Osprey Spring 2023

OSPREY

Spring 2023

Cal

Poly Humboldt

faces new challenges amidst housing crisis

CONGRATULATIONS SPRING 2023 GRADUATES!

Spring 2023 Staff

Pat Gomez-Lopez

Carlos Pedraza

Monica Robinson

Savana Robinson

Anthony Aragon

Griffin Mancuso

Oscar Meyer

Editor in Chief

Jillian Wells

Layout Editor

Carlos Pedraza

Copy Editor

Savana Robinson

Social Media Manager

Monica Robinson

Illustrators

Griffin Mancuso

Emma Wilson

Writers and Photographers

Anthony Aragon

Pat Gomez-Lopez

Griffin Mancuso

Carlos Pedraza

Monica Robinson

Savana Robinson

Jillian Wells

Emma Wilson Advisor

Jessie Cretser-Hartenstein

Editor’s Note

Welcome to the Spring 2023 edition of Osprey magazine. Our team has worked hard to deliver a diverse range of stories that we hope will inform, inspire, and entertain you. This issue covers topics from technology and environmental issues to culture and lifestyle. We explore a wide range of stories, from artificial intelligence to earthquakes; hip hop to a housing crisis; motorcycles to dam removals; and cultural burning to transportation; we’ve got stories for everyone.

As Editor in Chief, it was important to me that our stories revolve around the issues that our readers may find most challenging, such as the housing crisis, earthquakes, and the impact of AI on education. It’s essential to stay informed about these topics since they have a significant impact on our lives and are ever-changing. We also look at topics such as cultural burning and dam removal and how they impact our environment. Additionally, we dive into the unique subcultures of hip hop and female motorcyclists to provide a well-rounded perspective on the world around us. Our goal is to provide our readers with a nuanced understanding of these important issues.

We also understand that sometimes you need a break from all the serious stuff, which is why we’ve included a playlist to kick off the summer. And for those who love to experiment in the kitchen, we’ve included a recipe from a Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State University) alumni that is guaranteed to impress. I’d like to thank my staff for the incredible amount of hard work that went into creating this magazine. We’re excited to share this issue with you and we hope that you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the read.

-Jillian Wells

Land Acknowledgement

We, the staff of Osprey magazine, acknowledge that Cal Poly Humboldt is located on the present and ancestral homeland and unceded territory of the Wiyot tribe. In the Wiyot language, Arcata is known as Goudi’ni, meaning “over in the woods’’ or “among the redwoods.” It is vital we use language that reflects the present tense when speaking about Indigenous Peoples. While we identify the traditional land of the people we also emphasize that these people are still here today.

We acknowledge the larger Humboldt County area is made up of approximately 15 different federally and non-federally recognized tribal nations. These nations include Wiyot, Yurok, Hoopa, Karuk, Mattole, Tolowa and Wailaki.

We are privileged by the presence of Indigenous culture on our campus and community. We encourage readers to learn more about Indigenous lands and cultures and find ways to directly support Indigenous communities by donating

Enough Dam Nonsense

By: Emma Wilson

The Klamath River is the third largest river in the United States traveling from northern California to southern Oregon which flows from the Columbia and Fraser rivers. The dams along the river have been causing problems for a little over a century. Efforts to remove these dams started in 2002, but the dams are finally scheduled to be removed by 2024. The dams are owned originally by PacificCorp, who intended the dams to generate hydropower, in other words electricity. All the pieces are in place for these dams to be removed by 2024.

After decades of being unable to fish due to bans placed in the 1930s on the tribal communities in 1978, the Supreme Court of California upheld the ban on fishing for tribes. The Yurok, Karuk, and Klamath Tribes have attempted to mend their cultural heritage and subsistence fishing for salmon. The Klamath dams block salmon and steelhead from reaching more than 300 miles of spawning habitat in the upper basin of the Klamath river. Today only less than 3% of salmon remain because they cannot access their historical habitat in the Upper Klamath Basin. Six dams have been placed on the Klamath River. Four of these dams are being removed. The four dams include: Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, Iron Gate, and J.C. Coyle (in Oregon), built between 1922 and 1962. A non-profit organization, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), was formed in 2016 to take ownership of four Pacifi-

Corp-owned dams for the purpose of managing the dam removal process. Funding for the projects is set, with up to $450 million secured from PacifiCorp ratepayers and the state of California through the 2014 Proposition 1 Water Bond. Removing the Klamath dams will be the largest dam removal project and river restoration project in the United States. Restoring the river’s health and abundance of fish will provide social justice to Indigenous Peoples who’ve relied on the subsistence of salmon for thousands of years. Officials said they began through “early removal work” with the smallest dam, Copco 2, slated to be removed first in late summer/early fall of 2023. Deconstruction of the remaining three dams will occur in 2024, with all four dams removed by the end of that year.

The Dam’s Main Purpose

Alison O’Dowd, who is the Environmental Science and Management chair at California Polytechnic University, Humboldt campus, explains how these dams work and why they were built to begin with. “They generate electricity, which a lot of the electricity was sold to folks, you know, in northern California and southern Oregon for very cheap rates. So you have all this environmental destruction and degradation related to the dams and people getting really cheap power out of it,” said O’Dowd.

Impact to River Communities

The dams have been affecting downriver tribes for a century now. Parts of Karuk Tribal territory lay near the Iron Gate of the Klamath where diminished water quality and salmon populations are highly affected.

The largest tribe in California, the Yurok Tribe, is located downstream closer to the mouth of the Klamath River and is in support of the dams’ removal. The Hoopa and Klamath tribes, located by the Trinity River and the upper basin, have mixed feelings about the issue.

The Shasta Nation Tribal Center is against dam removal and is for the cultural preservation perspective, which means to maintain the organism alive, uncontaminated, and without variation or mutation, that is, to preserve the culture in a condition that is as close as possible to the original isolate. The Shasta Nation Tribal Council of The Shasta Nation Tribal Center sent out a letter to the Pioneer Press Guest Opinion on Nov. 4, 2009, stating “The Shasta Nation Tribal Council has been an aggressive opponent to the dam removal efforts from the very beginning. The Shasta Nation has been invited to critical meetings, and has had vital and privy KBRA information from the beginning. We oppose dam removal and we will be as integral, as we have been from the beginning of this dam nonsense, part of the solution.”

There is broad support for the removal of these dams, especially from the Yurok people, who are the

biggest supporters of the Klamath dams’ removal. There is, however, some local opposition to the project around the reservoir’s local landowners, ranchers and farmers. Either way, there are many reasons for conflicting parties to be for or against the removal of these dams.

The Interpretation Coordinator of the Yurok Tribe, Nicole Peters, explains the magnitude of the dam removal, Peters says “Ceremonies matter to us because it is part of our spirituality and daily life, they are intimately intertwined as mentioned before…We connect more with the natural environment and rely upon the health of the environment to take care of us; it provides us with food, medicine, and other resources that ensure that we are well.”

Peters explained the types of ceremonies they celebrate, “Ceremonies occur along our rivers as our homes were traditionally along the rivers. We practice the Jump Dance (Yurok, Hupa, and Karuk practice a similar dance), White Deerskin Dance (Yurok, Hupa, and Karuk practice this dance), Fish Dam Ceremony (Yurok and Hupa), Brush Dances (Yurok, Hupa, Karuk) and others that I do not know much about as they are not practiced anymore,” said Peters.

The four dams mentioned are being removed for the improvement of the water quality to the Klamath River, fish diseases become less prominent in the water, the temperature will lower, and salmon will repopulate the upper basin

once dam removal is complete. Michael Belchik, a Senior water policy analyst who has worked with the Yurok Tribe for 27 years explains that the first dam that was built in 1917 was named Copco 1. Copco 1 was made to create electricity since many houses were without at the time. Copco 2 was built in the 1920s/30s and in 1962, the Iron gate was the final dam to generate a better and more stable flow with the other rivers.

Impact on Fish and Wildlife

The primary impact of these dams is that they block the salmon from their habitat, “The habitats that are accessible above the dams are different and unique from the habitats that are available below the dam. So you lost a lot of genetic diversity. The fish rooms, the fish, were adapted to go into the dams. So that’s genetic diversity, and then you also reduce the geographic diversity. And that’s important because the more places you have a population of animals like fish or anything like that, then the less vulnerable they are to if a catastrophe strikes one of the places, right, then they’ll still be animals left in other parts of the watershed that didn’t have that flash flood or fish disease outbreak or something like that. So genetic and geographic diversity go hand in hand, and they’re both

equally important,” said Belichik.

Toxic algae called cyanobacteria or blue algae, which is a byproduct of the dams, directly affects the health of tribal members. In the late summer, it was advised not to make any contact with the water, even touching with your hand. Sediment over time builds up from the dams being put in place disrupting the flow of the river. Impact from the dams on the river have caused the river bed to not have the same flow species of host cell cyanobacteria, which is a deadly disease also to fish. “So what happens is there’s a blue green algae called Microcystis Algae, it’s also known as blue green bacteria or cyanobacteria. But it’s really sort of a cross between algae and bacteria. And it has a deadly poison in it. It’s a liver toxin. And even if the algae itself doesn’t make it downriver in the fall, when the algae cells all die, that chemical inside them gets dissolved in the water column, and then it’s transported down river and you can take water samples and run specific tests,” said Belchik.

In Sept. 2002 the Klamath River fish kill occurred on the Klamath River in California. According to the official estimate of mortality, about 34,000 fish died. The 2002 fish kill was a result of

“Taking down these dams gives us a chance to rebuild rivers that are really dynamic as they try to reach equilibrium”

drought, low flows, and water misman agement. Ich disease, also called white spot disease, or parasitic disease, affects a variety of freshwater fish species. Ich spreads when fish are packed at cold water refuges, while flows are really low.

PacificCorps started licensing the dams under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, also known as FERC process in 2004 but the 2002 fish kill built a lot of momentum to get the dams out.

The Klamath Justice Coalition traveled to Scotland, as O’Dowd mentioned.

“The tribes have been at the forefront of pushing for dam removal. Protesting and different letter writing campaigns, going to Warren Buffett’s house, flying to Scotland, to the Shareholders Meeting of Pacific Corps, for over 20 years since the early 2000’s,” said O’Dowd.

Brook Thompson, Yurok Tribe Restoration Engineer, both Yurok and Karuk, explained how salmon will be restored again. “Engineers have learned from past dam removal, and currently the understanding is that there are expected to be impacts for a few years, but it will take the salmon and time to recover.”

Thompson explained further, “Salmon have been around for millions of years and have adapted to the Pacific Northwest. Taking down these dams gives us a chance to rebuild rivers that are really dynamic as they try to reach equilibrium,” Thompson said.

“It is impossible to know for certain the future of salmon behavior, there are many more factors than just dam

removal that salmon will make their decisions on… I personally feel confident in salmons’ ability to amaze and their intelligence in understanding through smell and other senses the dam removal will give them new opportunities,” said Thompson.

The salmon and lamprey will benefit from dam removal by having access to more than 300 miles of habitat that were cut off by dams. They will have access to cold water habitats on tributaries that were not accessible previously, which will have increased dissolved oxygen— which the salmon need to breathe— and decreased disease risk. The dam removal will also decrease toxic algae which will benefit the ecosystem. Just three years after the Elwha dam removal in Washington, lamprey populations increased by 120%. Salmon are a keystone species which is an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem, with many other species from river, aerial, and ocean animals benefiting from increases in salmon and lamprey.

“This is not just a win for tribal citizens or for salmon, but for hope in a time of climate change and mass extinction,” Thompson said. “The dam removal would not have happened if it was not for the undying persistence of those who deeply care for the salmon and water. This was a fight over twenty years in the making, which when looking at the start felt like a Mt. Everest of a task.”

“This is not just a win for tribal citizens or for salmon, but for hope in a time of climate change and mass extinction”

Renewable Energy Coming to Humboldt

By: Carlos Pedraza

The Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) is creating the first hydrogen bus fleet in Northern California. The project is being funded by a $38.7 million grant from the California Department of Transportation.

There are dozens of partners, some private and others public. One of those public partners is located right on California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt—the Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC). Since 1989, the SERC has been researching renewable energy, specializing in hydrogen energy.

The project is the first of its kind. The SERC has been the main consultant to the HTA on hydrogen energy. Jerome Qiriazi,Transit Planner for HTA, described the SERC as, “immensely helpful; they really are the technical consultants on navigating

the hydrogen world.”

The Schatz Energy Research Center has worked on many projects related to renewable energy from solar panels to hydrogen. The project is the end result of decades of research and engineering.

Renewable energy in batteries is one of the greatest challenges because batteries do not store or transfer 100% of the energy inside of them. Dr. Lehman explained that a good battery will transfer 90% to 95% of its energy but the hydrogen batteries can only transfer 35% to 40%.

“You typically don’t use hydrogen to store electricity, just to store it, but when you use it in a bus, or a truck, or a car to drive that car down the road that’s a different story,” Lehman said.

Hydrogen creates a high capacity of energy that can power large vehicles when stored in a tank and combined with captured oxygen from the air. The fusion of elements within the fuel cell generates the power to move forward.

Students at Cal Poly Humboldt who regularly take the bus, like Nick Nielsen, support the project. “Like grains of sands, creating a big mountain, little changes to policies like that help,” Nielsen said.

Deepak Tripathi, a graduate student working on hydrogen research at the SERC, explained how hydrogen is used to create energy. Hydrogen stored in the bus will be combined with oxygen from the air. These two come together in the fuel cells creating energy in the fusion. The energy is stored in a battery where the electricity is used when needed.

Dr. Peter Lehman, a Founding Director of the SERC, said, “The goal there was to demonstrate the use of hydrogen as a storage medium for renewable energy.”

Like any fuel source, hydrogen has to be collected, stored, and used. Although it is one the most common elements in the universe, it has to be purified in order to work efficiently as fuel. Otherwise it will damage the battery inside the vehicle.

A line of Red Transit System and Arcata buses parked at the Humboldt Transit Authority Depot.

Photo by Griffin Mancuso.

Although it is one the most common elements in the universe, it has to be purified in order to work efficiently as fuel.

Hydrogen is separated from methane, natural gas, or any compound with hydrogen, in a process called steam-methane reforming (SMR). The methane could be taken from natural sources like swamps and animal waste or fossil fuels like natural gas.

“Could be from digesters, as I said, or it could be normal natural gas, which is being supplied. You clean it, then you apply heat and electricity to it to breakdown the molecules and pass it through steam, and then you get hydrogen,” Tripathi said.

The SMR process is not a green source of hydrogen, as the CO2 separated from the methane is released into the atmosphere. An alternative process is the electrolytic hydrogen process (EHC).

In the EHC process, electricity is passed through water, separating oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen is stored and used as fuel with oxygen as the only byproduct released into the air. It’s a more energy intensive process with a higher cost, but the electricity can come from a green source such as wind or solar, making the EHC process a fully renewable source.

“The technology is not the thing which is stopping us but which technology can produce hydrogen at a cheaper price.” Tripathi said.

HTA is currently planning to use SMR hydrogen in liquid form, but Tripathi, as part of SERC, is researching

the possibility of HTA producing its own hydrogen using the electrolytic process. Whether or not Humboldt County could provide the resources, the electric and water costs would first have to be calculated.

pacity of the buses in order for the buses to complete the daily routes without needing to refuel as often and be able to travel the difficult roads.

The first trial bus won’t be delivered until fall of 2024. The fuel capacity will be modified to ensure the bus can travel at least 300 miles a day, so it can travel to places as far as Ukiah, CA. Qiriazi stated that a secondary goal of the project is to provide services to Mendocino County. While Amtrak and Greyhound provide transit to Mendocino County, HTA is planning to create a weekend route to Mendocino County.

The new bus fleet is planned to be delivered by early 2025. Each bus will cost $1.5 million as they have custom specifications to increase the fuel cell ca-

While HTA has approved the grant, the money has yet to be spent. The majority of it is planned to be used for the buses and infrastructure including hydrogen fueling stations, including some stations to be available to the public, and a transit center that will include commercial spots and housing. The amount of housing units that will be available is not clear as all plans are tentative, but the target demographic is expected to be mostly students of Cal Poly Humboldt and College of the Redwoods.

The project is moving forward, but no end date has been stated. Many of the plans are expected to change, but the end goal is for them to be complete before 2029. By then, the state of California will have mandated all public transportation to run on renewable energy.

“Like grains of sand, creating a big mountain, little changes to policies like that help.”

Left: A driver doing a safety check before starting his route.

Right: Jerome Qiriazi explains the difference between electric and hydrogen buses. Photos by Griffin Mancuso.

The Lumberjack’s 2023 California College Media Association awards

First place

Best Sports Photograph - Ollie Hancock

Best Arts and Entertainment Story -

Kianna Znika and Ollie Hancock

Best Infographic - August Linton

Best Headline Portfolio - Alana Hackman

Second Place

Non-breaking News Story - Ollie Hancock

Newspaper Column - Lex Valtenbergs

thelumberjack.org

Third Place

Feature Photograph - Cash Rion and Ollie

Hancock

Editorial Cartoon - Ollie Hancock

News Series - Angel Barker, Liam Gwynn, Matthew Taylor

News Photograph - Ollie Hancock

Illustration - Ollie Hancock

Sports Story - Dezmond Remington

Brilliant Technology or BLACK MAGIC?

By: Jillian Wells

Students and educators are witnessing a technological breakthrough that is transforming the way students learn. The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots, such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT), allow students to access a smarter and more efficient way of learning. With ChatGPT, students can simply input a question or a prompt, and the AI chatbot will generate an original response that is seemingly unplagiarized. As a result, more and more students are now turning to AI chatbots to tackle homework problems, essays and even quizzes with incredible ease and efficiency. The future of education is unfolding before our eyes and AI chatbots such as ChatGPT are at the forefront of this learning innovation. The AI programs are rapidly expanding their capabilities. Within two months of its launch, ChatGPT, a language model chatbot, had already gained over 100 million users. This exponential growth raises important questions about the impact on learning environments. How will schools, like California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, respond to this evolving technology?

What is AI?

Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that allows a programmed device to perform tasks, make decisions and learn on its own. While the origins of AI date back to 1951, the capabilities of AI have dramatically increased in recent years.

According to David Marshall, a lecturer in the computer science department at Cal Poly Humboldt, an AI’s algorithm needs to be trained through reinforcement in order to work. “When the artificial intelligence does a good job of giving us the good answer, it reinforces or improves the connection.” Marshall said, “If we tell it no, that was the wrong thing, it deemphasizes a particular connection.”

While this is a basic function of AI, we don’t fully understand how it works. Marshall added, “Computer scientists

don’t actually know what’s happening inside of artificial intelligence. They have an algorithm that says this is how we’re going to teach this program to do things, but what actually happens inside of the program is sort of a little bit of a black magic, a black box.”

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The advanced capabilities of AI programs like ChatGPT have put educators in a difficult situation. On one hand, the student’s utilization of such programs could be considered plagiarism and hinder the learning process. On the

other hand, these programs can also serve as a tool to help enhance learning efficiency.

For students, these programs can be very useful and help them learn more effectively. Logan McDaniel, a junior studying child development at Cal Poly Humboldt, said that students may as well use this available technology because it’s not going anywhere. “It’s just when I get stuck on one of my papers or something, I’ll just look at it and then just use it as a tool to help me figure out the next point and how to move on from the place that I’m stuck at.” McDaniel said, “I know 10-15 people that use it, so quite a bit of people.”

“what actually happens inside of the program is sort of a little bit of a black magic, a black box.”

For educators, this may mean shifting the way they teach. “Faculty are now saying, well, maybe we need to change the way we assess, so maybe I need to say, ‘okay, everybody take out a blank piece of paper, I want you to write in class now for me’,” Marshall said. “Some have said, we need to have agreements with students regarding AI, like what is done at the military institutions of higher learning. Students need to attest that no cheating is going to happen. If you find yourself cheating, or somebody else discovers it, lapses in ethics will be reported by the students involved.”

Measures such as in-class exams or honor code agreements for students to not use AI programs are seemingly a bandaid over a bullet hole. Currently, there is very little administrators can do to regulate the use of AI on school work. Enoch Hale, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Cal Poly Humboldt, said that, “As far as our center is concerned, we don’t have the funding and there aren’t any specific softwares that we can procure that would prevent the cheating.” Hale added that he believes that AI is “another extension of human creativity” and the best course of action is to “think through it and with it.”

The Ethical Dilemma

Is student use of AI to complete schoolwork plagiarism? The answer is: yes, no, and we don’t know. While ChatGPT can be seen as a form of cheating, it also falls under the category of using technology to enhance learning. Marshall pointed out that plagiarism traditionally involves copying something that has already been written, but with ChatGPT, the AI generates responses that have never been written before. While using ChatGPT to complete schoolwork is a seemingly victimless crime, Hale views cheating as, “allowing other thinkers to do the work for you, that you should do yourself to grow.” By this definition, the use of ChatGPT would be considered cheating. However, there isn’t a conclusive response yet as this is still a new and emerging phenomenon. “It’s a very disruptive technology because nobody really has wrapped their arms around how to deal with it. There are a lot of people that have theory, how to integrate this into academics, but there is no solid understanding,” Marshall said.

Helpful in the Workplace?

Not only are AI chatbots being used by students in school, but it’s also being utilized in workplaces. The Lost Coast Outpost, a local news media company in Humboldt County, uses AI as a tool for multiple purposes. They use AI to generate artistic images to go along with their articles and have the AI dissect multiple-page documents to pick out the main points for their readers. “If people use it smartly it’s a really powerful tool … I think it will allow journalists to do deeper and better reporting,” said Hank Sims, Editor of The Lost Coast Outpost. “It does a great deal of the tedious work that we would have to do.” Sims stated ChatGPT is good at, “highlighting the most important things in a big long document.”

As the use of AI tools in education and professional settings continues to gain traction, Derek Bruff, Visiting Associate Director at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Mississippi, stated that “I don’t think these tools are going to vanish in 12 months. I think we are going to

see them integrated into lots of different workflows and lots of different professional environments, and that means as educators I think it’s part of our responsibility to help students to learn to use these tools as well.”

What’s next for AI?

Although ChatGPT’s skills are impressive, it’s important to recognize the limitations. The AI’s large margin of error can have severe consequences and mislead users. One of the major challenges with ChatGPT is that its data set is static, limiting its ability to provide the latest and most accurate information. While ChatGPT excels at answering specific questions it has been trained on, its results become increasingly unreliable as the questions become more complex or distant from its training. As Marshall warns, the danger of AI, like social media, is that people tend to trust its information even if it’s not true. Therefore, it’s important to be cautious while using ChatGPT and other AI tools and validate the information they provide.

Art by Griffin Mancuso.

WARNING! GENERATED BY AI!

The capabilities of AI chatbots like ChatGPT are undoubtedly phenomenal, but how does it perform when prompted to write a creative story? Below is a comedic, fictional story generated completely by ChatGPT that combines every story in this issue of Osprey.

In a world plagued by earthquakes, homelessness, and dams, a motley crew of Cal Poly students banded together with baddies on bikes and tech enthusiasts to face the seismic dangers and help the homeless.

The tech enthusiasts touted their AI-powered earthquake detection system as the savior, but the students scoffed, “If this is brilliant technology, I’m a wizard.”

But when a massive earthquake hit, the students ate their words. The tech system worked like magic! “I guess we’re all wizards now,” they quipped sarcastically.

However, they quickly realized that relying solely on tech was like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. They needed more. They turned to renewable energy and traditional ecological knowledge.

The baddies on bikes were in. “We’ll ride for a cause, as long as it’s not for spandex or high-vis jackets.”

As they worked towards their common goal, they encountered setbacks and obstacles, including skeptical locals who thought they were nuts. “You’re telling me, you can control wildfires with fire? That’s like trying to put out a house fire with a squirt gun!”

But the group persevered. They learned that sometimes, you have to put aside your differences and work together, even if it means listening to tech enthusiasts who claim to be wizards. “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” they said.

In the end, they triumphed over the seismic dangers and homelessness, and the dams were finally being removed. The group celebrated their victory, but not without a little bit of humor. “I guess you could say we were damsels in distress, but now we’re the dam-removers,” they joked.

cera Y es l ours v !

A Comprehensive Guide to Seismic Hazards in Humboldt County

By: Griffin Mancuso

At 2:34 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2022, McKinleyville resident Emily McCollum was rudely awakened by a violent shaking. McCollum had experienced earthquakes before and expected it to be brief. Unfortunately, this was not the case. As the shaking grew worse, all she could think to do was cling on to her bed for dear life. The click of her space heater told her that the power had turned off, and it would remain that way for the next 24 hours. Her home swayed back and forth, which was exacerbated by her living on the second story. She hoped her body wouldn’t be found in a pile of rubble. “No one ever talks about how loud earthquakes are. They’re loud,” said McCollum. “All the car alarms started popping off … and then it was eerily quiet once it stopped.”

In a panic, McCollum started pacing around her residence, picking up things in her living room that had fallen out of place and putting fallen photo frames back on the wall. McCollum then called her friends to make sure they were okay, and thankfully they were. Somehow, she was able to fall back asleep.

When she woke up, she was disappointed that all the food in her fridge had spoiled. With no access to electricity, she arranged a “power outage kickback” with friends. They recollected their experiences with the earthquake and played Cards Against Humanity. “It just kinda made it fun and easier for me to process, because it was so traumatic,” said McCollum. Along with McCollum, many residents of Humboldt County were left emotionally shaken by the event.

McCollum had no idea how frequent earthquakes occurred in Humboldt County when she moved here. After experiencing such a significant natural disaster, does she feel more prepared for potential earthquakes in the future? She said, “Hell no!”

The Triple Junction

Robert McPherson was a Senior Seismologist for TERA Corporation when he ran the Humboldt Bay Seismic Network and is currently a research associate for Cal Poly Humboldt. According to a workshop he attended, “Of all places in the United States, this is the most likely place to have an earthquake.” Humboldt County sits at the intersection of several major faults: the Cascadia subduction zone, the Mendocino fault, and the infamous San Andreas fault.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is about 621 miles long and runs from Northern Vancouver Island in Canada to Cape Mendocino in California. It is comprised of the Juan de Fuca plate and North American plate. The Juan de Fuca plate pushes against the North American plate and eventually moves underneath it. The friction from this movement builds up over time until the faults’ rock slips past each other, resulting in a “megathrust” earthquake. Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes occur very infrequently (the last one took place in 1700), but great subduction zones are the only

faults that can generate an earthquake above an 8.5 magnitude. This is the big one that most northern Californians are worried about. Historically, this zone has caused an earthquake every 400 to 600 years, but an earthquake could always happen outside of that average.

The San Andreas fault and the Mendocino fault are “strike-slip” faults, where the two plates slide past each other. The San Andreas fault stretches through western California, stopping roughly 30 miles short of Eureka. It is responsible for the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes in San Francisco, and is one of the few faults you can see from above ground. The Mendocino fault is a 162-mile long structure in the Pacific Ocean east of the North American plate. It sets a boundary between the Pacific Plate to the south and the Gorda plate to the north. It also connects with the Cascadia subduction zone to the east. The fault is active, but the recurrence of its earthquakes are unknown.

A Headache-Causing Fault

Along with these major faults, there are many smaller faults running through Humboldt County, with the Little Salmon fault being one of the more active ones. The Little Salmon fault runs through the dunes in River Valley, Hydesville, Fortuna, and southern Eureka. “It’s a fault that’s also caused some headaches because it was discovered after things were built on it, so that’s why some of the buildings on the College of the Redwoods campus aren’t allowed to be occupied, because they’re right on the Little Salmon fault,” Michalak said. “Nonetheless, an earthquake on it would be felt widely in this area. It would be very strong, similar types of magnitudes from the Rio Dell earthquake, and that’s a fault we know about.”

Early Earthquake Warning

Currently, the field of geology is focusing on earthquake early warning (EEW) systems. The goal of an EEW system is to give citizens as much time as possible to prepare for incoming tremors. Ideally, these systems should

give people ten seconds of notice before the more damaging waves, the s-waves, start happening. This does not sound like a lot of time, but ten seconds can be the difference between life and death. Currently, McPherson is assisting in the improvement of Humboldt County’s early earthquake warning system. Both California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt and the United States Geological Survey have been contributing to a system of fiber optic cables to improve the EEW. The speed at which fiber optic cables move information will be able to better keep up with the earth’s speed of processing information, approximately the speed of, “a missle—8 km a second or something like that,” according to McPherson.

Worrying Waves

What about tsunamis? The largest recorded tsunami in history peaked at 1,720 feet in Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958. A member of the California Geological Survey and adjunct professor in Cal Poly Humboldt’s geology department, Dr. Jason R. Patton, said it would take about a 7.2 magnitude earthquake to generate a tsunami. How far you need to travel above sea level will depend on where you live. “In some places, the wave will get higher than in other places. Because what happens is as the tsunami travels over land, it can slow down. So the same tsunami in Arcata won’t get to the same height as where I live in Manila,” said Patton. They recommended for Hum-

Michalak with several devices that detect seismic activity, which is then displayed on a seismograph.

Photo by Savana Robinson.

boldt citizens to check tsunami.ca.gov to check where nearby tsunami hazard areas are so they can act accordingly. The main goal is to travel from within that hazard zone to outside of it.

Can We Predict Earthquakes?

Unfortunately, there is no guaranteed method of earthquake prediction at this time. Earthquakes are, currently, very difficult to predict with accuracy. Seismology developed as a science in 1889, so it’s just over a century old. The Earth, in comparison, is around 4.5 billion years old, so geologists have a lot of catching up to do. In fact, the fault that caused the earthquake in December, 2022 hadn’t been discovered until after the fact because it was not visible from the surface. New faults are constantly being discovered, especially in Northern California. “There’s lots of faults we know very little about. We don’t know their history, their characteristics, we know that we can see them, we really don’t know their capabilities. Oftentimes earthquakes are on faults that we never even knew about. We have a lot to learn. We are nowhere near ahead of the information; we’re way behind,” said McPherson.

So What Do We Do?

Earthquakes are going to happen whether we like it or not. Sometimes we won’t even notice them, and sometimes they rouse us from our sleep and send us running (or driving) for the hills. Instead of fearing when the next “big one” may occur, it’s important to learn from our younger generations. Michalak has experience teaching elementary school children about earthquakes, who she described as, “naturally curious”. Their first reaction to learning about earthquakes is, ‘That’s cool!’ rather than shutting down and saying, ‘That’s scary, I don’t wanna hear about that, I hope that doesn’t happen.’” Another advantage that these children have in a school environment is regular earthquake drills. “Earthquake drills are a great way to train your body and your mind to react when an earthquake happens. Sometimes adults don’t practice, so they don’t

have that response,” Michalak said. Preparing for what might happen after an earthquake is just as important as preparing before it. The effects can be devastating, both in the short and long-term. Adrienne Newby resides in Loleta, but travels to Rio Dell to work at her father’s pizza restaurant. Even though Loleta experienced minimal damage compared to Rio Dell, Newby still found herself stranded.“It was hard for some people, especially when the power was out … [there is no] communication or knowledge of what’s going on. The power’s out, we have no internet. And I don’t have good data reception up there and I ended up stuck with no gas in Fortuna overnight, waiting for a gas station to open” she said. The restaurant, like many businesses there, was forced to shut down after the earthquake. Walking through the restaurant, you can see displaced tiles and cracks running along the

ceilings and walls. Tables are moved into corners and decorations are taken down. The only reminder of the restaurant’s previous life is the menu hanging above the front counter. They were forced to close permanently on February 11.

While Humboldt County is an area with a lot of seismic activity, geologists are working with communities to better prepare for the future. Building codes are continuously improving, new technology is being researched, and earthquake prediction may one day be possible. Humboldt’s residents are not completely powerless. They can utilize the plethora of resources that geologists have created for them, connect with their communities, and continue to learn while they grow more familiar with the earth they live on.

A red-tagged house on Painter Street in Rio Dell.

What To Do When Things Get R O C K Y

Earthquake-proof your home

Keep in touch with your community

-Get your neighbors’ contact information.

-Keep in mind who in your neighborhood will need help evacuating.

-Have an emergency contact for after an earthquake.

-If you’re a homeowner or renter, have an engineer inspect your foundation.

-Tie the foundation to the house so it doesn’t slip off during an earthquake.

Practice earthquake drills like you did in elementary school

-Think about the places you are most often and how you will navigate them in the event of an earthquake.

-Be prepared for a lack of power. -Plan out your evacuation routes.

Secure the inside of your home

-Secure furniture to the wall or the floor to prevent injury or property damage.

-Secure any items hanging from the walls or on high shelves.

-Consider securing sentimental items and high-up items that may fall on you.

Earthquake tips provided by owner and principal geologist of Six Rivers Geosciences, Jennifer Wilson.

Comfort Corner:

Grandma’s 2-Day Lasagna

Two generations of Humboldt women make Grandma Lynne’s famous lasagna.

Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State University) alumni, Teagan Decker (BA English ‘95, MA English ‘98) and her daughter, Emma Wilson (BA Journalism ‘25), share their delicious family recipe. This traditional lasagna is meaty, saucy, and filled with flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. mild Italian sausage

• 1/2 lb. hot Italian sausage

• Pork is best—especially with bones. Country-style ribs or a pork roast—you can freeze meat you don’t need—Approximately 2 lb. (not counting bones).

• 2 packages of sliced mushrooms

• 1 Onion

• Head of garlic

• Basil

• Oregano

• Cocoa powder

• 2 tablespoons Brown sugar

• 2 cups Red wine.

• 16 oz of lasagna pasta

• Ricotta, a big hunk (or some small hunks) of hard cheese.

• Lots of mozzarellas. 2 big pieces - 2 lb. each. Usually, there is some left over.

• 2 cans of tomato paste

• 2 whole peeled tomatoes

• 1 crushed tomato

• 1 diced tomato

• Chicken broth (optional).

Instructions (Day One)

1. Get a large sauce pot and a large frying pan.

2. Cut up an onion. Heat up some oil in the frying pan, and brown it slowly. Put the onion in a large pot. Pinch off pieces of 2lb. mild sausage and cook in same pan as the onion. One pound at a time on medium heat. Stir until browned and crispy on the outside. Put it in the pot. Brown ½ lb of spicy sausage and put it in the pot.

(While onions and meat are browning, the following ingredients can be added to the big pot.)

3. Open cans of tomatoes: Put them in the pot add raw cut-up

garlic and cooked onions in the pot. Mix in oregano and basil to the pot.

4. Pour in about one cup of red wine.

5. Put in 4-5 pork loin ribs, about two pounds.

6. Put in two packages of sliced mushrooms raw.

7. Bring to a boil. Cook all day

8. Fish out pork bones.

Add or subtract ingredients as needed (brown sugar—a little bit-supposedly makes acid more delicious; cocoa powde — supposedly deepens the taste)

Keep cooking and let sit overnight (covered).

Instructions (Day Two)

1 Reheat the sauce in the morning.

2. Measure noodles by measuring raw ones in the pans and doubling the amount. Boil noodles and put in a bowl of cold water. Assemble: Noodles

3. Noodles, sauce, ricotta (pinch pieces and drop in), sliced cheese–cover, parmesan–sprinkle, repeat.

4. Cover pans with foil.

5. Freeze or bake at 350°F for one hour total, removing foil for the last 20-30 minutes.

Let rest before serving.

Reflections on an Ongoing Student Movement

The housing crisis in Humboldt County is nothing new, but a sudden policy change at California Polytechnic University, Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt) has incentivized students to rally against the university’s administration in hopes of change.

Controversy began when Cal Poly Humboldt updated its housing policy on Feb. 4 of 2023 with a statement that returning students would not be granted the option to live on campus for the upcoming fall semester. According to this update, university-sponsored housing for students would be relegated to three motels: Comfort Inn Arcata, Super 8, and Motel 6. Resulting from the university’s plans to double enrollment by 2027, this decision put additional pressure on the city of Arcata to address its housing crisis, which already leaves approximately 1.9% of Arcata’s population houseless according to a Humboldt County press release from 2022.

The reaction to this news was rapid and explosive. The threat of being displaced off campus directly implicated the campus community in the county’s pervasive housing crisis. Concerns that motels did not have the space to accommodate all returning students fueled anti-administrative sentiments and panic among university residents. Though campus resources such as the health center, academic support, and the on-campus meal plan would still technically be available to students, another major concern was that living off-campus would limit students’ physical access to these services.

As a result, only four days later, on Feb. 8, a protest was held on the campus’s quad where students voiced their frustrations and demands toward the school’s administration. Lars Hansen, an organizer of the event, wanted the protest to be a space for students to make themselves heard and unite under a common struggle, “I at least tried to use what power I have to give everyone a voice…I tried not speaking at all. It wasn’t really my place after that. It was everyone’s.”

The protest was primarily advertised through fliers with inflammatory titles like “Housing Wars” and “Cal Poly Homeless,” a pre-existing slogan that became the movement’s colloquial name. The phrase “Cal Poly Homeless” stems from houseless students’ previous attempts at dissemination and community building. Hansen noted that the school’s faculty was also involved in the protest’s planning. “They contacted us first, and then we worked with them, but then I basically

By: Pat Gomez-Lopez

wanted to have the protest speak for itself because it wasn’t about inviting them to the table. They wanted to obviously make sure it was all safe. We wanted to make sure that in emergency situations, everything would still be going smoothly, and it did,” Hansen explained.

This involvement is a point of contention for some Cal Poly Humboldt students. “It was a little bit sus that they wanted to organize and protest on campus in the first place,” said Daniel Garcia, a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt and an active member of the campus community. “Why? Because you’re not going to transgress, like you can’t. There’s this quote from Audrey Lorde: ‘the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.’” Garcia, an original member of the Critical Race and Gender Studies club and an experienced participant in student activist groups such as Students for Quality Education, is especially skeptical of the university’s deliberate collaboration with the protest and of the police presence at the event. Garcia believes this involvement to be an indicator of the movement’s assured inefficacy. “I think that Cal Poly Homeless and its initial organizers were extremely nearsighted… and privileged by the university because they were pretty much allowed to do all these things but not face any real threat, and the university’s attempt to co-opt them in the early stages speaks to how transgressive the movement would even be, which is not at all.”

Maria Ortego, a current Cal Poly Humboldt student living off campus, also holds a critical view of the initial Cal Poly Homeless protest. “It seems like

Lars Hansen, student activist and founding member of HESHA.

that whole thing has died,” she stated, referring to Cal Poly Homeless, “I haven’t heard anything new about it… It’s only on campus that you see or hear about it.” According to Ortego, the insularity of Cal Poly Homeless to the campus community excludes groups of students who are arguably affected the most by the university’s policy change, like students who are facing rising rent prices off campus or who are houseless. “What I think about the protest is kind of just what I think about a lot of protests that happen here… most of it is performative. It gives people the opportunity to vent without actually making any change.”

Though the protest on Feb. 8 marked the extent of student involvement for some Cal Poly Humboldt residents, Cal Poly Homeless did branch off into a student-run organization called the Humboldt Equitable Student Housing Alliance, or HESHA. HESHA’s goals center around ensuring equitable housing for all Cal Poly Humboldt students and coalition-building with Arcata residents. Presence at Associated Students meetings, an organized march to City Hall on Feb. 15, and tabling at Arcata’s weekly farmer’s market are all pragmatic approaches HESHA has engaged in to advance their goals.

Holly Rae, a senior at Cal Poly Hum-

boldt and single mom who has been an off-campus renter for three years, stresses the importance of bridging the divide between the campus community and Arcata locals. “The relationship between Arcata and the university is strained. It has been for years…I think it would be really good for better communication to be happening between the community and the students about mutual struggle on this point,” said Rae. She asserted that students will need to build better relationships with the town to get the help they need, especially since the university has not stepped in in any significant way to address this divide.

The housing crisis has been ongoing for decades, and though it has impacted students and local renters alike, both communities have not been able to unite under this shared struggle. One reason for this continued tension is the fear that Cal Poly Humboldt’s substantial enrollment growth will increase rent prices. Worries of getting “pushed out of town” and feelings that “Cal Poly is making [locals] have to leave Arcata, a place they’ve lived for decades,” are common among local residents according to Rae. These anxieties generate animosity

toward students.

From the student perspective, many choose not to fully integrate into the local community due to safety concerns, especially in the case of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ students. Many opt instead to live on campus for the duration of their education. “I feel like we could really offer each other a lot of really beautiful things, but right now, with the divisions that we’re seeing, it really is an us versus them situation, which just increases the danger and the risk to the students primarily,” said Rae. For those who cannot afford on-campus living, housing insecurity is not uncommon. Housing insecurity is a state in which one’s living situation is unstable. The term encompasses several dimensions of housing problems ranging from safety concerns and a lack of affordability to houselessness. A study conducted by social work professors Jennifer Maguire of Cal Poly Humboldt

“The relationship between Arcata and the university is strained. It has been for years …I think it would be really good for better communication to be happening between the community and the students about mutual struggle on this point.”

“Let them be homeless” poster at the Feb. 8 Cal Poly Homeless protest. Photo by Savana Robinson.

and Rashida Crutchfield of California State University, Long Beach, in 2018 revealed that 19% of Cal Poly Humboldt students reported being housing insecure, which is about one in five students. Though Rae is not affiliated with HESHA, she has consulted with and advised its members as an experienced organizer on campus and in the community.

Hansen, after his involvement in the Feb. 8 protest, became a founding member of HESHA. “We’re standing for the same things that the community is standing for,” he maintained. Hansen distinctly separates the conscience of the student body from the capitalistic goals of the university and assures that getting support from the local community would be beneficial for both parties. Hansen explained that local residents “have a little bit more pull and much more experience…in doing things that will change for the better… Getting those local community members will help us speak to the city.” According to Rae, a city ordinance on rent caps, a ban on short-term vacation rentals, and a cap on

Cal Poly Humboldt’s student admissions are examples of changes that would greatly benefit both students and local renters.

HESHA’s next steps are “a little bit ambiguous right now,” said Hansen. Balancing school and activism can be exhausting and has taken a toll on the organization’s progress. “We’re all tired. We come here for degrees more than anything. I think now what we need to do is continue working with the programs that are in school.”

Currently, HESHA’s focus also includes gaining attention from news outlets and reaching out to local organizations that deal with the county’s housing crisis, like food banks and shelters. Hansen has also been planning a letter-writing party, where HESHA members would write letters to people in positions of power, such as state senators, the governor, and lawmakers in Congress. He urges all students to “pour their passion out onto a page” and send a letter themselves.

Since the update on Feb. 4, Cal Poly Humboldt has opened up a limited number of beds to returning students and added the Ramada Inn as a possible university-sponsored housing option. The university has also slated to begin construction on three major infrastructure projects, including Craftsman’s Student Housing, Library Circle Student

Housing, and the Campus Apartments Student Housing and Parking Structure, which would increase housing to accommodate the institution’s growing student population. The university’s official Infrastructure Projects page projects that the Craftsman’s Student Housing will open to students in August of 2025, followed by Library Circle Student Housing in August of 2026, and finally, the Campus Apartments Student Housing and Parking Structure in the Summer of 2027.

In the meantime, Rae stresses the importance of taking the human impact of this crisis seriously, even if it may resolve once housing is built. “I think community response is the immediate answer because the very real issue is we’re going to have students who can’t get housing next semester,” she cautioned. Mutual aid, which can range from students helping each other find available beds, to community members opening up additional dwelling units, could save students from houselessness in the coming semesters. “That would be an incredible show of solidarity between students and the community,” said Rae.

With this recent Cal Poly Humboldt policy, renters and students alike are facing housing insecurity and safety concerns, but an opportunity has also arisen for two divided communities to act in solidarity and begin a process of understanding and mutual support. “It’s in these moments that we are pushed to define what community means, and what community could look like,” offered Rae.

“For those who cannot afford on-campus living, housing insecurity is not uncommon.”

Student holding a sign at Cal Poly Homeless’s Feb. 8 protest. Photo by Savana Robinson.

Why Humboldt?

In the wake of recent administrative decisions, students have been reflecting on why Cal Poly Humboldt won as their university of choice. Are these reasons enough for students to stay enrolled amidst the housing crisis? Here are some insights from students that shed light on why Humboldt appealed to them. As of reporting, two of the seven students included in this article will be leaving the university next semester.

Alexander deBarros

“I’ve always been interested in science and nature. I’ve known for well over a decade that I wanted to study birds when I grew up ... When I decided to transfer to a four year institution, I saw that Humboldt had a specific wildlife major, which was exactly what I wanted to do ... It was also nice to move up here because I’m from LA, Southern California, so I get the out of state experience with in-state tuition … I do enjoy spending time out in nature, exploring the forest, the marsh, and just talking with all of the other people around here, especially people who are also wildlife majors. Just about everybody I’ve met has been really nice and easy to talk to.”

Kameron Kendall

“I have a sick twisted fantasy of being a wild mountain man. Honestly I didn’t expect to be in the dorms. I wanted to live on the side of Riverbank and catch fish with my bare hands and a spear. I came here for total and complete isolation. I wanted to be away from the world. I wanted to be devoid of responsibility.”

Rana Ceja

“First of all, I came here casue my cousin lives here, and second of all cause when I did come here I saw the damn forest and I was like ‘Dude, this is hella beautiful. I wanna be here forever.’ I wanna be connected to nature and it was a double whammy because I got far away from my fam. I became independent. I became my own person here. I’m growing, I’m nurturing, I’m going through the pain of it all, but alone.”

“What brought me to the Humboldt area is I have family near here … up in the Yurok tribe/nation, and I also have I know professors who work here who are family …It’s definitely a lot different than what I expected it to be. Something that I really like about this campus is the ITEPP building and the community here, as well as SQE [Students for Quality Education] I’m also part of Promotorx, which is run by Mariso l… As an indigenous student, another reason I came to this campus was because there’s a large native population here, but honestly there’s things that the school could be doing so much better … what’s happening with housing is not okay

I’m also deciding not to come back just cause this school is extremely isolating, and on top of that I would have instances where I just like felt like I wasn’t really understood in my classroom … I just don’t think a lot of like white faculty or white teachers try to like make their curriculum comfortable for POC students. I remember one of the assignments was like ‘Talk about a time where you’ve dealt with an issue and like how you approached it’ and a lot of issues that I deal with have to do with my cultural or racial identity or queer identity so I was writing about those instances which … just bring up a lot of trauma and there’s not really any resources for me. There weren’t any resources for me to just kind of work through that. I talked to the teacher about it and, you know, there’s only so much you can do.”

“Originally I was taking entomology in High School and my entomology teacher went here, his daughter went here, and his wife went here. So he would hype it up every time we talked about going to college, and then what made me want to come here even more was I went to the housing office during a tour where they talked about rainbow housing … I happen to be queer so I applied and got accepted into rainbow housing and into the school … There’s lots of queer people, which is my main reason for staying and loving it here, … and lots of really great outfits I see all the time and it’s so fun when someone compliments you on your outfit. There’s just tons of queer activities to do ran by different organizations on campus, and so it’s a super nice, inviting community.”

“I lived in a big city and I just wanted something different and it was far away from home. Now that I’m here, for sure I’m grateful that I live on campus because I feel as though being a brown kid, it would be pretty weird living in town with all of these white individuals, simply due to the fact that like when I do go out, there are times where it’s a little weird, so imagining that on like a daily … it’s awkward.”

“Initially, I was looking to transfer to a school really late so Humboldt was the only school that would accept transfer students to be honest, but what kept me here were the people and ... the location itself ... it was so far away from any place I’ve ever been. The culture is really different than anything I’ve been exposed to, but I think that’s a really good thing ... I don’t wanna put it in political terms but I’m from more of a conservative part of California and even at my old college campus, there wasn’t a lot of pride in the fact that people are different and that they have the right to choose what they how they want to live their life. I think here, people are very open about who they are and I’ve never seen that from where I’m from and where I’ve been.”

David Yaranon

Jozeph Pontecelli

Rah Camacho Ruiz

Oscar Reviews Local Pet Stores in Humboldt County

Arcata Pet Supply:

600 F St, Arcata, CA 95521

Store Hours

10 am - 6 pm everyday

This is the store my dad takes me to most often. It’s on the smaller side, but it still has a big selection. They have food and supplies for dogs, cats, rodents, birds, and fish. There is even a room of fish and birds you can purchase. They have a lot of unique leashes, ranging from 1 foot to 50 feet. They also have a wall of toys that I enjoy perusing. The staff were very kind and gave me treats, which made me happy. I really wanted to say hi to the store mascot, a small gray parrot named Seven, but she didn’t want to say hi back. My favorite treat to get here is the salmon skin roll.

Humboldt Pet Supply:

145 G St Arcata, CA 95521

Store Hours

Monday - Saturday: 9 am - 6 pm Sunday: 10 am - 4 pm

This store was very fancy! I really enjoyed smelling all the different bones they had for sale. Their store mainly caters to dog and cat owners, but they also had a small section for rodents. If you want your dog decked out in the fanciest, sturdiest gear, this is the place to be. They have lots of colorful harnesses, sweaters and jackets for you to choose from. They also had little dog mannequins to display their sweaters on; it took me a minute to realize they weren’t real dogs. The staff were very welcoming to me and my dad; one of them gave me not one treat, but two! My favorite treat from here is the pig ears.

Fin-N-Feather:

2931 F St, Eureka, CA 95501

Store Hours

Monday - Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm

Sunday: 12 pm - 5 pm

This is the biggest pet store you can find in Humboldt. They have supplies for any animal you could have, like dogs, cats, rodents, fish, birds, and reptiles. They have a room of reptiles and a room of fish that you can buy, along with any supplies you may need for their tanks. They have some birds, rats, mice, and guinea pigs for sale too. At this point, I already knew the drill, so I went and picked out a freeze-dried duck heart as my treat while we were looking around. Apparently, you’re supposed to “pay” for it first, so my dad apologized to the cashier and gave them a dollar. They gave my dad some free sample treats so that I didn’t take anymore duck hearts.

Myrtle Avenue Pet Center: 2725 Hubbard Lane, Eureka, CA 95501

Store Hours

Monday - Saturday: 9:00am - 5:30pm

Sunday Closed

I’ll admit, I was a little apprehensive about this store because it’s right next to Myrtle Avenue Veterinary Hospital, where my dad takes me to get my vaccines. One of the staff offered me treats to help me feel better, and he told my dad that I had very cool freckles. Most of their food and supplies are for dogs and cats, but they had a very small selection for birds and fish. They also had a wide variety of sizes of sweaters and vests for dogs large and small. There were also lots of leashes and harnesses, so you’ll find the right combination for your pet. Unfortunately, the smaller treats were up on a counter in containers with lids, so I couldn’t sneak any. To reward myself for being so brave, I picked out the yak cheese chew as my treat from this store.

Northern California Pet Supply and Grooming: 1580 Nursery Way, Suite F, McKinleyville, CA 95519

Store Hours

Monday - Saturday: 9:30 am - 6:30 pm Sunday: 10 am - 5 pm

This store is one of my favorites because of all the toys they have and the large buffet-style table of treats. They have a lot of Chuck-It and Kong brand toys, which are sturdy enough to withstand my strong teeth. They also have a small collection of dog sweaters and a separate room for cat supplies. This pet store sets itself apart from others in Humboldt with its own dog and cat rescue program, a self-serve bathing station, and grooming services. Sometimes you can see the store cat, Scarface, wandering around or hanging out in the “cat condo.” The cashier was very friendly and gave me extra yummy treats. Going to all these pet stores is hard work, so I decided to get a dried pig’s foot as my final reward.

Baddies on Bikes : women riding motorcycles

toheal themselvesandpromote equality

By: Savana Robinson

There are several benefits to riding a motorcycle: improving mental health, boosting confidence, and finding a sense of community with those who also love to feel the wind on their face. Riding a motorcycle gives the rider a feeling that is hard to emulate. That feeling is best described as freedom.

There’s a saying: “You’ll never see a motorcycle parked outside a psychiatrist’s office.” A study published by Brain Research in 2021 titled, “Modulation of attention and stress with arousal: The mental and physical effects of riding a motorcycle,” found that riding a motorcycle reduced stress by 25%.

Finding Your Girlies

Adina Kingstrom, an employee at the Jolly Giant’s Cupboard at California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt, has been interested in the local motorcycle scene since 2021. Kingstrom joined The Litas Humboldt in Sept. 2022 and wants a Harley-Davidson Sportster for her first bike. Created in 2015 by Jessica Wise, The Litas are a worldwide collective of women who ride motorcycles. According to The Litas community director, Kim Okabe, there are 326 branches in 32 countries across the globe. There are two in Humboldt county: The Litas Humboldt and The Litas Lost Coast, founded in Oct. 2019 and Dec. 2022, respectively. Their mission is to empower and inspire women through a community based on a shared love for motorcycles.

Kingstrom said she wants to start riding motorcycles as a way to improve her mental health, she noted that she deals with seasonal affective disorder, which according to the National Association of Mental Health, is a shift in mood that can be felt with the changing of the seasons. Less sunlight in the winter can lead to symptoms such as overeating, over-

sleeping, and participating less in activities that would usually bring someone joy. “If I focus my energy on something positive, then that might help,” said Kingstrom. “That’s one of the deciding factors about it, too. If I can do something that’s empowering.” Kingstrom added that riding a motorcycle may alleviate the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. “Literally being in daylight is good for me,” said Kingstrom. “Just being outside for ten minutes will help me.”

Kingstrom also noted the negativity that she’s received in her endeavor to start riding a motorcycle.“When you tell people that you want to get a motorcycle, they immediately say something like, ‘oh, well, they’re dangerous.’”

Kingstrom added that she is getting a motorcycle just for herself, not to make an impression on anyone. “It’s going to be for me,” said Kingstrom. “If you’re doing things for other people, then maybe it’s not the best way.”

Seeing a group of women riding motorcycles isn’t as common as seeing men on motorcycles; however, groups such as The Litas are working to change that stereotype.

Along with Lindsay Koupal and Sara Glass, Erin Taylor founded The Litas Humboldt in Oct. 2019. Using social media, Taylor found an opportunity to meet Koupal, knowing that she also shared a passion for motorcycles. Koupal introduced Taylor to Glass, and the rest is history.

“The three of us met up for a ride and this is where I first learned of The Litas Women Motorcycle Riding Collective,” said Taylor. “We decided to request forming a local branch in Humboldt County, CA since it is required to have three Founders create and lead a Litas branch.”

The Litas Humboldt pose in front of their motorcycles on the Trinidad Pier on Feb. 11, 2023.

Litas Founders, Brook Madison, left, and Erin Taylor, right, stand on the Trinidad Pier after the Litas Galentine’s ride.

Taylor said that she rides because of her dad. “I have been riding for about 16 years now,” said Taylor. After growing up riding on the back of his bike, her dad inspired her to start riding. “He influenced me to become his motorcycle riding buddy at the age of 16.”

After taking the three-day California Motorcyclist Safety Program, Taylor got her motorcycle license on her 17th birthday. “Little did I know at the time, my M1 [motorcycle endorsement] was going to shape so much of my lifestyle in my late 20’s/early 30’s.”

Taylor’s goal is to inspire other women who are interested in motorcycling. “I truly believe I have successfully encouraged and recruited women to ride motorcycles and continue to do so on a weekly basis,” said Taylor. “As an original Founder of The Litas Humboldt, a big part of the leadership role is to provide mentorship, especially to the new riders and women who are not riders yet but would like to be.”

Taylor rides her motorcycle because it’s therapeutic. “Every time I fire up the engine and accelerate into my ride, I get a dose of adrenaline and excitement,” said Taylor. “It releases endorphins and a wave of pure bliss overcomes me.” Taylor refers to her fellow Litas as her wind sisters. “I love the feeling of leading a group ride and looking back in my mirror to see The Litas riding in staggered formation,” said Taylor. “It always feels so empowering to ride together as a synchronized unit.”

It is a unique experience to be a part of a group of women that share a

passion for motorcycling and are bonded like sisters. The passion for motorcycles can also be shared between family members, more specifically mother and daughter.

Inspired by her mother, third-grader

Eva Madison wants to ride a motorcycle and be a Lita just like her mom, Brook Madison, who is the newest co-founder of The Litas Humboldt.

Eva Madison wants a pink Harley-Davidson Low Rider. “Work hard. Get a motorcycle. Have fun,” said Eva Madison when asked what she would say to other girls that want to be like her mom. Eva Madison listed a Lita’s responsibilities as encouraging others and being kind.

Brook Madison rides for her late younger sister, Janell Snead, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and passed away in 2021. In 2020, they were both encouraged to start riding by their brother who rides, and family friend Taylor, who grew up in the same town as them, (Magalia, California). Brook Madison got her motorcycle license in May 2021 and became a Lita in Aug. 2021. Madison

gained her role as co-founder of The Litas Humboldt in Dec. 2022. “I chose to face my fears and learned to ride for myself and for my sister,” stated Brook Madison. “I am grateful for all of the encouragement and support from my family and friends.”

Brook Madison named her 1995 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200, Grace. “I feel honored to have such a strong machine carrying me, supporting me,” said Brook Madison. “I respect it and together we ride with Grace.”

Through riding, Madison learned how to conquer uncertainty and continues to learn from everyone she rides with. “I take tips and critiques if given. It all helps me to be a better rider. There’s always room to improve,” said Brook Madison. “It’s important to be comfortable, alert and safe, and enjoy the ride.”

Brook Madison said that when she rides, she feels free, sometimes like she’s meditating. “I just flow. I like to go fast and get that rush. I feel like I’m flying. I look at the birds flying and I think of my sister. Soaring together in the wind,” said Brook Madison. “I feel focused and alive.”

Brook Madison would like to inspire other women and young girls to believe

Brook Madison, left, and Eva Madison, right, sit on Brook’s 1995 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 outside their McKinleyvile, CA home.

that they can ride, too. “Start imagining it now. Set some goals, work toward them,” said Brook Madison. “Help others along the way and don’t be afraid to ask for help. It won’t always be easy. Trust the universe and trust yourself and go for it.”

Brook Madison said that there is no feeling like riding with a group of women. “It’s so empowering, supporting and encouraging each other to step out of our comfort zones.”

Being a Boss

Emily Gunnink, owner of Gunnink’s Harley-Davison in Ukiah, CA has been riding on the back of her dad’s motorcycle since preschool. Gunnink got her first motorcycle, a 1985 Sportster Ironhead 1000 when she was 19-years-old. Gunnink said that one of the reasons she started riding was to spend more time with her dad, and for the feeling of freedom it gave her. In 2021, Gunnick and her husband, Leif Magnusen, bought Gunnink’s Harley-Davidson from her parents. Gunnink currently rides a 2019 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special, complete with purple flames. Gunnink added that there is some truth to the term “wind therapy.” “When you get out there, you just kind of lose yourself,” said Gunnink. “There’s no one to talk to. There’s nothing you have to deal with. It’s just you and the world. It’s really empowering.”

Gunnink said that she has faced some sexism in the world of motorcycling, but that she doesn’t let it dissuade her from pursuing a career involving her passion. “I feel like there’s still a lot of stereotypical people out there that feel it’s not a woman’s place,” said Gunnink. “I bring so much to the plate that if they truly think I’m not bringing whatever they’re looking for, it’s their loss.”

Gunnink said that she wants to instill self-trust and faith in women who want to ride. “I try to do as many events as I can every year to get more women out there,” said Gunnink. “There’s a lot of ladies that come in that are so nervous.” Gunnink said she wants to help others break out of that box. “They think that

they can’t. That’s the same old style of thinking,” Gunnink added.

A Man’s Perspective

Gino Grier, a sophomore at Cal Poly Humboldt who got his motorcycle license in November of 2021, bought his 1991 Harley-Davidson Dyna FXR Police model from his godfather. Grier said his dream bike is a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy bobber.

“I see that the culture around bikes tends to be hyper masculine,” said Grier. “I hate seeing guys call sportsters a girl’s bike, as opposed to men’s bikes. I hate that the difference isn’t men and women, it’s always men and girls.”

Grier is in firm support of seeing more women on motorcycles. “I think everyone should spend some time in the saddle, put everything that can hurt you in front of you and make your peace with it,” said Grier. “Control it.”

Top: The tank graphic on a 2022 Harley-Davidson Softail Lowrider El Diablo in Arcata, CA.

Bottom: Emily Gunnink, owner of Gunnink’s Harley-Davidson, sits on her first bike, a since-rebuilt 1985 Harley-Davidson Sportster Ironhead 1000 at Gunnink’s Harley-Davidson.

Getting Your Own Wheels

The ability to ride a motorcycle is easier to learn than some may think. Anyone that can ride a bicycle can ride a motorcycle.

Dan Ruff is a fit specialist at Redwood Harley-Davidson. A fit specialist is a motorcycle salesperson who specializes in making sure that riders find the bike that is the best one for them.

“If the motorcycle doesn’t fit you to start, you can form it to fit you,” said Ruff. “Harley’s are like Mr. Potato Heads, you can customize the bike how you want it to be”

There are several ways to tailor a bike to the rider’s needs. Some seats make it easier for shorter riders to sit more comfortably and move the bike around. Different handlebars may be more comfortable, too. Lowering kits and tall boots also help a rider be more flat-footed at stops.

Ruff said that the most important part of his job is communicating with the customer to ensure they find the right motorcycle. “They’re already coming in here looking at bikes, so you want to make them more excited,” said Ruff. “You want to hype them up.”

Ruff noted his perspective on motorcycle groups as an employee of Harley-Davidson. “I’m not necessarily part of riding groups but it’s cool to see a lot of the camaraderie that they have, and friendship, and family,” said Ruff. “They’re like tight groups. I think that’s really cool that people can find that.”

Ruff recommended that new riders start on a Harley-Davidson Street Bob or a Softail Standard. Both are smaller, but powerful motorcycles, ideal for someone still practicing their skills. “It’s something you’re going to grow into and come to love,” said Ruff, in reference to his suggested starter motorcycles.

Sportsters are probably the most popular beginner Harley-Davidson, especially among women. They are

wonderful for shorter people, or someone who has never ridden before and needs something to learn on.

Ruff suggests that new riders do the California Motorcyclist Safety Program offered by California Highway Patrol as the first step toward getting their license.

Riding a motorcycle is a freeing and exhilarating experience. An individual’s journey in motorcycle riding is intimate and rugged. It’s about individuality, expression, and solitude as well as connection, community, and embracing those with whom you share a passion. A rider’s identity is ever-evolving.

Gino Grier sits in front of his 1991 Harley-Davidson Police Dyna FXR.

Why I Ride

I was 16 years old when I got my motorcycle license; I was the only girl at my high school with a motorcycle. Calls were made to my parents about “attitude problems,” but my father said it was good for confidence. After over five years of riding, I’ve heard many people ask me the same question: “Why do you ride?” The answer is: for my mental health. It’s called wind therapy.

When I’m on my motorcycle, I’m not thinking about my problems. I have a mantra: “I’m riding.” When I tell myself that, I stop thinking about the past or the future and I focus on the present: just riding. It’s my favorite kind of meditation. I breathe in the open air and exhale peace.

The inspiration to ride motorcycles comes from my father. Getting to ride motorcycles with my dad is one of my favorite things in the world. I feel so lucky to share this special bond with him and hope that when I have a daughter someday, she’ll feel the same connection with her mother.

Falling just under five feet tall, I ride a smaller bike. My first bike was a 2009 Honda Rebel 250. Tiny, but fun.

Currently, I have a 2020 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Iron, which is bigger and even more fun. To personalize my bike I’ve had a couple modifications made, including a Saddlemen Step-Up seat and a one-inch lowering block. The seat lets me sit closer to the tank, making it easier to back up the bike. The lowering block stretches the suspension, bringing the bike closer to the ground, which makes my feet more flat, especially when I wear my two-inch platform boots that make me feel like a badass.

I’ve faced a lot of challenges on my journey, but I’ve never let the sexist or pathetic jokes about my height dissuade me. I would encourage everyone, regardless of gender, to imagine themself on a motorcycle just for a moment, and weigh the happiness of that feeling. There’s nothing like it.

By: Savana Robinson

Top: Savana Robinson with her brand new 2020 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Iron at Gunnink’s Harley-Davidson in Ukiah, CA on Nov. 29 2019. Photo by Kaley Robinson.

Bottom: Savana Robinson on her 2009 Honda Rebel 250 at Ukiah High School on Dec. 15, 2017.

Photo by Kyle Pham.

Three Starter Bikes for Newer Motorcyclists

Not all motorcycles are created equal. Some are better tailored for newer riders than others. Whether someone wants something classy, sporty, or a little in-between, there is something out there for everyone. Here are three recommendations for those who are thinking of getting their first bike.

Honda Grom 125

The Honda Grom is perfect for someone who just wants to dip their toe in the waters of motorcycling, but also wants a sports bike. It’s small, low maintenance, and frugal. With a 125 cubic centimeter displacement, it gets 166 miles to the gallon and holds 1.6 gallons of fuel. Combined with a top speed of 73 miles-an-hour, it’s a great city commuter. Starting at $3,399, 2023 models come in Matte Black Metallic, Queen Bee Yellow and Pearl White with an exclusive Candy Blue anti-lock braking system model.

Royal Enfield Meteor 350

With a classic look, the Royal Enfield Meteor is sure to appeal to anyone looking for a cruiser to start on. It handles well, offers a smooth ride, and is a stylish and cool motorcycle. Holding almost four gallons of fuel and getting 96 miles to the gallon, it’s a good city and longhaul ride. It comes in a rainbow of colors: sparkly Stellar Red, Blue and Black, vivid Fireball Red, Yellow and Blue, Matte Green and glittery Supernova Brown, and Blue. 2023 models start at $4,699, fitting into the budget of many first-time buyers.

Triumph Bonneville T100

A beautifully high-quality, contemporary, yet classic motorcycle, the iconic Triumph Bonneville T100 packs a powerful 900 cubic centimeter capacity engine. A genuinely legendary motorcycle, it has easy handling and modern capability. The tank holds 3.8 gallons and gets 69 miles to the gallon. 2023 models start at $10,995, making it better for someone looking to keep the bike for years to come, rather than upgrading soon after getting comfortable with their riding skills. It comes in Jet Black, Meriden Blue/Tangerine and Carnival Red Fusion White. Available only for the year, the T100 Chrome Edition in Cobalt Blue has a higher price of 38

Finding Common Ground: Hip Hop, Community & The Inland Empire

Humboldt County is a mystical place that is often seen as its own entity when the conversation of Northern California is discussed.

The stark differences in climate, demographic and culture, all play into the utter peculiarity and uniquenesses this region has to offer in comparison to surrounding areas. Often seen as an afterthought for many, the immense influence of Humboldt County is displayed in a variety of agricultural industries, art shifts and social movements. Another region fighting for identity lies 700 miles south called the Inland Empire (IE). Slightly north of Orange County, sitting east of Los Angeles California, the Inland Empire resides in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. San Bernardino is the largest geographic county in the nation. Similar to Humboldt, the IE has made several contributions to industries and culture-shifts, but has been left overlooked or disregarded entirely. A movement in the IE that has been readily overlooked in the past is the presence of hip hop culture.

Prior to the advent of the internet, hip hop has always been seen as a territory-based genre that differed depending on the region. Whether it be the gritty and aggressive lyricism of the east coast from artists like Nas or Biggie Smalls, the soulful storytelling perfected by southern legends like Scarface and Bun B or the smooth funk inspired gangster rap Snoop Dogg and Eazy E made famous on the west coast, hip hop has always been a medium through which artists display the realities of their communities alike. With this in mind, more often than not, this territorial grouping has led places like the Inland Empire to be overshadowed by the sheer

popularity that markets such as Los Angeles have to offer, yet the Inland Empire and hip hop’s relationship continues to flourish.

Although lacking the typical amount of music venues found in bigger cities, some of the largest hip-hop festivals in history have taken place at the National Orange Show fairgrounds in San Bernardino. In the early 2010s, festivals like Paid Dues and Rock the Bells showcased the immense talents that were spawned during what was known as the “blog era” of rap music. Rappers like Wiz Khalifa, YG, Kendrick Lamar and others all headlined these shows in the beginning of their careers before becoming household names. On a micro level there has been a community effort in the IE to develop artists and archive the art that has been created over the last decade.

By: Anthony Aragon

The Foundation of the Scene

At the forefront of this community effort are the anchors of the Inland Empire hip hop scene, Noa James and his spouse Lesa James. In 2007, Noa and Lesa James founded their art collective, Brick to Ya Face, and began throwing hip hop shows all around the IE showcasing rising talents. In 2009, the collective began residency at a local dive bar in Riverside called the Vibe Bar and Grille. Effectively titled The Common Ground, these biweekly events became a platform for up-and-coming artists to showcase their talents, learn how to create a fan base and ultimately build a pool of resources that many still turn to today. Noting his lifelong affinity of professional wrestling as an influence, Noa James fell in love with the process of booking and

Noa James gives a special candid performance at the Pomona Loud Open Mic in Pomona, California Jan. 5, 2022.

San

promoting shows. Organizing these events not only helped create a sense of belonging for artists that were involved, but also gave him a unique opportunity to help guide a younger generation hone their craft, and teach them how to make the most out of their assets at hand.

“Building community taught me how to talk to young artists and talk to people in an aspiring way, without belittling them …. I’m not trying to break you down to build you up, I’m just going to build you up because you’re probably breaking yourself down already. I’m not going to add onto that. That’s not my job as a pillar or a community leader. That was a really important thing, because I didn’t have that.”

For almost a decade, the duo of Noa and Lesa James became curators during this rising movement. They threw shows at the Vibe that included notable names such as Top Dawg Entertainment artist Ab Soul, legendary independent artist Murs and hip hop legends Rass Kass and Chino XL. In hindsight, the Inland Empire never had a definitive sound like other major markets had, but all were welcomed at The Common

Ground. When asked what his main goal while promoting these events were, Noa James responded, “Create a place where you can go to express yourself and be safe to do it. Because we are no-nonsense when it comes to judgment. Come, be free, you know, and don’t worry about what others think”.

An Outside Perspective

During this time period, Common Ground became a rite of passage for many artists in Southern California. Elwin Williams, better known as Da Rap Nerd, was born in the Bay Area and spent his earlier years learning his craft here. Willams started delving into hip hop at the age of 25 after graduating from Fullerton College in Orange County. William’s lyrical content was distinctly different compared to typical rap content at the time, choosing to focus on his love for anime, video games and other pop culture references rather than common tropes found in mainstream music. He admits that it was places like the Common Ground that initially helped him gain the confidence to network with other artists and start throwing shows of his own. In doing

so, he formed connections with other artists across the West Coast including those in Humboldt County and the Pacific Northwest, “One thing I learned from my OG’s was that you have to build community, and if you can make friends while you’re touring, it just makes it easier,”. Although the venue where The Common Ground took place ultimately closed in 2016, many artists had the opportunity to make a living creating music, while others pursued their art and found fulfillment in other career paths.

Bridging Two Different Worlds

Another descendant of the local scene who developed his artistry at The Common Ground is Adam Martinez. Originally growing up in San Bernardino, he began his career under the stage name Faimkills, eventually transitioning into Adam.et.al. He currently works as an English professor at Chaffey Community College in Rancho Cucamonga. During the last four years he’s worked with a team of colleagues curating and producing Chaffey College’s annual Hip Hop Summit. This summit acts as a showcase for all facets of hip hop culture including poetry workshops, guest panels, graffiti exhibitions and performances from local artists. Combining the worlds of hip hop and higher education has been a lifelong aspiration which Martinez has achieved.

“I’ve always felt sort of like an outsider in the scene, even though I’ve been received so warmly by everybody. But just like the idea of education and hip hop has always placed me in a weird place, because we have this sort of ethos in rap like The College Dropout you know?”

Even though Martinez admitted that trying to blend these institutions together may seem counterintuitive to some, he is thankful for the lessons he gained while rocking shows as an emcee. “Those [performance skills] help me just in regular teaching, when I’m building my lesson plan for the day, I think, like a set list. Alright, we’re gonna talk about this for twenty minutes, and then this for 15 minutes, so I’m definitely bringing those skills over.” Martinez’s ultimate goal is to

Bernardino Gee Bose takes the stage at the Majestic Travels Performance Competition at Fire Water Bar in Ontario, California on March 30, 2023.

inspire his students and assure them that pursuing higher education and art don’t have to be separate dreams. Each can coexist in the same realm and compliment one another along the way.

What’s to Come in the IE?

A significant challenge for the scene in recent times has been an overall shift to larger highly-produced music festivals taking place in the Inland Empire. With the growing success of massive events such as Coachella and Hard Summer, gone are the days of modest sized crowds and essential production. With this shift came a lack of opportunity for independent artists to perform in an environment suitable for their smaller fan bases. Joey Atilano, known by his rap moniker 60 East, has set out to bring hip hop fans an event that circled back to the basics of all the hip hop festivals that took place years ago. Beginning in 2018, Atilano has successfully produced The Happiness of Pursuit festival for the last five years in Ontario, California. THOP Fest has brought thousands of fans together over the years to embrace legendary acts such as The Far Side, Lighter Shade of Brown, Evidence, Murs, Benny the Butcher and many more. The festival also acts as a stepping stone for smaller acts to grow their fan bases while perfecting their live shows. Each year, the community that attends grows in numbers with all sharing their love for independent Hip Hop.

The most important facet of this movement that has allowed artists such as Martinez, James and others from the Inland Empire to reach success is community. With a combined effort to grow and nurture this local scene, many have found a place to create art while being a part of a network of artists that exemplify the uniqueness this region has to offer. When asked what advice can be offered to help guide other local movements continue to prosper, Lesa James said, “I think it’s just working together. It’s sharing your resources and being okay with being a team player, you know what I mean, you don’t always have to be the head of everything.”

Top: San Diego born artist Heir Wallace engages with the crowd at the Majestic Travels Performance Competition at Fire Water Bar in Ontario, California.

Bottom: Moreno Valley native AMAZO-THE-RULER takes the stage in the second round of the Majestic Travel’s Performance Competition at Fire Water Bar in Ontario, California.

Osprey Summer Playlist

2023

“BOWLiNG”

DOMi & JD BECK feat. Thundercat

The young experimental jazz duo meet world-renowned bassist Thundercat to deliver a fun and witty melody, perfect when things don’t go according to plan.

“What’s My Age Again?”

Blink-182

Regardless of your age this song brings back memories of youth for every listener.

“The Thrill”

Wiz Khalifa and Empire of the Sun

This is an absolute throwback from the early 2010s. The essence of a carefree summer night wrapped up in four minutes.

“Phone Numbers”

Dominic Fike and Kenny Beats

This tune embodies the changing of seasons and the fresh start summer brings.

“Neverita”

Bad Bunny

No summer playlist is really complete without at least one song from Mr. Bad Bunny himself.

“Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2”

Pink

Panthress and Ice Spice

The duo of Pink Panthress and Ice Spice combine their starkly different styles to create one of the best pop songs of the year.

“Slide”

Calvin Harris feat.

Frank Ocean and The Migos

A Frank Ocean and Migos collaboration over a Calvin Harris beat, can we really ask for more?

“Mid Summer Madness”

88 Rising, Joji, Rich Brian, Higher Brithers, August 08

With its range of genre-bending artists, this song captures the unpredictable adventures summer tends to bring.

“Lemonhaze”

Pawpaw Rod

Pawpaw Rod gives us a funky reminder of what really matters in life.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge

How Cultural Burning Can End Catastrophic Wildfires

By: Monica K. Robinson

It’s that time of year again! Springtime means fire prep time in Northern California. Perry Lincoln of the Wailaki Tribe in Southern Humboldt and founder of non-profit Native Health in Native Hands (NHNH) is in the process of training a new controlled burn crew at the Piercy Community Center. NHNH’s 2nd annual co-organized training is in collaboration with organizations like the Briceland Volunteer Fire Department and Southern Humboldt Prescribed Burn Association. Lincoln said he’s looking forward to another cultural burn this year and educating more Native youth.

The coastal residents of Humboldt and surrounding counties had a rude

awakening the morning of Sept. 9, 2020 as the sky turned black with a dark orange glow for a whole day. Since then, summer wildfires were no longer just an issue for communities in the eastern regions of California, but an unavoidable crisis that arrived at the seashore’s door. According to Cal Fire, 11 out of the 20 largest wildfires ever recorded in California history occurred in the last 5 years. Approximately 2.5 million acres were burned in 2020 alone.

With climate change on the rise, extreme weather conditions are likely to worsen. The decline of Humboldt County’s infamous eight-month rain season started about 20 years ago. A. Park

William, Benjamin I. Cook and Jason E. Smerdon published a UCLA-led study in the journal Nature Climate Change titled “Rapid Intensification of the Emerging Southwestern North American Megadrought in 2020-2021.”

They discovered through tree rings and soil moisture deficit that the anthropogenic trends of the West’s 22-year mega drought were the worst in severity and length since 800 A.D. Luckily, government agencies such as the USDA Forest Service have been taking a closer look at a solution called Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and it’s finally starting to stick.

Top: Sacred ceremonial steward land in Hoopa, CA.

TEK is an ever-evolving native science that has been shared and developed by Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial. The extensive knowledge of how nature works is constructed through millennia of observation, patience and experimentation. These long-term relationships of interacting with plants and animals explain how Natives have kept balance in their harvests and stewardship without causing destruction to the environment. Cultural burning is a key component of TEK in Northern California and other parts of the world. By reintroducing this indigenous practice, we can help safeguard against extreme wildfires which destroy lives, homes and lands.

What is Cultural Burning?

Cultural burning is the Native ceremonial practice of intentionally lighting small, controlled, low-heat fires on the ground through song and prayer. This includes grass and shrub sprouts, which are more nutritious than other vegetation, as well as flower and fruit production in certain species. These changes increase the quality of food sources for people, birds, bees, mammals and insects, as well as open space for predators to hunt prey.

At Mouralherwaqh, on Wiyot owned land, just south of the Humboldt Bay in King Salmon, two traditional redwood canoes are in the process of being carved out of redwood logs which were knocked down in a storm and donated by California State Parks. Lincoln of NHNH created the canoe project, amongst many other projects, to revitalize the Wailaki culture and bring communities together as a whole. Lincoln works there with family, friends and council members of the Wailaki and Wiyot Tribes. He emphasized with a morsel of concern that the fire pit was flooded with water from a storm and made sure to dig a new one. When asked why it was necessary to

prescribed and cultural burn associations helps make the tools needed for burn more accessible for Native community use.

Despite the benefits, Indigenous fire stewardship is often hampered by landuse planning regulations which prohibit burns on private lands without permits from municipal or provincial governments. As a result, many tribes do not have access to the resources and expertise needed to implement Indigenous fire practices. The Hoopa Fire Chief, Greg Moon, bridges the gap between contemporary and traditional fire management with his government qualifications in combination with his understanding of the traditional purposes of fire, both spiritual and natural. Moon described prescribed burning as a legal prescription of fire with a designated firing boss or burn boss who trains and gets certified at a state and or federal level.

have a fire going, he said, “Well, it’s a part of our culture. We always have a fire burning.”

The importance of connection and community observed by Indigenous Peoples’ culture has dwindled throughout colonized societies across the world. Capitalist agendas and globalization have secluded and trapped societies into vicious cycles causing loneliness, depression and anxiety which can manifest into many illnesses. Lincoln said his goal with NHNH is to, “bring the people back together again”, by reviving their connection spiritually, mentally and physically to live a holistic way of life. NHNH also co-organizes training for Indigenous youths for controlled burn crews in Southern Humboldt. Their momentum of collaborations with local fire departments, the US Forest Service, as well as

“When I used to prescribe burn, I would just grab a horse and torch and go for it. I was a young firefighter and I just loved it, but then I started learning it’s more about respect and intention, which makes you feel better with better results,” said Moon.

A brief history: fire suppression and its results

In western North America, Indigenous fire regimes dominated the landscape for millennia before European colonization disrupted these traditions. Displacement and appropriation of Indigenous Peoples immediately spawned

“In the absence of fire, the systems become very unbalanced and practically non-functional.”

fire suppression because they could no longer tend to the land and culturally burn. Margo Robbins of the Yurok Tribe and co-founder/executive director of the Cultural Fire Management Council said, “Our landscapes evolved with fire since the beginning of time. We have been using fire to keep the ecosystems healthy and they are fire dependent ecosystems. In the absence of fire, the systems become very unbalanced and practically non-functional.”

During the Gold Rush in the 1850s, European settlers began enforcing fire suppression. It wasn’t until the 1911 Weeks Act when fire policy officially became federal law. This made it illegal to culturally burn according to Dr. Lincoln Bramwell in his article, “1911 Weeks Act: the Legislation that Nationalised the US Forest Service.” Moon explained, “Before the Gold Rush everything was oak woodland because we were able to burn, but after [colonization], different trees were planted.” As a result, the forests have become fuel dense with invasive species and vegetation which create these high-intensity crown fires we see today. “We have a fuels crisis, not a fire crisis,” concluded Robbins.

European colonization and government agencies replaced stewardship with clearcutting, monoculture plantations and used Smokey the Bear as a pitchman for aggressive fire suppression pol-

system where individuals were trained and certified but did not reside within the geographical region.

Currently, Moon quotes fires at $7 million per day. Partly due to the first 24 hours spent ordering helicopters and air tankers, while teams from the east, south and west coasts, travel and set up camps. “We are never really preventing the fire or putting it out, we’re just keeping it smaller,” Moon added. Adjustments are finally happening to the National Fire Plan because the government is finally starting a conversation with Natives working at ground level. California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, in 2021, is a positive reflection of this “conversation” between Cal Fire and the United States Forest Service, in pursuit of supporting Cultural Burning for California Tribes.

icies, destroying millennia of Indigenous cultural fire practices. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, Moon said fires would cost under a million dollars because the district rangers had authority and directive to put them out. In 1987, the government took authority away and built a national fire

The plethora of chemicals sprayed on food in the United States is directly linked to monoculture which creates an unnatural environment and weakens the plants genetic makeup. This leaves mono crops vulnerable to pests and disease which then easily adapt and thrive. One way cultural burning provides aid to pest and pathogen control is by creating diverse habitats within ecosystems. A devas-

Top Left: Example of dense vegetation in the forest which creates “fuel” for large wildfires. Hoopa, CA.

Top Right: Exmaple of culturally burned land last spring 2022, displaying a clear forest floor. Hoopa, CA.

Bottom: Hoopa Fire Chief Greg Moon holding a torch used for cultural and prescribed burning. Hoopa Fire Department. Hoopa, CA.

tating example of disease rampaging along the northern west coast is a water mold found in rivers called Sudden Oak Death. The tanoaks in southern Humboldt are at the epicenter of this devastating plague because their susceptibility is so high. While acorns are a staple food in many Tribes, oak woodland is also crucial to the structure of the forest. Moon said, during a burn they blacken the bottoms of tanoak and black oak trees to kill bugs and prevent acorn infection.

Traditional food and culture

A large portion of traditional food is collected from native vegetation such as tarweed, sunflowers, and oak trees. Lincoln said native seeds and acorns are increasingly becoming harder to find. With no room to expand, the productivity of certain native plants and trees are very low when compared to their productivity on culturally burned land.

Native Health in Native Hands Development Director, Brian Dykstra, an avid farmer, botanist and native bee educator gave a presentation about fire ecology at the 2nd N-Shong Konk’

(Wailaki for “Good Fire”) conference, co-sponsored by NHNH, Eel River Wailaki and Trees Foundation at the Mateel Community Center in Redway, Jan 2023.

Dykstra told the story of Carl Purdy’s life, who started shipping bulbs to the east coast for a profit in the late 1800s. This abundance of bulbs was a result of previously diverse and culturally burned land. His nickname was the “Lily Man of Ukiah,” and his team would pick an

average of 4,000 bulbs per ten-hour day, with 400 bulbs per hour, at 6 per minute. Purdy himself noted that the abundance was because of purposeful burning by native communities. Today this level of bounty is unheard of.

Hazel sticks are another endangered resource used for basket weaving which is another core aspect to Native culture. Since cultural burning is often limited to small areas at a time due to government constraints, there’s not enough acreage to produce an adequate supply of hazel. Moon explained that old hazel sticks are basically unusable because the plant tissue becomes dry, hard and wiggly instead of soft and straight like a fresh hazel shoot. Tribal practitioners would like to burn more widely and frequently on their lands to promote resilience to wildfire and drought, con-

serve biodiversity, maintain traditional knowledge, spiritual values, and provide abundant materials and goods.

The science of vegetative smoke

Dykstra displayed the findings of an emerging field relating the correlation of molecular constituents in plant-derived smoke with facilitation of seed germination and plant growth.

In southwest Australia the Noongar aboriginals also use fire to promote plant diversity and abundance. Only 10 years ago an Australian research group studying molecules in burning plant material found a plant growth regulator in the smoke. The researchers named it Karrikin after the Noongar word for smoke, karrik. Dykstra emphasized they wanted to reflect the importance of fire and smoke to plant ecology and to Aboriginal culture.

Karrikins are biologically active mole-

Top: Hoopa Valley Reservation, where the land has been culturally burned for millenia. View from sacred land on the top of Bald Hill. Left: Culturally burned madrone tree in Hoopa, CA.

“A burn plan is a prescription, as a doctor gives you to make your body healthy, a fire prescription is to make the land healthy”

cules which promote plant growth, stimulate seed germination, increase seedling heartiness and encourage underground and above ground branching in certain types of vegetation that normally pursue fire. He said, “There’s even seeds out there that tell you to bake them in a oven at 300 degrees, for 10 minutes before you plant because it’s a plant that would normally come after fire and sprout once the seeds are exposed.” In relation, about 80% of the world’s plant species develop relationships with subterranean fungi. An aspect of these connections between plants and fungal networks is a form of communication where they tap into each other’s networks to share resources. Dykstra concluded that some fungi are aware of a plant’s intention to connect through a molecular signaling pathway which Karrikin can emulate.

A hand and a burn plan

As the climate rapidly changes, educating ourselves and our youth with this advanced Native Science of Traditional Ecological Knowledge can not only heal the environment but heal our relationship with it. Humboldt and surrounding Counties have many opportunities for Native and non-native people interested in cultural or prescribed burning. Including The Cultural Fire Management Council, Humboldt County Prescribed Burn Association, Humboldt Fire Safe Council, Southern Humboldt Fire Safe Council and Prescribed Fire for Foresters.

Robbins shared a roadmap on hothe Yurok Tribe obtained a legal burn plan to return Cultural Burning back to their land. Starting out as a community group, they identified fire as their number one

priority. First, they researched who had authority over fire, which were Cal Fire and The Bureau of Indian Affairs. Minimum entry-level firefighter qualifications and some upper-level firefighter qualifications were required including a burn boss, fire boss, engine boss and a holding boss. The Nature Conservancy, a global non-profit, contracted those higher-level positions while the commu-

nity group held classes for members to obtain the entry-level qualifications. Once the firefighter qualifications were met, a burn plan was required entitling outlines of weather patterns approximating hot days, wind and moisture.

As well as the number of south facing slopes, people with qualifications, fire engines and types of vegetation. Robbins concluded.

Top: Trinity River Bridge. Stencil assisted by a local Hoopa Tribal member and painted by F.D.Thomas Industrial Company. Hoopa, CA.

Bottom: Hoopa Fire Department. Hoopa, CA.