No comments?!

I suspect that the Save the Redwoods League link will have to be moved on the saverichardsongrove.org site.

Save the Redwoods League was never really opposed to this project; they sat in on the initial advisory group meetings and would not share information with other enviro groups about the process as it unfolded.

Has anyone seen the Confusion Hill wall?

By the way, Caltrans has changed its plan for a retaining wall (most likely because of geological studies that revealed what many of us knew, the hillside is unstable and was a slide area). Now they are planning to construct a ledge and a wall on the opposite side of the road, encroaching onto Singing Trees property. I hadn’t heard about that from CalTrans.

Thank you for unblocking me Hank. Besides, what else would I do if I couldn’t stand upon my soapbox on your ever so popular(but much less popular than Heraldo’s blog) blogthing?

Freedom of speech should go hand in hand with freedom of the press. But we all know better than that, right Hank? How much advertising money does the NCJ receive from real estate and developer related businesses? How do you maintain the balance between not offending your readers(the Community) while promoting the ideals of your sponsors?

On to the subject at hand…

I expect nothing less from Save The Redwoods League. Let’s take a look at compromisers for a moment. And let’s start with you, Hank.

When KMUD aired what you referred to as an “ad”(March 12th NCJ “Rivers, roads and rails”)regarding the project, you likened the friends of Richardson Grove along with the NEC to MAXXAM(it was far from an “ad”, it was more of an informational paid by donations from concerned community members, “ads” are what you sell out your community for, Mr. Sims).

After a large public reader outcry in response to your vicious attack, you miraculously changed your tone(April 9th NCJ “Sweet Irony”). You thought you would mend the bridges you burned with your readers in the community by focusing your Town Dandy column on old news, reported over a week prior to your NEC attack in the Times-Standard(“Headwaters Fund Report Draws Criticism” Feb 25 2009), while all but apologizing to the NEC and friends of Richardson Grove for your libelous and slanderous remarks(In “Rivers, roads and rails”, you even called the sponsors of the KMUD informational paranoid, when we were right about having cause to worry about development interests in the project all along).

In “Sweet Irony”, you wrote about the controversy over the usage of Headwaters Funding in swaying the massive influx of negative public opinion regarding the project, almost as if you scooped it. Much, much later in the article, you gave credit to Ken Miller and Dave Spreen for exposing the corruption, while attacking Heraldo for stating some minor details of the scandal that you didn’t agree with(personally, I think you were simply jealous of Heraldo scooping you).

Now you have the nerve to provoke me into participating in an argument; my opinion and my passion for this cause versus your print machine. Well, I must ask YOU, Hank, where do you stand on this issue? That’s a tough question for someone in your position, and I have much sympathy for someone who is so easily swayed, by a subtle or in this case a violent change in the direction of the wind of public opinion and developer interests. How do you keep a balance between your personal opinions, overall public opinion and the opinions of your sponsors?

There are many compromisers and panderers in the world of non-profit environmentalism. The Save the Redwoods league is only one of many, although it is not their fault. It’s not your fault for changing your tone either Hank, for I feel your passion is also your prison.

I suppose that after decades of butting heads against the plunderers of forests, habitats, and the creatures that depend on them, you eventually become a little “soft”, maybe even a little fat($) around the middle.

Sadly, this has happened to so many groups that once passionately protected the Earth. Groups such as the WWF, Green Peace, and my favorite sell-outs, the Forest Stewardship Council, have all compromised their morals and integrity to appease public opinion, sponsors and the largest puppet master, the hands of corporate interest$. There are also groups that seem to run out of steam, lack action and campaign driven energies, and eventually burn out.

I’m not attacking Save the Redwoods League. Hell, I’m not attacking you either Hank. However, I am never afraid to speak my mind, and I always try my best to examine conflicts from both (or all) sides.

Assuming that my main stance against the project is concentrated on construction damage to the root systems in your most recent attack against who you call “Grovies” displays the lack of knowledge you have in regards to the overall concerns this proposed project has created.

You probably inferred from my past experiences in defending the tiny pockets of old growth left on former PL timberlands that my passion is for trees in general. But this is far from the truth. Those trees had a voice, a character, and I wouldn’t have spent so much time and money fighting to protect those groves if it was simply based on “sticking it to the MAXXAM man”.

In my opinion, any damage to the tree roots will take decades, maybe even centuries to appear. When the damage is apparent, not many people will remember how or why it happened. It would probably be blamed on climate change. Cal-Trans will get off “scott free”, just as the timber industry has no liability for landslides onto highways caused by steep slope logging and firestorms caused by clear-cutting(Sorry HRC, you call it “even aged management”, but it’s all the same during high fire danger season

The public gets screwed by industry, and the tax-payer picks up the tab. In this case, it is a public agency(Cal-Trans) that is doing the screwing for industry, lubed with public funds and taxes. The trees will be affected, but who will notice? And when?

The most prevalent effects will be felt by small businesses. The attack has begun on Humboldt’s rugged, remote and rebellious character. The most idiotic supporting statement for the project is that small shippers cannot afford to ship goods out of the county. We all know that this is B.S. What mom and pop local business can afford or find a necessity for a 65’ trailer?

Proponents of the project such as Sun Valley Floral and Cypress Grove Cheese claim that larger trucks are needed to transport their local goods in a more cost effective and environmentally friendly manner. But something doesn’t smell right about this, and I think the stench is related to greed.

Sun Valley floral farms uses chemical fertilizers and herbicides. These chemicals are probably found in your grass fed beef or milk from the Arcata bottoms, the same products that the bovine industry is fighting to ship out of county. They also hire illegal immigrants at minimum wages, which I have mixed feelings about, a fact that most of your conservative proponents of the project seem to ignore(again we have compromise in areas of selfish interest).

Cypress Grove ships their goat milk from maquiladoras in Mexico. Why do they publicly promote the project? I guess there are more cows(over 80,000 head according to Martha Divine) in Humboldt County than there are goats. If Cal-trans pushes the project through, hopefully we’ll see the goat to sheep ratio exposed in this county.

Are you a sheep, who follows the interests of the shepherd without question? Can we find you in a future Fortuna Wal-Mart brainlessly scanning the aisles for the cheapest non-necessities made in China? Or are you a goat who will raise some hell if they try to rip a hole through the Redwood Curtain? In fighting for your home and lifestyle, there is no compromise. Let’s not pave the rest of paradise…

saverichardsongrove.blogspot.com

(BTW Hank, I would be surprised if you allow this post on your blog since it contradicts your authority. Furthermore, I’d be astonished if you covered the real scoop of the issue, of local businesses in competition with big box chains, instead of covering up the facts by throwing dirt on the roots of the trees. Don’t get me wrong, I am very concerned for the trees. But I am much more concerned for the people of Humboldt).

Just because some dumb ass Arborist(whose training is based on climbing and limbing trees) with a plush job for Save the Fourth Growth League believes that the roots will be “ok” says nothing really at all in supporting the project.

If a Dendrologist who actually studies the functions of trees and root systems said that the trees will not be affected by the project, there is still the issue with the development of Humboldt.

It’s funny that all of these expert opinions on Redwood root systems are coming from loggers and such, when their role in the forest is to cut, slash and burn trees.

Would you use a military commander to head peace talks between two quarreling nations?

Would you knowingly hire a thief to manage your investments?

Would you rent your home to an arsonist?

Who the hell cares what this Yniguez guy thinks, root systems are not his fortay. It sounds like Save the Fourth Growth League needs a new schtick. Afterall, there is practically no old growth left, 3% remains of our original growth forests, and I sometimes wonder where these so called non-profit groups interests “lie”.

Don’t let Cal-Trans rip a hole through the Redwood Curtain! Sign this petition now and help save the Richardson Grove Old Growth Redwoods!

Try this link for the petition:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/dont-let-cal-trans-rip-a-hole-through-the-redwood-curtain

Sorry for any confusion :)

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Knee-jerk reaction. GO. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Statement of moral superiority. NOW. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Disparage what I could never become. DO IT. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

What’s wrong with taking action for a just cause that you believe in?

What’s wrong with having morals instead of greed directing your life?

I’m not worried about myself, or my ego. I’m worried about our community…

Its pretty hard for a road not to have some “significant” effect on adjacent trees unless they are so far back that they are barely adjacent.

Are there any maps of the planned change and redwoods nearby?

MDV Oregon

Boy oh boy. Y’all are experts with trees and the root strength and cohesion of soil and tree root surcharge. N/m2 is the unit of force for tree root strength.

look up DLISA LISA and if you cant run the free software then you have no right to subjectively whine about something you did not go to college for 6 years….

or go to CGS and ask them to break out their magic ball that they use.

Go caltrans make it safer driving.

Hank, are you stating that cutting the roots of any tree will not affect that tree? Are you serious?

For Caltrans maps of the project, visit: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/d1projects/richardson_grove/

Sign the petition to Save Richardson Grove by the Center for Biological Diversity now: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1629

The CBD is against this project due to the fact that Caltrans is not conducting pre-project wildlife surveys for this project, which happens to be located in prime Marbled Murrelette habit within a State Park, along with damage to the Ancient Trees, and the likelihood of corporate invasion an mass development, which would spoil the unique character of Humboldt County. Along with the CBD, the below groups are fighting to Save Richardson Grove:

-EPIC(The Environmental Protection and Information Center -Trees Foundation -The Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council -Save Richardson Grove

The below groups are also opposed to the project: -Humboldt Watershed Council -Friends of the Eel River -The Environmental Defense Fund -Californians for Alternatives to Toxins -Highboldtage -Humboldt Revolution -Earth First! Humboldt -Humboldt Forest Defense -Culture Change

Along with more…and growing!

Learn more now at http://saverichardsongrove.org/ or blog it at http://www.saverichardsongrove.blogspot.com/

Hank, are you stating that cutting the roots of any tree will not affect that tree? Are you serious?

Different Hank, but speaking as someone who HAS cut the roots of redwood trees, I can attest that it’s not quite the same as chainsawing a person’s leg off. They have been known to grow back.

Damn, they really gotta tear up that area based on some fake surveys just so they can have more big ass trucks all up in my lane.

For real, fuck these fake environmentalists with their environmentally questionable businesses talking about improving the health of trees with roadwork. The whole thing doesn’t make any sense.

I have an idea, take 0.001% of that public money marked for big box truck road improvement and fix the bathrooms at the campground.

Thank you Hank. I knew that was a different Hank.

However, your statement does not address all of the issues regarding road construction around trees. For example, the “Avenue of the Giants”, where the tops of the Ancient Trees that line the Avenue are dying off.

Many believe that in the 60’s, Caltrans(back then the DPW) affected the surface water channels that supply the roots of the dying trees when the 101 bypass was constructed along the Avenue. The water was diverted into channels, and the trees are drying up.

This is a theory that has yet to be proven. But Caltrans doesn’t want to play ball when it come to science. To prove that point, the RIP does not require any pre-project wildlife surveys. This is a State Park that we are talking about.

All I’m saying is that Caltrans has failed to prove that this project will not affect the Ancient Trees that line the 101 through Richardson Grove. In fact, the DEIR clearly states:

“….Additional paving and the placement of shoulder backing could cause soil compaction and disturbance within the structural root zones of large redwoods. Studies have shown that compaction of the soils within the root zone can have an adverse effect on these trees (Arnold 1975). Adverse effects to large trees may be a significant impact to this unique natural community.”

It is a well known fact that Redwoods are quite resilient in regards to regeneration. You don’t have to be a forester to know this. Many of the redwoods within timber lands have been logged up to 4 or more times.

A new redwood will sprout from the stump or base of the felled redwood. The timber quality of the redwood is decreased each time, presumably due to factors such as nutrient loss and accelerated growth from full sun exposure in clear cuts. Hence, the argument for sustainable and selective forestry.

But cutting the roots of any tree, Redwoods included, definitely and unarguably affects the canopy. Will root cutting, paving and other disturbances kill the entire tree? That is dependent upon how much of the tree’s root system is affected. For the 25-30 Ancient Trees closest to the 101, the RIP may be their death sentence.

I feel the risks are too high to necessitate the 10 million dollar project for a two mile section of the 101, at least as the project stands. Paving and removing Redwood Tree roots within Richardson Grove State Park WILL cause nutrient and moisture depletion to the redwoods that line the 101. This really is the “root” of the issue at hand.