Photo taken during public field trip to OCFR project area

Orleans, CA – This week a federal judge found that Six Rivers National Forest violated the National Historic Preservation Act when implementing a timber harvest plan in 2009. The Orleans Community Fuels Reduction Plan (OCFR) was billed by the Forest Service as a wildfire suppression plan, but work on the ground more closely resembled an industrial timber harvest that damaged ancient medicine man trails and ceremonial areas of the Karuk Tribe.

The plan itself was developed after years of collaborative meetings between Six Rivers National Forest, the Karuk Tribe, conservation groups and community members. In the end, the Tribe and the community signed off on the plan which aimed to thin, prune, hand-pile and burn 2,700 acres around Orleans in western Humboldt County. But what was implemented on the ground was not what Six River Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelly represented on paper.

“We participated in good faith in the Forest Service’s collaborative process and we were assured that our sacred areas would be protected and our cultural values respected. It’s now obvious that those were hollow promises,” said Leaf Hillman, Natural Resources Director for the Karuk Tribe.

The Tribe found decks of large hardwoods lying across trails used by medicine men during the Tribe’s annual World Renewal Ceremonies. Other ceremonial areas were also desecrated by logging activities, contrary to commitments in the project plan.

“EPIC is proud to be a member of the coalition that stopped the Six Rivers National Forest from implementing a project that would have further degraded the cultural and biological resources the Forest provides,” said Kimberly Baker, National Forest Advocate for EPIC and the Klamath Forest Alliance. “The trees and ceremonial trail desecrated through the partial implementation of this project cannot be reversed, but can be prevented in the future.”

Logging activity was halted after Tribal activists blockaded logging roads in December 2009. Soon after the Karuk Tribe along with the Environmental Protection and Information Center (EPIC), Klamath Forest Alliance, and Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center filed suit.

Important to the claims of the plaintiffs is the fact that portions of the Orleans project overlapped the Panamnik World Renewal Ceremonial District, which was nominated for National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The Karuk’s spiritual Medicine Man Trail spans the district, and about half of it fell within treatment units of the Orleans project. Based on the evidence, the Court ruled that the logging activity within this area was a violation of the National Historic Preservation Act.

“In light of the finding that defendants violated the National Historic Preservation Act, defendants are hereby enjoined from conducting further implementation of the Orleans Community Fuels Reduction and Forest Health Project until appropriate remedial measures are established to bring the project into compliance,” Judge Alsup ruled.

In addition to his role as Natural Resources Director, Leaf Hillman is a Karuk Ceremonial Leader in Orleans.  According to Hillman, “Supervisor Kelley has no respect for this community or native cultures as is evidenced by their actions on the ground. With this court order we are hopeful that we can move forward to provide fire protection for our communities without sacrificing our sacred sites.”

Murrelet and Chick, oil on board By: Joan Dunning

Save the Date!  Friday, July 8^th Arts Arcata! 6-9pm, at the EPIC Office, on 145 South G Street, in Arcata, near the Marsh.    

EPIC will be hosting an open house and participating in Arts Arcata! Friends and supports are encouraged to come to the impromptu gallery, at the EPIC office, meet the staff, and enjoy the wonderful artwork. 

Local artist, Joan Dunning will be displaying her paintings and holding a book signing of her newest book, Seabird in the Forest; the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet, a children’s picture book about the elusive seabird that nests in the ancient redwood forest.   

EPIC has a long history of protecting the marbled murrelet, in 1993, their lawsuit, Marbled Murrelet and EPIC v. Pacific Lumber, was the first time the Endangered Species Act was applied to stop logging on private forest land to conserve the habitat of a species.

The new EPIC office, located at 145 G Street, Suite A in the old North Coast Journal building, near the Arcata Marsh

Joan Dunning is a critically acclaimed nature author and artist who writes for both adults and children. Her books include, The Loon: Voice of the Wilderness; Secrets of the Nest; From the Redwood Forest and she is an illustrator of a children’s book, Leaving Home. Her paintings are shown in gallery exhibitions and hang in private collections.

Rally at Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz

The Time Has Come For New Park Leadership

The state parks of California are recognized as one our country’s flagship protected area systems.  The California Department of Parks and Recreation manages the entire California State Parks System, which includes 278 parks and 1.4 million acres.  The California State Park system contains the largest and most diverse natural and cultural heritage holdings of any state agency in the nation. The California park system is an indispensable element in protecting the natural heritage of our landscapes for future generations.

EPIC has been working hard for several years to protect our state parks. These vital ecological and economic resources are already under extreme budget distress, and many of the park units are subject to inappropriate management and illegal activities. By the time Governor Jerry Brown announced the closure of 70 state parks in May as part of a plan to solve the state’s budget crisis, the alarm for the state parks had already sounded for the Environmental Protection Information Center.

EPIC views the proposed closures as a direct assault on the integrity of our public lands, and has taken immediate action to investigate the proposed closures. Last week EPIC filed a Public Records Act Request for the budgets of 41 of the State Parks that are on the chopping block. EPIC’s Conservation Director, Andrew Orahoske, wrote in the letter that “our members rely on the many beneficial resources offered by state parks, and thus these closures have a direct impact on them and our organization.”

In addition to providing a natural sanctuary for spiritual renewal, the economy of the redwood region relies on the state parks to draw tourism to the area. People travel from all over the world to visit our parks, and in doing so they also bring a significant amount of revenue to other businesses in the area. The economic and cultural impacts of park closures could be devastating.

There is evidence that park leadership has done a poor job of coming up with a formula for closures without violating federal and state laws. Of the 70 state parks Governor Brown has proposed to close, at least 16 parks are funded by federal grants, and are contractually bound to remain open in perpetuity.  The leading funding source for national parks in the US is the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is a federal fund that allocates royalties from offshore drilling and directs them to state and local parks to pay for land acquisition, trail building, and park infrastructure.  The funding is in place as long as the park remains open, or if a park is closed, land of an equal appraised value in a nearby location may be substituted.

Jon Jarvis, director of the National Park Service in Washington D. C. said recently that “this funding is a grant to the state, like a contract, it is linked directly to the deed of these lands.  It says the state makes a commitment to provide these places for public use in perpetuity.  To not do that is essentially a breach of contract.”  Furthermore, if state parks that are funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund are closed to the public, the entire California State Parks System could become ineligible for future federal park grants.

A separate issue for 11 of the state parks slated for closure is their coastal locations.  According to the head of the California Coastal Commission, state park rangers cannot legally block anyone from the shoreline.  In response to this Coastal Act requirement, the Director of California’s State Parks, Ruth Coleman, has asked if these coastal parks could remain open for only one or two days a week and still satisfy coastal access requirements.  Such ambivalence about the legal obligations of the park system to state residents is indicative of a lack of vision and responsibility on the part of park leadership.

Coleman and other park system administrators are failing in their duties to protect our state parks. It is becoming clear that closing our state parks will do more significant environmental harm than good, and leave the public with nowhere to go.  In addition to cutting us off from some of the last protected natural sanctuaries on the planet, closing our state parks will violate public access laws, breach federal funding contracts, and will cost far more money than it might save. 

At EPIC, we believe that these issues demonstrate a fatal flaw in the proposal to close an important percentage of our state parks, and indicate that it is time for a change in park leadership. We insist that Governor Brown take the park closure proposals off the table, and that he bring a breath of fresh air to our state park system by appointing new talent to the park system directorship. To not do so is to further degrade one of our country’s, and the world’s, most important protected area systems. The California State Parks, and the residents of our spectacular state, deserve much more.

In just two days, EPIC has already collected approximately 625 post cards from concerned citizens to send to the Governer asking him to keep our state parks open. 

CLICK HERE to send Governor Brown your own personal request to keep our state parks open.

The Klamath and Trinity River system was once the third-largest producer of salmon and steelhead on the West Coast, but now produces fewer and fewer wild fish as a result of antiquated dams, habitat degradation and massive water withdrawals.  Dams and dewatering have made hundreds of miles of spawning habitat inaccessible or unusable. As the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) considers listing the Chinook salmon, the agency must use the best available science.  Importantly, political and economic arguments may not influence the decision to list the species.

Please take a moment to support the recovery of wild spring Chinook salmon in the Klamath Basin, by writing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). - Comments close June 13th.

The agency has been reviewing the status of the fish after registering a positive “90 day finding”, the first step to listing the Upper Klamath-Trinity Chinook salmon under the federal Endangered Species Act. The agency has the power to make a real difference for these fish, by acting swiftly and decisively for the recovery of this species.

Nearly ten years after the horrific 2002 fish kill on the Klamath that resulted in tens of thousands of dead salmon washing up on the river bar, a tremendous effort by local river communities, Tribal governments and environmental organizations has emerged to improve conditions for the fish. While complex negotiations, litigation and legislative strategies are on going, the fish continue to face grave threats.

Now marks an opportunity for people concerned about salmon to tell the agency representative why you think these salmon need protections offered under the Endangered Species Act. To send a letter, click here.

Links to relevant documents:

Federal Register Positive 90-day Finding on Petition to List Chinook Salmon

Petition to List Upper Klamath Chinook Salmon as a Threatened or Endangered Species

Klamath River Expert Panel – Scientific Assessment of Two Dam Removal Alternatives on Chinook Salmon -  Draft Report

SAN FRANCISCO— A coalition of conservation groups and local residents today asked a federal judge to stop California transportation officials from moving ahead with a controversial highway project that would jeopardize ancient stands of redwood trees in northern California’s Richardson Grove State Park: Case No.3:10-cv-04360 WHA (below).

The coalition seeks to halt plans by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to realign a section of Highway 101 that winds through old-growth redwoods in the park. The work would require crews to dig into the roots of towering redwoods that stand along the highway within park boundaries. Today’s filing asks a judge to stop the project until legal proceedings are complete.

The threat of possibly fatal damage to the prized ancient trees, as well as harm to sensitive wildlife posed by the controversial project, is driving today’s legal challenge, which is the second filed by the coalition. Caltrans has failed to evaluate impacts of the project in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

“The importance of this old-growth redwood stand, in view of the important heritage of the redwood forest, requires special consideration before projects that would impact the stand are allowed to go forward,” (see attached) Joe McBride, a professor of forestry and landscape architecture at the University of California at Berkeley, said in today’s filing. “Substantial, irreparable damage would occur to the trees in the project area. This would, in turn, cause negative impacts to the overall health of the forest.”

McBride’s finding is based on his scientific review of the potential of impacts to each tree along the project route — a review plaintiffs show Caltrans failed to undertake.

“This project will cause major damage to one of our most prized state parks,” said Gary Hughes of the Environmental Protection Information Center, one of the plaintiff groups and spokesman for the coalition. “For Caltrans to railroad this multimillion-dollar project by grossly understating its impacts is a violation of the public’s trust and a wasteful use of taxpayer money.”

“With less than 3 percent of our ancient redwood trees remaining, we cannot allow Caltrans to injure and kill the precious giant trees of Richardson Grove State Park,” said Peter Galvin, conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We will fight this project to the end, no matter how long it takes.”

Plaintiffs are Trisha Lee Lotus, Bess Bair, Bruce Edwards, Jeffrey Hedin, Loreen Eliason, Environmental Protection Information Center, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics and the Center for Biological Diversity. They are represented by a team that includes Philip Gregory and former congressman “Pete” McCloskey of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, a law firm in San Francisco.

Click the links below to view the Original Documents:

Preliminary Injunction Motion Press Release

Plantiffs Motion Preliminary Injunction Memo

McBride’s Expert Declaration for Preliminary Injunction

Green Diamond Resource Company (aka Simpson Timber) owns approximately 400,000 acres of highly valuable and productive redwood forest on the North Coast.  Despite the green-washing of the company name, the intensive and damaging logging practices of the old regime has not changed.  The Maple Creek watershed serves as a stark and grizzly example of intensive and systematic liquidation of forest resources as practiced by Green Diamond/Simpson.

Maple Creek is a perennial fish-bearing stream that drains to Big Lagoon, and then the Pacific Ocean. Maple Creek supports threatened populations of Coho and Chinook salmon, as well as anadramous Steelhead trout. The Maple Creek watershed has been subjected to a high and rate of very intense harvest over the last 13 years. The Maple Creek watershed totals 16,841 acres . According to Calfire’s GIS database of logging plans, between 1997 and 2009, 63 percent of the watershed has been logged. Over the next ten years, Green Diamond/Simpson plans to log 5,063 more acres, or 30 percent of the Maple Creek watershed.  This would bring the total logging in the watershed to 93 percent over a 23-year period.  Approximately 75 percent of the total logging over that time will be clearcutting.

The intensive and systematic liquidation of forest resources in the Maple Creek watershed left the watershed devoid of a variety of forest ages and types, and has resulted in the loss of habitat structure and complexity necessary to support the variety of wildlife that once inhabited the watershed.  In particular, the intensive rate of clearcutting in Maple Creek has lead to large-scale conversion of recovering forests to moonscapes and plantations. 

The Maple Creek watershed is just one of many examples of Green Diamond/Simpson’s overall management goals– intensive evenaged management that relies heavily on the application of clearcuts and herbicides, short forest stand rotations, and ultimately, forest liquidation. Public agencies such as the Department of Forestry (Cal Fire) and the Department of Fish and Game have utterly failed to uphold the law and applicable forest practices regulations in the context of the high rate and intensity of logging in the Maple Creek watershed.  These agencies have failed to enforce meaningful limits on logging rate and intensity in Maple Creek, resulting in the accumulation of logging impacts to fish, wildlife, streams, and forests. 

Green Diamond/Simpson’s heavy-handed approach reveals a fatal flaw in the paradigm of private industrial forestry; Logging without limits leads to watershed liquidation, and subsequently, harm to fish, wildlife, streams, and forests.  The rampant and pervasive use of clearcutting, herbicides, short rotations, and plantations on Green Diamond/Simpson lands betrays a lack of adequate regulatory methods and control, as well as exposing the wizard behind the curtain: A large out-of-town corporate entity that disregards the law, the viability of the forests, and the recovery of fish and wildlife in favor of conversion, liquidation, and sterilization of forest resources. 

EPIC is committed to confronting the intensive industrial management of our forest resources and changing the dominant management paradigm on Green Diamond/Simpson lands.  Restoration forestry, community forests, and ecologically justifiable forestry are all viable alternatives to the intensive, whole-sale liquidation of forest recourses in the Maple Creek watershed.  We will continue to advocate for these and other ecologically viable alternatives in hopes of creating a new management regime that will be more viable now and into the future.

Save the Date: June 16th Presentation on Green Diamond.  Join us in Trinidad- Location TBA

Green Diamond Planning Watersheds: Cear-cuts Near Maple Creek and Little River.

Grizzly Creek State Park, Slated for Closure

Our state parks are slated for the budget crisis chopping block.  This will affect many important parks within our region, including Standish Hickey State Recreation Area, Benbow Lake State Recreation Area, Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park, Fort Humboldt State Historic Park and Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. Click here to view a map of the state parks slated for closure and to ask your state representative to stop state park closures.

On Friday May 13, Governor Jerry Brown released revisions to his budget proposal, which included major cutbacks and tax increases to bring our state’s almost $35 billion deficit into the black.  The Legislature in March approved $11 million in immediate cuts to state parks.  As a result of these budget cutbacks, State Parks officials announced the scheduled closure of 70 parks, including five in Humboldt County.   The parks are expected to be fully closed on July 1, 2012, but service cutbacks – including reduced hours and amenities will start this summer. 

EPIC’s Gary Hughes spoke with Elizabeth Goldstein, Executive Director of the California State Parks Foundation on the KMUD Environment Show.  Listen to the show here.

The California State Parks System was directed to identify which parks would be closed based on attendance rates and historical significance.  Parks officials said they tried to protect the most significant cultural and natural resources, while maintaining the parks that provided the most public access and state revenue.

There are two bills that may help keep our parks open.   SB 580 (Wolk/Kehoe), could enact strong, statewide policy to protect our state park system to preserve the integrity of California’s state park system and protect taxpayers’ investments in our state parks.  Additionally, AB 42 (Huffman) helps encourage partnerships by allowing the Department of Parks and Recreation to enter into operating agreements with nonprofit organizations in order to help keep state parks open and accessible to the public.

For a full list of the closures from the parks department click here.

Click Here to Take Action

The Salmon River Ranger District on the Klamath National Forest (KNF) is proposing to log 70 acres in old growth habitat on the Wild and Scenic Salmon River.  The Little Cronan Gulch Timber Sale is three miles outside the town of Sawyers Bar adjacent to the Little North Fork of Salmon River, which is an important wildlife corridor between the Marble mountain and Trinity Alps Wilderness areas.

Wild and Scenic River Corridor

The North Fork of the Salmon River is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River system based on its anadromous fisheries values. The North Fork and its tributaries provide 40 miles of habitat for spring and fall run Chinook salmon, winter and summer steelhead, winter Coho salmon and Pacific lamprey as well as many other native fish.  These watersheds are critical for the survival of Salmon.

Turning Trails into Logging Roads in Riparian Reserves (Streamsides)

The KNF is proposing to turn a popular trailhead into a logging road for approximately 2/3 of a mile.  This trail is directly adjacent and within a perennial streamside that leads to the Salmon River.  The Garden Gulch trail leads to Mud Lake and the Marble Mountain Wilderness.  Logging is intended to be all ground based, meaning possibly with bulldozers along with new landings and multiple skid roads.

Wildlife Habitat and Connectivity

The Cronan Gulch watershed was designated as Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) Critical Habitat in 1992.  The same area was proposed for helicopter logging in the 1990’s as part of the Knob Timber Sale, which was litigated and the federal judge eliminated these timber sale “units” because they were in Critical Habitat.   The Bush Administration attempted to eradicate thousands of acres of Critical Habitat and this watershed was one of them. EPIC challenged this plan in court and even though the Fish and Wildlife Service remanded the ill conceived plan and is currently writing NSO Recovery Plan the Salmon River Ranger district is moving as quickly as possible to log the area before Critical Habitat is reinstated.

The Forest Service (FS) itself has already determined that this watershed is an important wildlife corridor.  Some of the project area is within Late-Successional Reserves (LSR), which is supposed to protect and enhance conditions of old-growth forest ecosystems, which serve as habitat for old-growth related species. The FS has not surveyed to see if Threatened, Endangered, Sensitive and rare species such as the Pacific fisher exist in the project area.

The following are a few excerpts from FS planning documents:

“It is desirable to minimize the negative effects of roading within the LSRs, including a reduction in the amount of road related sediment within the watershed.”

Late Successional Reserve Assessment (LSRA).

“Reducing road densities on unstable lands within LSRs is likely to provide the greatest benefit to aquatic resources and is the highest priority.” -LSRA 1-22

“It is important to understand that some risk associated with fire and insects is acceptable because they are natural forces influencing late successional forest development.” – Land Resource Management Plan 4-105 (more…)

Photo Courtesy of NOAA

Click Here to Take Action Now!

The Hawthorne/Campbell logging plans in Mendocino County threaten to impact critical habitat for endangered Coho Salmon in the Ten Mile River watershed.  THPs 1-10-078MEN, “Starvation Red” and 1-10-093MEN “Davis Yellow” threaten to directly impact Coho through misclassification of watercourses and subsequent application of inappropriate protection measures for streams that influence fish-bearing streams.  These plans also threaten to combine with a high rate and intensity of harvest to create cumulative impacts to Coho and Coho habitat.

These two THPs are implementing what is known as the “Anadramous Salmonid Protection Rules” adopted by the California Board of Forestry in 2009.  These rules have been decried by the NOAA Fisheries Service as inadequate and unlikely to avoid harm to listed fish species in Northern California.   In the case of “Starvation Red” and “Davis Yellow,” Hawthorne/Campbell is fundamentally misinterpreting  these already inadequate rules for the purpose of providing less protection to streams that influence flow, sediment, large wood, and nutrients in fish-bearing streams.  The end result could lead to direct impact to Coho and Coho habitat. The Department of Fish and Game has recommended correct classification of these streams and application of appropriate protections.  Hawthorne/Campbell has thus far refused to incorporate the DFG recommendations into these plans.

The Ten Mile River watershed is listed as impaired under the Federal Clean Water Act due to excessive sediment and temperature.  Coho are known to be hanging on in the Ten Mile, though recent surveys for Hawthorne/Campbell Timberlands is lacking.  The Bald Hills Creek region of the Ten Mile River basin, much of which is owned by Hawthorne/Campbell, has been subject to a high rate and intensity of harvest over the last 10-15 years.  The Department of Fish and Game field staff has expressed serious concerns over the combined impacts of these plans when recent past and future logging is considered, and has made recommendations aimed at lessening the potential for these combined impacts, including changing logging from clearcut to selection in some areas.

Coho salmon in the Central California Coast are on the brink of extinction.  According to Ms. Charlotte Ambrose of the NOAA Fisheries Service, the Coho are now going the way of the Condor.  Coho are so threatened as a wild population in the Central California Coast region that captive breeding and release may be the only way to save the Coho from complete extinction.  (more…)

EPIC comments on Timber Harvest Plan 2-10-044SIS “China Cable” have forced Fruit Growers Supply Company, a major private timberland owner in Siskiyou County, to substantially modify proposed logging that would harm Northern Spotted Owls.

The “China Cable” THP covers a total of 303 acres, including 255 acres of clearcutting in the Soda Springs region of Siskiyou County.  There are three documented Northern Spotted Owl home ranges or “activity centers” within 1.3 miles of proposed logging activities.

The “China Cable” THP proposed to target nesting and roosting habitat for owls within close proximity to an owl home range.  The home range in question is already deficient in high quality habitat for owls, including a deficiency in nesting and roosting habitat.  Logging of suitable nesting and roosting habitat within close proximity of the nest site not only threatens to result in harm to resident owls, but also threatens to impair migration of juvenile owls from the nest site.

On February 22, 2011, EPIC submitted comments to Cal Fire regarding the “China Cable” THP.  We argued that logging as proposed under “China Cable” would likely result in harm to owls, and that the THP itself failed to demonstrate how harm to owls would be avoided.

Recently, Cal Fire informed Fruit Growers Supply Company that the “China Cable” THP was not adequate to avoid harm to owls and required the timber giant to make substantial changes to the plan, as well as provide an analysis demonstrating how the plan would avoid harm to owls.

Fruit Grower’s Supply Company responded by moving all logging outside of the 1,000 foot radius of NSO home ranges, and the company also agreed not to log any nesting and roosting habitat for owls within 0.5 miles of any home range until the owl home range in question is deemed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to no longer support owls. These substantial changes will likely result in the recirculation (reopening of public comment) of this THP.

Cal Fire has demonstrated a pattern-in-practice of failing to address logging that would harm owls unless we raise concerns.  This represents a fundamental flaw in the interagency review team process that is supposed to assure that no harm comes to owls as a result of logging operations approved by Cal Fire.  Cal Fire consistently recommends THPs that would harm owls for approval, only to back track later as a result of our comments and the threat of litigation.  EPIC will continue to serve as a watch-dog organization, and will continue to push back against industry proposals that would harm owls, as well as pushing back on Cal Fire’s inadequate owl protection regulatory system.

Take Action Now! The Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan is now being finalized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency is facing heavy pressure to weaken the draft from the timber industry and states about provisions in the draft strengthening owl protections on private and state lands, as well as from the Bureau of Land Management and USDA Forest Service because of the agency’s plans to ramp up logging in owl habitat.

Due to a recent timber industry court victory, the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR) is back into effect because the administration failed to provide for notice and comment of the withdrawal as required by law. Thus far the administration has given no indication if it plans to again withdraw the controversial logging plan that proposes to triple old-growth logging on BLM managed-lands in Oregon.

The recovery plan has broad implications about the future of the Northwest Forest Plan and the protection of the region’s remaining at-risk old-growth. The WOPR is scientifically flawed plan that claims a huge increase in logging owl habitat, will be good for the owl.

Click here to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and urge them to finalize the spotted owl recovery plan using the best available science and to withdraw the Western Oregon Plan Revisions.

Courtesy of Endangered Species Coalition.

Click here to protect our nation’s most precious resource from pesticide pollution.  

Currently, over 1,000 of the country’s waterways are known to be polluted by pesticides at levels that are harmful to fish, wildlife, and human health.  A 2009 US Court of Appeals case orders EPA to require pesticide applicators to get Clean Water Act permits before spraying toxic pesticides on or near the nation’s waterways.  However, current efforts in the US Senate, initiated by the chemical industry lobbyists, are attempting to undermine these environmental protections by eliminating EPA’s authority to issue permits to protect our watersheds from pesticide pollution.  Please help us to stop the industry shenanigans by contacting YOUR SENATORS today and letting them know that it’s critical to protect our fish, wildlife and human health from pesticide contamination.We need a strong EPA Clean Water Act permit to mitigate harmful pesticide applications and to restore the health of our waterways.

The debate over permits for aquatic pesticide spray is heating up in the US Senate Ag Committee.  Industry lobbyists are lining up fast to pressure our Senators to favor a bill that will allow toxic chemicals to be applied in our waters unchecked.  And a vote is expected in the next couple of weeks.  Right now, we’re hearing from our Senators, those we consider our “champions,” that they don’t think they can oppose the bill.  We can’t all go to DC to outnumber the farm bureau, chemical industry, and pesticide lobbyists head on, but we can let our Senators know that we care and that we want them to vote NO on S718. 

Here’s how:

1. Click here to send your Senator a message that we want the Clean Water Act to protect our watersheds from toxic pesticide spray.
2. Forward the action alert to just ONE friend and have them do the same.
3. Contact your Senator’s office TODAY and speak with staff about why it’s important for your Senator to oppose this legislation.  You can talk generally about pesticides being harmful, or you can talk specifically about a waterbody you live or recreate near. 

From our new Executive Director, Gary Graham Hughes, on EPIC’s Involvement with the Richardson Grove Issue.

The Environmental Protection Information Center works through out the Northwest California region on many controversial resource management and economic development issues. One of these controversial issues is the proposal to widen and expand Highway 101 through Richardson Grove State Park. The CalTrans proposal to rebuild the highway through the ancient redwoods grove has received tremendous attention, starting when it was first put on the table in 2007. Since that time, a broad and diverse coalition has sprung up to challenge the CalTrans Richardson Grove Highway Improvement Project. EPIC is an important member of that coalition, yet EPIC is only one member of that coalition.

EPIC is also one of several plaintiffs that have filed suit in both state and federal court, challenging the Final Environmental Impact Report for the highway-widening project.  Recent developments in the legal proceedings demonstrate that the EPIC case is robust. As a result of court supervised communications concerning the highway-widening project, a stipulation has been reached that CalTrans will not put to bid or otherwise move forward on work with the project before at least July 1, 2011. We are intent in seeing that the merits of our case are heard before CallTrans attempts to implement the project, and this development is an important step in achieving that objective.

The motives for EPIC’s participating in the suit are diverse, as is the group of people that participate in the movement challenging the project. EPIC’s organizational reasons for being involved with the Richardson Grove issue can be simplified into three principle concepts.

The first is environmental democracy. Opposition to the project has been voiced from around the state, and across the county. Locally, there is a sensation that the Richardson Grove project has been forced upon the Southern Humboldt and Northern Mendocino community, and that the local communities concerns about the repercussions of further highway development through Richardson Grove have been largely ignored. Much of our legal challenge is based on procedural grounds, as it is the precise and correct facilitation of the environmental review process that guarantees democracy when a state agency proposes to invest millions of dollars in an infrastructure development project. We believe that the process has been incorrectly supervised by CalTrans, and we are defending basic democratic principles as they are stipulated in state and federal law.

On another front, the potential investment of more than 10 million dollars by CalTrans in the highway development project in Richardson Grove contrasts markedly with the California State Parks system 1.2 billion dollar backlog in maintenance projects. This disparity underscores the second reason that EPIC has stood firm in the face of fierce public criticism of our opposition to the highway-widening project—our state parks are endangered.

Our State Park system is an essential part of the infrastructure that makes up the economic backbone of Northern California. The State Parks, especially those located here in redwood country, are recognized as a global jewel, and attract visitors from all around the world. As such they bring in valuable tourist dollars, as well as providing important environmental services. Yet, our State Parks face a terrible funding crisis, putting at risk their potential as protected areas in the face of unbridled development and climate change, as well as diminishing their capacity for contributing to a diversified and vibrant economy.

The recent collapse of Briceland Road in Whittemore Grove brought this maintenance backlog, and the high costs of neglecting park infrastructure, to the forefront for the Southern Humboldt community. Our State Parks are endangered and suffering for a lack of stewardship, and the impacts of the deterioration of the park infrastructure is costing local people time and money, as well as putting the survival of sensitive species at risk.

In advocating for the appropriate care of our state parks, EPIC is also advocating for alternatives to proposals like the highway widening in Richardson Grove. We know that solutions exist, and that these solutions will contribute to a sustainable vision for the economic future of our region. As it stands, the deterioration of our parks is certainly a deterioration of our shared natural and economic heritage, and the problem will only be compounded if the massive development looming on the North Coast horizon comes to pass.

This illuminates the third fundamental reason why EPIC is involved with the Richardson Grove issue. We believe that it is incumbent upon us as an environmental watchdog to enter into the region wide debate about sustainable development, and to insure that true parameters of sustainability are on the table. One of these true parameters of sustainability is the maintenance of ecological integrity, the achievement of which depends upon the strict stewardship of our State Park treasures as a buffer against ever accelerating development. Other true parameters for sustainable development include the use of appropriate technology and democratic decision making processes, both of which are themes that run through out the debate surrounding the Richardson Grove issue.

Richardson Grove is not a stand-alone issue for EPIC. Our supporters are crucial in providing timely and ongoing financial support for our legal work on Richardson Grove, and we want our community to know that we are not working on Richardson Grove in an advocacy vacuum. Our Richardson Grove work fits tightly within a framework of environmental advocacy strategies that have a coherent objective, which is to contribute to an economically viable and ecologically sane long-term vision of our regions future. It is our responsibility to confront destructive and shortsighted development that puts our future at stake.

We are firm in our commitment to challenging the highway development in Richardson Grove, and we have confidence that our arguments against the project are well studied and viable. The stipulation letter holding CalTrans to a July 1 date for contract bids proves that we are having success in the legal proceedings. Yet, the costs of this work are high. We need the financial backing of people who support our work. Please continue to support EPIC, and be attentive to forthcoming communications that will describe how you can act to support EPIC on this emblematic issue.

The case of THP 2-10-019TRI, “Ebert” represents a classic example of how the Cal Fire THP review process is fatally flawed, and why Cal Fire should not be the authority determining harm of Northern Spotted Owls.  Companies like Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) continue to push Cal Fire for ever-reduced protections for owls, and continue to propose logging that would result in harm to owls.

The circles above represent Northern Spotted Owl territory and the polygons represent SPI's applied forest management types within SPI's "Ebert" THP

THP 2-10-019TRI, “Ebert” contains a clearcut logging unit within 500 feet of a known Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) nest.  SPI claimed that these potentially illegal operations would avoid harm to owls despite the close proximity and the severity of the proposed logging.  The NSO home range to be impacted by this proposed clearcut logging has been identified as being deficient in essential high quality habitats that would support essential owl behaviors such as nesting, roosting, feeding, breeding, sheltering, and dispersal.

Despite the high risk of harm to owls posed by clearcut logging within 500 feet of a known owl nest, the Cal Fire THP review team recommended the “Ebert” THP for approval on March 23, 2011.  On March 24, 2011, we contacted the US Fish and Wildlife Service to express our concerns over these proposed logging operations and the threat they posed to owls.  The Service in turn contacted Cal Fire and expressed similar concerns.

During the course of our review of past activities near this NSO home range, we discovered that the unit in the “Ebert” THP was in fact a recycle of a unit that had been restricted to modified harvest by the US Fish and Wildlife Service under a previous technical assistance letter. Thus SPI was attempting to ‘double dip’ in this unit in very close proximity to an NSO nest site.  Furthermore, we found that the Service had requested early involvement with planning of any further logging within this owl home range due to the lack of high quality habitats, and the potential for cumulative impacts and harm to occur.

The Cal Fire review team failed to pick up on any of this until we contacted the Service and the Service in turn contacted the Department.  These essential facts demonstrate why Cal Fire does not have the expertise to make determinations regarding harm to owls. The review team process failed to consider past THPs within the range of the owls in question, and failed to consult with the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s technical assistance packages for past THPs.

On 3/25/11, Cal Fire back tracked and sent a letter to SPI, retracting the recommendation for approval, and giving SPI three choices to fix the situation:  delete the unit, maintain the habitat characteristics per the previous Technical Assistance letter, or seek further Technical Assistance from the Service.  On 3/30/11, SPI responded to Cal Fire by changing the harvest from clearcutting to selection, and also deferred harvest of the unit until the NSO home range in question is determined to be abandoned.

Cal Fire review team failed to catch significant problems with the THP as proposed before recommending it for approval.  It is clear that Cal Fire did not consult the past TA’s when reviewing the THP.  It is also clear that Cal Fire would not have balked at logging within 500 feet of the activity center had we not made the call to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  It is also clear that SPI was trying to get one over on Cal Fire, hoping that they wouldn’t notice the recycled unit.  This is yet another example of how the Cal Fire review team process is flawed, and that the Department of Forestry is only movable on NSO take issues if someone else raises a concern.  EPIC will continue to track THPs that threaten harm to owls and will continue to advocate for protection of owls and owl habitat on private lands in Northwest California.

EPIC Membership Meeting, Wednesday May 4 from 5-7pm
at Persimmons Garden Gallery
in Redway

EPIC staff and board would like to invite our community of dedicated members to share an evening with us, meet the new staff, and discuss EPIC’s work on National Forests, industrial forestry reform, protecting endangered species, clean water and working to protect our State Parks.

We look forward to hearing your input on how our work can better serve the needs of the community.

Please call Natalynne at (707) 822-7711 for more information. The event is free, and all are welcome.

Persimmons Garden Gallery is located just across the street from KMUD at 1055 Redway Drive in Redway.

In response to a petition from, the Center for Biological Diversity, Oregon Wild, Environmental Protection Information Center and Larch Company, the National Marine Fisheries Service today determined that upper Klamath River Chinook salmon found in northern California and southern Oregon may warrant protection under the federal Endangered Species Act and initiated a status review to determine if protection is warranted.

“The Klamath River Basin and the salmon it supports are a national treasure,” said Andrew Orahoske, conservation director for the Environmental Protection Information Center. “So far, federal agencies have managed spring-run Chinook in the Klamath by ignoring them. Plans for the restoration of the Klamath need to put spring Chinook recovery front and center.”

Click here to view the full press release!