Today’s meeting of the North Coast Railroad Authority’s Board of Directors saw plenty of impassioned arguments, lots of squabbling over legalese and at least two cases of hurt feelings. The two most notable results were these: 1) The board voted 8-1 to delete key parts of a 2011 resolution, thus invalidating an environmental impact report […]
environment
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A-holes Saw Down Old Growth Redwood so They Can Steal a Burl
That’s right: Some depraved reprobate(s) chopped down a 300-year-old natural wonder so they could hack part of it off, chainsaw it into a bear shape and hawk it to tourists on Hwy. 101. This happened up in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park last month, and the nefarious deed has understandably unleashed the righteous wrath of […]
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“Congress, Tear Down These Dams,” Says SF Chron
On Monday, the Associated Press published a story outlining the results of a U.S. Geological Survey study, which examined the likely effects of removing four dams on the Klamath River. The upshot? It’s a good idea. As AP reporter Jeff Barnard explains, federal scientists believe the $1 billion dam-removal project would restore the ecosystem, improve […]
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Trying Again on Wave Energy
The latest West Coast foray into wave energy is coming from Newport, Ore.. That’s where Oregon State University’s (take a deep breath) Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center plans a big, “utility scale” test site that will be connected to the electric grid. The thing will be five miles offshore, and will zing its electricity […]
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Marine Protected Areas to Go Active Next Week
The map above (click to enlarge) shows the location and dimensions of the new marine protected areas that will go into effect next Wednesday, Dec. 19. These “underwater parks” are the result of a long and at times contentious process, though stakeholders here on the north coast managed to reach consensus on where the protected […]
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Scare Crow
Freaked-out opposition and stern eyebrow-raising amongst the citizenry has caused the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to drop its plan to poison crows and ravens on Clam Beach as a means to protect the threatened Western snowy plover. The plan — called an experiment by the Fish and Wildlife Service — was to plant avicide-laced […]
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Rapacious Weed: News Outlets Eye Enviro Costs of Humboldt’s Pot Farms
Two news stories this week, the first from the Sacramento Bee and a follow-up from Mother Jones, examine the environmental impacts of large-scale outdoor marijuana grow operations, which have exploded over the rural hills of Northern California in recent years. Both stories point out how the conflict between state and federal laws has effectively stymied attempts to […]
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News from Elsewhere – about us
In case you missed them, a couple of California’s major dailies ran Humboldt-centric stories this week. A travel piece in the Sacramento Bee titled “Arcata both embraces and rises above its cliches” offers a tourist-eye view of Arcata describing it as “a little bit of everything: a college town, a neo-hippie enclave, a haven for environmentalists […]
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Governor Signs Chesbro Aquaculture Bill
Press release from Assemblyman Wes Chesbro’s office: SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D – North Coast) to boost California’s growing aquaculture industry. AB 1886 expands the role of an industry funded aquaculture coordinator within the Department of Fish and Game (DFG). “Aquaculture is a clean, sustainable industry that has great growth […]
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Crab Trap Limits A-Comin’
On your mark, get set, scuttle! It’s time to ponder the state’s new Dungeness crab trap limit program and — by Sept. 10 — submit your comments on the Department of Fish and Game’s initial study and proposed Negative Declaration. The program, the result of passage of Senate Bill 369 in 2011, goes into effect […]
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VIDEO: Inside the Pelican Rescue
As a supplement to his story on the ongoing brown pelican crisis, Scottie Lee Meyers, the Journal‘s brand-spankin’-new intern, shot and edited the YouTube video below, in which Lucinda Adamson, an intern for Bird Ally X, offers a tour of the emergency response efforts underway at the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center. Hooray for interns! Also, if […]
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Committee to Study Something
At the end of six hours of testimony with nary a break for lunch Wednesday, the North Coast Railroad Authority board voted 6-0 to form a committee to study — something — just not what the Humboldt County Supervisors and State Assemblyman Wes Chesbro had requested. The “ask” from Humboldt leaders was to form a […]