BREAKING NEWS: Enviro Groups Cry Foul as Caltrans Removes a Few Small Trees in Richardson Grove; Agency Says Construction on Long-Delayed Improvement Project Will Start in Spring

Report by Ryan Burns from the lost Coast Outpost

"We’re nearly two decades into the pitched legal battle over a proposed highway realignment project through Richardson Grove State Park, and while Caltrans says it's ready to finally start construction this spring, a local environmental group is saying, “Not so fast.”

This week, Caltrans construction crews have been marking and removing small trees along the one-mile stretch slated for realignment. In an emailed statement, the agency said this “limited” tree work is necessary to protect birds ahead of construction.

“Crews are marking and removing only younger, newer-growth trees in advance of nesting bird season. No old-growth trees are being removed, nor will any be removed by the project itself,” Caltrans spokesperson Myles Cochrane said.

But representatives for the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), which has been the primary litigant challenging this project in court, say this tree-removal work violates an established agreement to provide at least a 45-day warning for activities affecting the project site. 

Members of EPIC who recently drove through the grove noticed at least two redwoods removed along the north shoulder of the road near the former Singing Trees Recovery Center, prompting group leaders to question Caltrans about the work.

“Only after the agency was approached did it admit that it had begun construction and that trees were logged to prevent birds from nesting prior to road widening,” EPIC said in a prepared statement.

EPIC’s executive director, Tom Wheeler, went further.

“For years, Caltrans has maintained that they should be trusted on this project — that the public should take their word for it that no old-growth redwoods will be harmed. But Caltrans apparently can’t even be trusted to warn the public when construction activity begins,” he said.

“The bulldozers of ‘progress’ are firing their engines, ready to scrape over State Park land to allow for ever-bigger trucks, despite speculative economic justification and skyrocketing costs,” Wheeler continued. “It’s long past time for the folks in Sacramento to put a stop to this boondoggle before Caltrans does irreparable harm to Richardson Grove.”

The state has long argued that the Richardson Grove Improvement Project amounts to a minor but necessary modification to the narrow and winding roadway. The project intended to address a longstanding bottleneck on U.S. 101 where industry-standard STAA truck tractor-semitrailers are currently unable to travel through the park.

“Because of that restriction, some suppliers and carriers don’t serve the North Coast or need a separate fleet just for this stretch of highway,” Caltrans said in its statement to the Outpost. As currently designed, the project calls for for the removal of 38 trees, including two small redwoods of 4-8 inches in diameter at breast height.

“Methods such as hand digging and air spades are planned to minimize impacts to roots and surrounding resources, which extends the construction timeline compared to similar work elsewhere,” Caltrans says. The agency, which has produced before-and-after photo simulations of the project, says its ready to start construction this spring.

It will take two years to complete, Caltrans says. “While the scope of the project is relatively small, the work entails a careful approach due to the sensitive setting within Richardson Grove State Park.”

But environmental groups have repeatedly argued that the construction work could still damage ancient redwoods by severing roots and paving over them. A series of lawsuits have challenged the agency’s environmental analyses, forcing the state agency to prepare multiple Environmental Impact Reports.

In recent years, however, the courts have tended to rule against EPIC and its allies. In 2021, for example, a federal judge granted a summary judgment in favor of Caltrans, and in 2024 Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Timothy Canning dismissed a writ of injunction that challenged Caltrans’ compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

Wheeler says the fight’s not over.

“Litigation has stopped the project for more than a decade, with multiple court rulings finding that Caltrans failed to take a hard look at the likely impacts to old-growth redwoods,” he said. “The current lawsuit challenging Caltrans’ shoddy environmental review will be decided in state appellate court in the coming months.”"