EcoNews Vol. 52, No. 9 – October2022

by the Northcoast Environmental Center

Letters to EcoNews

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

Email NEC@yournec.org

415 I Street, Arcata, CA 95521

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

Guests on Goudi’ni, Wiyot Territory

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

Community submissions

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

Email NEC@yournec.org

D ea rE co N wse

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

Email nec@yournec.org

Benefit From Giving

Through Your IRA

If you are 70.5 or older, you can make a gift to the Northcoast Environmental Center directly from your IRA without paying income tax on the withdrawl.

For more information talk to your nancial advisor or email nec@yournec.org

NEC Staff

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

Administrative Coordinator: Carlrey Arroyo, admin@yournec.org

Coastal Programs Coordinator: Ivy Munnerlyn, Ivynecmail@gmail.com

Outreach & EcoNews Coordinator: Chelsea Pulliam, chelseanec1@gmail.com

EcoNews Journalist: Elena Bilheimer, econewsjournalist@gmail.com

Proofreaders: Kris Diamond, Fhyre Phoenix, Colleen Hilker, Dylan Berman

Authors: Larry Glass, Caroline Gri th, Elena Bilheimer, Maggie Gainer, Mpingo Uhuru, Colin Fiske, Kimberly Baker, Jen Kalt, Krista Miller, Andrea Pickart, Felice Pace, Sue Leskiw, Dan Sealy, Ste Puerto, Susan Nolan, Martha Walden, Michael D. Pulliam.

Cover: Wiyot Tribe celebration of coming home to Mouralherwaqhl (House of the Wolf) a 46-acre parcel of rematriated land. August 19, 2022. Photo by Kellie Jo Brown.

NEC Board Of Directors

President: Larry Glass, Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment

Vice-President: Margaret Gainer, At-Large

Secretary: Scott Sway, At-Large

Treasurer: Chris Jenican Beresford, At-Large

CJ Ralph, Redwood Region Audubon Society

Gregg Gold, Sierra Club, North Group

Tom Wheeler, EPIC

Dan Sealy, At-Large

Aisha Cissna, At-Large

facebook.com/yournec

NEC Member Groups

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

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

• Redwood Region Audubon Society www.rras.org

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

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

NEC Affiliate Members

• Humboldt Baykeeper www.humboldtbaykeeper.org

• Friends of Del Norte www.fodn.org

• Zero Waste Humboldt www.zerowastehumboldt.org

• Californians for Alternatives to Toxics www.alt2tox.org

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

• 350 Humboldt world.350.org/humboldt

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

News From the Center

Larry Glass, NEC Board President Caroline Gri th, NEC Executive Director

Student Debt Stifles Activism

After a recent article about Cal Poly Humboldt and what the university’s new incarnation could mean for environmental elds, an email exchange with an NEC supporter highlighted some of the fears locals have about the corporatization of higher education and its e ect on the community. Much of the early leadership and activism of the NEC came out of the university, but as this long-time supporter pointed out, “I paid zero tuition and got a rst rate education. ese kids are getting a corporatized and monetized job training—if they’re lucky.” He went on to say that we can’t rely on these students to cause the trouble necessary to upend the status quo because they are too in debt and too busy to engage in activism. is issue, of rising tuition rates coupled with a decrease in opportunity, was the basis of the Occupy movement of 2011, but since then the outrage has dwindled. Now, President Biden has announced a plan to forgive up to $10,000 of student loan debt, a plan which is needed, is not enough, and will most likely be challenged. California has one of the lowest rates of student loan debt in the US, at an average of $21,125 as of 2020. at’s still a far cry from zero, which is what many of the early environmental activists came out of school owing, allowing them the luxury of giving their time for free to causes that they cared about. Student loan debt sti es activism by forcing graduates to make job decisions in order to service their debt. Debt forgiveness is one solution, but what does that do for future graduates? ose who care about the next generation of activists can advocate like hell for a return to those glorious days of a free college education or, if nancially fortunate enough, consider sponsoring a graduate and helping them to pay o their loans so they have more time to give to the cause. And in the meantime, all of you nonpro t workers who have served 10 years or more can apply for loan forgiveness until the end of October. More information at studentaid.gov/pslf

No Such Thing As a Free Lunch

Every time a crisis strikes, we tend to look for a panacea, which unfortunately doesn’t often exist. In reality there are always trade o s, and renewable energy is no di erent. Right now, the north coast is excited about wind energy as a way to move away from burning fossil fuels, but as reported in last month’s issue, questions remain about potential impacts on birds, sh and whales and how we will avoid or mitigate them. Another issue supporters have brought to our attention is wind turbine blades that are made from cheap materials, which helps keep the massive structures at minimal cost, but will potentially leave us with nearly two million

tons of blade material discarded each year starting in 2050. As one of the rst wind lease areas on the west coast, we have immense power (pun intended) to shape the standards of this industry which has the potential to move us o of fossil fuels. In addition to pushing for adaptive management to mitigate wildlife impacts as they become apparent, we can also push for turbines to be made from metals that are recyclable, to reduce the impacts on our land lls, and from mining and re ning the resources used to build them.

Wastewater Treatment and Algal Blooms e passage of the 1972 Clean Water Act and other regulations caused municipalities to stop dumping their raw sewage in the oceans and bays along the west coast, and cities like Eureka and Arcata were forced to build sewage treatment plants in the 1970s and ’80s. ese were certainly an improvement over the previous system, but now they’re overwhelmed by more users and lack of consistent maintenance and upgrades. Add sea level rise and climate change to the mix and we have a very fraught situation.

Just look at San Francisco Bay where climate change played a role in triggering a toxic algal bloom and subsequent sh die-o this summer. What fueled it is not a mystery. Algae blooms need food to grow, and this one had plenty: nutrients originating in wastewater that the area’s 37 sewage plants pump into the bay. en add increased temperatures and more wastewater and boom you get a massive sh kill from a huge algae bloom. It is estimated it will cost $14 billion dollars to x San Francisco’s problems. What is it going to cost to x Humboldt Bay’s looming disaster? e City of Arcata recently got the go-ahead from the Coastal Commission for upgrades to the City’s wastewater treatment plant with stipulations that it come up with plans for sea level rise, including looking for alternate sites. As long as there are humans this will be an issue that we have to deal with, especially as our local population grows. Local government needs to prioritize upgrades to wastewater treatment to ensure that Humboldt Bay won’t experience a similar bloom.

Table Bluff Farm

Elena Bilheimer, EcoNews Journalist

Table Blu Farm, located in Loleta, is a rstgeneration, woman-owned microfarm that o ers mixed seasonal vegetables, pastured eggs, and cut owers to the community. e farm is owned and managed by Hannah Eisloe el, who works with her partner and a part-time seasonal employee to keep things running smoothly. Eisloe el and her partner recently welcomed another apprentice onto their farm with the birth of their rst baby. In addition to their CSA and farmstand, they raise heritage breed hogs and run the Fortuna Pumpkin Patch.

e farm started in 2017 after Eisloe el and her partner moved their 40+ ducks, 15 chickens, 2 goats, and a pig from Bayside to Loleta. “My dream was to have a little farm on the coast where my partner and I could live and grow our own food,” said Eisloe el. “I

found an a ordable property o of Table Blu Road that had a lot of potential, but when we moved in, the overgrown pastures were full of ponderosa pines and blackberries. It was the perfect blank canvas to build a farm from scratch.” In 2020, Eisloe el quit her o ce job to follow her dream of becoming a full time farmer.

e 2-acre microfarm utilizes a low- to no-till approach, meaning that the farmers don’t use a tractor or rototillers to disturb the soil at all. Instead, they use their pigs to bio-till future garden areas or silage tarps (large, black plastic sheets) to kill o weeds in between seasons. “My goal is to provide regeneratively grown food to feed not only myself and my family, but the larger community as well,” said Eisloe el. “It's just as important to me to grow food in a way that bene ts the land as it is to make food a ordable and accessible to community members. To me, ‘regenerative’ means food is grown without commercially produced inputs like fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides, and instead is grown using no-till, small-scale market gardening permaculture principles and integrating animals into the farming process.”

In order to make the food she grows accessible to the community, Eisloe el o ers a barrier-free CSA with zero upfront costs and doorstep delivery. is allows people who can’t usually a ord the upfront costs of CSAs to access all of the bene ts provided by a weekly delivery of fresh and local produce. Table Blu Farm’s CSA is currently $20/week for a box of seasonal vegetables, fruits, and owers. For an extra $5/week it can be delivered anywhere from Rio Dell to McKinleyville. By making most of the deliveries in her one van instead of multiple cars driving to the farm for weekly pickups, Eisloe el is making the whole process greener in addition to providing a service to those who are too busy to make the drive. e price point and weekly pay structure makes Table Blu Farm’s CSA a unique contribution to the community.

In addition to keeping up with their CSA, Eisloe el and her team have completed three grants from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to help with water conservation, carbon sequestration, and soil health projects. Most recently, they completed a State Water E ciency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) grant, which

allowed the installation of drip irrigation on the crops in all their beds and the hedgerow plants that run along their fenceline. is makes watering more e cient, and the elimination of overhead sprinkler watering has decreased the number of weeds and pests. ey also recently completed a HSP (Healthy Soils Program) grant, which allowed them to sequester carbon and increase the organic matter in their soil by 10+ percent in 2 years by planting 200+ pollinator-attracting hedgerow plants and a row of 70 redwood trees to act as a natural windbreak. Perhaps most notably for the community, the farm was recently awarded a second grant from the nonpro t Kiss the Ground, enabling them to found the Loleta Community Farm Stand. e stand is due to open later in 2022, and will o er all of Table Blu Farm’s veggies, eggs, owers, and meats, as well as products from other local Humboldt County makers.

e opening of this farmstand in the near future will allow for Eisloe el to share more of her special produce with the community. One of her favorite things to grow on the farm are her tomatoes, which are currently in season in Humboldt. “I love growing hothouse tomatoes, and this year, I planted about 30 varieties in my high tunnel greenhouse,” said Eisloe el. “ ey are of every color that tomatoes can be. One of my favorite farm share o erings is a medley of cherry tomatoes. e best way to enjoy tomatoes, in my humble opinion, is fresh o the vine with some fresh basil, a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and maybe some fresh mozzarella if you want to be extra fancy.”

To support Table Bluff Farm, community members can visit the Fortuna Pumpkin Patch throughout the whole month of October on Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 AM to dusk. Admission is free and there is a corn maze available for $5 per person. Information about their upcoming Winter CSA is available at www.TableBlu Farm. com. Community members are also invited to come visit the farm stand in the near future, with information about upcoming hours available on Facebook (@TableBlu Farm) and Instagram (@ table_blu _farm). Eisloe el keeps a regular photo diary of the farm on the Table Blu Farm instagram, documenting various aspects of their farming journey and many of the seasonal vegetables available through their CSA.

Table Blu Farm Heritage Hogs. "We love raising pigs, particularly heritage breeds like Red Wattle and Duroc. We integrate our hogs into our ower gardens by allowing them to till the ground cover, eat bugs and weeds, and fertilize the soil beneath." Source:TableBlu Farm.com.

To support Table Blu Farm, community members can visit the Fortuna Pumpkin Patch throughout October. Source: www.facebook.com/TableBlu Farm

D ea rE co N wse

that we must buy an "eco-friendly" product to replace an environmentally harmful product. Let's try to break this consumer way of thinking. You will be surprised to learn how much money you will save by using the basics of vinegar and baking soda and a little dish soap with water for most of your cleaning needs.

-Maggie Gainer, Zero Waste Consultant

Dear EcoNews,

Lately I have been on a learning journey to understand more about the environmental and health e ects of the various cleaning products I use around the house and on my body. I have been thinking a lot about how to reduce my plastic use and replace what I have been using with more eco-friendly, healthy, and sustainable items. I know that certain ingredients or packaging can be particularly harmful for wildlife or human health but it can be so confusing when I go to the store and everything comes in plastic bottles with labels that look semi eco-friendly and green. Do you have any recommendations for eco-friendly alternatives to certain products (such as laundry detergent and soap) or methods to reduce the impact of these products on our health and environment?

-Concerned Consumer

Dear Concerned Consumer, ank you for caring to examine your choices and to adopt a healthier lifestyle with less impact on the environment. First, there are so many terms in pop culture that we all use that were created by the inventors, manufacturers, and marketers

of consumer products. Eco-friendly is so vague that it is impossible to evaluate. It is intended to make you feel warm and fuzzy. "Green", ecogroovy, and many more are equally meaningless and don't help your goal of adopting the products with the least impact on the environment and all living things. Advocate for more accurate product labeling. Second, remember that Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark want you to buy, buy, buy their products. e best practice is to begin experimenting by replacing each one of their products with vinegar and baking soda, or a combination of these two with water for cleaning. Vinegar and baking soda react to form carbon dioxide gas, which lifts dirt from the surface being cleaned. You will nd that you don't need a commercial cleaner for windows, a cleaner for oors, a cleaner for the shower, a cleaner for the kitchen sink, etc. and you'll begin to eliminate all those plastic cleaning bottles from the products you no longer use.

ird, if the label says "keep out of the reach of children and pets," it's bad for you and the environment. If the disposal of the cleaners and containers is regulated, it's been identi ed as toxic "household hazardous material." Lastly, in our consumer-oriented society, we often think

In addition to Maggie's advice about reading labels carefully and replacing commercial products with handmade ones, there is another option available to concerned consumers. Many stores, such as the Northcoast Co-op o er bulk cleaning products (including castile soap, shampoo and conditioner, and laundry detergent). is allows you to bring your own repurposed or reusable container to ll with whatever product you need. You then pay for the product based on the amount you dispensed into your container. Remember to weigh your container at the cash register when entering the store, and then write the tare weight of the container on a label before lling it with the product so you don’t have to pay for the container’s weight as well.

Check out e Spruce (thespruce.com) or other online blogs and websites to nd recipes for other DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent, DIY Disinfectant surface spray, and many other kinds of personal and household cleaners!

October is NON GMO Month

A local, not-for-pro t, grassroots project to design and build a LIFE PLAN community for older adults in Humboldt County.

We are working to secure property in Arcata or McKinleyville. Join us as our plans take shape!

Independent living in apartments and cottages

A resident-led community for active, engaged seniors Advanced nursing and innovative memory care if needed

Our goal is to provide the highest quality natural products free of GMO's

NEXUS

Exploring Solidarity Economics

Elena Bilheimer, EcoNews Journalist

Trying to make sense of the complex ways capitalism, colonialism, and climate change are intertwined is enough to make anyone’s head turn. In the midst of the current crisis, it is helpful to understand how capitalism emerged and continues to function, in addition to the other economic systems that have been proposed in an attempt to mitigate some of the massive inequality and environmental degradation that is occuring. One alternative that is being implemented by local nonpro t Cooperation Humboldt is a solidarity economy, which prioritizes economic and social justice and does not exploit anyone or anything.

According to Will Fisher, an Environmental Economist and professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, understanding the root of capitalism is not an easy endeavor. ere is no one event that triggered the end of feudalism, instead, the process occurred over multiple centuries and was in uenced by many factors. It is especially di cult to pinpoint because there are many di erent types of capitalism, as the version described by Adam Smith in the 18th century is immensely di erent from the version existing in the United States today.

Despite this, there were some clear factors that helped usher in a new era. e Enlightenment in Europe greatly a ected how people perceived religion and the nobility, complicating previously immovable feudal social structures and beliefs. An increased focus on trade developed as the dominant form of wealth production in Britain, encouraging the trade class to accumulate capital by buying certain goods in one area in order to transport them to another area to sell at a higher price. is wealth generating strategy was and still is connected with larger themes

of imperialism and colonialism, with the intent being to exploit other areas and people for economic pro t. is strategy was also utilized within Britain itself, as the landlord class worked to privatize the commons over centuries in an attempt to commodify resources that were previously jointly governed and equitably accessed. e colonization of Indigneous peoples and the introduction of chattel slavery to the Unites States greatly expanded capitalism, generating wealth for some while simultaneously ingraining systems of inequality and exploitation.

Although capitalism looks di erent across the globe, Fisher described economic growth as being the imperative of capitalism, with a particular focus on production taking place for pro t and private property being the dominant property form. is hyperfocus on growth, according to Tobin Mckee, a program administrator at Cooperation Humboldt, incentivizes businesses to minimize labor and resource costs in order to make as much money as possible. e process of attempting to obtain resources and labor for less than they are worth inevitably leads to injustice and environmental harm. “If growth is causing these environmental issues, and capitalism needs to grow, then we need to either fundamentally restructure some components of capitalism or transition away,” said Fisher.

For Mckee and those at Cooperation Humboldt, a solidarity economy works to combat many of the issues associated with modern day capitalism. While solidarity economics still includes nancial exchange, it speci cally works to value all forms of labor and production that are typically not addressed in the current economic system. is includes the labor of unpaid caregivers and the environment. “When we look historically at capitalism and its relationship to slavery and genocide, we can see that not only does that history play a strong part in what we perceive as our economy today, but it also is continuously being played out in our economic models,” said Mckee. “And so we need to directly address, resist, combat, and create alternatives to the white supremacist and colonial foundations of the capitalist economy.”

A major way Cooperation Humboldt is working to transition to a solidarity economy within capitalism is the implementation of the worker-ownership model. In this structure, the workers—who would normally be employees—own the business and share the rights, pro ts, and responsibilities of ownership. is works to counteract the forces of heteropatriarchy by putting power and pro t in the hands of the many rather

than in one owner or separate shareholders, while at the same time creating more incentive from the workers for the business to succeed. “ ere are many fantastic business owners here in Humboldt County and everywhere in the world who care for their employees, who don't underpay, who listen to employee feedback and do a fantastic job of that,” said Mckee. “And to those employers, I say, then you're only one step away from being a worker owned business, and that is to genuinely give those workers the power to make the fundamental decisions in the business itself.”

In order to help transition businesses that are interested in this model, Cooperation Humboldt collaborates with the North Coast Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to o er a program called Worker Owned Humboldt. is program includes the Worker Owned Academy, a no cost training that anybody can attend to learn more about the steps involved. ey also o er advising and support from dedicated business advisors who specialize in worker co-ops. Additionally, Cooperation Humboldt o ers a free 12 week educational curriculum on solidarity economics that everybody in their leadership positions has previously participated in and continues to stay updated on. Examples of worker owned co-ops in Humboldt include Full Cycle Compost, Restif Cleaning Cooperative, and Uplift cannabis co-op.

ere is much more to a solidarity economy than just worker owned cooperatives, although they are a good rst step. For Mckee, a solidarity economy in Humboldt means that the economy would continue to thrive even if external supply chains were cut o . It is important to remember that this existed in Humboldt before colonization and even post colonization and genocide. Other policies that could be adopted to make this vision more concrete include public banking, cooperative housing, participatory budgeting, rank choice voting, community health worker groups, and the democratization of food. “ e better that we understand that big picture view, the better we can work within our local community to build structures that are resilient, that are regenerative, and that are equitable,” said Mckee. “And that requires a completely hyperlocal approach. at's where the solutions are devised by the people with the problems.”

a solidarity economy works to combat many of the issues associated with modern day capitalism.

hyperfocus on growth incentivizes businesses to minimize labor and resource costs in order to make as much money as possible. The process of attempting to obtain resources and labor for less than they are worth inevitably leads to injustice and environmental harm.

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

California Ballot Measures

Caroline Gri th, NEC Exective Director

On November 8, California voters will have the opportunity to vote on seven statewide ballot initiatives, the fewest on the ballot since 1916. e initiative process is one of the few opportunities that the average citizen has to participate in creating and enacting legislation. is is a big responsibility that requires research and education, especially in the face of massive amounts of advertising and scare tactics that are used by proponents and opponents of legislation (cue ominous music). Here is some advice from the NEC on sifting through the initiatives that have made the ballot this November. Some of this advice is also helpful when deciding which candidates to give your vote. Although we don’t have the space to go in-depth on speci c initiatives, this will get you started on your research and help you make an informed decision at the ballot box.

How the initiative process works

In 1911, as part of the Progressive movement, California adopted the initiative process, a form of direct democracy in which citizens can initiate policy and voters decide whether or not to adopt it. Currently, there are 26 states with initiative or referendum processes. In California this process generally involves gathering petition signatures in support of placing the initiative on the ballot, after which (if the initiative receives enough valid signatures from registered voters) it goes to a vote. e number of signatures required varies per election and is based on the percentage of registered voters who participated in the previous gubernatorial election. Due to this requirement, not every proposed initiative makes it on the ballot which is why you may experience some petition-signing deja vu as proponents try and try again to gain enough valid signatures to move their issue forward. Some of the initiatives that failed to qualify for the 2022 ballot had to do with a guaranteed $18 minimum wage, local land-use planning taking precedence over state law (this is in reaction to state laws around

housing production), limits to “quali ed immunity” for police o cers, and a prohibition on collective bargaining for public employees. One initiative that environmentalists were supporting would have taxed producers of single-use plastics but was withdrawn by supporters when the state legislature passed SB 54, making the ballot measure moot.

read the full text of the initiative is might go without saying, but it’s important to know exactly what the initiative is asking. Generally, your voter pamphlet will tell you what a “Yes” vote will do and what a “No” vote will do, because sometimes initiatives are ambiguously worded. Reading the text is important because the advertisements for or against may conveniently leave out important aspects of the initiative, only highlighting those that are popular or buzzworthy.

Find out where the money is coming from

Here in California we are lucky to have the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), formed in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which among other things, requires candidates and ballot measure campaigns to disclose where their donations are coming from. For local campaigns, you should be able to contact your elections o ce and inquire how to nd Form 460, the campaign disclosure form which will show which people, organizations or companies are contributing to campaigns and how much they are contributing. Some cities and counties have these on their websites for easy digital access, whereas in other municipalities you may have to actually visit your elections o ce and check out a paper copy of the ling. For statewide ballot measures, you can nd the list of Top 10 contributors to ballot initiatives (both supporting and opposing) a t fppc.ca.gov/ transparency/top-contributors/nov-22-gen.html.

Looking at funding can tell you a lot about who will bene t from the initiative becoming law: Is there big money coming in from speci c industries or major corporations? Or is money coming in from Labor Unions or advocacy organizations that represent workers, disadvantaged communities or the environment? is election cycle’s heavily funded measures are Prop 26 and 27, both of which have to do with sports betting, the di erence being where it is allowed. Prop 27, which would allow sports betting outside of tribal lands, is being funded by companies such as DraftKings and Fanduel Sportsbook who make their money from sports betting. Prop 26, which would allow sports betting on tribal lands, is being funded by a consortium of California Tribes. By now, you’ve probably received at least one piece of mail about these initiatives, so

check the ne print at the bottom to see who paid to send it, and then follow the money trail.

Research who is supporting the initiative is is similar to asking who is funding it, but support can also come in the form of advocacy. Advocacy organizations and labor unions are often major contributors to and supporters of ballot initiatives, which means they also work to send volunteers out to contact voters to gain support. is goes for candidates, too, who often proudly display their list of supporters either on their website or campaign materials. Looking at these endorsements and identifying groups or people whose values you share (or whose values you don’t share) is a good way to start making your decision. If you don’t recognize a name, put on your investigative journalist hat and dig into it. A good resource for this is SourceWatch, a program of the Center for Media and Democracy. Often campaign groups are deceptively or ambiguously named. You don’t want to nd out after the fact that you accidentally voted for a Koch Brothers-sponsored initiative!

Although non-pro t organizations cannot endorse candidates, they can endorse ballot measures, and some environmental groups have formed Political Action Committees speci cally to endorse candidates. Some of these include League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, National Resources Defense Council Action Fund, Sierra Club Political Action Committee and California Environmental Voters, the last of which has endorsed Prop 30 that would tax the ultra rich to pay for electric vehicle infrastructure and wild re prevention. Most of these organizations o er ballot recommendations, so checking their websites is a good place to start. e California State Labor Federation, a statewide coalition of labor unions also provides recommendations, which can be found at calaborfed.org.

Ask your friends

If you are confused about which way to vote, chances are your friends are, too. So get together, bring all of the information you have gathered, and hash it out together. Elections are more fun as a group e ort.

Coming Home to Mouralherwaqh

Caroline Griffith, NEC Exective Director

On August 19 members of the Wiyot Tribe celebrated coming home to Mouralherwaqh, (you can find the pronunciation at https://qrco.de/bdLc60)

a 46-acre parcel of wooded lands and wetlands south of Eureka that was rematriated through a collaboration between the Wiyot Tribe, Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt Baykeeper, Friends of the Dunes and the Ocean Protection Council. The Tribe, which Administrator Michelle Vassel described as “a small tribe with a big influence”, is the first to acquire ancestral lands using funds from the State of California as part of the state’s larger effort to promote nature-based solutions to climate change. The parcel is the first forested land that has been returned to the Tribe and is one of the last undeveloped pieces of property on the edge of Humboldt Bay, surrounded by the development of Humboldt Hill.

The Wiyot Tribe has been a steward of Wigi (Humboldt Bay) since time immemorial but, during the gold rush era, was pushed off the land through state-sponsored genocide and settler-colonialism, most notably through the massacre at Tuluwat Island.

As Geneva E.B. Thompson, Assistant Secretary for Tribal Affairs with the California Natural Resources Agency who attended the rematriation ceremony said, “Not only did the people and the culture suffer from these actions, but so have the lands, waters and species that lived in connection and relied on the stewardship of Native Americans. We are all feeling those ramifications today. Ancestral land return is a key component to honoring and respecting the original stewards of the land and to bring our lands back to the healthy abundant nature that they should be in.”

As a result violence and settler-colonialism, the Wiyot people now have claim to a mere one percent

of the lands that they have historically used for gathering traditional foods and plants for medicine or basket weaving, or for ceremonies. With the acquisition of Mouralherwaqh, the Tribe has increased its landholdings by 10 percent. As Wiyot tribal citizen Hilanea Wilkinson said of the acquisitions, “It’s so great that the Tribe is able to have land again, not just our reservation or, you know, worrying about trespassing to try to gather or be able to pray at sacred sites or just be in nature. Now we have a place that we can drive our elders to and go gathering, and walk and see the wetlands or gather huckleberries or alder.”

“We are all human beings and we all need to work together to make this a good place to live, a good place to sing songs, a good place to tell stories and a good place to make friends,” said Wiyot cultural leader Cheryl Seidner at the beginning of the ceremony. Multiple generations of Wiyot dancers welcomed attendees to Mouralherwaqh. Photo by Kellie Jo Brown.

Mouralherwaqh was purchased using funds from the Ocean Protection Council’s Proposition 1 grant program, which supports “coastal projects that benefit environmental justice communities and improve water quality.” The funding was awarded to the Wiyot Tribe and Cal Poly Humboldt. As Cutcha Risling Baldy, Chair of the Native American Studies Department at Cal Poly said, “We have such an amazing opportunity as an institution to think differently about what it means to be a partner to tribes in this region. What I love about this project that I really think we need to highlight is that when the Environmental Science and Management Department came together to think about what kind of project to do that really builds climate and coastal resiliency in our area, they didn’t start from a position of ‘How do we get land for Cal Poly Humboldt?’ They thought, 'What if we helped to purchase land for the Wiyot Tribe and then what if we then worked to restore it?’ This is a model of how we can do this kind of work that is not happening at any other university right now, not in California, not across the nation. You don’t have universities thinking about how they are going to grow and support Indigenous peoples in returning land that was stolen from them, into their hands so that they can build a just climate future.”

Risling-Baldy ended by calling on the University to take the next step and work to return an 884-acre forest in the Jacoby Creek Watershed known as Goukdi’n. “That would be the thing that puts [the

university] on the map; everybody would want to come to the university that said we want to build a real partnership with the Wiyot and return forested land, of which they have none in their own territory, and we want to show you what a decolonized future can really look like.”

Although the property has been recently logged, it is still a fairly intact ecosystem and presents a unique opportunity for the Tribe to practice traditional stewardship and develop an ecocultural restoration and management plan to prioritize cultural connections and water quality protection. Cal Poly Humboldt plans to play a supporting role by incorporating student and faculty engagement in the Wiyot-led restoration plan. Adrienne Colgrove-Raymond of Cal Poly Humboldt voiced appreciation for the partnership saying, “I look forward to the rich relationships that can be built with the university, for all students but especially for Indigenous students.”

Jenn Eckerle, Deputy Director of Ocean Protection Council said, “This project has incredible benefits. We are really excited about how it is going to improve water quality and ecosystem health, and build coastal resiliency. But the most important part is returning this ancestral territory to the Wiyot Tribe and to provide an opportunity to restore cultural practices and use traditional knowledges to restore and conserve this natural place.”

During the ceremony, Wiyot cultural leader Cheryl Seidner led a mix of tribal citizens, university representatives, representatives of state environmental agencies, local environmental leaders and members of the press, in singing the “Coming Home” song before the tribal dancers began. Seidner said, “This isn’t just getting something, it’s healing. Not just of the Wiyot people, but of the community.” As the final notes of the Coming Home song faded away, a blue heron flew overhead and joined in the chorus.

Wiyot Tribal Chairman Ted Hernandez (center) and Cheryl Seidner welcoming attendees to Mouralherwaqh. "We are going to do great things here," said Hernandez. Photo by Kellie Jo Brown of Cal Poly Humboldt.

El Regreso a Mouralherwaqh

Caroline Gri th, NEC Exective Director Traducción por Carlrey Arroyo

El 19 de agosto, los miembros de la Tribu Wiyot celebraron el regreso a Mouralherwaqh, una parcela de 46 acres de tierras boscosas y humedales que fue rematriada a través de una colaboración entre la Tribu Wiyot, Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt Baykeeper, Friends of the Dunes y el Ocean Protection Council. La tribu, que la administradora Michelle Vassal describió como “una tribu pequeña con una gran in uencia”, es la primera en adquirir tierras ancestrales utilizando fondos del estado de California como parte de un esfuerzo mayor del estado para promover soluciones al cambio climático basadas en la naturaleza. La parcela es la primera tierra boscosa que ha sido devuelta a la Tribu y es una de las últimas propiedades sin desarrollar en el borde de la Bahía de Humboldt, rodeada por el desarrollo de Humboldt Hill.

La Tribu Wiyot ha sido administradora de la llamada Bahía de Humboldt (Wigi en Soulatluk) desde tiempos inmemoriales pero, durante la era de la ebre del oro, fueron expulsades de la tierra a través del genocidio patrocinado por el estado y el colonialismo de colonos, sobre todo a través de la masacre en Isla Tuluwat. Como Geneva E.B. ompson, Subsecretario de Asuntos Tribales de la Agencia de Recursos Naturales de California que asistió a la ceremonia de rematriación, dijo: “No solo la gente y la cultura sufrieron estas acciones, sino también las tierras, las aguas y las especies que vivían en conexión y de las que dependían con la administración de los Pueblos Indígenas. Todos estamos sintiendo esas rami caciones hoy. El retorno de la tierra ancestral es un componente clave para honrar y respetar a los administradores originales de la tierra y para devolver nuestras tierras a la naturaleza saludable y abundante en la que deberían estar”.

Como resultado de la violencia y el colonialismo de los colonos, el pueblo Wiyot ahora solo tiene derecho a un porciento de las tierras que históricamente han utilizado para recolectar alimentos y plantas tradicionales para la medicina o la cestería, o para las ceremonias. Con la adquisición de Mouralherwaqh, la Tribu ha aumentado sus propiedades en un 10 por ciento. Como dijo Hilanea Wilkinson, miembro de la tribu Wiyot, sobre las adquisiciones: “Es grandioso que la tribu pueda volver a tener tierras, no solo nuestra reserva o, ya sabes, preocuparse por traspasar para tratar de reunirse o poder orar en sitios sagrados o simplemente estar en la naturaleza. Ahora tenemos un lugar al que podemos llevar a nuestros mayores e ir a recolectar, caminar y ver los humedales o recolectar arándanos o aliso”.

Mouralherwaqh se compró con fondos del programa de subvenciones Proposición 1 del Ocean Protection Council, que otorgó fondos a "proyectos costeros que benefician a las comunidades de justicia ambiental y mejoran la calidad del agua". La nanciación se otorgó a CalPoly Humboldt y la Tribu Wiyot. Como dijo Cutcha Risling Baldy, quien dirige el Departamento de Native American Studies de CalPoly Humboldt, “Tenemos una oportunidad increíble como institución para pensar de manera diferente sobre lo que significa ser socio de las tribus en esta región. Lo que me encanta de este proyecto que realmente creo que debemos resaltar es que cuando el Environmental Science and Management Department se reunió para pensar qué tipo de proyecto hacer que realmente desarrolle la resiliencia climática y costera en nuestra área, no comenzaron desde una posición de '¿Cómo conseguimos tierras para CalPoly Humboldt?' Ellos pensaron, '¿Qué pasa si ayudamos a comprar tierras para la Tribu Wiyot y luego trabajamos para restaurarlas?' Este es un modelo de cómo podemos hacer este tipo de trabajo que no está sucediendo en ninguna otra universidad en este momento, ni en California, ni en todo el país. No tienes universidades pensando en cómo van a crecer y apoyar a los pueblos indígenas para que devuelvan la tierra que les fue robada a sus manos para que puedan construir un futuro climático justo”. Risling-Baldy terminó pidiendo a la Universidad que dé el siguiente paso y trabaje para devolver un bosque de 884 acres en la cuenca hidrográ ca de Jacoby Creek conocida como Goukdi'n. “Eso sería lo que pone [a la universidad] en el mapa; todos querrían venir a la universidad que dijo que queremos construir una asociación real con los Wiyot y devolver tierras boscosas, de las cuales no tienen ninguna en su propio territorio, y queremos mostrarles cómo puede ser realmente un futuro descolonizado. ”

Aunque la propiedad se talado por última vez en 2014, en gran medida sigue siendo un ecosistema bastante intacto y presenta una oportunidad única para que la Tribu practique la administración tradicional y desarrolle un plan de gestión y restauración ecocultural para priorizar las conexiones culturales y la protección

de la calidad del agua. CalPoly Humboldt planea desempeñar un papel de apoyo al incorporar la participación de estudiantes y profesores en el plan de restauración liderado por la Tribu Wiyot. Adrienne Colgrove-Raymond de CalPoly Humboldt expresó su agradecimiento por la asociación y dijo: "Espero con ansias las relaciones signi cativas que se pueden construir con la universidad, para todos los estudiantes, pero especialmente para los estudiantes indígenas".

Jen Eckerly, directora adjunta del Ocean Protection Council, dijo: “Este proyecto tiene bene cios increíbles. Estamos realmente entusiasmados con la forma en que mejorará la calidad del agua y la salud del ecosistema, y aumentará la resiliencia costera. Pero la parte más importante es devolver este territorio ancestral a la Tribu Wiyot y brindar la oportunidad de restaurar las prácticas culturales y utilizar los conocimientos tradicionales para restaurar y conservar este lugar natural”.

Durante la ceremonia, la líder cultural de la Tribu Wiyot, Cheryl Seidner, dirigió a los asistentes, que eran una mezcla de miembros tribales, representantes universitarios, representantes de agencias ambientales estatales, líderes ambientales locales y miembros de la prensa, para cantar la canción "Coming Home" o “Regresando a Casa” antes de que presentaran danzantes Wiyot. Seidner dijo: “Esto no es solo obtener algo, es sanar. No solo del pueblo Wiyot, sino de la comunidad”. Cuando las notas nales de la canción se desvanecieron, una garza azul voló por arriba de la ceremonia y se unió al coro.

El presidente Ted Hernandez, Cheryl Seidner y la profesora Cutcha Risling-Baldy hablaron sobre el precedente histórico que se está creando por este regreso de tierra. "Queremos mostrarles cómo puede ser realmente un futuro descolonizado". Foto tomada por Kellie Jo Brown

Prison Held Accountable for Water Quality Violations

Mpingo Uhuru

On June 9, 2022, the following memorandum was issued to the inmate population at Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) by Warden Patrick Covello. MCSP is located in Amador County, CA.

" e purpose of this memorandum is to provide updated information and direction to the inmate population regarding a current disruption to MCSP's Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) system.

On June 7, 2022, MCSP WWTP staff noted a disruption to the treatment system during regular sampling process. MCSP administration has enacted immediate steps to rectify the continuance of the inmate population laundry exchange and shower services.

E ective Friday, June 10, 2022, the inmate shower program will switch to alternating days for the inmate population. e shower schedule does not override a facility program status report (PSR), on a facility that has a current PSR in place. e shower program would remain at the facility captain's discretion, but should not occur more than every other day.

Additionally, e ective Monday, June 13, 2022, through Monday June 20, 2022, the inmate laundry exchange program will be temporarily suspended.

ank you for your cooperation to remedy this issue. We believe that those e orts to slow the e uent discharge, and WWTP sta 's dedicated work to adjust the system disruption, we should only need to provide those modi cations for a two week time period, we will continue to apprise all sta and inmates on any updates as they arise."

e most recent water shutdown comes after years of issues with the wastewater treatment system at the facility, including sewage discharges and chemical leaks from the prison industries, leading to contamination of the nearby Mule Creek watershed. Although the above memorandum was intended to be informative, it glosses over the cause of the shutdown and one should not overlook the impact this continual discharge of MCSP's wastewater has on the inmate population as well as the devastation to the local environment. e ongoing, destructive havoc it has had on the community of Ione, California, has been addressed by the local community since as early as 2007.

On December 14, 2021, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board held a public brie ng to inform the population about actions being taken to address the water quality concerns related to the operations of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR) Mule Creek State Prison

facility (Prison), including discharge of e uent from the Prison to the City of Ione's Tertiary Wastewater Treatment Facilities, in uent and e uent from the city of Ione's tertiary wastewater treatment facility, Preston reservoir, and recycled water used for irrigation of the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority (ARSA) Castle Oak Golf Course. e Water Board came to a $2.5 million settlement with the CDCR for speci c unpermitted discharges from Mule Creek State Prison to Mule Creek.

Although seeking solutions to the continuance of these discharges is a step in the right direction, one need also address the core reasoning for the discharge, as well as an e ective strategy for outside oversight and regulation from an independent source. The MCSP's wastewater treatment facilities are overseen by the Core Plant Manager, Core Plant Supervisor, and MCSP Chief Engineer. e treatment facility is not accessible outside the prison grounds.

ere are several factors that contribute to these continual discharges. ere is the lack of full disclosure as to the scope and size of these discharges, which makes it di cult to assess the extent of the problem.

ere have been multiple incidents of equipment failure, pipes bursting, as well as lack of proper training in the handling of hazardous materials and chemicals by

unskilled and under quali ed inmate laborers, many who often make no more than .32¢ per hour and frequently work ten hour days.

One incident that went unreported, according to one inmate who works in the facility and spoke on condition of anonymity, was an inadequate mixture of chemical bacteria (good bacteria) and that resulted in the bad bacteria contaminating the water used in the prison's laundry services. In this case as well as many others, water ow was decreased to make allotment for water to be dispersed. ere have been reports of mistreatment of waste water from the antiquated sewage system operated at Mule Creek State Prison. Many inmates report incidents where duct tape and wadded up rags have been used to stop and/or seal leaks in outdated pipes.

In addition to the industrial laundry services, MCSP (like many other state prisons) also runs and operates several other industries known as California Prison Industry Authority or CALPIA (https://www. calpia.ca.gov/about/), including co ee roasting and commercial meat cutting, packaging and distribution, each of which contributes to the ongoing pressure and contamination of the water treatment facilities. Additionally, the facility was built to house 3,284 inmates, but it currently holds over 4,000.

MCSP is not alone in committing these atrocities. e negative impacts of California's vast prison system on the lives of those housed within the walls, as well as the local communities surrounding these facilities, and the destruction to the local environmentsIt has been well documented. According to Prison Legal News, since 2000, eight California state prisons have been cited for major water pollution problems, primarily related to over-taxed wastewater treatment systems. Often, the “solution” to this problem is to restrict water usage by those incarcerated, rather than upgrading the systems or lowering the prison populations.

With the continued operations of these facilities, and with no true oversight, they will continue to act with impunity. In truth, there is no accurate way of calculating the impact on the lives of so many, especially when so many of those impacted live out of sight, behind prison walls.

Mpingo Uhuru is incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California. She has written 47 novels including three books of poetry, had works showcased at the 2019 Queer Arts Festival in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and was a guest poet for the 2021 Breaking Black Reaching Back virtual festival in New York City.

Mule Creek State Prison Overhead. Source: Prison Insight, Flikr.

e Invention of Jaywalking

Colin Fiske, Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities

is is the second in a series of articles in the EcoNews about the history of how American communities were designed for cars. Last month’s article described the origins of tra c laws. We saw how those laws helped turn the street into a restricted area where only drivers are welcome, when it had previously been a public space where most activities—and all forms of transportation—were accepted. is month’s article focuses on one particular legal and cultural aspect of this transition: the rebranding that turned walking in the street, long the commonest of public activities, into a crime known as “jaywalking.”

Cars were not popular when they were introduced in the early twentieth century. ey were not well suited to the small, crowded streets. ey took up too much space, and they were dangerous. ey killed a lot of people, especially children. (Playgrounds did not become a common feature of cities and towns until cars forced kids out of their traditional venue for play – the street.) Cars were driven mostly by wealthy hobbyists. Most people hated these monstrous new machines and viewed them as interlopers in public streets.1

Unsurprisingly, a lot of creative insults and epithets were hurled at careless drivers in those early days of the automobile. One of those insults was the term “jay-driver,” derived from the old derogatory slang term “jay,” meaning a country bumpkin. A jay-driver was someone who didn’t know to follow the only common rule of conduct for drivers at the time—to stay to the right. In the increasingly contested streets of that era, however, it didn’t take long for the epithet to be repurposed to apply to pedestrians, resulting in the now familiar term “jaywalker.” It’s indicative of the norms of the day that “jaywalker” was initially used to refer to pedestrians who caused friction with other pedestrians and had nothing to do with crossing the street.2

Well into the 1920s, more than a decade after the invention of the term “jaywalker,” most people considered the street the rightful domain of pedestrians and public opinion was rmly set against drivers. Nevertheless, cities and police departments began adopting tra c rules that regulated where and how someone walking could cross the street—laws that were heavily in uenced by auto industry lobbyists and promoted by industry ally and then-Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover. But the laws did little to

change the actual behavior of people on the street, who strongly resisted the notion that they shouldn’t walk a direct path from Point A to Point B as they had always done before.3

As the number of cars proliferated in cities, pedestrians resisted legal banishment from the street, tra c deaths soared, and the auto industry had what we would describe today as a serious image problem. Its response was a campaign to shift the blame for pedestrian deaths from cars and drivers to the victims themselves. They funded massive “safety campaigns” in cities across the country which conveniently advised that the way to stop the carnage in the streets was for pedestrians to be more careful. And they mercilessly shamed and ridiculed pedestrians as death-seeking fools if they didn’t take sole responsibility for their own safety. It was in this context that the term “jaywalker,” invented a couple of decades earlier with a di erent meaning, was rst widely used and popularized.4

e auto-dominated “safety campaigns” of the 1920s were the cultural and political turning point for pedestrian-involved collisions. ese campaigns achieved broad reach and resonance in part by recruiting newspapers who increasingly relied on car ad revenue, along with trusted civic organizations ranging from Kiwanis clubs to the Boy Scouts.5 Over the course of less than a decade, American public opinion swung from widespread outrage over the slaughter of innocent children on the street by careless drivers to ridiculing and blaming victims for their own deaths. It has remained there, more or less, ever since.

But there are now signs that public opinion—and laws—might be starting to shift again. Transportation advocates have long opposed jaywalking laws as unfair and unwarranted restrictions on pedestrian movement, and because of their continued use by police, media and the public to cast blame on pedestrian victims. And increasing attention is being paid to the fact that, as with many tra c rules, jaywalking laws are disproportionately enforced by police against people of color.6 is discrimination has even more insidious e ects on mobility and daily life in neighborhoods with low car ownership levels and inadequate pedestrian infrastructure—a common situation in the United States.

But what about safety? Nearly a century after those rst “safety campaigns,” most of us are still trained to

think that jaywalking laws keep people safe. But they don’t. First of all, they don’t di erentiate between safe and unsafe street crossings, and most instances of currently illegal “jaywalking” are actually perfectly safe. Also, the evidence shows that these laws do not deter people from walking in the street anyway. What the laws do is continue to ful ll the original purpose of those “safety campaigns”—providing a justi cation for blaming people walking when they are hit by drivers.

Last year, several cities and the state of Virginia decriminalized jaywalking. A decriminalization bill also passed through the California legislature, but was vetoed by Governor Newsom. is year, a similar bill is working its way through the legislature again. By the time you read this, jaywalking may no longer be a crime in the state of California. It’ll be well past time.

Sources:

1Norton, Peter. 2008. Fighting Tra c: e Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City.

2Merriam Webster. Undated. Why Jaywalking is Called Jaywalking. www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/ why-is-it-called-jaywalking.

3See Norton 2008.

4Stromberg, Joseph. 2015. e forgotten history of how automakers invented the crime of “jaywalking.” Vox. www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7551873/jaywalking-history.

5 ompson, Clive. 2022. e Invention of “Jaywalking.” Medium. marker.medium.com/the-invention-ofjaywalking-afd48f994c05.

6 Mahdawi, Arwa. 2020. The US’s jaywalking laws target people of colour. ey should be abolished. e Guardian. www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/ jun/17/us-jaywalking-laws-target-people-of-colourthey-should-be-abolished.

Joel Mielke

De ning “Old-Growth” First Step in Protecting Ancient Forests

Kimberly Baker, Public Lands Advocate

On Earth Day, President Biden signed an Executive Order to protect mature and old-growth trees. is direction by the President begs the question: What is an old-growth tree or forest? To de ne what needs protection, the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, and the Department of the Interior, which oversees the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), have put out a request for information on how to de ne mature and old-growth trees (collectively called “MOG”).

EPIC, of course, has been fighting for the protection of old-growth since our inception in 1977. How would we de ne the term? We believe that 80 years is a good starting point to use. Why 80? at’s, generally, when we see mature characteristics begin to develop, like thick re-resistant bark, and it would protect the trees that have the most stored carbon. is standard is already used by the Northwest Forest Plan, which sets an important precedent in the Paci c Northwest.

Finding these trees should be easy to do! Quali ed scientists have already quanti ed older forests for every single national forest and BLM area. Federal lands, primarily national forests, contain most of the older forests and have the greatest concentrations of imperiled species and ecosystems, carbon stocks and drinking water. Further, the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the Forest Service, for example, already collects data on tree age, size, and other characteristics of older forests. By tiering the definition to already-collected information, the process of mapping—and protecting—MOG should go much more smoothly.

The federal MOG inventory needs to fully recognize historical and contemporary widespread logging of old-growth forests as the main driver of the current national de cit, which the government and its agencies still fail to recognize. e loss of forests is contributing to the global and biodiversity crises. Logging was and is still the top main stressor of MOG.

The inventory also needs to recognize the importance of mature and old-growth forests that

have succumbed to natural disturbances that restart their successional clock. Post-disturbance logging must be identi ed as a principal threat to the entire seral development of MOG. When trees die, they become the building blocks—biological legacies— for forests to replenish and soils to further develop.

e entire successional pathway in uencing MOG is important to protect as logging at any stage can disrupt this natural process at the detriment of carbon stores, biodiversity, and other ecosystem services. It is vital that these critical biological legacies are protected from logging to allow forest succession to proceed through the cyclical process of young to MOG and back again.

e inventory, like with biodiversity, should be scale dependent and must be viewed within the context of the surroundings, which can be described from large to ne scale. It should start with the concentration of threatened and endangered species and bioregions, which are commonly used to place forests broadly into boreal, temperate, and tropical biomes. While all regions with MOG are critical to e ective climate-forest policy, some regions stand out as globally signi cant, for instance, the KlamathSiskiyou (northwest California, southern Oregon) is considered one of the world’s most biodiverse temperate conifer forest ecoregions with exceptional species richness. e Klamath Siskiyou bioregion has an intense amount of endemic species. It is a safe haven providing climate refuge for multiple rare, threatened and endangered plants and animals. However their irreplaceable habitat is consistently threatened by logging on public lands.

What comes next is what it means to “protect” MOG. e recently passed In ation Reduction Act speci cally contains $50 million “for the protection of old-growth forests on National Forest System land.” While the purpose of this inventory and the recent Executive Order is to recognize and de ne mature and old-growth forests to aid in the climate and biodiversity emergency, the Forest Service and the BLM must recognize the one threat that is within its control: logging. Our forests are worth more standing! Currently, the Forest Service continues to move forward on the Bear Country project in the

Klamath National Forest, targeting the mature and old-growth forests along the Salmon River. EPIC will continue to monitor our National Forests and ensure that the Federal Government follows through on its promise to protect our forests.

Old-growth forest. Trillium Falls in Redwood National Park. By Rudy Wilms Flikr.

andpiperS

Redwood Region Audubon Society

Please join RRAS for an in-person, and virtual program on: The Path to Sea Otter Reintroduction in Oregon

Presented by Frank Burris, of the Elakha Alliance on Wednesday, October 19, at the Six Rivers Masonic Lodge, 251 Bayside Road, Arcata; this program will be simultaneously zoomed and the link will be available on the RRAS website. Social hour with goodies and hot drinks will start at 6:30 p.m. and the program will begin at 7 p.m.

RRAS Field Trips in OCTOBER!

Sat. October 1st – 8:30-11am. Birding tour of Arcata Marsh, led by Jim Clark. Bring binoculars and a scope if you have one and meet at the south end of I Street (Klopp Lake), reservations not required.

The Elakha Alliance’s mission is to restore a healthy population of Sea Otters to the Oregon Coast and thereby make Oregon’s marine and coastal ecosystem more robust and resilient. Restoration of sea otters will benefit the entire kelp ecosystem, including seabirds that breed locally. Sea Otters are a keystone species whose predation and behavior have a profound effect on the mix of species around them. In their absence, Oregon’s marine ecosystem has suffered, becoming ecologically less diverse. In January of 2022, the Elakha Alliance published a scientific feasibility study on sea otter reintroduction in Oregon. In August 2022, the US Fish and Wildlife Service utilized Elakha’s study in publishing their own feasibility assessment of Sea Otter reintroduction in Northern California and Oregon. Both studies concluded that, YES, it is feasible to return sea otters to Oregon. What now? Join Frank Burris, Elakha’s Oregon South Coast Community Liaison, as he discusses the next steps.

Tues. October 4th – 5-7pm. Join trip leader Janelle Chojnacki for a weekday, evening walk around one of Humboldt Bay’s most birdy spots. Spice up a weekday evening with this free guided walk around the Arcata Marsh. We may see night herons take off from their diurnal roosts, and evening walks always carry the possibility of seeing owls out and about! Bring binoculars and a scope if you have one and meet at the south end of I Street.

Sat. October 8th – 8:30-11am. Birding tour of Arcata Marsh, led by Kathryn Wendel.

Sun. October 9th 9-11am. RRAS will offer a special 4 mile walk at Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge to areas not normally open to public access. The refuge will be celebrating National Wildlife Refuge Week - “Walk on the Wild Side” - by opening public access for the day to the area north of the Shorebird Loop Trail and around the outer levee. It should provide some great birding opportunities! Meet leader Ralph Bucher at the Visitor Center and email him at thebook@reninet.com to sign up.

Sat. October 15th – 8:30-11am. Birding tour of Arcata Marsh, led by Gary Friedrichsen.

Sun. October 16th 9-11am. Ralph Bucher will lead a walk on the Eureka Waterfront. This trail is paved and is wheelchair accessible

Sat. October 22nd – 8:30-11am. Birding tour of Arcata Marsh, led by Bill Rodstrom.

Sat. October 22nd – 9-11am. Wigi Wetlands Volunteer Workday. Help create bird-friendly native habitat and restore a section of the bay trail behind the Bayshore Mall. We provide tools and snacks. Please bring your own water and gloves. Contact Jeremy at jeremy.cashen@yahoo.com or 214-605-7368 for more information.

Sat. October 29th – 9-11am. Come explore both birds and plants with Kate Rowe and Barbara Reisman on the Monthly Women and Girls’ Birding Walk. Bring your binoculars and we’ll see which bird species we can find along the Freshwater Creek trail. We’ll then make our way to the California Native Plant Society’s North Coast Chapter’s native plant nursery and demonstration garden. Meet trip leaders at the Freshwater Farms Reserve trail parking lot, 5851 Myrtle Avenue, Eureka. Hope to see you there!

Sat. October 29th – 8:30-11am. Birding tour of Arcata Marsh, led by Larry Karsteadt.

Sun. October 30th – 8:30am. The Loleta area contains a nice mix of riparian, wetland, pasture, and estuary, resulting in a wide diversity of wildlife. Ken Burton will lead a half-day outing in search of waterfowl, shorebirds, waders, raptors, and songbirds. Meet at the intersection of Eel River Drive and Summer Street. Be prepared to carpool. For more information or arrange carpooling, contact Ken at 707-499-1146 or shrikethree@gmail.com

October TBD – 8:30-11am. Since the usual second Saturday won’t work for October, there may be a spontaneous morning bird walk on another date in Southern Humboldt. Trip leader Ann Constantino will contact folk by word of mouth. Email Ann at annconstantino@gmail.com for more information.

*Contact Ralph at thebook@reninet.com for any walks he leads and all Arcata Marsh walks.

*Contact Field Trip Chair, Janelle Chojnacki at janelle.choj@gmail.com for more information on all other walks, unless otherwise specified. See our website for Covid protocols.

Frank Burris is the South Coast Community Liaison for the Elakha Alliance. Frank served as the Watershed Management Educator for the OSU Extension Service and Oregon Sea Grant from 2000-2022 and was the County Leader of the Curry County OSU Extension office from 2007-2022. His interests include water quality, wetland and estuary education and restoration, and tourism and economic development. A short assignment as Interim Coastal Region Director, a special assignment with the Association of Oregon Counties working as the MidCoast Coordinator to improve and complete the Oregon Coast Trail and serving as facilitator for the Rocky Habitat selection process broadened Frank’s knowledge of the coast and the people working to protect and preserve its beauty and strong sense of community. Frank can be reached at Frank@ElakhaAlliance.org

Above top left: Sea Otter floating in kelp, by Robb Lansdowne, Flickr.

Above: Frank Burris, courtesy of Frank.

CHAPTER LEADERS:

President – Gail Kenny .....gailgkenny@gmail.com

Vice President – CJ Ralph ................707-822-2015

Secretary – Andrew Orahoske andrew.rras@gmail.com

Treasurer – Gary Friedrichsen ..........707-822-6543

Past President – Hal Genger .............707-499-0887

DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE:

Ralph Bucher ....................................707-499-1247

Pia Gabriel ........................................707-382-2101

Harriet Hill ........................................707-267-4055

Chet Ogan .........................................707-442-9353

Sue Sniado .......................sueandscott@suddenlink.net

Jeremy Cashen ...................................214-605-7368

OTHER CHAPTER LEADERS:

Conservation – Jim Clark .................707-445-8311

Eductn/Schlrshps – Denise Seeger ...707-444-2399

Membership – Ralph Bucher …........707-499-1247

eBird Liaison – Rob Fowler …….....707-839-3493

Facebook – Cindy Moyer …...……..707-822-1886

Field Trips

– Janelle Chojnacki ......janelle.choj@gmail.com

Programs – Harriet Hill ....................707-267-4055

Publicity – Kate Rowe ......................925-391-0468

Publications – CJ Ralph ....................707-822-2015

Website – Susan Penn .......................707-672-3346

NEC Representative – CJ Ralph .......707-822-2015

THE SANDPIPER:

Editor, Layout, & Design

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The Sandpiper is published eleven times a year by Redwood Region Audubon Society P.O. Box 1054, Eureka, CA 95502.

President’s Column

By Gail Kenny

In my August column I alluded to my upcoming international travel plans which prompted me to try out the Merlin App. I went to South India for my daughter’s traditional Hindu wedding to her husband who is from there. The first birds we saw when leaving the airport in Chennai in the early morning hours were House Crows. We saw them everywhere! The next day from the vantage point of the hotel rooftop pool, I added Black Kites and Rock Doves. We also saw a large owl flying by while dining at the rooftop restaurant.

On the drive to Tirupati I spotted a perched Indian Roller, the turquoise color stood out and I was surprised at how large it was. There were many Black Drongos perched along the way. The hotel in Tirupati also had a rooftop pool which was an excellent spot to bird from. There was a marsh I could see and with my spotting scope I was able to ID quite a few birds. An example of birds I added to my list from there were Green Bee-eater, Indian Pond Heron, and Gray-headed Swamphen with giant red feet. Little Swifts and Asian Palm Swifts flew by.

We managed to fit in early morning guided birding field trips in Tirupati and Chennai. With persistence we found a company called Key Terns which offered guided birding field trips in Chennai. I was able to set up the Tirupati trip by emailing the company directly. Paying for it was tricky, but we finally got that figured out.

including Purple-rumped Sunbird, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, and Indian Silverbill. Next, we went to Pallikaranai marsh where we picked up Red-wattled Lapwing, Blackwinged Stilt, and Painted Stork, as well as other birds.

The Merlin App India, South pack was quite useful. However, it was missing some birds that we saw, and the sound ID didn’t recognize much. I was grateful that my daughter brought along a field guide to the birds of India that I could also study.

What made my birding experience on this trip extra fun was sharing my bird obsession with my family, son-in-law, his cousins, and my daughter’s friends who came. It has been a long time since I got so many lifers! It became overwhelming. I had a hard time recognizing and retaining the bird songs I heard. I ended the trip with about 65 lifers! We are planning to have Birdman Karthik zoom in for one of our programs in the spring to teach us more about the birds of India.

By Leslie Scopes Anderson

Southern Sea Otters are found along California’s central coast.

Sea Otters live on the coast of Alaska and Washington.

mammal is

Above: Cartoon and photography by Leslie Scopes Anderson.

The field trips had us out in the field by about 6 a.m. and having breakfast by 10 a.m. After 10:30 a.m. the heat can be oppressive. Our first field trip was in Tirupati. We were ready for the van to pick up eight of us (family and friends from the US) at 5 a.m, but it was 40 minutes late. We were a little late arriving at the IISER Tirupati--Mangalam Campus ebird hotspot, on a sciencebased graduate school campus on the north side of town. I noted 17 bird species there. Highlights were Bronzewinged Jacana, Baya Weaver, and Golden Oriole. Then we went to Sri Venkateswara National Park where the bird guide, Birdman Karthik (check out his Instagram page!), works as a wildlife biologist. I logged another ten species including Jungle Babbler, Coppersmith Barbet, Shikra, and White-spotted Fantail. We also saw Rhesus Macaque monkeys, an Indian Giant Squirrel and Asian Palm Squirrels. We enjoyed a short hike to a beautiful waterfall and took several group photos with locals we met along the way. The heat and humidity were a real challenge for me. I was sweating profusely by the time we went to breakfast!

The day after the wedding, we took a drive to the nearby Sri Venkateswara Swamy Vaari Temple grounds. On the drive up we saw Black-faced Gray Langur monkeys. One stopped car had a monkey sitting on top! Our driver decided not to stop. We walked on some trails leading to shrines where I added Asian Emerald Dove, Gray Wagtail, and Yellow-throated Bulbul to my list.

Our second field trip was in Chennai towards the end of the trip. This time the van was early, but it was raining so the guide pushed the start time back 30 minutes. I had requested to bird at a local marsh that had a good ebird list, but I also wanted to see songbirds. To my delight, the guide, Subramanian Sankar, arranged for us to visit Nanmangalam Reserved Forest which is not open to the public. We arrived in good time to witness birds waking up and posing on top of the trees and bushes, and singing,

Above top: Shikra (Accipiter badius), a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, and above middle: House Crow (Corvus splendens), both by Gail. Above: Birding trip participants in Tirupati, India.

KID’S CORNER

Wiyot Tribe Acquires Bird-Rich, Undeveloped Forest and Wetlands for Cultural and Ecological Restoration

By Gina Rogers

One of the last pieces of undeveloped coastal wetlands near Humboldt Bay (Wigi) has just been reaquired by the Wiyot Tribe. This represents the first time that the State of California has funded Tribal reacquisition of ancestral lands for coastal and sea levelrise resilience The 46-acre property, located upland of King Salmon and surrounded by residential development on Humboldt Hill – “wolf’s house,” in Soulatluk, the Wiyot language – is on the land of the historical Wiyot village site named Mouralherwaqh. With almost 14 acres of ecologically diverse habitat, the land is a haven for birds.

The purchase was led by the Wiyot Tribe in partnership with Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt Baykeeper, and Friends of the Dunes. A grant from the California Ocean Protection Council’s nature-based solutions program provided the funds to acquire the parcel from a private landowner.

A special Mouralherwaqh Return Ceremony was held on the property in midAugust. Wiyot elders and youth wearing ceremonial regalia performed dances and the smell of salmon roasting on spits wafted across the crowd. Wiyot Tribal Chair Ted Hernandez stressed the importance of providing access to culturally-significant natural resources and making a strong connection to their ancestors. Tribal Leader Cheryl Seidner began singing the melody of the Wiyot “Coming Home” song. As if drawn to the chorus, a Great Blue Heron flew over, delivering an encouraging squawk, stretching out to full length and then flying slowly and majestically over the crowd. It was a magical moment. The Great Blue Heron, ‘meluqhiyan’ in Soulatluk (just one of several words for the bird according to Wiyot linguist Dr. Lynnika Butler), figures strongly in Wiyot myth, and it was also fundamental to preserving parts of Mouralherwaqh. As a timber harvest was being planned for the property in 2013, a nearby resident called the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to inform them of a longstanding rookery on the site. It had never been reported by the forester on any of the harvest plans, and after CDFW biologist verification, a buffer zone was created that protected many old-growth spruce from logging.

The property’s importance as an avian paradise immediately became apparent to the birders at the ceremony, as the Wiyot songs started to mingle with the sounds of birds chirping. Keen ears picked up Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Northern Flickers, and the bouncing ping-pong ball sound of the Wrentit. With acres of large sedge- and cattaildominated freshwater wetlands surrounded by mature Sitka Spruce and some northern

Exciting End to Owl Season

By Pete Carlson, Research Associate, Colorado State University, Dept. of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology

I have been privileged to spend most of my 3-decade research career with the Northwest California Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) Demography project, one of the longest studies on spotted owls, started by Alan Franklin in 1985. This study is part of long- term NSO monitoring on federal lands set up under the Northwest Forest Plan. The end of this 38th field season was quite an interesting one for me, Angela Rex (who co-leads the field work) and our field crew.

August can be a challenging time to complete surveys as sometimes we get nighttime detections in unexpected locations. These are often prospecting birds: individuals that may be new to the area, or a neighboring owl exploring outside their normal territory. During the first week of August, we followed up on two such detections. In one area, south of Horse Mountain, Angela and others found a pair on two occasions. Both owls were banded previously; the male was found on a different territory last year and the female had fledged last year in a nearby territory. In another area, also where we had not located owls previously, a banded female was located who had moved from her previous territory of two years ago. We also heard an unknown male in the area.

I did an additional visit to the area to confirm if it was a pair and who the male might be. While we did not

coastal scrublands, it offers access to spruce root, important in Wiyot basketmaking, as well as hazelnut, huckleberry, salmon berries, and mushrooms, which up until now could only be accessed off Tribal lands under special agreement or by trespassing.

Adam Canter, Natural Resources Director for the Wiyot Tribe, has been thrilled to see the wide variety of birds the habitat encourages. In addition to being a rookery site for egrets and herons, there are a large number of raptors including Red-tailed Hawks and Ospreys, and Turkey Vultures riding the updrafts are a common sight. Chickadees are always bouncing through the conifers, while Steller’s Jays and Cedar Waxwings have been making themselves heard. Northern Flickers and other woodpeckers are present, sacred to the Wiyot, who also use their feathers in ceremony regalia.

Restoration plans for the property will prioritize cultural connections, restoring important species habitats (potentially for Marbled Murrelets), developing more sustainable water systems, and addressing climate change resiliency. Volunteer teams are already being organized to tackle the aerial infestations of English Ivy.

Canter points out that because Mouralherwaqh has both low-lying and upland habitat, the project represents “a great opportunity for the tribe to really contribute to nature-based solutions by stewarding this property to allow for the migration of sea level rise and habitats inland.”

detect the female again, we did hear a male well after dark. Eventually he flew towards us, and we confirmed that he was not banded – a new bird for our study. Nighttime captures can be difficult, since visibility is refuced and owls are often more active. I was lucky this time and captured the male, possibly the last spotted owl I will band. Finding additional owls for this season was quite exciting given the continued decline in the spotted owl population. This was certainly already an exciting way to finish the field season, my 28th and Angela’s 17th on the study. But on the morning of August 5th, we awoke to news of several lightning-caused wildfires. Some, now combined as the Campbell fire, were close to the communities of Willow Creek and Salyer. A couple of others, combined as the Ammon fire, were in the heart of our main study area. These were quite concerning given the large fires in this region over the last few years.

We followed fire updates closely and evacuated our field station. Fortunately, efforts to keep the fires from burning any houses were successful. And the generally slow growth of the fires indicates that they should be mostly low to moderate fire severity, especially in the mature forest habitat. We do not expect such fires to have a negative impact on the owls and their habitat; on the contrary: in the long term, they may be beneficial. Several studies have found that low to moderate severity fires have minimal impact on owl populations. Regardless, it was quite a surreal way to end our field season. And unfortunately, we will not be able to determine the impact of these fires on the owls. The United States Forest

Service will no longer be funding our long-term study. This coincides with a shift in the method for long-term monitoring of the owl population on public lands to using passive bioacoustic surveys. Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) are being used more often for wildlife monitoring and have many benefits, such as recording multiple species of interest simultaneously. While less invasive than banding studies, detailed information such as survival rates and specific nest and roost locations will be lost without follow up survey work. Hopefully the recent fires will be beneficial and future efforts to monitor and protect the spotted owl will be successful.

The Wiyot Tribe is protecting Mouralherwaqh from public access at this point, but hopes to work with groups like Redwood Region Audubon Society to host field trips and invasive species removal work days in the near future.

Wiyot Tribal Leaders cutting the ribbon at the Mouralherwaqh land return ceremony, by Adam Canter.

Above: Female and juvenile NSO in previously burned stand, by Peter Carlson.

Local Photobirders, Leslie and Mike Anderson, Chase Cooper’s Hawk Nest

By Leslie Scopes Anderson

In mid-August we received a tip that there was a pair of nesting Sharp-shinned Hawks in the Arcata area – and the homeowner was willing to share! We arrived early one morning, cameras in hand, hoping to get some good shots of these birds. As the mist clung to the towering redwoods, the homeowner welcomed us warmly, but no feathered residents were evident. “They’re around,” he said optimistically. He showed us a nibbled carcass of a passerine that had been dropped during the feeding process, and said one just missed falling on his head!

As we waited, the day brightened somewhat, but stubborn shadows still lingered in the deep woods. “I saw something!” called Mike, “It flew by way up high.” I figured ‘it’ was just a turkey vulture glimpsed in the small patches of gray sky visible through the trees. Then we started hearing soft, squeaky calls, and suddenly there was a commotion about 40 ft. up in the giant redwood

that dominated the yard. Hidden behind branches, we could barely make out three hawks in a dense area that could have been a nest. As it turned out they were juvenile Cooper’s Hawks! I surmised that a parent had brought in a snack for the fledglings. But, still there was no possibility of a photo, and my neck was loudly protesting the constant straight-up gazing!

Then, luckily for us, the two juveniles flew out into the nearby trees. We were able to get a few shots, even in the low light. We were never able to capture an adult with our cameras. We returned later that afternoon when the sun broke through the ‘marine layer’, but our subjects were uncooperative.

I came back on a rare sunny morning a day later to witness the juveniles dashing between trees, one landing in a sunny spot! Then another meal was delivered by a parent, and they were up in the mammoth redwood again. I was excited to see Cooper’s Hawks, as my photos of them are few. They definitely seemed at home in this Humboldt County forest.

Below middle: COHA by Leslie Scopes Anderson. All other juvenile COHA photos by Mike Anderson. For more information on Leslie and Mike, see this article in the Times Standard: https://www.times-standard. com/2013/09/29/photobirding-two-accomplishedphotographers-tell-all/.

The Western Meadowlark, By Hal Genger

I didn’t start birding until I was in graduate school at HSU and took “Beginning Bird Watching” from a close friend, Ron LeValley (Jan.1, 1947 – June 4, 2022). We had been looking at shorebirds at Gary Friedrichsen’s ‘Little Red Shack’ (Sandpiper Aug 2021) at the mouth of Jacoby Creek when I spied a familiar bird from my youth, the Western Meadowlark. I focused my binoculars on it and ‘Wow’! I’d seen this bird from where I was born in Downey, California all the way to the plains of Montana and was never aware of how spectacular it would look through binoculars. I’ve looked at birds more seriously since then!

The Western Meadowlark is an easily identifiable bird with brownish back and wings, yellow belly, and a dark black ‘V’ shape on its chest. Both sexes look similar although the male may have brighter colors. The Western Meadowlark’s scientific name was derived by John James Audubon, Sturnella (starling-like) neglecta, (neglected, because of the similar Eastern Meadowlark). They are grouped in the family Icturidae which includes the cowbirds, blackbirds, and orioles, but are commonly discussed as one of the grassland birds because of their preference for prairies, meadows, grasslands, pastures, and lawns. Studies show them doing best in more thick, diverse habitats which provide cover for nesting and feeding.

Western Meadowlarks often have two broods per year with around five eggs per clutch. Males maintain territories and are often polygamous. Females select and build the nest site and raise the chicks. The females make a well-hidden, domed nest on the ground, often intertwined with other vegetation to hide it from predators. It may even have a tunnel leading to the nest!

Western Meadowlarks feed on the ground eating seeds and insects. Depending on their location, they eat grains and seeds in winter and fall and insects in the summer. They use a somewhat unique feeding behavior called ‘gaping’ in which they insert their closed beak into the ground or thick vegetation, then open their mouths creating a larger hole to search for food.

Locally, Western Meadowlarks are common year-round, but American Bird Conservancy says their overall population has decreased by 40% in the last 50 years. This tragedy is explained by several possibilities. The decrease in natural habitat due to farm activity like high maintenance pastures and monocultures lead to poor breeding success, decreased food availability, and less protection from predators. Urban development and fire repression also remove natural grassland. This is one of the reasons RRAS supports natural grasslands. The other problem is the widespread use of Neonicotinoid (neonics) pesticides on farms and urban areas. These types of pesticides are used on growing crops and also for coating the seed (e.g., corn, soybean, sunflower, oilseed rape, etc.) which decrease insect diversity and numbers.

Whenever I see a Western Meadowlark or hear its rich gurgling song, I am reminded of my life-long enjoyment of nature and my desire to encourage folks to spend time doing the same.

Above: Western Meadowlark, by Saanvi Virnave, Grade 4, Fuente Nueva Charter School from the 2018 annual Bird Art Contest sponsored by RRAS and FOAM.

Rising Groundwater: Flooding om Below

Jen Kalt, Humboldt Baykeeper Director

In June, Humboldt Baykeeper received funding from the California Environmental Protection Agency to prioritize contaminated sites around the bay that are most at risk from rising sea level and groundwater. We rst began assessing the risks to contaminated sites due to ooding and erosion from sea level rise in 2012. But rising groundwater is also a concern, since it will likely impact low-lying areas around the bay before they are a ected by surface inundation.

Rising groundwater can damage building foundations and underground pipes that carry water, sewage, stormwater, and natural gas. It can also mobilize toxic compounds from contaminated groundwater and soil into adjacent areas, impacting human health and the environment. Rising groundwater can cause saltwater intrusion that a ects drinking water and irrigation wells. It can kill saltintolerant plant communities and reduce the productivity of agricultural lands. And rising groundwater can increase the chances of soil liquefaction during an earthquake or ooding during major rainstorms.

Adapting to sea level rise is not just a matter of managing the horizontal movement of the ocean. As the sea rises, salt water pushes further inland, in ltrating groundwater as well as inundating the shoreline. Rising sea level causes groundwater to rise, since fresh water is lighter and oats on top of denser saltwater. e rate at which groundwater rises depends on soil permeability, proximity to stream channels and wetlands, and the current depth of the groundwater table. Rain also temporarily increases the elevation of the water table. Around Humboldt Bay, groundwater often rises to the surface in low-lying areas in late winter. Known as emergent groundwater, these seasonal freshwater ponds are a common sight in the diked

former tidelands between Arcata and Eureka.

We need to do all that we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow the rate of climate change. But even if we could cut all emissions tomorrow, the ocean will continue to rise for decades. Coastal communities like ours must gure out ways to live with rising water levels.

Seawalls seem like a simple although expensive solution, but they can’t stop rising groundwater, which would have to be pumped out. In some cases, relocating roads, wastewater treatment facilities, and other critical public infrastructure will be necessary in the long-term. Perhaps in some areas, elevating existing structures would help in the short-term, but eventually access roads will be ooded, toilets won’t ush, and drinking water and power lines won’t function unless they too are redesigned.

Contaminated sites need to be remediated before they are a ected by rising groundwater. e goal of our current project is to identify the most vulnerable sites along with other factors. One important factor to consider is whether contaminants moving o these sites are likely to impact human health or the environment, including Humboldt Bay and its tributary streams.

HUMBOLDT SEA LEVEL RISE

According to the California Ocean Protection Council, sea level in the Humboldt Bay area is expected to rise as much as 1 foot by 2030, 2 feet by 2050, and 3 feet by 2060 – approximately twice as fast as in most of the California coast. That’s because tectonic activity is causing the ground beneath us to sink at the same rate as sea level is rising, e ectively doubling the relative rate of sea level rise.

Stay Connected

Rising Groundwater

Higher ocean water levels force up the water levels underneath the ground, leading to ooding, saltwater intrusion into fresh groundwater supplies, and toxic contamination by carrying hazardous materials to the surface.

Over the next year, we’ll be consulting with the Wiyot Tribe, scientists, planners, landowners, and others to incorporate their input. Once the study is complete, the ndings will guide remediation plans for the most at-risk sites, as well as potential restoration or redevelopment.

IG @humboldt_baykeeper

TW @HumBaykeeper

/HumBaykeeper

Shallow groundwater combined with extreme high tides and lots of rain can cause ooding in coastal areas. As sea level rises, groundwater will also rise, increasing ooding and potentially mobilizing contamination groundwater o -site and into adjacent waterways. Photo by Brian Powell for the Humboldt Baykeeper King Tide Photo Initiative, Dec. 13, 2012.

Krista Miller, Zero Waste Humboldt

e pumpkin, a native plant of the Americas, is thought to have been rst cultivated as long as 9,000 years ago. Its solid, thick esh proved ideal for storing during cold weather and in times of scarcity.

Halloween likely began 2,500 years ago with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain, meaning “summer’s end” or beginning of winter, was an important time for people who survived on plants like the pumpkin grown in the elds and animals that were kept in pastures.

Pumpkins: Wasted Flesh or Animal Feast?

mats. Seeds were saved for future crops. Nothing was wasted. Now, of course, we have a signi cantly scary food waste problem.

U.S. EPA data show that food waste (pumpkin is considered food waste, not green waste) is the single most common material land lled and incinerated in the U.S. Food waste that ends up in land lls will decompose and eventually emit methane – a greenhouse gas with more than 20 times the warming e ect of carbon dioxide. If every household in the United States carves one pumpkin that goes to land ll, the estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint would be more than 1 million tons of CO2-equivalent.

cost), then ask your neighbors who may have one, or a worm bin.

• Try one of our local compost haulers like e Local Worm Guy or Full Cycle Compost (Arcata only) who provide a pick-up service.

• Get creative – there are millions of ideas, recipes, etc. on the interwebs about what to do with pumpkin, like making canned dog food (adds an extra source of ber – good for tummy troubles), but don’t wait too long. Pumpkin is a low acid vegetable; it very easily supports the growth of bacteria at room temperature.

• Look for pop-up collection events after the holiday. Some community groups, cities, or zoos organize festive pumpkin bashes designed to feed animals or worms.

By Krista Miller

Early immigrants to North America learned of pumpkins from Indigenous Americans for whom pumpkin was a dietary staple. In addition to eating them, dried strips were woven into

NORTH COAST CHAPTER

Evening Program

October 12 , Wednesday, 7:30 pm. “ The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History” e Klamath Mountains contain some of the most exceptional temperate plant communities in the world. Within its geographic boundaries, over 3,500 taxa (species, subspecies, and varieties) of vascular plants, including 35 conifer species and 20 species of oak, occur. Michael Kau mann will highlight the plant communities across the region as explored in his new book e Klamath Mountains: A Natural History, which will also be available to purchase. In addition to describing ten plant communities, he will share photos of the rare and unusual plants that call the Klamath Mountains home.

Michael Kau mann is an educator, author, and ecologist in Humboldt County with a fond love for the Klamath Mountains and their native ora and fauna, including his favorite group of plants—conifers.

Refreshments at 7:00 p.m. Program at 7:30 p.m. A Zoom option is available through our website www. northcoastcnps.org.

• Garbage haulers locally cannot accept food waste because they do not hold permits to do so. Pumpkins cannot be put into “green waste” cans or green waste programs/facilities for the same reason.

• Pumpkins purchased from local farmers are often organic and can be returned to other organic meat producers (do you know someone with pigs, chickens, etc?).

• Check with your nearby community garden to see if they will accept pumpkins for their compost bins. If you haven’t asked your city for a composter (many cities provide these to residents at a low

CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY

Field Trip

October 2, Sunday. Trinity Alps Vista Trail Day Hike

At 4,500 ft elevation in the serpentine woodland of Horse Mountain Botanical Area this informal, 2‐mile loop o ers potentially 8 species of conifers, 3 ceanothus, 2 manzanitas, and, yes, grand vistas. Meet at 9 a.m. at Paci c Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata). Dress for mountain weather (colder than the coast!) and uneven ground; bring lunch and water. Contact Carol at 707‐822‐2015 or theralphs@humboldt1.com.

Mapping North Coast Vegetation

by Andrea Pickart

You may know CNPS for its work with individual plant species, but plants don’t exist in isolation, they organize themselves into distinctive groups we call plant communities or vegetation types. e Society has a thriving Vegetation Program which is responsible for the Manual of California Vegetation. e Manual also exists online, where it can be continuously updated to re ect current knowledge. Vegetation sta at CNPS work with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and with chapter and agency volunteers, to sample vegetation

• Feeling inspired? ere are grants available! Check out CalRecycle’s Community Composting for Greenspaces grant ($300,000 allocated for Humboldt County) calrecycle.ca.gov/climate/grantsloans/ communitycomposting/fy202122/

Come to our next fundraiser Sunday, October 15: Upcycled Market in Fortuna, Ca. More info on our social media pages. Contact Zero Waste Humboldt for assistance, join our board (we need a grant writer!), or partner with us to esh out this food waste specter. zerowastehumboldt@gmail.com

Volunteers from the CNPS North Coast Chapter collect data from a plot at Big Lagoon Bog.

types throughout California to re ne our understanding and to produce vegetation maps. is summer and next, CNPS is working with the North Coast Chapter on our local vegetation. Sta prepare maps with sample locations, which samplers navigate to using GPS. When choosing sample locations, CNPS staff consult with local botanists to take advantage of their familiarity with the vegetation. Samplers collect cover by species and other measurements and photograph the sample site. When sampling is complete, sta will carry out multivariate analysis to classify the vegetation into types, and then map types using image analysis. ese maps can be used by agencies and organizations to prioritize conservation e orts, evaluate impacts, or assess the state’s vegetation.

Stay Updated: www.northcoastcnps.org facebook.com/NorthCoastCNPS

CNPS welcomes everyone. No expertise required.

So, what do we do with all of our pumpkins here?

Newsom and Biden Talk Like Environmental Advocates, But Their Actions Tell a Different Story

Felice Pace, North Group Water Chair

My mother was fond of aphorisms. One of her favorites was “Actions speak louder than words.”

Governor Newsom is a case in point. He says all the right things on environmental issues but his subsequent actions often don’t match his words. On water issues, for example, Newsom has an ambitious Water Resilience Portfolio, but he simultaneously allows Corporate Ag to dewater drinking water wells in the San Joaquin Valley and streams state-wide. Recently Max Gomberg, who had been water conservation and climate change manager at the State Water Resources Control Board, resigned from the Board because he had seen “the agency’s ability to tackle big challenges nearly eviscerated by this Administration.”

When it comes to forest and wildfire policy, Governor Newsom has also been a disappointment. His administration has not strengthened private land logging rules or taken steps to end the timber industry’s short-rotation clearcut and plantation forestry which puts nearby communities at great wild re risk.

Newsom endorses protecting forests to maximize carbon storage but his administration has failed to provide incentives to persuade owners to allow forests to grow older between logging entries. And he has promoted the “thinning” of federal forests under the mistaken belief that thinning forests reduces wild re risk.

Because it opens the forest to light and wind and reduces competition for water, “thinning” actually increases re risk except in the very short term while reducing carbon storage. In the real world, allowing private and public forests to grow older and, in the case of public forests, allowing the forests to grow ancient, would reduce wild re risks while maximizing carbon storage.

In late 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom issued a “groundbreaking” executive order making California the rst state in the U.S. to commit to protecting 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030. However, there has been no meaningful progress on de ning how the governor and his administration plan to implement the policy. Here, too, we see good words but a failure to translate rhetoric into on-the-ground reality.

President Biden is no better when it comes to forest, water and climate policy. He, too, talks good policy. But on the ground, where policy meets reality, Biden and his administration have not delivered.

For example, soon after becoming president, Joe Biden said that his administration would protect 30 percent of U.S. land and water by 2030. at’s over 720 million acres!

However, Biden claims that land which is logged and grazed could count as conservation under the 30 percent designation if it is managed with “the longterm health and sustainability of natural systems” in mind. Anyone who has seen public land logging and grazing rsthand, knows that is bunk.

Biden’s approach to conservation mimics that promoted by Teddy Roosevelt and Gi ord Pinchot at the end of the Gilded Age. Today we see on the public lands the results of that policy: forest landscapes dominated by clearcuts and tree plantations and streams with severely impaired ow and degraded water quality. Clearly, a di erent policy is needed.

Solid science has demonstrated beyond doubt that commercial logging and grazing degrade ecosystems and damage water supplies and stream ows. ose impacts can and should be controlled more e ectively. However, because the land and water degradation caused by commercial logging and grazing can not be eliminated, grazed and logged land can not and should not be considered “conserved”.

North Group Underwrites Two Campers

by Sue Leskiw

is summer, North Group Sierra Club sponsored two campers – a 9-year-old girl from Blue Lake and a 9-year-old boy from Eureka (whose father had attended the same camp!) – to week-long sessions at Lost Coast Camp near Petrolia. (Unfortunately, a sta shortage led to cancellation of the boy’s week, but North Group has reserved a slot for him in summer 2023.)

is is the fth year that campers sponsored through donations to the Lucille Vinyard/ Susie van Kirk Environmental Education Fund have gone to overnight camp at this venue in the Mattole Valley. e facility’s mission is to “provide youth with a dynamic summer camp experience, which promotes building selfesteem and positive friendships, individual expression, and fostering an appreciation for the natural world.”

In exchange for tuition, the camper agreed to submit an essay to North Group about the experience. Here is what she had to say:

“I had a really great time at Lost Coast Camp and can’t wait to tell you about it. I made new friends and a lot of memories. One of my favorite parts was going to the Mattole River. It’s a beautiful river and I love to swim. I learned how to make friendship bracelets and sing by the camp re. I really liked my cabin and counselors. I slept outside under the stars for the rst time! It was a little cold, but I loved it. Last but not least: the awesome food. ank you so much for the opportunity to have so much fun and learn. P.S. e drive there is awesome!”

Ancient and Old Growth forests store the most carbon for the longest time while protecting water quality and biodiversity.

Community Coastal Column

Compassionate Cleanup Guide

Caroline Gri th, NEC Executive Director

According to the most recent Point in Time count by Humboldt County, there are at least 1,656 people living on the streets in our county. Due to the limitations of the count and the fact that it only includes a 24-hour period, this estimate is undoubtedly smaller than the actual number of unhoused people who live in our community. Many of our unhoused neighbors end up living in greenbelts or other open spaces, meaning you might encounter an encampment when out doing litter cleanups. It’s important to remember that these are members of our community who care about the environment and deserve respect. Unfortunately, not having cooking or refrigeration facilities also results in a lot of plastic packaging and in many cases folks also want to dispose of trash in a responsible way, but don’t have access to disposal services because our local governments have yet to prioritize providing these services. Here are some tips for doing cleanups in a way that is safe and respectful.

1. Remember that the pile of belongings that you nd might not be abandoned. Folks who are not housed often don’t have a place to stash their belongings (tent, bedding, clothes, personal items, etc.) while they are out for the day, and carrying all of those things with them is not only di cult, but can also make them a target. According to our friends at Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives (AHHA) and Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction (HACHR), who work with unhoused community members, many people have lost belongings, sometimes precious personal belongings like important documents, medications, eyeglasses or family photos, when encampments have been “cleaned out.” Unless you know that the items have been abandoned, it’s best to leave them and keep an eye out next time you are doing a cleanup in the area to see if they are still there.

Although it may not have walls, a camp is someone’s home and it’s important to respect that. Remember that the pile of belongings that you nd might not be abandoned. If you know that there is an encampment in an area in which you regularly pick up litter, consider introducing yourself and making an arrangement to drop o a trash bag and come pick it up later.

days. at way you can facilitate responsible trash disposal while being respectful of people’s privacy.

is is also a great way to make a connection with your fellow human beings and can result in less stress for all parties involved. If you are comfortable doing this, it’s important to remember to be courteous, respectful and non-judgmental. If you are not comfortable doing it, then don’t, but still remember to be courteous, respectful and non-judgemental.

3. Although it may not have walls, a camp is someone’s home (even if it’s temporary) and it’s important to respect that. You wouldn’t want someone barging into your home, even if they came with good intentions, so be mindful of those boundaries and avoid entering spaces that appear to be inhabited. If you are doing a group cleanup, make sure that your fellow volunteers know which sites are inhabited and o -limits.

4. If you know that there is an encampment in an area in which you regularly pick up litter, consider introducing yourself and making an arrangement to drop o a trash bag and come pick it up later, whether that’s a couple of hours later or in a few

2. When you do encounter a pile of obvious trash, be mindful that it may contain hidden sharp objects so be careful when picking it up. Use heavy leather gloves or a trash-picker to facilitate safe transfer to a trash bag. If you are unsure if there may be syringes in the pile of trash, pick up one piece of trash at a time. If you do encounter a syringe, always handle syringes with gloved hands, facing the pointy part away from your body. Using a “sharps container” with a biohazard rating is the most ideal storage in lieu of disposal (at HACHR, or other safe disposal sites in the community). If you do not have a sharps container, using an old plastic or glass water bottle can work great as a substitution. Make sure to put the syringe in the bottle point rst. You cannot contract Hepatitis C or HIV from simply coming in contact with a syringe. You should, however, be very careful when handling syringes to avoid needlestick injuries, which may lead to the contraction of blood borne illnesses, albeit extremely rare even in the case of a needlestick injury.

5. Many unhoused people have had belongings “cleaned up”, either by well-meaning volunteers or by those who simply want them to leave the area, or had them con scated by police, so it may take awhile to build trust and rapport. Putting in the e ort to build trust can result in a mutually bene cial situation in which you get to collaborate with your unhoused neighbors to steward this place that we all call home, and maybe make new friends.

Which Way The Wind Festival Returns

Which Way the Wind Press Release

Which Way e Wind (WWTW) Festival returns October 7 - 15, with multi-disciplinary arts presentations as well as panel discussions. Individual festival events will begin at 7 p.m. at Synapsis, 1675 Union St., Eureka. e festival will also include a Madaket Bay Tour featuring guest speakers which will be held on Sunday, October 9, beginning at 1 p.m. at Madaket Plaza, foot of C Street in Eureka. Visit whichwaythewind.org for more information and for a complete schedule of festival events.

Which Way the Wind was rst created in 2018. is organization and its festival seek to increase community awareness of the perils of nuclear proliferation, global warming and environmental degradation.

Since its inception, the WWTW Festival has donated more than $15,000 to artists and a variety of local organizations. Among those is the Golden Rule, the premier nuclear protest vessel, which has traveled internationally and continues its travels in 2022-23, advocating for nuclear disarmament.

Today there is a nexus between the environment, nuclear weapons and climate change which endangers our world. e 2022 Which Way e Wind Festival is a way for multi-disciplinary artists as well as those involved in public and community service to engage in productive community conversations and work whose goal is to achieve a collective understanding of the issues at hand and to nd solutions.

For additional festival information, contact Festival Chairperson Jack Irvine at (707) 407-9667.

Which Way The Wind Festival

Week of provocative art, performances, and panel discussions.

Art and Songwriter Contests and Art Exhibitions

Location: Synapsis and Madaket Plaza, Eureka

$110: Festival Pass: all Synapsis events (Including Madaket)

$75: Festival Pass: all Synapsis events

$50: Madaket Bay Tour

$15: Ticket to a Synapsis evening

Child/student half price

October 7-15, 2022

whichwaythewind.org

Our goal is to engage the Humboldt County community through the arts and advocate and support actions for peace and increase awareness of the perils and costs of nuclear weapons and global climate threats.

Schedule of Events. All times 7 p.m. (except Madaket)

TUES

WED

THUR

FRI

10/14 POETIC MUSINGS: THE CAPACITY TO SEE BEYOND THE VISIBLE 7 p.m. Synapsis. An evening of poetry and spoken word. Featured: Jerry Martien, Katy Gurin, Larry Crist, Anne Fricke, David Holper and Vincent Peloso. Hosted by Jeff DeMark.

SAT 10/15 SONGS OF THE WIND. 7 p.m. Synapsis. Features performances by the top three winners of the festival’s Songwriter Contest. Includes performances by a variety of local musicians and special guests Jeff Pevar and Inger Nova.

* Attendees please follow latest CDC guidelines for indoor events. Masks are optional.

FRI 10/07 OPENING NIGHT 7 p.m. Synapsis. Introduction to the week-long events. Artists and Songwriters awards. North Coast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy presents Edna St. Vincent Millay's Aria Da Capo. This short play is a fundraiser for NPA. Eureka High Students facilitate Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed techniques under the supervision of Nanette Voss.

SAT 10/08 ENCORE PERFORMANCES of Edna St. Vincent Millay's Aria Da Capo 7 p.m. Synapsis. North Coast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy presents Edna St. Vincent Millay's Aria Da Capo. This short play is a fundraiser for NPA. Eureka High Students facilitate Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed techniques under the supervision of Nanette Voss.

SUN 10/09 MADAKET BAY TOUR 1 p.m. Madaket Plaza. Jerry Rohde and Aldaron Laird lead a tour of Humboldt Bay and a discussion about sea level rise and PG& E’s storage of nuclear fuel rods and potential effects on our Bay communities. Wiyot Cultural Center Manager Marnie Atkins will be the guest speaker on the tour. Attendees are also invited to visit the Cultural Center following the tour.

10/11 WHERE WE ARE GOING: NUCLEAR ARMS, TREATIES AND DEFENSE SPENDING 7 p.m. Synapsis. Featured Panelists: Dr. Robert Gould, President, SF Bay Chapter Physicians For Social Responsibility; Jackie Cabasso, Western Sates Legal Foundation/Mayors for Peace; Dale Preston of Hirosoft International.

10/12 BURLESQUE, COMEDY AND SONG: THE WHICH WAY THE WIND CABARET 7 p.m. Synapsis. John Heckel directs a cabaret-style performance ensemble. An evening of humor, song (remember Tom Lehrer?) and burlesque examines the absurdities of war and nuclear deterrence strategies. Performance ensemble: Larry Crist, Bob Morse, Wendy Butler, Mike Murdock, Arnold Waddell and Bernadette Cheyne.

10/13 HUMBOLDT BAY OPPORTUNITIES/CHALLENGES 7 p.m. Synapsis. Discussion about local efforts to address global warming, sea level rise and PG&E nuclear fuel rods storage. Featured Panelists: Cal Poly Humboldt Asst. Prof. Jennifer Marlow, Three Degrees Warmer co-director; Alec Brown, graduate student; and Jennifer Kalt, Director, Humboldt Baykeeper.

Activists Block Logging in Jackson State Forest

EPIC Press Release

On August 25th, CAL FIRE announced that logging would resume in Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF). CAL FIRE made this announcement without informing Chairman Michael Hunter of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians beforehand.

Before that announcement was made, the Coalition to Save Jackson State Forest felt like we were making progress with the State. CAL FIRE had made several concessions and released their vision for the future the previous week.

But the sudden announcement that logging would resume, without any oversight by the Tribe or the community, was a stark reminder that CAL FIRE still views the forest fundamentally di erently than the community does.

CAL FIRE gave the following statement to CapRadio in order to explain their decision to restart logging: “Once these [timber harvesting plans] are complete soon, we then have the opportunity to look forward together and revisit future [timber harvesting plans] and the broader [JDSF] management plan as a whole… Given the contractual legal commitments at stake, the time utilized for holding productive conversations, and the resulting vision document that highlights an assortment of shared values to guide future operations, outcomes aligned and resulted in resuming the one THP currently underway.”

To translate that from CAL FIRE speak: “we will update the vision after we’re done logging some of the most controversial areas in the forest” and “we’ve talked enough - time to start logging”.

If CAL FIRE was expecting their announcement to be met with indi erence they couldn’t have been more wrong. At a rally in the forest held on August 28th, the Save Jackson Coalition made clear that we still oppose logging. Activists followed up with protests marching through Fort Bragg on August 29th.

But perhaps the most impactful protest took place on August 30th at the headquarters of the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) in Sacramento. About 50 protestors made the trip from the coast to the Capitol to let CNRA and CAL FIRE (they share a fancy new o ce building) know that the community is still opposed to these logging projects. Protestors chanted, sang songs, and waved signs for about two hours. After the rally ended, a group of six movement elders conducted a non-violent sit-in in front of the building’s entrance. e elders were arrested by State police.

Polly Girvin, one of the arrestees and upcoming EPIC Sempervirens award winner, had this to say: "I went to jail today for my great grandchildren Daniel,

Courtney, Chloee and Cambree. ey are members of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians and great grandchildren of Priscilla Hunter. I want them to remember that their auntie stood up for their future, so they can be out there in the forest gathering basket materials, gathering medicine, and learning about all the plants. I am a role model for Pomo youth and that is why I took a stand today."

Then on September 7th, forest protectors nonviolently blocked loggers from entering the highly contested timber harvest plan (THP) known as Red Tail, halting logging activities in JDSF six miles east of Ft. Bragg near the popular Camp One campground. Activists said they are issuing an “Earth First! Stop Work Order” to replace the “pause” CAL FIRE had agreed to during the past few months.

If you haven’t already done so, visit wildcalifornia. org/action-alerts to sign a petition to shame CAL FIRE’s deception and protest logging in Jackson Demonstration State Forest! Also check out Savejackson.org for more updates in this campaign!

On August 30 about 50 protestors made the trip from the coast to Sacramento to let the California Natural Resources Agency and CAL FIRE know that the community is still opposed to logging in Jackson Demonstration Forest. Source: EPIC.

At dawn on September 7, 2022 forest protectors nonviolently blocked loggers from entering the highly contested timber harvest plan (THP) known as Red Tail, halting logging activities in Jackson State Demonstration Forest. Source: Redwood Nation Earth First!

EyeonWashington

Dear Readers,

First, I would like to thank you for your continued interest in the Eye on Washington column we began ten years ago.

at column was born mostly out of my continued commuting between homes in the Washington, DC Metro area and here in Humboldt. at bicoastal existence has invigorated me to provide useful, informed news of activities in our nation’s capitol; a place that was unexpectedly home to me for 20 years.

Our nation has experienced an increased partisan divide and lack of bipartisan support for essential conservation issues ranging from endangered species protections to public lands management. I have found it increasingly di cult, as a nonpartisan journalist, to provide important updates on issues of interest both locally and nationally. With the support of Caroline, our editor, and the sta I have decided to give EcoNews readers a di erent perspective. ough I will continue to provide readers updates on federal legislation that critically impacts our region, those updates will be more opportunistic, on a “this is likely to have a direct impact” basis rather than monthly. I have also o ered to do an occasional highlight of local or national leaders in the conservation movement.

ese pro les will be personal, related to issues, and at best, provide a lighthearted window into the excitement and struggles of those amongst us who work hard to protect our earth.

So please join me as I try to bring a positive note onto the scene with inspiring and perhaps humorous pro les of people you may know or who you might like to know. But don’t worry, I will still be keeping an Eye on Washington.

- Dan Sealy

Make your voice heard

Humboldt County Supervisors

1st District - Rex Bohn

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

2nd District - Michelle Bushnell

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

3rd District - Mike Wilson 707-476-2393 | mike.wilson@co.humboldt.ca.us

4th District - Virginia Bass 707-476-2394 | vbass@co.humboldt.ca.us

5th District - Steve Madrone

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

U.S. Representative - California District 2 Congressman Jared Hu man www.hu man.house.gov

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

California Governor Governor Gavin Newsom www.gov.ca.gov

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

- To THE Team -

Steffi Puerto

Ste Puerto’s pronouns are she/her. Originally from Oakland, CA, she made her way up to Humboldt County in 2019 to pursue her degree in Journalism and Critical, Race, Gender, and Sexuality at Cal Poly Humboldt. Puerto has been active in the bilingual student newspaper El Leñador reporting, writing, and working on public relations for the past four semesters, as well as working her rst semester on the Lumberjack as an equity editor. Puerto has a huge sense of love for community activism, social justice, and storytelling. After graduation, she hopes to gain her master’s in videography and work in public relations, as well as one day be able to create her own multi-media publication for young students who are interested in intertwining social justice with journalism.

PLANT A TREE

nursery worker could save you some grief.

Trees provide many bene ts: cooling shade, fruit, habitat for birds and other wildlife, privacy, beauty. On top of all that, they sequester carbon in their wood, and the fall bonanza of deciduous leaves makes great compost, which if handled well will return carbon to the soil, an excellent long-term place to store it.

Now is the best time of year to think about planting a tree. Orchardists call this “dormant season,” when plants have lost their leaves and stopped growing. Planting now is like doing surgery on a patient while they’re anesthetized: much less trauma, better recovery. Late fall to early spring is the season: the earlier, the better.

Arbor Day is in spring, best for cold-winter places. With the West Coast’s milder winters we can plant from late fall til early spring.

Fruit trees are sold “bare root” in the winter, when young trees are dug up and shipped straight from growers’ elds, and stored in bins at your neighborhood nursery. Bare root trees are cheaper than potted trees, and they’re a better buy in another way: their roots are more developed.

Consider full-size “standard” trees, semi-dwarf, or dwarf. Semi-dwarf is a practical size, not too big to keep pruned and picked with an ordinary ladder, but bigger and more productive than dwarf (although sometimes there’s only room for a dwarf). e size of mature standard trees can make them a challenge to take care of.

Fruit trees of named varieties usually need pollinators. ey’re not self-fertile and need pollen from a di erent variety to make fruit. Your Fuji apple will need help from a Gravenstein or Golden Delicious, for example. Pears, plums and most other fruits need pollinizers too. Town dwellers in Humboldt County, where fruit trees are so popular, might not need a pollinator—a nearby neighbor’s tree could do. If you don’t know of a pollinating match for your new tree in the neighborhood, you’ll want two new trees to get fruit.

So many di erent varieties to choose from! Just remember that some need more cold winter weather to bear fruit, some need a hot summer to ripen, others can’t handle freezes. Research or the counsel of a good

Because they are hand-grafted to preserve the exact variety, fruit trees are a little spendy: budget around $100 each. Ornamental (ungrafted) trees are usually less.

Birders may prefer native trees such as crabapple, cascara, Paci c dogwood, or alder (red along the coast, white in hot-summer areas). eir succulent leaves feed insects and their larvae; their fruits and seeds attract birds themselves. ey are available at native plant nurseries and many are easy to grow from seed for some real bragging rights.

Shop early for the best selection. Nurseries drop the price in spring to clear out leftovers, but it’s worth paying full price for well-formed vigorous specimens.

If you sort through them you’ll see some di erences. Look for one with branches evenly distributed around the trunk, not all one side. with good angles of 45 to 60 degrees to the trunk. Check the roots too. Beware of especially big trees—they might be last year’s runts held over.

Before you start digging, imagine your tree full grown in the spot you’ve picked. Any issues with power lines, being too close to buildings or property lines? Okay then. A wide, generous planting hole will give your new tree plenty of loose soil to grow into. But you don’t need to add any amendments or fertilizer, as the tree will settle in better without added stimulus. Set the tree at the right height: the are where the trunk turns into roots should be just visible. Spread roots out, check to be sure it’s standing straight, then ll in the hole. Stakes are usually not needed. Water well to settle the soil. en water deeply once a week in dry spells until cool weather returns next fall.

Deer love fruit trees. Not just the fruit – leaves and twigs too. If deer can enter your yard, your trees will need protection — a circle of six foot tall chicken wire will do.

Pruning, like planting, is best done in the winter. Next year you’ll want to begin shaping your tree, to make it easy to pick, to prevent disease, and improve yields. ere’s an art to this. A workshop, reading, or videos can guide you.

Planting a tree is a long-term gift to yourself and the world that will keep on giving.

Susan Nolan

Get on Board for the Climate

Forests

Martha Walden, 11th Hour

e Jackson State Demonstration Forest (JDSF) standoff continues as conservationists, including local Tribes, push Cal Fire to embrace new priorities for the forest. Carbon sequestration gures high on that wish list.

e original mission of JSDF and the other eight demonstration forests in California is to demonstrate sustainable forestry and to improve scientific understanding of forest ecosystems. But when loggers started harvesting large, hundred-year-old trees in 2020, that mission came into question. What they were doing certainly looked like your average, run-of-themill, money making mission. Even Senator McGuire said he was "not con dent the demonstration forest is demonstrating anything of substance." He also said the management plan for the demonstration forest would be rewritten four years early, to re ect protesters' concerns.

Cal Fire did release a statement, a "new forwardlooking vision," which Cal Fire spokeswoman Christine McMorrow called a "starting point" for the new management plan. Acknowledging the new, harsh reality of climate change, it says the revamped plan would "include a renewed focus on climate science, restoration ecology and a new model for tribal comanagement."

However, the vision document forgot to mention that Cal Fire would resume logging before completing the plan or even notifying their new tribal co-managers. Now that the chummy mood has been spoiled, we're back to Earth Firsters yoked together and blocking the doorway of the California Natural Resources Agency in Sacramento.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see if the new management plan keeps the promises Cal Fire has made so far. In addition to including tribal representatives in management, Cal Fire has agreed to stop cutting down big trees – the ones that hold the most carbon and make you hope that old growth ecology can be restored.

A four foot diameter at breast height de nes the threshold of too-big-to-log.

Also promised was "permanent protection of large, speci ed trees to enhance future carbon

Tomorrow

sequestration over time . . . " is is probably a reference to an idea from Steve Sillett, Cal Poly forestry professor and modestly famous champion of redwoods. He and his partner, Marie Antoine, have been advocating for recognition of the bene ts of certain exceptionally vigorous trees. "Potential Elite Trees" (PETs) is the term they have coined. In areas slated for harvest, a minimum of two PETs per acre should be given special treatment. ese trees will enhance the health of the surrounding forest and successive generations.

When I lived in the Sierras during 1974, clearcutting was not practiced, and we were surrounded by healthy, diverse forests that had been selectively cut. at was the Paradise area which burned so ercely a few years ago. e clear-cutters had come along and destroyed those forests, leaving behind miles of dense, spindly, pseudo-forests called dog hair. e business model of clear-cutting sets a dismally low bar.

Some of the most idealistic protesters at JSDF would like to see an end to logging altogether in the state-owned forest. At the opposite pole live those who see a forest solely in terms of board feet. e wide gap between these groups is lled with distrust. But somewhere in that in-between is the balance we must achieve. e state foresters say they were demonstrating that already, but the loud and clear feedback from Californians is a demand for more carbon sequestration and more emphasis on restoration. Our hope and the forests of tomorrow need each other.

Jackson State Forest Protectors. "Stop Logging Our Future."

Solutions Summit

Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act) in support of restoration and conservation e orts in the Klamath region.

In March 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began soliciting project proposals from local Tribes, agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other conservation partners. ese projects will receive $16 million for water quality and habitat restoration, supporting sh listed in the Endangered Species Act, sustaining critically important wetlands for migrating waterfowl, and related natural resources issues.

Michael D. Pulliam

e remaining $10 million will expand the Klamath Falls National Fish Hatchery. is project will increase rearing capacity for two federally listed sh found only in the Klamath Basin, and support restored and resilient ecosystems in the face of climate change. When completed, the expansion of the hatchery facility will help support and stabilize the imperiled, declining wild populations of both sh species in Upper Klamath Lake.

In addition to the $26 million allocation, federal grants will add nearly $3 million in funding to improve sh and wildlife habitat via the Klamath River Coho Restoration Grant Program and the Trinity River Restoration Program.

is brings the total investment to nearly $29 million.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said, "Clean water, healthy forests and fertile land made the Klamath Basin and its surrounding watershed home to tribal communities, productive agriculture, and abundant populations of migratory birds, suckers, salmon and other sh. But recent water scarcity has had a tremendous impact on the area’s shing, farming and ecosystems….

With millions of dollars being invested in water and habitat resilience from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, help is on the way to restore this once abundant ecosystem for the bene t of all its inhabitants, human or otherwise."

FULL CYCLE COMPOST EXPANDS

e following is a press release from Arcata's workerowned waste management company Full Cycle Compost:

Full Cycle Compost is now collaborating with the City of Arcata to utilize their Earth Tub composting systems at Bayside Park Farm. e Earth Tubs have been idle since the pandemic began, and the City is happy to see them put to good use again.

e Earth Tubs will build soil for Bayside Park Farm by recycling food scraps from the Community Center, the Foodworks building, Arcata Farmers Market, and the Bayside/Sunny Brae customers of Full Cycle Compost.

KLAMATH BASIN TO RECEIVE ~$29M FUNDS

In August 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced it would send nearly $29 million in restoration and conservation funding to Tribes, agencies, and stakeholders in the Klamath Basin region.

e Klamath River Basin is a large region of California and Oregon drained by the Klamath River. Over the past 20 years, the Klamath Basin has met unprecedented challenges from drought conditions, limited water supply, and the diverse needs of all the life depending on its waters.

e Interior Department has held several in-person and virtual engagement sessions with area Tribes, state and county agencies, and other water users to discuss short- and long-term solutions related to drought impacts. e health of the Klamath Basin's ecosystem will require collaboration with a wide variety of stakeholders in the years to come.

To this end, the Interior Department has decided to allocate roughly $26 million from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (also known as the

ese investments represent the initial phase of enhanced restoration work in the Klamath Basin. Planning for future years will continue incorporating Tribes, localities, and stakeholders to develop and re ne sciencebased, collaborative e orts. e ongoing projects will focus on consensus for prioritization of restoration and monitoring plans and provide additional assurance that available funding is spent wisely. The Klamath Basin is set to receive $162 million over the next ve years to restore the regional ecosystem and repair local economies. Sources: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Press Release, Wikipedia

Isaac West, a worker-owner at Full Cycle said, " is collaborative agreement arrived just in time. e volume of food waste from the Arcata Farmers Market and our residential customers was starting to overload our compost system at the Redwood Coast Montessori Community Garden. We're happy to see our community step up to keep this precious resource out of the land ll."

e agreement between Full Cycle Compost and the City of Arcata is a trade, making it a real win-win.

e City of Arcata has been itching to start composting again for its senior lunch program at the Community Center, the Foodworks building, and their upcoming summer camps, and this collaboration has provided a no-cost way to make that happen.

Full Cycle Compost is a worker-owned, bicyclepowered composting company. The company was incubated in the Cooperation Humboldt and North Coast Small Business Development Center's Worker Owned Humboldt program. It serves residential and commercial customers in Arcata, and its Certi ed Organics Composting program provides no-cost consultations for local businesses to comply with California's new composting law, SB-1383. Full Cycle Compost manages compost systems at Jardin Santuario, Redwood Coast Montessori Community Garden, Jacoby Creek Land Trust and now Bayside Park Farm. For more information, visit fullcyclecompost.com. Source: Full Cycle Press Release

YOUR DESTINATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS AND SUCCESS STORIES

Bats

Elena Bilheimer, EcoNews Journalist

October is the time for all things spooky, when strange and mysterious creatures are known to take ight throughout the night. Some of these creatures happen to include bats (timshúkriih in the Karuk language), animals many people associate with autumn and Halloween. Humboldt is home to thirteen species of bats, each with their own unique characteristics and behavior. e common names of the thirteen species of bats include the hoary bat, silver-haired bat, western red bat, yuma myotis, long-eared myotis, long-legged myotis, little brown bat, pallid bat, fringed myotis, big brown bat, California myotis, Mexican free-tailed bat, and Townsend’s big eared bat.

Bats are mammals, meaning that they are warm blooded vertebrates with fur, regulated body temperature, that bear their young alive and nurse them through the secretion of milk by the females. ey are the only mammals capable of sustained ight, and use ultrasonic cries to capture and detect their ying insect prey by the echoes the insects re ect back to them. Bats are found throughout the world, except for the Antarctic, most of the Arctic (although bats are still found at very high latitudes in the Yukon territories) and certain oceanic islands.

During the winter, insects become harder to nd, so bats either hibernate or migrate to warmer areas in order to survive. Some species do one or the other, while others do both. In the case of hibernation, bats nd a safe location—called a hibernacula— to drastically reduce their metabolic rate, heart rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature in order to cycle in and out of a state of “torpor”. Torpor allows them to be extremely energy e cient and reduce energy costs by about 98 percent.

Based on research by Boyles et al. (2011), the economic value of bats in the United States is $3.7 to $53 billion per year, due to them being natural pest control for crops. Knowing more about these fascinating creatures and their behaviors can help warrant their protection and respect, as well as improve the ability

The Hoary Bat

(Lasiurus cinereus)

Hoary bats are one of the most common and easily recognizable bats in Humboldt County due to their silver-tipped fur with golden undertones. ey can measure nearly 6 inches in length, with an average wingspan of 16.93 inches, making them one of the largest bats. During fall, they are known to congregate in large numbers in Humboldt Redwoods State Park and exhibit a “swarming” behavior. Hoary bats are migratory and hunt over wide, open spaces because they use very low frequency echolocation to locate

The Silver-Haired Bat

(Lasionycteris noctivagans)

Silver-haired bats have black fur with silver-white tips that covers most of their body, and an average wingspan of 11.61 inches. e sexes typically only co-mingle during the fall migration period when both females and males most likely mate with multiple partners. Like most North American bats, the females are then able to store the sperm until April or May, giving birth to one or two pups 50 to 60 days later. In the summer, the females migrate hundreds of miles with the stored sperm or fetus in order to access more insects and a warmer climate. Once they have reached their summering grounds, the females will give birth and form maternity roosts of between 10100 individuals, only returning to the redwoods in the fall and winter. Similar to other species of bats, the pups are born deaf and blind but can identify their mothers by scent and must develop hearing shortly after birth. ey will often nd shelter in dead tree cavities or under loose bark. ese bats can live as long as twelve years, although the average life span is seven.

Western Red Bat

(Lasiurus blossevillii)

Western red bats are currently on the California Mammal Species of Special Concern list. This administrative designation means that they have been recognized as vulnerable by the State and is assigned in order to focus more attention, research, and conservation e orts on these species to avoid listing them as threatened or endangered by the California Endangered Species Act.

ey are known for their coloring, ranging from yellow-brown to bright orange. ey tend to roost alone in the foliage of trees and shrubs in forests, usually in riparian trees such as willows, cottonwoods, and sycamores. Because many of those trees are rare in Humboldt County, it is still unknown where they roost when visiting the area. Occasionally, they have been known to nd homes within fruit tree orchards. Roosting in the foliage can make them more susceptible to predators including opossums, birds of prey, and even domestic house cats. ese bats tend to be very elusive, and spotting one is a rare and exciting event. Similar to the other species of bats described above, females have the ability to store sperm until the ideal time in spring. However, unlike hoary bats and silver-haired bats, they have a higher average number of o spring.

Hoary Bat. Source: Tom Benson, Flikr.

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