A Humboldt County cannabis grower has agreed to pay $750,000, remove unpermitted ponds and restore streams and wetlands after state officials accused him of violating regulations protecting water supplies, wildlife and waterways. Of the total, $500,000 is a record penalty for a water rights violation in California. State officials say the violations by Joshua Sweet […]
wetlands
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Winged Warning: Migrating Birds Hit Hard by California’s Drought
It says something about the complexity of California’s water crisis that there are so many actors in the state’s water wars, all clamoring for more. Nature, alone, is silent in this fight, relying on others to speak on behalf of the welfare of wildlife and waterways. Across the state, biologists, farmers and hunters are lending […]
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Lanphere Dunes and Ma-le’l Dunes Named National Natural Landmarks
Lanphere Dunes and Ma-le’l Dunes were designated as National Natural Landmarks this week by the U.S. Department of the Interior along with sites in West Virginia and Colorado. The more than 900 acres adjoining Manila and Arcata are biological hotspots, boasting a range of rare plant species amid the dune forests, coastal dunes and diverse […]
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Army Corps Halts Bypass Work
If you’ve driven though Willits lately, you’ve noticed the tan swaths of fill swooping through pasture along the east side of U.S. 101 and the spindly wooden forms revealing the future configuration of the Willits Bypass. Yes, the project’s substantially underway. And yet it continues to be riddled with problems. Most recently, the Army Corps […]
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Peat Miner Must Pay
A complaint filed over a long-time allegedly illegal peat-moss mining operation in Bridgeville has resulted in two Humboldt County residents — peat moss miner Daniel Wojcik and landowner Robert Wotherspoon — entering felony and misdemeanor pleas yesterday for violations of the Surface Mining and Recovery Act and Lake and Streambed Alteration permitting process and of […]