May 4
Noah: Networked Organism Noah helps people reconnect with nature and contribute to organizations that are working hard to catalog and preserve our planet's biodiversity. Noah connects aspiring citizen scientists with current research projects focused on documenting various plant and animal species. Think of Noah as a tool that nature lovers can use to explore and document wildlife and as a common technology platform that research groups can use to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere. http://www.theinternetofthings.eu/content/noah-networked-organism
Apr 27
In this issue I’ll be “recapping” some of the continuing sagas, like the bond funding freeze and watershed / fisheries restoration work. But first I’m going to try to summarize some of the elements of the so-called “timber wars” over the last three-plus decades and then focus on crucial current conflicts and opportunities. I’ll have to skim over years of fundamental detail in order to get to the here-and-now. For those who want to dig in deep, there are multiple sources to search out—you might be able to earn a PhD, or two, for your efforts. For a one-stop summary of a central aspect
you might read and/or acquire Sharon Duggan and Tara Mueller’s Guide to the California Forest Practice Act and Related Laws. For a millennial overview I’d recommend A Forest Journey: The
Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization by John Perlin. And while you’re thinking millennial, read King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon by David R. Montgomery.
You can read the rest here:
Feb 24
http://www.firstmediation.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/denied.bmp"Industry has really been trying to play this as unique in history as an unparalleled expansion of regulatory power, but if you look at the history of the Clean Water Act, a lot of industrial sectors have already been regulated and EPA has been slapped down for trying to exempt other sectors."
All passages from:
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/02/23/23greenwire-supreme-court-denies-3-high-profile-environmen-26153.html In its first set of orders since returning from a monthlong recess, the Supreme Court declined yesterday to consider three separate industry challenges to federal environmental regulations:
1) Environmentalists hailed the court's decision not to review a year-old ruling requiring farmers to secure Clean Water Act approval for the use of pesticides already permitted under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. U.S. EPA is now reviewing the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System to devise a permitting system that complies with the ruling.While the agency had claimed that FIFRA approval incorporated compliance with the Clean Water Act, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the government was obligated to ensure that farmers using pesticides were subject to both regulations.
2) Another case denied review was
Texas Water Development Board v. Department of Interior, which weighed prospective future development against environmental conservation. The decision not to review the case derails plans by Dallas-area officials to someday build the proposed Lake Fastrill reservoir along the Neches River. In that case, a three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had unanimously upheld a lower court's decision that the Fish and Wildlife Service did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act by designating 25,000 acres of east Texas wetlands as the Neches River National Wildlife Refuge in 2006. Local governments said they would likely need to build the reservoir by 2050 to accommodate increased water demand (
Greenwire, Oct. 8, 2009).
3) The court also declined to review
Rose Acre Farms Inc. v. United States, a case in which an egg farm sued the federal government for damages after the government cracked down on potential contamination by harmful bacteria. After an outbreak of salmonella that caused hundreds of illnesses was traced back to the farm, the Department of Agriculture destroyed some of the farm's eggs and required the company to sell others on the less-lucrative market for liquid, pasteurized eggs. Rose Acre sued USDA, claiming the company was entitled to recoup lost revenue because the government response constituted a "regulatory taking," as defined by the 5th Amendment of the Constitution. The Court of Federal Claims awarded the company $5.4 million in damages but that award was overturned last March by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
All passages from:
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/02/23/23greenwire-supreme-court-denies-3-high-profile-environmen-26153.html
Feb 24
At the end of the 20th century, the most productive forests of Pacific Lumber Company were in the Yager & Lawrence Creek drainages, a tributary of the Van Duzen River... For decades these forest were some of the most over-managed forests ever. In the eighties and nineties Under Maxxam's ownership these fragile erosive forested soils endured clearcutting at triple the level of what was once considered sustainable. Today, Humboldt Redwood Company is proposing to return to sustainability.
But how much of the unsustainable practices of Maxxam limit the new landowners' ability to practice forestry in a sustainable way?
Friends of Van Duzen has worked to monitor, protect and restore streams that have been heavily impaired with clearcutting caused erosion, as well as a stream-warming lack of canopy. One iteration of FOVD is called the Van Duzen Watershed Project, which has earned 'stakeholder' status in HRC's planning process. So Humboldt Redwood Company has invited the Van Duzen Watershed Project to discuss the finer points / details at the Monday Club in Fortuna for on open house on March 10th at 6pm. And now we are inviting you too!
The meeting will be at 6:00 pm, March 10 (Wednesday) at the Monday Club on North Main Street in Fortuna
You can View their Watershed Analysis here.But be prepared: All maps on cummulative effect are corrupted files / not viewable!
What's up with that?
Letter from HWC Board Member Paul Trichilo:
Hi All,
Yesterday I got a call from John Woessner, Area Manager for Humboldt Redwood Company, inviting me and any other interested parties to a presentation by the Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC) on their watershed analysis for Yager Creek and Lawrence Creek sub basins, which are tributaries to the main stem Van Duzen River. I was given a heads-up on this several weeks ago, and it looks like HRC would like to have stakeholder involvement in their process. So, if you would like to hear about what the company is doing and what it has planned for these upper watersheds, and/or if you would like to comment and have an input, you will have an opportunity at this meeting. John has also informed me that their watershed analysis is finished and is available for review on their website at
www.hrcllc.com.
The meeting will be at 6:00 pm, March 10 (Wednesday) at the Monday Club on North Main Street in Fortuna. Please try to attend, as those of you who are interested in the Van Duzen Watershed Project (i.e.,Stakeholders) are also stakeholders in the activities of this lumber company. It would be good to have some local concerned citizens in attendance. Feel free to forward this message to anyone you think might be interested in this meeting. I will try to send out another notice when we get closer to the date. Thanks.
Paul
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Paul J. Trichilo
Van Duzen Watershed Project
Fortuna, CA 95540
Feb 9
In March, Caltrans will release its final plan to widen Highway 101
through Richardson Grove, giving large commercial trucks access
to Humboldt County. Make your voice heard before it’s too late!
EPIC and the Coalition to Save Richardson Grove want to inform the
public about the impacts of the project and discuss its implications.
http://wildcalifornia.orghttp://wildcalifornia.org --------------------------------------------------------------
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Jan 28
From the enclosed legal document below:
The plan contemplates scores of logging operations over the next 100 years. But it does not describe a single operation, including its location, size, sequence, silviculture, yarding method, whether there will be winter operations, or any other relevant information, let alone analyze how those operations may combine with other similar operations and projects to effect the environment.
Sierra Club sues CALFIRE to halt Bohemian logging
The Sierra Club et al today filed a lawsuit in Sonoma County Superior Count against the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE) to prevent implementation of a logging plan for the Bohemian Club approved by the Department on December 29, 2009. The full text of the legal petition is attached.
http://mobileactive.org/tagging/water-quality-reporter
