The rallying cry is “Kill the Cup!” and Humboldt State University students are killing it, literally and metaphorically. The national waste reduction program includes an annual University Challenge which measures how many drinks are served to students in reusable cups at participating coffee shops. Last year’s winner, Miami University, measured 5.52 percent participation by students. […]
Environment / Natural Resources
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Conservancy Group Turns to Crowdsourcing for $5 Million Klamath Tributary Buy
The Western Rivers Conservancy has launched an ambitious crowdfunding campaign to purchase a 10,000-acre tract of of land that contains a significant Klamath River tributary. Blue Creek runs into the Klamath River 16 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, just inside Humboldt County’s border before the river flows into Del Norte County past the town […]
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Marijuana-related Pesticides are Killing Even More Fishers
The rodenticides used on marijuana grows are posing an ever-greater danger to Pacific fishers, according to a recently released study by University of California Davis researchers and Integral Ecology Research Center Director Mourad Gabriel. Gabriel has been studying the effects of pesticide use on the medium-size weasel-like species for several years, and concluded that “increasing […]
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UPDATED: Higgins Pulls Ahead in the 5th
2nd UPDATE: With the final Election Night report in, we have a nail biter in the race for the 5th Division Harbor District Seat. After trailing all night, incumbent Commissioner Pat Higgins has taken a 12-vote lead over challenger Susan Rotwein with 100 percent of precincts reporting. With 3,666 votes counted in the race thus […]
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Ehresman Stepping down from NEC
The Northcoast Environmental Center is in a state of flux, as it announced over the weekend that Executive Director Dan Ehresman will be stepping down in the next couple weeks. Ehresman has worked for the NEC for six years, serving as the organization’s director since 2012. In recent months, Ehresman was critical of California Cannabis […]
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Report Reveals Dire Runs of Returning Salmon
The Nature Conservancy recently released its second annual report showing the “big picture” of yearly California salmon runs. A collaborative effort between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Marine Fisheries Service and several other conservation groups, the report includes a database of salmon counts for Coho, Chinook and steelhead returning to spawn […]
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Sustainable Forestry Initiative Losing Support
Today in dead tree branding … Xerox, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Delta Dental and Bigelow Tea have joined 27 other major companies in distancing themselves from controversial eco-label Sustainable Forestry Initiative. SFI has garnered criticism from environmental groups for what they deem to be a “greenwashing” campaign, saying that forest products that carry the label […]
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Eureka PlanCo Says Don’t Re-zone Woodley Island
The Eureka Planning Commission has recommended that the city not change its zoning of Woodley Island, as the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District recently requested. The city is in the process of updating its general plan, a process that Community Development Director Rob Holmlund says will take another year or so. In doing […]
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New Law Says Gold Dredgers Need Clean Water Permits
Local tribes, environmentalists and fishing groups are applauding a bill signed today by Gov. Jerry Brown that will require recreational gold miners to obtain Clean Water Act permits before using dredges and other techniques to search for the precious metal in California rivers. There’s been a moratorium on suction dredge mining since 2009, though loopholes […]
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Yurok Tribe no Longer Supports Klamath River Agreement
NOTE: This post was updated with comment from Huffman. The Yurok Tribe has announced it will withdraw its support of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, the massive, multi-agency restoration plan originally signed in 2010 that’s sat untouched by Congress for the last five years. The Karuk Tribe and Oregon Klamath Tribes will also withdraw at […]
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Cannabis, Enviro Groups Agree! Or, No Wait, They Don’t.
When California Cannabis Voice Humboldt, the political action committee behind two proposed county marijuana ordinances, announced agreement with environmental groups yesterday, it provoked a mixed reaction from those groups. CCVH was responding to a letter sent to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors by four environmental groups that outlined the protections the groups believe a […]
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Let it Flow: Judge Denies Bid to Halt Water Release
UPDATE: North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman released a statement decrying the “preposterous” and repeated attempts of Southern California water districts to prevent water releases into the Trinity River. He also had some choice words for the “drumbeats of distortions from the districts’ PR machine.” See the full press release and statement below. PREVIOUSLY: The Yurok […]