley. Above: Map

showing locations of the Potter Valley Project, the Scott Dam, and the confluence of the Eel River and the South Fork.

www.yournec.org

Railroaded

As you may have already heard—the lawsuits brought by Friends of the Eel River and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics against the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) for their refusal to uphold their promise to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) were dismissed by a Marin county judge in midMay. If the decision stands, it could leave the disfunctional NCRA—the subject of a careful but unflattering profile by the North Coast Journal’s Ryan Burns in May—free to operate in the fragile, recovering Eel River Canyon for more than a century without much environmental protection at all, if any. The case highlights the difficulty and uncertainty of litigation as a strategy for protecting public trust resources like the Eel River’s fisheries and clean water. The fact remains that the NCRA, an agency of the state of California, took tens of millions of dollars of California taxpayer money under an explicit promise to abide by California’s environmental law. Nearly three million more tax dollars were spent on an Environmental Impact Report that the NCRA then claimed could not be reviewed by a court. And still, a simple question has not been answered: why not use CEQA to plan the project, analyze the potentially significant environmental harms, and figure out how to effectively mitigate them? The NCRA’s refusal to do real environmental review as promised only increases concerns about such potential environmnental harms, and suggests that there are things the NCRA knows about their projects that they don’t want the public to know.

The Environmental Protection Information Center 145 G Street, Suite A, Arcata, CA 95521

www.wildcalifornia.org

707-822-7711

Connectivity and Compromise

Gary Graham Hughes

Over the last several years the Northwest California region has been host to a series of increasingly contentious conflicts related to large-scale transportation infrastructure projects promoted by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). One of the principal arguments that EPIC has put forth to explain our engagement on these infrastructure development issues at unique places like Richardson Grove State Park and the Smith River Canyon is that the site specific and cumulative impacts of these projects have not been adequately disclosed and analyzed. EPIC’s challenge to Caltrans is often painted as obstructionist, and though our organization is intent on stopping poorly designed Caltrans projects and ultimately reforming the agency, our organization does have a sophisticated view of these projects as an integrated whole that is far from obstructionist. Unbeknownst to many North Coast residents, the largest of the Caltrans big truck highway expansion projects is currently under construction—and the project has purposefully received no challenge from our organization. When completed in 2017, the $60 million Buckhorn grade infrastructure construction projects on Highway 299 will facilitate unfettered access along Hwy. 299 between Interstate 5 and the North Coast for the largest trucks on the road today—the STAA supersized cab trucks that are so common on the nation’s interstate highway system.

Large-scale earth moving construction at Buckhorn Summit in Shasta County.

The Buckhorn Summit projects are not without their environmental impacts—over the course of project implementation more than 2,000,000 cubic yards of earth will be moved to straighten and widen the famous stretch of steep curves on Highway 299 right at the western border of Shasta County. This is no small project, but EPIC has strategically remained distant from that project as a demonstration of our respect for the economic interests that desire big STAA truck access to the

EPIC Updates!

199/197 Project Eureka

Buckhorn Summit Project

•

Caltrans Hwy 197/199 Project: On May 14, 2013 EPIC filed a state lawsuit with Friends of Del Norte, and the Center for Biological Diversity to protect the Wild and Scenic Smith River.

•

Northern Spotted Owl: A petition to list the Northern Spotted Owl under the California ESA was filed in August 2012. The CA Fish and Game Commission voted in April 2013 to delay action until the July meeting.

•

Richardson Grove State Park: Federal litigation was successful, sending Caltrans back to the drawing board to rethink and redesign their project. The injunction stands and continues to prevent project construction. State case decision favoring Caltrans was appealed December 12, 2012. The appeal will be ongoing through 2013.

•

Board of Forestry: EPIC filed a petition to delete rules that harm Northern Spotted Owls from the Forest Practice Rules and the board voted to accept the petition in March 2013; 45-day notice for rulemaking was released May 17, 2013. Expect a final board vote on the EPIC petition in July 2013.

•

Coho Salmon: EPIC filed lawsuits in February & May 2013, aimed at establishing conservation reforms on federally funded fish hatcheries on the Mad and Trinity Rivers.

•

National Forests: The U.S. Forest Service is proposing a timber sale, “Jess” on the Salmon River that would include over 1,000 acres of commercial thinning aimed at big, old-growth trees. Comments are being accepted through June. Go to wildcalifornia.org to take action.

Richardson Grove Project

Map showing Caltrans’ STAA Acess projects on the North Coast

North Coast. There is no question that the fastest, most direct route for goods from Humboldt County to national markets is the direct line out Hwy. 299 to Interstate 5 and all points north, east, and south. The Buckhorn Summit STAA access projects make up an important infrastructure development that should be taken into consideration to understand the integrated vision of EPIC efforts to challenge Caltrans—and to understand the clearly inadequate analysis of cumulative impacts by the agency. While Caltrans has been pushing forward with their unnecessary STAA project in the Smith River Canyon, disregarding the input of local citizens and regional conservation groups, EPIC has stood aside on the Hwy. 299 Buckhorn Summit projects in respect of the desires of local producers for improved large-scale transportation infrastructure development and STAA truck access. What is happening here is that EPIC is willing to compromise in support of improved economic connectivity, while still standing true to our mission and defending the unique natural qualities of our bioregion from a road building agency that refuses to fully disclose the impacts of their highway development agenda. In this instance it can be rightly concluded that it is not EPIC that is refusing to compromise with Caltrans around the conflictive issues of highway development on the North Coast of California. It is instead Caltrans that refuses to compromise, and who leaves our community members little recourse other than resorting to www.yournec.org

legal means to ensure that our region is protected from unnecessary, damaging, and wasteful highway development projects in some of the most special places remaining to us on the North Coast, and indeed, our planet.

June/July 2013

EcoNews

Mattole Restoration Council Celebrates 30 Years

decade is truly staggering. Some 35 miles of roads were decommissioned, 618 stream crossings were upgraded, and over a million cubic yards of In 1983, the Mattole Restoration Council sediment were stabilized. The Good Road Clear (MRC) was founded by more than 30 Mattolians Creeks program also worked on road-related fish who gathered under the shade of the Council passage projects, including the removal of close Madrone near Ettersburg. Its original intention to three dozen fish passage barriers—restoring was to provide support for the restoration of the access for salmon and steelhead to more than 29 Mattole River watershed, and bring together the miles of habitat. various groups working on this effort under one In more recent years, fuel hazard community-based umbrella. reduction has become a major focus of By 1978, residents in the Mattole the Council’s work. In partnership with Valley had noticed a large decline in landowners, defensible space has been the numbers of returning salmon due created around more than 150 homes. to sediment impacts on spawning habitat. Coupled with shaded fuel breaks installed Early proactive restoration efforts aimed along access roads, this work featured at increasing salmon numbers tended to more than 600 acres of thinning, limbing, be small-scale and focused on particular and clearing. streams and neighborhoods. The formation Throughout its thirty year history, the of MRC helped support and coordinate Council has worked actively to ensure the people and organizations working that young people in the watershed are on these projects. learning about the place they live. From Work through the 1980’s and 1990’s salmon in the classroom and hatchbox was focused on reforestation, as much of releases, to “watersheds in a box” and the logging in the watershed had taken field trips to old growth forests, ensuring place before replanting was required. In success largely depends on transferring the many sites the land had been converted to fascination with natural recovery to the either grassland or tanoak after harvest. next generation. The Mattole Restoration Council and the Continuing MRC’s ongoing emphasis Soilbankers, a tree planting cooperative, on collaboration, in 2010 the Mattole planted Douglas fir to restore forests River and Range Partnership was finalized throughout the watershed. with the signing of a Memorandum of By the mid-1990’s it was becoming Understanding between the Mattole difficult to identify new sites to plant. Restoration Council, Sanctuary Forest, Simultaneously, people began to recognize and the Mattole Salmon Group. that a new process taking place: in the absence In the near future, climate of fire, conifers were beginning to encroach uncertainty—longer drier dry seasons, on grasslands. As a result, the Council more intense winter rains and storms, and shifted strategy. In recent years attention The Good Roads Clear Creeks program has decomissioned 35 miles of road, upgraded other yet unknown impacts—will create has been focused largely on planting 618 stream crossings, stabilized more than a million cubic yards of sediment, new challenges and tests for the residents of conifers along stream banks to shade and and restored access to more than 29 miles of salmon and steelhead habitat. the Mattole. This collaborative framework Photo: MRC archives. cool the water. has allowed the organizations in the Council to be tremendously effective at securing With this shift in focus also came a broadening watershed to specialize and pursue different— investment when a series of “water bonds” were of species planted. What began with simply but complimentary—efforts. The primordial state passed in the late 1990’s and 2000’s. This funding Douglas Fir now includes several native trees that greeted the first Euro-American settlers was put to work achieving a huge amout of work will never be restored, but together we are and shrubs. Madrone, oaks, Oregon ash, and on the ground and by 2008 the Council grew to building a new relationship with the watershed coyote brush are all planted according to siteand with our neighbors that will enable us to become the largest employer in the watershed. specific needs and plans. Additionally, by the adapt to changing conditions. Together we will Working with BLM in the mid-1990’s, the early part of the 21st century, the Council had continue to work toward the goal of a healthy Mattole Restoration Council took on a 3.5 mile expanded the revegetation program to include watershed that supports abundant native road decommissioning project in the King Range. a Native Grasslands Enhancement component. salmon and steelhead. This project opened the doors for a new effort Native grass seed is collected, propagated, and to reduce sediment from roads, which resulted replanted in prairies throughout the King Range in the Good Roads Clear Creeks program. The 707-629-3514 National Conservation Area. By 2012, the Mattole www.mattole.org mrc@mattole.org impact this program had in little more than a restoration council had planted more than Hezekiah Allen

840,000 conifers, complemented with hundreds of thousands of other species. In the late 1990’s, the Council also transformed from primarily a coalition of other organziations, to being comprised of individuals and families. The organization then incorporated the lessons and experiences of its member groups into developing new programs. Having such a strong foundation of support throughout the watershed enabled the

Projects and Progress through the Years

EcoNews

June/July 2013

www.yournec.org

NORTH GROUP REDWOOD CHAPTER Science Project Recieves Awards

June/July Outings, cont.

For the seventh year, North Group sponsored an award at the annual Humboldt County Science Fair held in mid March. The $50 first prize for the best project dealing with environmental issues went to “Do Bigger Watersheds Have Higher Coliform Concentration?” by Nigella Mahal Baur (below), a 6th grader at Sunny Brae Middle School. She hypothesized that bigger watersheds would have higher coliform concentrations. She tested five watersheds in Arcata and found that her hypothesis was not supported. She concluded that coliform levels might be more affected by population density, livestock numbers, or topography than simply watershed acreage. Nigella brought her project to our May ExCom meeting. Her project was selected to compete at the California State Science Fair held in April in Los Angeles.

Saturday, June 29—North Group Fay Slough Wildlife Area Parent and Child Walk. Bring your child(ren) to walk on the level CA Fish & Game wetlands trail only two miles outside of Eureka. Jogging strollers and friendly dogs OK. Optional loop on trail would add an extra half mile. After hike, we can ride the carousel nearby. Bring snacks and water for you and your child(ren) and sturdy shoes. Directions: Exit Hwy 101 at Harper Ford exit, make an immediate left onto gravel road into parking lot. Class E-1.5-A. Meet 10 a.m. Fay Slough Wildlife Area trailhead. Leader Allison 707-268-8767. Rain cancels.

Interns and volunteers document grazing impacts to water quality. Photo: Felice Pace.

Public Land Grazing Internship

The North Group would like to call readers’ attention to an internship opportunity this summer with the Project to Reform Public Land Grazing in Northern California. The project is coordinated by North Group Water Chair Felice Pace and is sponsored by the Klamath Forest Alliance and EPIC. In the past, North Group provided a stipend for a summer student intern volunteering with this project. If you are interested in the internship, monitoring wilderness grazing impacts as a volunteer, or want more information call Felice at 707-954-6588.

June/July North Group Outings

Humboldt County Science Fair winner Nigella Mahal Baur presents her project to the Sierra Club’s North Group.

The projects were so competitive this year that a second prize of $25 was awarded. Second prize went to “What’s Keeping Me Cozy and Warm?” by Garfield Elementary School 4th grader Jaykah Adams. She examined what natural materials would best insulate a building or room, hypothesizing that cellulose would work best. She tested denim batting, cellulose, pine shavings, straw, sand, water, pea gravel, and concrete. Her results were that pine shavings heated up fastest, while cellulose and denim held in heat the longest. Jaykah noted that her project could be applied to the real world by informing people that they could use natural or recycled insulation in their homes.

Saturday, June 1—North Group Patrick’s Point State Park Hike. Join us in celebrating the Patrick’s Point Native Plant Garden’s 40th anniversary by visiting Park highlights including the Native Plant Garden, Sumeg Village, Ceremonial Rock, Wedding Rock, Patrick’s Point and Palmer’s Point before looping back to the Visitor Center. Bring water and snacks. No dogs. Class M-3.5-A. Carpools: Meet 10:15 a.m. McKinleyville Safeway parking lot. 10:45 a.m. Patrick’s Point Visitor Center. Leader Bill 707839-5971. Rain cancels. Sunday, June 9—North Group Prairie Creek State Park Friendship Ridge Hike. Experience coastal views, old-growth, flowers, ferns galore, waterfalls, and probable elk along this loop starting at Fern Canyon. Some rough spots and soggy terrain likely. Bring food, water, and hiking footwear. No dogs. Class M-8-A. Carpools: Meet 9 a.m. Arcata Safeway parking lot. 10:30 a.m. Fern Canyon parking area (Hwy 101N, Davison Rd. exit). Leader Melinda 707-668-4275 or mgroomster@gmail.com. Rain cancels. www.yournec.org

Wednesday, July 10—North Group Six Rivers National Forest, Horse Mountain and Brush Mountain Lookout. We’ll use the day’s cooler hours to walk informal paths through Cold Springs’ west-facing high meadows and woodlands, with their frequent, scenic rock outcroppings. After lunch, we can drive on to Friday Ridge Road and walk the shaded Forest Service access road to Brush Mountain Lookout. Bring food, layered wear, and plenty of water. No dogs, please. Class M-6-A. Carpools: Meet 9 a.m. Valley West parking lot, Carl’s Jr. corner. 9:30 a.m. at Berry Summit View Overlook. Leader Melinda 707-668-4275 or mgroomster@gmail. com Rain cancels. Saturday, July 27—North Group Ma-le’l Dunes Cooperative Management Area, Ledik Trail to Du’k Loop Trail. Come with your kids and explore this BLM and Fish & Wildlife Service Cooperative Management Area and experience a biologically diverse dune community, one of the most pristine in the Pacific Northwest. We will see a coastal forest, sand dunes and the beach. Wear sturdy shoes and bring liquids and lunch. No strollers. Class: E-1.5-A. Meet 10 a.m. Male’l Dunes South parking area, turning off Samoa Blvd. (Hwy 255), onto Young Lane, make a left and follow sign to parking lot (park near restroom). Leader Allison 707-268-8767. Rain cancels.

June/July 2013

EcoNews

NORTHCOAST CHAPTER Beginners and experts, non-members and members are all welcome at our programs and on our outings. Almost all of our events are free. All of our events are made possible by volunteer effort.

Evening Programs Second Wednesday evening, September through May. Refreshments at 7 p.m.; program at 7:30 p.m. at the Six Rivers Masonic Lodge, 251 Bayside Road, near 7th and Union, Arcata. Botanical FAQ’s: At 7:15 p.m. Pete Haggard (or another presenter) shares a brief, hands-on demonstration and discussion of a botanical topic.

September 11, Wednesday. 7:30 p.m. “Botanical Exploration in California”, with Dr. James P. Smith, professor emeritus of botany at Humboldt State University.

Summer Field Trips and Hikes

Note: Unless stated otherwise, for further information and to let the leader know if you might or will attend, please call Carol Ralph 707-822-2015.

June 9, Sunday. Lady Bird Johnson Loop Day Hike with likely extension down Berry Glen Trail. The redwood forest in June is beautiful—delicate flowers among the fresh green herbiage on the forest floor, and the stunning, clean pink of rhododendrons in the understory of the dark green giants. This gentle,

1.3- mile loop is a good place to see it. Some or all of the group could decide to proceed down the Berry Glen Trail 3.5 more miles to the Trillium Falls parking area, where we will have left a shuttle vehicle. Dress for the weather; bring lunch and water. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) or arrange another place. Return mid-afternoon.

June 21-23, Friday Night-Sunday. Bigelow Lakes Day Hike and Overnight. This trip to Oregon Caves National Monument and surrounding Rogue RiverSiskiyou National Forest will put us in the country of Spirit of the Siskiyous. It will be early spring at about 5,000 ft. on the trail to Bigelow Lakes and Mt. Elijah; it will be late spring at the trails near the lodge. All are beautiful. We will camp (or motel, your choice) nearby the two nights, hike a full day Saturday and a short day Sunday, then head home. Details available later.

July 12-14, Friday Night-Sunday. Swift Creek Day Hike and Overnight. From a trailhead west of Trinity Center, Swift Creek Trail climbs gently up into the Trinity Alps Wilderness in Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Parker Meadow, about 3.5 miles up, can be our goal, but streams and forest glens along the way are sure to have flowers distracting us, so we might not make it that far. We will camp (or motel, your choice) in a Forest Service campground near Route 3 (maybe Preacher Meadow), hike a long day on Saturday and a short day on Sunday, then head home. Details available later.

31st Annual Spring Wildflower Show

Visitation was at an all-time high and native plant sales beat all previous records at the North Coast Chapter’s 31st Annual Spring Wildflower Show at the Manila Community Center during the first weekend in May. Richard Beresford, our Wildflower Show coordinator, reports that wildflower enthusiasts expressed awe at the variety of wildflower specimens on display as well as the quantity and diversity of native plants for sale out in the courtyard. Some folks from Portland, Oregon said that it was the best show of its type that they had ever been to. Nearly 100 volunteers spent hundreds of hours gathering and identifying flowers, organizing hikes and presentations, Art Night, and elementary school group tours. There were informative and beautiful displays, great programs by experts in their fields, guided walks in the dunes, painting and drawing instruction accompanied by music—what more could you ask for? New this year was “Ask an Expert” for people with any plant-related questions

EcoNews

June/July 2013

to get answers, advice, or in some cases, speculation. If you missed this year’s Wildflower Show, you missed a celebration indeed! Join us next May for another event to remember.

Plan Ahead for this August Event

August 24, Saturday. Oregon Fireweed Rare Plant Treasurer Hunt. The small, pink flower of Oregon fireweed (Epilobium oreganum) is easy to mis-identify because it is similar to the more common Epilobium ciliatum, which we find growing uninvited in our gardens. Oregon fireweed inhabits wet mountain meadows and is set apart by a four-parted stigma. It is very rare and known from only two verified sites in Humboldt County, both in the South Fork Trinity watershed on Six Rivers National Forest. One is a historic location that has not been relocated since 1889. The second location was found in 2006 on Sierra Pacific property, and suitable habitat nearby is worth surveying. This is a Forest Service Sensitive plant species and any new finding would be a significant contribution to protect the site and provide additional data on its habitat. The area is about 2.5 hours from Arcata on a steep, Forest Service road (5N07). We will carpool in all-wheel-drive or better vehicles, and walk mostly in the vicinity of the road on moderate to steep terrain. Meet at Pacific Union School at 9:00 a.m. or at Burnt Ranch Store between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. Camp-out possible Friday night at Burnt Ranch Campground in Shasta-Trinity National Forest and/or Saturday night at Dave Imper’s house in Willow Creek. For more information contact John McRae at 707-441-3513 week days. Please watch for later additions online at

WWW.NORTHCOASTCNPS.ORG!

Northcoast_CNPS-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Above: Jade Paget-Seekins, Tony LaBanca, and Larry Levine identify plants in preparation for the 31st Annual Wildflower Show. Right: Red Columbine (Aquilegia formosa).

www.yournec.org

The

Sandpiper

10th Annual Children’s Issue

Redwood Region Audubon Society w w w. r r a s . o r g JUNE / JULY 2013

Welcome to Redwood Region Audubon Society’s “Least Sandpiper.”

Its purpose is to highlight some of the articles that appear in our Sandpiper newsletter, which is now published exclusively online at www. rras.org rras.org. Publishing the Sandpiper online allows us to offer more content, more photos, and easy-to-read type! Visit our website for complete information on the items below and more!

Highlights of the June/July 2013 Sandpiper (posted at http://rras.org/docs/sandpiper/2013-June-July. pdf or reached by clicking on “News” from the home page and selecting “The Sandpiper” by date):

NEW—Summer monthly programs! Come hear about research into Steller’s Jays in Redwood National & State Parks on June 14 and about habitat management for birds at the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge’s Salmon Creek Unit on July 12.

celebrate four decades of the Patrick’s 7 Come Point Native Plant Garden on June 1,

7 7 7

including a bird/plant walk with Gary Lester. Read the winning entries in this year’s Student Nature Writing Contest. Find out who won prizes in the 10th Annual Student Bird Art Contest at Godwit Days.

Get the skinny on upcoming �ield trips, plus �ield notes and Jim Clark’s president column.

a heads-up about a joint fall picnic with the 7 Get Sierra Club.

receive updates on events and 7 Toannouncements of interest to RRAS members,

visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ RedwoodRegionAudubonSociety or send an e-mail to sueleskiw@ suddenlink.net asking to join the RRAS listserv. 1st Place: Ella Villamor, Union Street Charter, Barn Swallow

Go to www.rras.org to view these—and other—articles in their entirety.

1. When I print it out, there is weird lighter shading around the sandpiper chick and the RRAS logo. 2. The paragraph beginning “Highlights of the June/July…” is too close to the left edge of the ad. 3. The text for the summer programs is too close to the photo 5 lines from the bottom. 4. Delete the bullet about chapter elections (top of column 3). Substitute “Get a heads-up about a joint fall picnic with the Sierra Club.”

S andpiper

The

www.yournec.org

bagels & pastries Baked fresh daily

losbagels.com

June/July 2013

EcoNews

Eco-Mania

ANOTHER PLUS FOR POT: A synthetic chemical similar to the active ingredient in marijuana makes new cells grow in rat brains that appear to be linked with reducing anxiety and depression. Other recreational drugs, such as alcohol, nicotine and cocaine, suppress this new growth. But scientists at the University of Saskatchewan found that giving rats high doses of a synthetic cannabinoid increased the rate of nerve cell formation by about 40%. The results suggest that marijuana, or its derivatives, could actually be good for the brain— although more research is needed before it is clear whether cannabinoids could some day be used to treat depression in humans.

A merry melange: salient or silly.

VIRGIN BIRTHS: What do the Komodo dragon, bonehead shark, copperhead snake, blue-spotted salamander and the checkered whiptail lizard have in common? They all procreate by parthenogenesis, a method which doesn’t require a male. Scientists say there’s a growing number of species that have babies via so-called virgin births. A KISS IS JUST A KISS: Not true—it’s also a way of imparting a man’s genetic code—for at least an hour. That’s the finding at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, where researchers collected saliva samples of the Y chromosome from couples kissing—and detected a man’s DNA from the woman kissed by him. “We’ve shown this could be useful in crime investigation to pinpoint the possible perpetrator among suspects or exclude those who are innocent,” said a researcher.

NOTHING NEW: Evidence from ancient mummies suggests that humans have had heart problems for thousands of years, not just in modern times. A cross-section of 137 mummies from all cultures and time frames up to 3,000 years ago had calcified plaque in artery walls, suggesting atherosclerosis, a major cause of heart attack. The mummies came from different continents, and from populations of both hunter-gatherers and farmers with different lifestyles. LIKE JULIA BUTTERFLY: A 31-year-old former teacher was forced by bush fire in Tasmania to climb down from the top of a 200-foot eucalyptus where she had lived in protest over logging for 457 days—just like Julia Butterfly. The lofty 15-month vigil by Miranda Gibson has attracted worldwide attention about Tasmania’s native forests, being cut down despite their recommendation as a World Heritage site. For details, go to www.observertree.org.

SMELL-O-VISION BECOMES REAL: The old cartoon joke about smelling what you see on-screen is now true at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, where odors from vaporizing gel pellets are blown out gently so it seems like they are wafting from an object being shown on LCD. The current system only pumps out one scent at a time, but the next stage is to incorporate a cartridge, like those for printers, which allows smells to be changed easily. I’D WALK A MILE FOR A CAMEL: Antibodies found in camels and llamas helped to heal moderate to even severe arthritis in humans. In the Belgian study, 24 patients received doses of the drug, ALX-0061, for six months while another received a placebo—and 63 percent of those given the drugs had their symptoms practically disappear. Now the company is looking for a partner to finance a larger, possibly decisive trial.

EcoNews

June/July 2013

GRILLED OWL: A woman in Florida thought she hit something when driving at night at 60 miles per hour. The next day she found a great horned owl peeking out—unharmed—from behind the grill of her SUV. TREE EXTRAVAGANZA: More than two million trees were planted by the Nature Conservancy in the last three years thanks to cosmetics giant Avon and its customers, who have raised $2.7 million dollars.

WASTELAND: Toxic garbage is leaking from at least six aging tanks at the Hanford site in Washington, where the U.S. stores two-thirds of its high-level nuclear waste. “There is no immediate public health risk,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Energy. However, much of the waste has already contaminated groundwater, according to an environmental watchdog called Hanford Challenge in Seattle, Washington. www.yournec.org

OPEN ACCESS TRIUMPH: All major federally funded research will be made available online for anyone to read, the government has announced. Any federal agency that spends $100 million annually on research and development will have to make their results freely available by a specified time after initial publication. CLONES OF CLONES OF...: The Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, has broken the record for sequential cloning, producing 25 generations from one mouse—and all were healthy and normal. Now they are working to try to make clones from fur, or excrement, or even specimens preserved in museums, which would potentially allow the “resurrection” of extinct animals.

Oregon Silverspot Butterfly Speyeria zerene hippolyta

single species of low-growing native meadow flower—the early blue violet (Viola adunca). Butterfly mothers lay their eggs amongst the violet’s leaves, and newly hatched caterpillars rely Above: Distinctive orange spotted pattern on upper surface of the wings, USFWS. Below left: The namesake silver spots on the underside of the wings.,USFWS. Below right: Early blue violet, on the leaves as their sole food source. the flower on which Oregon silverspot butterflies depend, Pictoscribe - flickr.com CC. When these flowers die off due to anthropogenic factors, so do butterflies, en masse. metamorphose into beautiful butterflies—but not Fortunately for the seemingly carefree before careful biologists relocated them out of the creatures, scientists took note and listed the insects lab and into pre-existing population sites on the as threatened under the US Endangered Species Oregon coast. Zoo biologists also go an important Act in 1980. Thereafter, many different groups step further to ensure butterfly success by planting of people grew passionate about bringing back early blue violet plants at release sites. An astonishing the butterflies. The US Fish and Wildlife service, ~2,000 butterflies are released every year in what is Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, regarded as a highly successful program—earning the Oregon Zoo, Seattle’s Woodland Park the Oregon Zoo and Woodland Park Zoo the Zoo, and the Nature Conservancy worked Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s North American cooperatively to develope and implement a Conservation Award in 2012. butterfly recovery plan. Today, Oregon silverspot butterflies are known The two zoos launched breeding to occur in five distinct locations—four in coastal programs in hopes that captive-raised Oregon and one in Del Norte county, California. butterflies could supplement existing wild The majority of Oregon sites exist within public populations. Some butterflies would also be land boundaries, allowing for unrestricted agency released into restored areas where butterflies management. The California population, however, were historically present. includes both state and private land, which The zoo programs work as follows: In late constrains comprehensive summer, biologists capture wild female butterflies management. The population in the field. The females are then brought to zoo in Del Norte stretches from labs where they lay their eggs. The eggs hatch before Point St. George (northwest the start of winter, so biologists place the young of Crescent City) up to Lake caterpillars in the fridge to simulate seasonably Earl, and is estimated to cool outside temperatures. The caterpillars fall be the largest unmanaged into a dormant period, known as diapause, until population of Oregon springtime. Once spring has sprung, the brown silverspots anywhere. to black spiny caterpillars are removed from the If this species is ever to fully recover, the refridgerator and quickly supplied with their bread interconnectivity between butterflies, early blue and butter, zoo-grown leaves of the early blue violets, and the complete coastal meadow ecosystem violet. After about 8 weeks of stuffing themselves must be fully recognized and protected. There is silly with violet leaves, the caterpillars are ready to certainly more work to be done in reestablishing pupate. Safe inside their silky cocoons, the pupae a healthy Oregon silverspot butterfly population, but if appropriate management strategies and 40th Anniverary of the Endangered Species Act Series - Featuring Endangered Species of our Bioregion conservationist interest continues the butterfly’s future may be as golden as its coloration!

Brandon Drucker The Oregon silverspot butterfly is a beautiful but rare sight on the North Coast. Playfully fluttering and falling in the coastal breezes, the small golden-orange insects are 2.2 inches from wingtip to wingtip, and easily recognizable by their bright orange-brown upper wing surfaces and namesake silver spots on wing undersides. Oregon silverspots are members of the widespread fritillary butterfly family. Historically, these butterflies were common in coastal meadow habitats from southwest Washington through Oregon into northwestern California. Unfortunately, silverspot numbers crashed in the 1970’s when d e g r a d at i o n of butterfly h a b i t a t reached a tipping point. Increasing h u m a n presence led to several critical changes in local ecology. Land development converted key areas of grasses and nectar-rich wildflowers to concrete, pavement, and farmland treated with lethal pesticides. Human-planted trees and invasive species stabilized soils and created forests and monotypic zones that choked out native vegetation. In addition, any remaining undeveloped areas of suitable habitat were left fragmented. Moreover, meadow ecosystems require occasional fire for renewal, which people suppressed for fear of property damage. To make matters worse, Oregon silverspot butterflies are almost entirely dependent on a

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the Kids’ Page: Roly Polys, Pill Bugs, Sow Bugs, and Potato Bugs

Did you know that roly polys, pill bugs, potato bugs, and sow bugs are

all names for bugs that look alike, but aren’t actually “bugs” or insects at all? In fact, even though they live on land, they are in the crustacean group with shrimps, lobsters, and crabs! Pill bugs and sow bugs live in our area. It’s easy to tell the difference between them once you know what to look for. Pill bugs are able to roll into a complete ball, antennae and all. They do this for protection. Sow bugs are not able to completely roll in a ball. They make more of a “C” shape by folding in half. Even though they are a little different, pill bugs and sow bugs share many of the same traits. They are small, flat, oval-shaped creatures. They have seven pairs of legs and two antennae. They can be found on land in moist places, usually under logs or bark, or hiding out under potted plants. Like their cousins the crab and shrimp, pill bugs and sow bugs breathe through gills. They need a moist environment to be able to breathe, but they will drown in water. They also don’t have any E Y L O bones (animals without bones are called invertebrates). Z T T C Instead, they have a tough U G A X outer skeleton—called an Y T C R exoskeleton—that helps protect them. Like other R B P L invertebrates, they shed their exoskeleton once they outgrow B F L M it, in a process called molting. They are decomposers, or detritivores—which means E I D O they eat decaying plant and animal parts, along with fungus. P Z S R They also will eat their own scat for nutrients! Decomposers P E A R are a very important part of the natural cycle of life. They help break down the nutrients in decaying matter and return R R T S it to the Earth. G E P T A mama pill bug or sow bug carries her babies in a pouch on her tummy, like a kangaroo! The mama can have up to several D C R U hundred babies at a time, and they can live up to five years. Z V C R Our blood is red because it has iron in it. Our bodies use F R H O iron to carry oxygen throughout our body. Pill bugs and sow bugs have blue blood because their body uses copper to carry oxygen around. When pill bugs are sick, they turn bright blue. ANTENNAE Next time you see a bunch of pill bugs or sow bugs, notice the COPPER different shades they are. CRUSTACEAN Check out “Rolypolyology” by Michael Elsohn Ross in your DECOMPOSER local library for more cool facts about these creatures, along with fun things to do with them! by Sarah Marnick

EcoNews

June/July 2013

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Above: A Pill bug rolled up into a little ball, ljguitar-flickr.com CC. Left: Sow bugs crawl over moss in a forest, Biriwilg-flickr.com CC.

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Lonely? Depressed? Sad? Well, a hotel in England is offering to cheer up guests by renting them a goldfish named Happy. A hotel spokesman said shelling out for Happy costs almost eight dollars, adding: “A lot of our clients spend many days away from home...Happy is there to give unconditional love and a valuable sounding board.” He said that once guests have hired a fish, he was sure that “when they return they will want the same fish.” Here at the NEC, this sounds like fishing for compliments—even though a number of our members seek some solace from salmon. In fact, we think it’s time for you, dear reader, to either fish or cut bait. Shame on you if you are reading this--because you picked up this issue free of charge, and you care about the environment—and are not yet a member. We’ll give you the news anyway, but it would help if you make a donation. It’s less than a dime a day to become a regular member of the NEC. It’s even less if you’re low-income. That’s a lot less than renting out Happy. Thank you.

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