Winter light on oak branches. Murray Cooper Photo.
As the year comes to a close, we at the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) are reflecting on the efforts EPIC has undertaken on behalf of Northwest California’s endangered species and wild areas during 2011, and we are grateful to all of the people that have stepped up and joined our effort to protect Wild California.
EPIC has undergone important staffing changes with exceptional smoothness, we have strengthened our advocacy work, and we are succeeding at making EPIC an innovative, effective and independent environmental watchdog organization.
In 2011 we:
—Defended Richardson Grove State Park from unnecessary highway development, halting the ill-advised Caltrans proposal for widening Highway 101 with a Preliminary Injunction granted in Federal Court;
—Put an end to illegal grazing in Tolowa Dunes State Park, as well as engaging parks management to enforce prohibitions against off-highway vehicle use in that park;
—Commented on dozens of Timber Harvest Plans slated for private industrial forestlands across our region, forcing changes in harvest activities that have directly protected the habitat of endangered species like the Northern Spotted Owl and Coho Salmon;
—Monitored and secured changes on numerous commercial timber sales on National Forest lands, and supported legal strategies addressing damaging grazing, logging, mining, and travel management issues that present direct conservation threats to our public lands;
—Advocated for the legal protections of species like the Humboldt Marten, the Pacific Fisher, the Klamath Spring Chinook Salmon, and the Marbled Murrelet through the innovative use of the United States Endangered Species Act;
–Supported local residents grappling with environmental challenges who look to EPIC as a clearinghouse for information on managing environmental issues.
The staff and board of EPIC want to extend Thanks and Appreciation to all of the individuals, businesses, and sister organizations that have contributed money, goods, time, talent, and love to our organization. It is our members that make EPIC a unique expression of the redwood coast community; and it is this foundation of support within our community that keeps EPIC alive and fighting for the natural wonders of our home. Importantly, as we look ahead and prepare for the coming year of 2012, we need our community to dig deep and make a year-end contribution to EPIC today!
The environmental challenges we are facing are multiple and complex, and 2012 promises to break the mold of what we have come to expect in environmental politics.
Valley Fog and Intertwining Forest. Murray Cooper Photo.
An emerging nationwide social movement addressing the severe inequalities in our society is growing by leaps and bounds, while at the same time the most dangerous and anti-earth political establishment in decades has captured the US Congress, threatening to unravel the very foundation of environmental law that provides protections for water, air, and biodiversity. On the state level, from park closures to the unfunded mandate of regulatory agencies, the signs are clear that many politicians are ready to sacrifice the environment on the altar of economical expediency. There are unimaginable geopolitical events awaiting us in the next year, and the global economy is tottering under the weight of its own surreal unsustainable dependence on the unfettered exploitation of people and natural resources.
This precarious state of affairs is a strong argument for becoming a member of EPIC and for making a significant donation today! Investing in our effective organization is your insurance for having a consistent and visionary voice for the Northwest California environment in a tumultuous political arena and convoluted economic playing field.
We thank you for considering EPIC in your year-end giving, and we thank you for all of the support and dedication that you have provided us this year. We thank the forests and the rivers for the lessons and humility that they teach us, and for the bounty that they provide us. The glorious beauty of the soft golden sun caressing the moss and lichen laden upper branches of an elder oak tree is the aesthetic essence of our drive to contribute our energies to integrating human and natural communities on the North Coast of California. The health and vitality of our futures, and that of our children and grandchildren, is contingent upon our ability to respond to the cries for help from a stressed landscape. Over the years EPIC has gained the trust of our supporters, and now more than ever we need people to pitch in to this collective effort. Make your donation today, and rest assured that the guardian of your wild backyard will be ready to serve you and our planet in the year to come.
THANK YOU!
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