Rivers, Roads and Rails
(March 12, 2009) Humboldt County radio listeners were assaulted last week with a series of advertisements so paranoid and goofy that they put one in mind of the failed Maxxam-led recall effort against District Attorney Paul Gallegos five years ago. From these ads, it would seem that a small, sinister cabal of shadowy individuals wants to destroy the Humboldt County way of life forever. Be very, very afraid.
“Imagine any afternoon in Santa Rosa,” the voiceover artist intones. “[Highway] 101 becomes a gigantic parking lot. Not a tree in sight — just fumes, rage, car horns and urban madness. It’s getting worse day by day.”
And it’s coming here, apparently, in the form of the tiny alteration that Caltrans is proposing for a little stretch of Highway 101 through Richardson Grove — the big trees at the south end of the county. Comments on the draft environmental impact report on the $5 million project were due today, and last week someone with money saw fit to share their paranoia about the project with the rest of the county.
The original ads asked listeners to send money to the Northcoast Environmental Center. It wasn’t originally clear that the ads weren’t sponsored by the NEC itself, but by a new “group” called Save Richardson Grove that NEC staff decided to take under the wing of the venerable organization, without input from its board. This led to a bit of a kerfuffle within the organization, whose board is split on the issue, and the ads were pulled and re-aired minus NEC references.
But what is the Northcoast Environmental Center doing lending its staff time and nonprofit tax status to a single-issue group walking in off the street, whose message had not been approved by the NEC’s board of directors? Georgianna Wood, NEC administrative director, told us that the group’s mission was broadly in line with her organization’s mission statement: protecting the environment. She reminded us that the NEC had already signed on to a letter to Caltrans that had raised questions about the project’s environmental impact. She insisted that the ads in question belonged to “Save Richardson Grove,” not the NEC. She told us that the NEC did not expect to charge money for the services provided to the group.
So it’s likely not the case that this is a money-laundering ploy to let someone whip up hysteria while the NEC stays vaguely neutral and collects a cut of the profits. Still, it’s undeniably grubby. The fact that the ads went out under the NEC’s ambit means that we will likely never know who paid for them. That fact was almost certainly high in the minds of whoever funded the “Save Richardson Grove” ads.
We didn’t like it when Maxxam or the “Eureka Coalition for Jobs” did this, and we don’t like now. Frankly, we expected better of the NEC.
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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.
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SIX Comments
Comment / By Jeff Muskrat / March 12, 2009, 10:12 a.m.
Wow Hank! You compare the Friends of Richardson Grove to MAXXAM? And you question why the NEC is providing non-profit services for protecting Ancient Trees? Is that not part of NEC’s mission?
It sounds like you may have not enjoyed the radio spot, but you also sound as if you support the Richardson Grove project. Well then, do you support misappropriating the Headwaters Fund to support the road widening project?(A State project). Do you feel that the Headwaters Fund should be used to damage Ancient Trees?
What happened to the NCJ? It used to be much more community orientated. So did you, if I remember correctly. How much is Arkley paying you for this?
Th NCJ is full of fluff lately. It’s actual quite a boring read, even if you make it to the mid-section. After that, it’s only good for fire starter, less you enjoy public notices. Lack of sustenance leaves your readers hungry…
I guess after all locally owned media outlets are Arkleyed(THE NCJ IS PRINTED ON ARKLEY’S PRESS), all we have left is blogging. And maybe the McKinleyville Press, if it’s not sold out to the highest fibber.
Comment / By brian / March 13, 2009, 11:32 a.m.
Hank; Hope you give Jeff Muskrat some ice cream for proving your point.
Comment / By Chris / March 13, 2009, 8:23 p.m.
The article regarding the NEC was right on.
Brian you are also right on. The divisive, threatening, condescending, and know-it-all attitude at www.saverichardsongrove.org is pretty lame and likely very ineffective.
If the NEC had a collective brain they would ditch their association with it ASAP.
Comment / By Jeff Muskrat / March 15, 2009, 10:12 a.m.
So which one of you is really Hank? Chris? Brian? Both?
The only divisive, threatening, condescending “know-it-alls” are typically anonymous posters on the Richardson Blog supporting the project.
So, “Brian” and “Chris”(if that’s your real name(s):)…Why do supporters of this project choose to hide their identities as anonymous bloggers on the blog site? If the project is not based on greed and deception, why the animosity from project supporters?
I challenge any of you to visit http://saverichardsongrove.org/, and I’ll buy anyone an ice cream that can find a divisive, threatening, or condescending comment on that site.
Comment / By Barbara Kennedy / March 15, 2009, 5:21 p.m.
I am an opponent of the Richardson Grove project. I am happy to say that I contributed to pay for the radio spots and thank the NEC for their support and I am also an NEC member. I am not a fan of blogs because if people are afraid to print their full names then why should their opinions be given any weight? I doubt whether many of the project proponents such as Hank Sims have actually read the DEIR to see how inadequate it is. Hank Sims and thoe who feed him misinformation are more representative of the MAXXAM mentality than the Save Richardson Grove advocates. And who funds the “Sunshine for Humboldt” radio spots? Why isn’t Hank Sims investigating them??
Comment / By Jeff Muskrat / April 14, 2009, 5:15 p.m.
Great to see you change your tone, Hank.
Here…have some Humboldt Pie :)
http://saverichardsongrove.blogspot.com/2009/04/town-dandy-eats-humboldt-pie.html