After You’re Dead
Another part of Potter’s plan is to repurpose a decommissioned fishing boat to use to lower the 850-pound structures about 50 feet down to the ocean floor. He figures as many as 3,800 of the structures will fit in the two-acre area he’s looking at near Camel Rock south of Trinidad.
“The reef will act as habitat for sea life, primarily cash crop fish like cabazon, rockfish and the cod family,” said Potter. “We’ll be working with [Humboldt State] University. The college is looking forward to having this as a laboratory to study how the artificial habitat works for those fish and with other sea life.”
With help from Tim Mulligan, a professor in HSU’s Dept. of Fisheries Biology, and geology grad student Danny O’Shea, Potter is striving to avoid any sort of negative impact from the structures.
“We hate the term ‘environmentally friendly,’” he said. “We think that’s kind of a stupid term — we like to consider ourselves environmentally responsible.”
In fact, he’ll have to demonstrate the responsibility of the plan to meet extensive environmental oversight. He’s been dealing with the Coastal Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers, and so far, he says, he has not met with any resistance to the idea.
“If everything goes as planned, we’re hoping to open our doors starting the first of the year,” he said.
While he’s been exploring a number of ways to fund his start-up, he could get a substantial boost from the Eureka Reporter‘s Economic Fuel contest. He entered in February and will find out later this month if he makes it to the finals.
Win or lose, he says he’s moving forward with the project. He’s already pre-sold several memorial reef balls to families who have been holding onto cremains for years unsure what to do with them. And among the first batch of Pacific Rest memorials will be one for his own mother, whose cremains are currently stored in a cabinet in his living room.
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on the cover
Railroad!
Proposed lines ‘set rich blood a-tingling’ in early 1900s
Some Other Proposed North Coast Railroads
Choo-choo Fantasies
Exposing this east-west rail nonsense
seven-o-heaven
Undeterred Will
Will chides Andrew for lack of attention to detail and makes plans for his inevitable victory.
Recent on the cover
May 17
Ring of Fire
Sun and moon will perform a rare pas de deux in Humboldt skies on Sunday
May 10
District Soup
Racing for the top county seat in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd districts
May 3
A Place in the Woods
As park closure deadline nears, a scramble to save what we can
Today
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
Flow 2012 Fashion Show
STAFF PICK / events / 8 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Student designed and produced clothing. Fundraiser for Arcata Arts Institute. $35/$25 students. artsinstitute.net. 822-1220.
Woodside Preschool's Rummage/Bake Sale
events / 8 a.m.-noon. Woodside Preschool, 900 Hodgson St, Eureka. www.woodsidepreschool.com. 445-9132.
Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
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