HWC on PL Bankruptcy
Re: Humboldt Watershed Council reacts to Palco bankruptcy. The Pacific Lumber Company (Palco) filed for bankruptcy protection today, after years of ...
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I am writing on behalf of the Humboldt Watershed Council to inform you, ... The Humboldt Watershed Council has a long-standing interest in these issues. ...
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12.05.2008
EarthJustice Client - Humboldt Watershed Council
Ahh, the activist web - the plot does thicken...
Cases
California Logging Clean Water Exemption
In Brief: The Clean Water Act is meant to clean up the nation's waterways. In some areas, however, exemptions have been issued that have hampered the goal. One such is in California, where three water boards have ruled that loggers are exempt. Earthjustice is challenging the exemptions in court.
Staff:
Clients:
Environmental Protection Information Center
Humboldt Watershed Council
Updated: April 20, 2004
Case #11095
6.13.2008
NYT - A Legal Thicket Amid the Redwoods
A Legal Thicket Amid the Redwoods
By JOHN MARKOFF,
Published: June 4, 1993
In a cluttered office overflowing with filing boxes and legal briefs, William H. Bertain is standing fast in his quixotic campaign to wrest back control of the Pacific Lumber Company, which was acquired in 1986 by Charles E. Hurwitz, a Houston financier.
A child of the lush redwood forests in this fog-shrouded country, Mr. Bertain has dedicated the last seven years to a legal fight that few believe can be won, returning the company to the Murphy family that had managed it since the turn of the century. Seeking to Undo a Buyout
Mr. Hurwitz's Maxxam Inc. bought Pacific Lumber for about $900 million in a buyout financed largely with junk bonds handled by Drexel Burnham Lambert, and three members of the Murphy family have retained Mr. Bertain to have the buyout undone, asserting that shareholders were defrauded. Maxxam also faces a barrage of lawsuits from employees, shareholders and environmentalists seeking to halt the harvesting of old-growth timber.
Despite demoralizing odds, Mr. Bertain says he carries on the crusade because outside investors -- whom he calls "corporados" -- are threatening to destroy a way of life.
"This was the crown jewel of the North American timber industry," he said. "I was just stunned for four months after the takeover, but then I set out by committing to do everything that was legal and moral to stop this."
Mr. Bertain's campaign has set him at odds with John Campbell, the president of Pacific Lumber and a 24-year veteran of the company, the world's largest holder of virgin redwood forests. "He's barking up the wrong tree," Mr. Campbell said in a telephone interview. "He's a zealot and he has his emotions and his ego involved."
Pacific Lumber is not practicing cut-and-run forestry, the Australian-born lumberman insists. Countering critics who charge that Mr. Hurwitz had to increase the company's cutting rate to pay nearly $800 million of debt incurred when it was taken over, Mr. Campbell says the company has shown that it intends to be a positive long-term economic force here in Humboldt County, on the Northern California coast nearly 300 miles north of San Francisco. At Center of Regional Conflicts
Seven years after Mr. Hurwitz's takeover, the dispute shows no signs of ending soon. Indeed, Pacific Lumber has increasingly found itself at the center of economic and environmental conflicts boiling over in the Pacific Northwest. In April, both sides of the Pacific Lumber hostilities were prominently represented at President Clinton's meeting in Portland, Ore., on forest use.
In this logging town of 27,000, the controversy has turned neighbor against neighbor and left the community bitterly divided over whether its future lies in timber or in diversifying into recreation and tourism.
And Pacific Lumber's unwillingness to compromise on environmental issues has made new enemies in this town, which once saw itself as having a one-crop economy.
"For a long time, the timber industry has controlled this area," said Phil Jurick, a Eureka developer. "They've had far too much influence."
For many residents of this community, the Pacific Lumber takeover has come to epitomize the social and environmental costs of the junk bond era of the 1980's. But beyond being vilified as a corporate raider, Mr. Hurwitz has never been charged with violating any laws, and in the short run at least, his company has increased employment in the region. Mr. Bertain's supporters include members of labor unions, community leaders and environmentalists. Nevertheless, it has not been a comfortable time for the bearded and outspoken 46-year-old lawyer, the youngest of 10 children who grew up in nearby Scotia, the company town for Pacific Lumber, where his family had run a small laundry since 1920.
Today Mr. Bertain -- who spends most of his time and much of his money on the legal battle with Mr. Hurwitz -- is more than a half-million dollars in debt. At times he has been unable to meet his house payments, and his health has deterioriated.
The dispute may soon move to a national stage. Legislation is expected to be introduced in Congress this month to clear the way for the Government to acquire more than 30,000 acres of Pacific Lumber's old-growth timber in an area known as the Headwaters. While company officials say that the fair market value is likely to exceed $400 million, Congressional staff members and environmentalists argue that because environmental restrictions prohibit logging there, the actual value may be much less.
Environmentalists have used Pacific Lumber's logging practices as the rallying point in their battle to save the remaining stands of California's old-growth redwood forests. "This is in-your-face forestry," said Joshua Kaufman, a Humboldt County paleontologist who helped form an environmental coalition after he saw Pacific Lumber trucks rolling up and down the road on which he lives. The group has brought suits against the company and hopes to force it to sell its remaining old-growth lands for a new national park.
Mr. Bertain maintains that returning Pacific Lumber to its original owners would be a perfect compromise between the environmentalists and the logging industry. Under its previous owners, the company cut about 2 percent of the trees on its land annually -- no more than the forest's annual growth rate.
In his lawsuits against the Pacific Lumber takeover, Mr. Bertain has asserted that Mr. Hurwitz conspired with other investors to defraud the company's shareholders when he acquired the company. To date, those suits have generally been rejected by Federal courts, but more than a dozen shareholder, employee and environmental suits remain to be settled.
Few people give the small-town lawyer much chance of returning the company to its former owners. But Mr. Bertain is optimistic that he will prevail in his $1 billion-plus claim against the dealings of Drexel Burnham Lambert and its fallen junk bond specialist, Michael R. Milken. Words Unspoken
Mr. Bertain and Mr. Hurwitz have testified at the same Congressional hearing, but they have never spoken to each other. Mr. Hurwitz, a Texan who rarely speaks to the press, refused to comment on Mr. Bertain.
Unfazed by the various lawsuits against his holdings, Mr. Hurwitz has forged ahead, moving to reduce the debt load of Pacific Lumber. He recently refinanced Pacific Lumber's $510 million debt and split the company into three concerns, leading many industry executives to say -- and even some environmentalists to concede -- that the Houston financier had pulled off a business coup.
"They got a phenomenal decrease in the cost of capital," said Craig Gilmore, a financial analyst at Gilmore & Company in Carlsbad, Calif.
In a daring stroke, Mr. Hurwitz shifted Pacific Lumber's timber assets to two new companies, Scotia Pacific and Salmon Creek, cutting back on the company's short-term debt, financed by junk bonds, and replacing it with bonds backed by 179,000 acres of redwood and Douglas fir timberland. Many Lawsuits
Nonetheless, Mr. Hurwitz still faces imposing legal challenges:
*Pacific Lumber and Maxxam are named in lawsuits in both Humboldt County and New York City by former Pacific Lumber shareholders seeking damages of more than $1 billion.
*The logging company faces at least 10 lawsuits brought by environmentalists who charge that its accelerated logging endangers species like the spotted owl and the marbled murrelet and damages forest watersheds.
*In 1991, the United States Department of Labor filed a civil suit against Pacific Lumber in response to the company's 1986 termination of its pension plan, which it replaced with annuities from Executive Life, an insurance company that Mr. Hurwitz controlled and whose parent later went bankrupt.
*In May 1992, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation indicated that it was moving toward suing United Financial Group, stemming from the 1988 collapse of the United Savings Association. Mr. Hurwitz once owned 24 percent of the failed savings and loan, which purchased $1.4 billion worth of Drexel's junk bonds in exchange for $1.8 billion in financing for the acquisitions of Pacific Lumber and Kaiser Aluminum.
*In April, Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California, introduced legislation that would impose a 75 percent tax on the value of old-growth redwood timber that is used as security for bonds.
Through it all, Mr. Bertain has shown no signs of caving in.
"He's a bulldog of a human being," said David Harris, an author and researcher who is working on a book about the corporate takeover. "Nobody else would be where he is today, but he's still after these guys."
The article also referred incompletely to Pacific Lumber's stance on issues that have angered environmentalists. The company said it had compromised on some matters.
Correction: June 10, 1993, Thursday
An article in Business Day on Friday about a legal battle for control of the Pacific Lumber Company misstated the relationship between Charles E. Hurwitz, chairman of Pacific's parent, Maxxam Inc., and the Executive Life Insurance Company, a California insurer that supplied annuities for Pacific Lumber's pension plan. Mr. Hurwitz did not control Executive Life.
The article also omitted attribution for allegations that the United Savings Association bought junk bonds from Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. in return for Drexel's financing of acquisitions. That assertion was made in a lawsuit by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation against Michael R. Milken, Drexel's junk-bond specialist. Because Mr. Milken and Drexel Burnham settled the suit for $1.3 billion, no court ruled on the F.D.I.C. allegations.
By JOHN MARKOFF,
Published: June 4, 1993
In a cluttered office overflowing with filing boxes and legal briefs, William H. Bertain is standing fast in his quixotic campaign to wrest back control of the Pacific Lumber Company, which was acquired in 1986 by Charles E. Hurwitz, a Houston financier.
A child of the lush redwood forests in this fog-shrouded country, Mr. Bertain has dedicated the last seven years to a legal fight that few believe can be won, returning the company to the Murphy family that had managed it since the turn of the century. Seeking to Undo a Buyout
Mr. Hurwitz's Maxxam Inc. bought Pacific Lumber for about $900 million in a buyout financed largely with junk bonds handled by Drexel Burnham Lambert, and three members of the Murphy family have retained Mr. Bertain to have the buyout undone, asserting that shareholders were defrauded. Maxxam also faces a barrage of lawsuits from employees, shareholders and environmentalists seeking to halt the harvesting of old-growth timber.
Despite demoralizing odds, Mr. Bertain says he carries on the crusade because outside investors -- whom he calls "corporados" -- are threatening to destroy a way of life.
"This was the crown jewel of the North American timber industry," he said. "I was just stunned for four months after the takeover, but then I set out by committing to do everything that was legal and moral to stop this."
Mr. Bertain's campaign has set him at odds with John Campbell, the president of Pacific Lumber and a 24-year veteran of the company, the world's largest holder of virgin redwood forests. "He's barking up the wrong tree," Mr. Campbell said in a telephone interview. "He's a zealot and he has his emotions and his ego involved."
Pacific Lumber is not practicing cut-and-run forestry, the Australian-born lumberman insists. Countering critics who charge that Mr. Hurwitz had to increase the company's cutting rate to pay nearly $800 million of debt incurred when it was taken over, Mr. Campbell says the company has shown that it intends to be a positive long-term economic force here in Humboldt County, on the Northern California coast nearly 300 miles north of San Francisco. At Center of Regional Conflicts
Seven years after Mr. Hurwitz's takeover, the dispute shows no signs of ending soon. Indeed, Pacific Lumber has increasingly found itself at the center of economic and environmental conflicts boiling over in the Pacific Northwest. In April, both sides of the Pacific Lumber hostilities were prominently represented at President Clinton's meeting in Portland, Ore., on forest use.
In this logging town of 27,000, the controversy has turned neighbor against neighbor and left the community bitterly divided over whether its future lies in timber or in diversifying into recreation and tourism.
And Pacific Lumber's unwillingness to compromise on environmental issues has made new enemies in this town, which once saw itself as having a one-crop economy.
"For a long time, the timber industry has controlled this area," said Phil Jurick, a Eureka developer. "They've had far too much influence."
For many residents of this community, the Pacific Lumber takeover has come to epitomize the social and environmental costs of the junk bond era of the 1980's. But beyond being vilified as a corporate raider, Mr. Hurwitz has never been charged with violating any laws, and in the short run at least, his company has increased employment in the region. Mr. Bertain's supporters include members of labor unions, community leaders and environmentalists. Nevertheless, it has not been a comfortable time for the bearded and outspoken 46-year-old lawyer, the youngest of 10 children who grew up in nearby Scotia, the company town for Pacific Lumber, where his family had run a small laundry since 1920.
Today Mr. Bertain -- who spends most of his time and much of his money on the legal battle with Mr. Hurwitz -- is more than a half-million dollars in debt. At times he has been unable to meet his house payments, and his health has deterioriated.
The dispute may soon move to a national stage. Legislation is expected to be introduced in Congress this month to clear the way for the Government to acquire more than 30,000 acres of Pacific Lumber's old-growth timber in an area known as the Headwaters. While company officials say that the fair market value is likely to exceed $400 million, Congressional staff members and environmentalists argue that because environmental restrictions prohibit logging there, the actual value may be much less.
Environmentalists have used Pacific Lumber's logging practices as the rallying point in their battle to save the remaining stands of California's old-growth redwood forests. "This is in-your-face forestry," said Joshua Kaufman, a Humboldt County paleontologist who helped form an environmental coalition after he saw Pacific Lumber trucks rolling up and down the road on which he lives. The group has brought suits against the company and hopes to force it to sell its remaining old-growth lands for a new national park.
Mr. Bertain maintains that returning Pacific Lumber to its original owners would be a perfect compromise between the environmentalists and the logging industry. Under its previous owners, the company cut about 2 percent of the trees on its land annually -- no more than the forest's annual growth rate.
In his lawsuits against the Pacific Lumber takeover, Mr. Bertain has asserted that Mr. Hurwitz conspired with other investors to defraud the company's shareholders when he acquired the company. To date, those suits have generally been rejected by Federal courts, but more than a dozen shareholder, employee and environmental suits remain to be settled.
Few people give the small-town lawyer much chance of returning the company to its former owners. But Mr. Bertain is optimistic that he will prevail in his $1 billion-plus claim against the dealings of Drexel Burnham Lambert and its fallen junk bond specialist, Michael R. Milken. Words Unspoken
Mr. Bertain and Mr. Hurwitz have testified at the same Congressional hearing, but they have never spoken to each other. Mr. Hurwitz, a Texan who rarely speaks to the press, refused to comment on Mr. Bertain.
Unfazed by the various lawsuits against his holdings, Mr. Hurwitz has forged ahead, moving to reduce the debt load of Pacific Lumber. He recently refinanced Pacific Lumber's $510 million debt and split the company into three concerns, leading many industry executives to say -- and even some environmentalists to concede -- that the Houston financier had pulled off a business coup.
"They got a phenomenal decrease in the cost of capital," said Craig Gilmore, a financial analyst at Gilmore & Company in Carlsbad, Calif.
In a daring stroke, Mr. Hurwitz shifted Pacific Lumber's timber assets to two new companies, Scotia Pacific and Salmon Creek, cutting back on the company's short-term debt, financed by junk bonds, and replacing it with bonds backed by 179,000 acres of redwood and Douglas fir timberland. Many Lawsuits
Nonetheless, Mr. Hurwitz still faces imposing legal challenges:
*Pacific Lumber and Maxxam are named in lawsuits in both Humboldt County and New York City by former Pacific Lumber shareholders seeking damages of more than $1 billion.
*The logging company faces at least 10 lawsuits brought by environmentalists who charge that its accelerated logging endangers species like the spotted owl and the marbled murrelet and damages forest watersheds.
*In 1991, the United States Department of Labor filed a civil suit against Pacific Lumber in response to the company's 1986 termination of its pension plan, which it replaced with annuities from Executive Life, an insurance company that Mr. Hurwitz controlled and whose parent later went bankrupt.
*In May 1992, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation indicated that it was moving toward suing United Financial Group, stemming from the 1988 collapse of the United Savings Association. Mr. Hurwitz once owned 24 percent of the failed savings and loan, which purchased $1.4 billion worth of Drexel's junk bonds in exchange for $1.8 billion in financing for the acquisitions of Pacific Lumber and Kaiser Aluminum.
*In April, Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California, introduced legislation that would impose a 75 percent tax on the value of old-growth redwood timber that is used as security for bonds.
Through it all, Mr. Bertain has shown no signs of caving in.
"He's a bulldog of a human being," said David Harris, an author and researcher who is working on a book about the corporate takeover. "Nobody else would be where he is today, but he's still after these guys."
The article also referred incompletely to Pacific Lumber's stance on issues that have angered environmentalists. The company said it had compromised on some matters.
Correction: June 10, 1993, Thursday
An article in Business Day on Friday about a legal battle for control of the Pacific Lumber Company misstated the relationship between Charles E. Hurwitz, chairman of Pacific's parent, Maxxam Inc., and the Executive Life Insurance Company, a California insurer that supplied annuities for Pacific Lumber's pension plan. Mr. Hurwitz did not control Executive Life.
The article also omitted attribution for allegations that the United Savings Association bought junk bonds from Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. in return for Drexel's financing of acquisitions. That assertion was made in a lawsuit by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation against Michael R. Milken, Drexel's junk-bond specialist. Because Mr. Milken and Drexel Burnham settled the suit for $1.3 billion, no court ruled on the F.D.I.C. allegations.
3.26.2008
ER - Candidate seeks balance between growth, quality of life
Terrible interview, given all the controversy and the questions that should be asked of Mark Lovelace. This is a typical puff piece interview, that you can expect to see of all the candidates. No tough questions, no examination of the issues, no challenges. A big disappointment.
Candidate seeks balance between growth, quality of life
By CERENA JOHNSON, The Eureka Reporter
Published: Mar 25 2008, 10:46 PM
Third District Supervisor candidate Mark Lovelace said he is focused on balancing a need for economic development and growth with quality of life.
Lovelace, who has lived in the area for 20 years, is president of the Humboldt Watershed Council and is involved with the Healthy Humboldt Coalition, a cooperative effort through the council geared at protecting the environment and strengthening the local economy through the Humboldt County General Plan.
Lovelace has also served with various community organizations, including Citizens for Real Economic Growth, and established a consulting business working with small manufacturers, and has worked on property issues, affordable housing, alternative transportation and land use issues.
Lovelace also notes work in 2000 on the Sunny Brae forest project, through which 175 acres were added to the city of Arcata’s community forest management plan.
Lovelace said his public and private sector involvement will help him to recognize the connection between all of the different projects facing the county.
In confronting challenges that lie ahead, Lovelace said a dialogue about the future of Humboldt County and what it should look like is necessary.
“People live here for the quality of life,” he said, including scenic beauty and a natural environment. “We need to build upon that.”
Lovelace said in focusing on economic development, it is important to look at growing businesses locally that are also able to compete outside of the community, providing good paying jobs and utilizing local talent.
“There are some amazing young people coming out of this area,” he said.
He described the third district as a “magnet” for innovative businesses.
Having worked in manufacturing and being Web based, Lovelace also stressed the area’s need for infrastructure.
“As supervisor, I would want to work with those kinds of businesses and see that they have the tools they need,” he said.
The Third District stretches from Arcata and Manila to Freshwater and Kneeland.
Lovelace is running against Arcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino and Bryan Plumley, a financial adviser.
Candidate seeks balance between growth, quality of life
By CERENA JOHNSON, The Eureka Reporter
Published: Mar 25 2008, 10:46 PM
Third District Supervisor candidate Mark Lovelace said he is focused on balancing a need for economic development and growth with quality of life.
Lovelace, who has lived in the area for 20 years, is president of the Humboldt Watershed Council and is involved with the Healthy Humboldt Coalition, a cooperative effort through the council geared at protecting the environment and strengthening the local economy through the Humboldt County General Plan.
Lovelace has also served with various community organizations, including Citizens for Real Economic Growth, and established a consulting business working with small manufacturers, and has worked on property issues, affordable housing, alternative transportation and land use issues.
Lovelace also notes work in 2000 on the Sunny Brae forest project, through which 175 acres were added to the city of Arcata’s community forest management plan.
Lovelace said his public and private sector involvement will help him to recognize the connection between all of the different projects facing the county.
In confronting challenges that lie ahead, Lovelace said a dialogue about the future of Humboldt County and what it should look like is necessary.
“People live here for the quality of life,” he said, including scenic beauty and a natural environment. “We need to build upon that.”
Lovelace said in focusing on economic development, it is important to look at growing businesses locally that are also able to compete outside of the community, providing good paying jobs and utilizing local talent.
“There are some amazing young people coming out of this area,” he said.
He described the third district as a “magnet” for innovative businesses.
Having worked in manufacturing and being Web based, Lovelace also stressed the area’s need for infrastructure.
“As supervisor, I would want to work with those kinds of businesses and see that they have the tools they need,” he said.
The Third District stretches from Arcata and Manila to Freshwater and Kneeland.
Lovelace is running against Arcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino and Bryan Plumley, a financial adviser.
A new face for the 3rd District
A new face for the 3rd District
Jessie Faulkner Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/12/2008 01:25:56 AM PDT
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors race is on, with three of the five seats up for election, starting with the June primary.
The top vote-getters in races with more than two candidates will vie for the seats in November unless one hopeful receives more than 50 percent of the vote.
With 3rd District Supervisor John Woolley's recent announcement that he will not be seeking another term, the field is wide open -- and it remains so. Potential representatives have until the close of business today to file.
So far, three candidates are running: Humboldt Watershed Council President Mark Lovelace, Arcata City Councilman Paul Pitino and Environmental Systems Engineer Mike Wilson.
Second District incumbent Roger Rodoni faces former KMUD news director Estelle Fennell and Clendenen's Cider Works owner Clif Clendenen while 1st District Supervisor Jimmy Smith faces Ferndale dairyman John Vevoda.
This is the third story in a three-part series. Today's focus is on the 3rd District.
Mark Lovelace
Mark Lovelace said he debated whether he would be more effective at the podium or at the dais before deciding to run for the 3rd District supervisor.
After moving to the area in 1989, Lovelace said his activism began with an effort to establish the Sunny Brae Forest in 2000 -- an undertaking that resulted in adding 175 acres to the Arcata Community Forest -- and meant more than 2,000 hours of volunteer time.
The Humboldt Watershed
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Council was next and has been his employer from 2003 to present. Most recently, he has focused on Healthy Humboldt -- a project of the watershed council that has brought together a coalition of agencies to advocate for the protection of working land and open space in the county's ongoing general plan update.
Citing his professional accomplishments, Lovelace points to his efforts with the Sunny Brae forest. His mother, he said, is particularly proud of his selection as the Arcata Eye's 2002 Citizen of the Year.
Lovelace suggested an alternative approach to the much-needed economic development on the North Coast.
”We're approaching economic development as if our only strategy is a 'Hail Mary' pass,” he said. “We tend to focus on the idea that we need a large employer bringing in 300 jobs.”
Instead, the area is rich in small businesses doing great things. A preferable approach is to encourage establishment of those smaller enterprises, Lovelace said.
Lovelace also stressed the importance of looking at the whole picture -- instead of compartmentalizing issues.
As to skills, other than his interest and attention to the county issues, is a calmness and clarity in how he works.
”I really don't like making any kind of decision if I don't have my knowledge base,” Lovelace said.
That knowledge base, he said, comes not only from a dedication to doing his homework to listening to many constituents.
The truth is usually not at the extremes, Lovelace said, it's likely to be in the middle. The key is to the ability to be patient and discuss issues, particularly the divisive ones.
The biggest issue facing the 3rd District and all of Humboldt County, Lovelace said, is determining what we want the area to look like.
”We've done a good job on what we don't want,” Lovelace said. “We need to be equally clear on what we do want to see.”
With the 10 fastest growing counties in the state being rural counties -- not unlike Humboldt County -- there's the possibility of being overwhelmed, he said. The solution is being proactive.
Lovelace, a resident of Sunny Brae, has been married to Valorie for 15 years. They have a 14-year-old daughter, Abbey.
Paul Pitino
Arcata City Councilman Paul Pitino, an Arcata resident since 1993 and the father of three grown sons, has held a number of careers over the years from teaching children Spanish to designing control centers for high-rise buildings.
He's also made money as a millwright, factory worker, deli worker and currently works as a landscaper. His interest in politics may have started as a small child when he helped his father, the president of the postal union, hand out fliers.
As an adult, Pitino sampled the political waters while living in Ukiah and was a member of the city of Ukiah's solar access committee. He also worked on Dan Hamburg's anti-recall committee, when opponents tried to oust the former Mendocino County supervisor. Later on, after moving to the North Coast, Pitino was one of four people spearheading opposition to a 900-unit subdivision in the Arcata Bottom. He worked on another council candidate's campaign followed by his own successful effort to join elected body in 2004.
One of the accomplishments as a council member, he said, is bringing a balance to Arcata City Council in the form of a working class, lower-income perspective.
Pitino also said he tends to be a personable, approachable person with a good rapport with others of all economic classes from the homeless to business owners.
The candidate is opposed to campaign advertisements and endorsements. He is, however, spending a fair amount of time knocking on doors and talking with district residents.
Winning is a byproduct, what's really, really important is how you run the campaign, he said.
If that effort is successful, Pitino said one of his goals is to work to make the county a kinder, friendlier place -- in part by modeling such behavior whether it's opening doors for others, saying “hi” or picking up trash.
He's also adamant about improving public bus service -- specifically offering such service on Sundays. Doing that and improving the service overall, Pitino said, would be a shot in the arm for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid and, by association, everyone. It's an area in which Pitino said he has developed some familiarity with as the city of Arcata's representative to the Humboldt Transit Authority board of directors.
The ongoing issue of homelessness remains a challenge for the 3rd District, he said. Pitino said he's been studying how Portland, Ore. and Ukiah work with their homeless populations.
”If we can make life a little less of a hassle for the economic bottom part of society, it's good for everybody,” he said.
Mike Wilson
A native of southern Humboldt County, Mike Wilson has been a resident of Arcata since 1984 with a temporary move to San Francisco a few years later to finish his bachelor's degree in engineering at San Francisco State University. Following graduation, he worked for Bay Area-based international engineering firms before moving back to the North Coast to earn his master's degree in environmental systems engineering from Humboldt State University. That led to establishment of Wilson and his wife Laura's business, Humboldt Water Resources, an engineering consulting firm based in Arcata. Among their projects was United Indian Health Service's Potawot Village. Wilson also works part-time managing marketing for Carlson Wireless.
In the political realm, he's represented the 3rd District on the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District for slightly more than two years.
Wilson is currently the vice president of the Friends of the Dunes board of directors and serves on the building committee for the organization's new nature center.
”I'm very excited about that,” he said.
As the 3rd District supervisor, Wilson said he would bring a fresh perspective -- adopting a practical approach to government. Part of that approach is bringing Humboldt County into the 21st Century in terms of infrastructure and, in particular, Internet redundancy. For the short term, he said, the preference is a microwave link while working to establish a second fiber optic link.
Wilson said he also wants to focus on connecting the area's existing skilled workforce to available employment. Humboldt State University is working in that direction, he said, and the county should support that effort.
As a parent of two young daughters, 1 and 7, Wilson said he is intimately aware of the importance of services to support families whether it's childcare or health insurance. The Board of Supervisors, he said, is responsible for making sure county programs and workers have the tools needed to deliver services.
Improving public transportation, focusing on affordable housing and getting the county general plan update done are all priorities, Wilson said. He also said it's important for the county to look into wind and wave energy opportunities as well as expanding solar programs.
Wilson said he was prompted to run for the 3rd District seat, in part, because of a positive experience as a representative on the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District. He said he's looking forward to putting his public service skill set and his professional skills to work for the district. He also noted his abilities as a problem-solver, and an understanding of small business concerns.
”With some fresh ideas and perspectives, there's a lot that can be moved forward,” he said.
Wilson said advocates for the establishing a regional trail system -- a benefit not only for current North Coast residents, but a powerful lure for those considering moving to the area.
”I believe the 3rd District can be the backbone of that system,” he said, with trails to Eureka, Blue Lake and out to the beach.
”It's going to take strong county support to make that happen,” Wilson said.
But, he said that won't be the limit of his efforts: Daycare needs, affordable housing, the general plan, the impacts of development in Arcata's sphere of influence will all get his attention if he's elected.
At a glance: The 3rd District: The 3rd District includes Arcata and Manila but also stretches inland to the Kneeland area and south -- roughly to a line running east from Fortuna.
Jessie Faulkner can be reached at 441-0517 or jfaulkner@times-standard.com.
Jessie Faulkner Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/12/2008 01:25:56 AM PDT
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors race is on, with three of the five seats up for election, starting with the June primary.
The top vote-getters in races with more than two candidates will vie for the seats in November unless one hopeful receives more than 50 percent of the vote.
With 3rd District Supervisor John Woolley's recent announcement that he will not be seeking another term, the field is wide open -- and it remains so. Potential representatives have until the close of business today to file.
So far, three candidates are running: Humboldt Watershed Council President Mark Lovelace, Arcata City Councilman Paul Pitino and Environmental Systems Engineer Mike Wilson.
Second District incumbent Roger Rodoni faces former KMUD news director Estelle Fennell and Clendenen's Cider Works owner Clif Clendenen while 1st District Supervisor Jimmy Smith faces Ferndale dairyman John Vevoda.
This is the third story in a three-part series. Today's focus is on the 3rd District.
Mark Lovelace
Mark Lovelace said he debated whether he would be more effective at the podium or at the dais before deciding to run for the 3rd District supervisor.
After moving to the area in 1989, Lovelace said his activism began with an effort to establish the Sunny Brae Forest in 2000 -- an undertaking that resulted in adding 175 acres to the Arcata Community Forest -- and meant more than 2,000 hours of volunteer time.
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Council was next and has been his employer from 2003 to present. Most recently, he has focused on Healthy Humboldt -- a project of the watershed council that has brought together a coalition of agencies to advocate for the protection of working land and open space in the county's ongoing general plan update.
Citing his professional accomplishments, Lovelace points to his efforts with the Sunny Brae forest. His mother, he said, is particularly proud of his selection as the Arcata Eye's 2002 Citizen of the Year.
Lovelace suggested an alternative approach to the much-needed economic development on the North Coast.
”We're approaching economic development as if our only strategy is a 'Hail Mary' pass,” he said. “We tend to focus on the idea that we need a large employer bringing in 300 jobs.”
Instead, the area is rich in small businesses doing great things. A preferable approach is to encourage establishment of those smaller enterprises, Lovelace said.
Lovelace also stressed the importance of looking at the whole picture -- instead of compartmentalizing issues.
As to skills, other than his interest and attention to the county issues, is a calmness and clarity in how he works.
”I really don't like making any kind of decision if I don't have my knowledge base,” Lovelace said.
That knowledge base, he said, comes not only from a dedication to doing his homework to listening to many constituents.
The truth is usually not at the extremes, Lovelace said, it's likely to be in the middle. The key is to the ability to be patient and discuss issues, particularly the divisive ones.
The biggest issue facing the 3rd District and all of Humboldt County, Lovelace said, is determining what we want the area to look like.
”We've done a good job on what we don't want,” Lovelace said. “We need to be equally clear on what we do want to see.”
With the 10 fastest growing counties in the state being rural counties -- not unlike Humboldt County -- there's the possibility of being overwhelmed, he said. The solution is being proactive.
Lovelace, a resident of Sunny Brae, has been married to Valorie for 15 years. They have a 14-year-old daughter, Abbey.
Paul Pitino
Arcata City Councilman Paul Pitino, an Arcata resident since 1993 and the father of three grown sons, has held a number of careers over the years from teaching children Spanish to designing control centers for high-rise buildings.
He's also made money as a millwright, factory worker, deli worker and currently works as a landscaper. His interest in politics may have started as a small child when he helped his father, the president of the postal union, hand out fliers.
As an adult, Pitino sampled the political waters while living in Ukiah and was a member of the city of Ukiah's solar access committee. He also worked on Dan Hamburg's anti-recall committee, when opponents tried to oust the former Mendocino County supervisor. Later on, after moving to the North Coast, Pitino was one of four people spearheading opposition to a 900-unit subdivision in the Arcata Bottom. He worked on another council candidate's campaign followed by his own successful effort to join elected body in 2004.
One of the accomplishments as a council member, he said, is bringing a balance to Arcata City Council in the form of a working class, lower-income perspective.
Pitino also said he tends to be a personable, approachable person with a good rapport with others of all economic classes from the homeless to business owners.
The candidate is opposed to campaign advertisements and endorsements. He is, however, spending a fair amount of time knocking on doors and talking with district residents.
Winning is a byproduct, what's really, really important is how you run the campaign, he said.
If that effort is successful, Pitino said one of his goals is to work to make the county a kinder, friendlier place -- in part by modeling such behavior whether it's opening doors for others, saying “hi” or picking up trash.
He's also adamant about improving public bus service -- specifically offering such service on Sundays. Doing that and improving the service overall, Pitino said, would be a shot in the arm for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid and, by association, everyone. It's an area in which Pitino said he has developed some familiarity with as the city of Arcata's representative to the Humboldt Transit Authority board of directors.
The ongoing issue of homelessness remains a challenge for the 3rd District, he said. Pitino said he's been studying how Portland, Ore. and Ukiah work with their homeless populations.
”If we can make life a little less of a hassle for the economic bottom part of society, it's good for everybody,” he said.
Mike Wilson
A native of southern Humboldt County, Mike Wilson has been a resident of Arcata since 1984 with a temporary move to San Francisco a few years later to finish his bachelor's degree in engineering at San Francisco State University. Following graduation, he worked for Bay Area-based international engineering firms before moving back to the North Coast to earn his master's degree in environmental systems engineering from Humboldt State University. That led to establishment of Wilson and his wife Laura's business, Humboldt Water Resources, an engineering consulting firm based in Arcata. Among their projects was United Indian Health Service's Potawot Village. Wilson also works part-time managing marketing for Carlson Wireless.
In the political realm, he's represented the 3rd District on the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District for slightly more than two years.
Wilson is currently the vice president of the Friends of the Dunes board of directors and serves on the building committee for the organization's new nature center.
”I'm very excited about that,” he said.
As the 3rd District supervisor, Wilson said he would bring a fresh perspective -- adopting a practical approach to government. Part of that approach is bringing Humboldt County into the 21st Century in terms of infrastructure and, in particular, Internet redundancy. For the short term, he said, the preference is a microwave link while working to establish a second fiber optic link.
Wilson said he also wants to focus on connecting the area's existing skilled workforce to available employment. Humboldt State University is working in that direction, he said, and the county should support that effort.
As a parent of two young daughters, 1 and 7, Wilson said he is intimately aware of the importance of services to support families whether it's childcare or health insurance. The Board of Supervisors, he said, is responsible for making sure county programs and workers have the tools needed to deliver services.
Improving public transportation, focusing on affordable housing and getting the county general plan update done are all priorities, Wilson said. He also said it's important for the county to look into wind and wave energy opportunities as well as expanding solar programs.
Wilson said he was prompted to run for the 3rd District seat, in part, because of a positive experience as a representative on the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District. He said he's looking forward to putting his public service skill set and his professional skills to work for the district. He also noted his abilities as a problem-solver, and an understanding of small business concerns.
”With some fresh ideas and perspectives, there's a lot that can be moved forward,” he said.
Wilson said advocates for the establishing a regional trail system -- a benefit not only for current North Coast residents, but a powerful lure for those considering moving to the area.
”I believe the 3rd District can be the backbone of that system,” he said, with trails to Eureka, Blue Lake and out to the beach.
”It's going to take strong county support to make that happen,” Wilson said.
But, he said that won't be the limit of his efforts: Daycare needs, affordable housing, the general plan, the impacts of development in Arcata's sphere of influence will all get his attention if he's elected.
At a glance: The 3rd District: The 3rd District includes Arcata and Manila but also stretches inland to the Kneeland area and south -- roughly to a line running east from Fortuna.
Jessie Faulkner can be reached at 441-0517 or jfaulkner@times-standard.com.
HHC to Planning
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The Healthy Humboldt Coalition
P.O. Box 1301,
Eureka CA 95502
707.822.1166
www.healthyhumboldt.org
mail@healthyhumboldt.org
May 10, 2007
Planning Commission
Community Development Department
3015 H Street
Eureka, CA 95503
Re:Chapter Group 4 PoliciesEconomic Development
Dear Commissioners and Staff,
We are writing to provide comments and specific recommendations regarding the recently releaseddraft policies for the Economic Development Element for the General Plan Update. While we aregenerally supportive of the direction established by the staff’s document, we do have some specificconcerns which we believe must be addressed to ensure the document’s consistency with otherelements and with the General Plan’s Guiding Principles, and to ensure the adequacy of theforthcoming EIR.The document lists draft policies for Alternative B, with occasional alternate policies for AlternativesA and C. There are a number of policies which are listed for Alternatives B and C which areexcluded for Alternative A. We understand that the purpose of this is to assure that eachalternative brings with it its own suite of policies. However, most of the omissions for Alternative Aappear to be arbitrary, and are inconsistent with the Guiding Principles for that alternative.The Staff’s document reads:“Plan Alternative A includes many of the components of Alternative B, but as anenvironmentally superior alternative, some wording and policy choices are presented thatare less robust toward economic development initiatives, particularly those that might behigh impact or growth inducing, such as road, rail, and airport expansions. Alternative Adoes not accommodate big box in the unincorporated area.”Staff’s presumption that a ‘robust’ economic development policy is somehow at odds with an‘environmentally superior’ General Plan is misleading and completely unsupported by any facts ordata. More to the point, this assertion is completely contradictory to the narrative in the staff’s owndocument.The policy document identifies nine base industry clusters, none of which are in any way at oddswith the focused-growth approach of Alternative A. In truth many, if not all, of these industrieswould likely benefit from the increased protections for resource lands, scenic beauty and quality oflife presented in Alternative A, making it quite likely the best and most robust alternative foreconomic development. Our comments in this letter are primarily an attempt to remedy thatinconsistency, so as to ensure that the policies ascribed to each alternative are consistent with thatalternative’s goals.There are numerous policy choices which are omitted from A for no apparent reason. Some ofthese omissions create the false impression that something in the nature of Alternative A wouldsomehow be at odds with the desire to create a strong and stable economy. We have providedour own recommendations below and in the attached table.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org The version of policy ED-G1 which is listed for Alternatives B and C reads:ED-G1. Stable Economy. To enhance and maintain a diverse, stable, and growing localeconomy with an emphasis on base and emerging industries, innovation,entrepreneurship, and global competition.The version listed for Alternative A reads:ED-G1. Stable Economy. To maintain a diverse, stable local economy with an emphasison strengthening existing local industries.Again, this gives the false and unsupported impression that Alternative A would not fostereconomic growth, and would not support emerging industries, innovation, entrepreneurship orglobal competition. The reasoning for this is not given. We ask that staff reference the recent“Targets of Opportunity” report, which clearly shows the high premium placed on open space,environment, and quality of life by those business which are thriving locally. An accurate goal forAlternative A should include all of the goals listed in ED-G1, plus the reference to “strengtheningexisting local industries.”It is equally inconsistent to include Alternative C in policy goal ED-G1. As a ‘free-market’ approachto our future, the County should not be making any judgements about what kind of economicgrowth it will be supporting, and should allow the County’s economic fortunes to rise or fall uponthe whims of the market. There should be no presumption that a less-controlled market will be agood thing for us in Humboldt County.Goal ED-G4 is also improperly omitted from Alternative A, and equally improperly listed forAlternative C. If government is to ‘get out of the way’ of industry, then it should be making nopresumption as to the type of workers that will be needed by industry in the future, nor should ithave any obligation to provide for those industries.ED-G5 falsely assumes that clarity and specificity regarding land use is somehow at odds withtimely and efficient processing of permits. If anything, such clarity should make permittingsmoother. On the other hand, the lack of specificity in Alternative C should be assumed to be arecipe for permitting gridlock when it comes to implementation. G5 should apply to A, and not C.Alternative A should also be assumed to have the most efficient and best planned infrastructure fortransportation and wastewater, where C will be unplanned and inefficient. Thus, G6 should alsoapply to A and not C.We have provided these corrections in the attached table, shown in markup.Sincerely,Mark LovelaceHealthy Humboldt Coalition
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart PlanAlternativeGoalsStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M B CED-G1. Stable Economy. To enhance and maintaina diverse, stable, and growing local economy with anemphasis on base and emerging industries, innovation,entrepreneurship, and global competition.See alternativewording belowAED-G1. Stable Economy. To enhance and maintain a diverse, stable, and growing local economy with anemphasis on base and emerging industries, innovation,entrepreneurship, global competition maintain adiverse, stable local economy with an emphasis on and strengthening existing local industries.Plan A alternativewording CED-G1. Que Sera Sera. Whatever happens happens,and we will live with it. A B CED-G2. Broadband Internet. To establish a reliablebroadband internet infrastructure that distributes achoice of economically accessible broadband servicesinto our most rural communities, and is not vulnerableto disruption. Integrate broadband service capabilityinto new buildings and developments. Providebroadband access in remote or rural communities.A BED-G3. Quality of Life. To attract and retain youngtalent by developing vibrant town centers thatincorporate a mix of employment, housing, and retailuses as well as access to child care, transportation, andcultural and natural amenities. A B C ED-G4. Skilled and Ready Workforce. To foster alocal workforce that is prepared to succeed in theindustries growing in Humboldt County, which valuesearly education, vocational training, and lifelonglearning. A B C ED-G5. Streamlining. To implement permitting andlicensing processes that are more responsive to theneeds and timelines of the marketplace, particularly formicroenterprises and home-based businesses. A B C ED-G6. Transportation Networks. To havetransportation facilities that allow freight mobility alongthe interstate highway system and provide connectivitybetween residential neighborhoods and employmentcenters.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart A BED-G7. Public Water and Wastewater. To haveand maintain adequate public water and wastewaterfacilities to accommodate workforce housing andprovide opportunities for businesses to grow.A BED-G.8 Natural Resource Assets. To protectproductive agricultural, mineral resource, timber, andcoastal dependent lands.A BED-G9. Brownfields. To clean up and reusebrownfield sites.A BED-G10.Cooperation and Collaboration. To buildand maintain partnerships with cities, neighboringcounties, and the private sector that build and enhancecommon assets and resolve common obstacles.A BED-G11. Economic Development AssistancePrograms. To administer and support financial andtechnical assistance programs that support workers,businesses, and service providers.A BED- G12. Informed Public. To educate Countyresidents of economic trends, emerging markets,innovations and opportunities for entrepreneurshipthat benefit the region’s economic prosperity. C ED-G12. Public kept in the Dark. The public shallhave neither a role nor a voice in our economy. PlanAlternativeDevelopment PoliciesStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M A BED-P1. Prime Employment Land Protection.Identify and protect prime employment lands fromconversion and encroachment of conflicting uses.B CED-P2. Airport Expansion. Support expansion ofthe airport to include service to major airport hubs andexpanded flight schedules.A BED-P3. Broadband Internet. Promote the provisionof broadband infrastructure in all communities.A BED-P4. Workforce Housing. Promote thedevelopment of workforce housing and mixed-usehousing around multi-modal transportation options.A BED-P5. Child Care. Promote the provision of childcare facilities within business, commercial andindustrial centers and housing developments.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart A BED-P6. Revitalization. Promote the revitalization ofunderutilized lands in communities in transition due tothe decline of resource-based industries.A BED-P7. Brownfields. Consider land use designationsfor brownfields to encourage cleanup and reuse.A BED-P8. Commercial and Industrial SitesDatabase. Maintain a commercial and industrial sitesdatabase and continue to improve accessibility toonline information on commercial and industrialproperty.AED-P9. Commercial Retail. Large format “big box”commercial uses shall not be located in theunincorporated area to avoid sprawl.Plan A alternativewordingBED-P9. Commercial Retail. Include standards fordiscretionary review of large format “big box”commercial uses to reduce their land use impact.Plan B alternativewordingCED-P9. Commercial Retail. Include standards fordiscretionary review of large format “big box”commercial uses.Plan C alternativewordingBED-P10. Industrial Parks. Where appropriate,promote development of well planned and designedindustrial parks catering to existing local, as well asoutside opportunities. Encourage masterenvironmental assessments for industrial parks in orderto streamline the subsequent development process.From FrameworkPlan AED-P10. Industrial Parks. Where appropriate,promote development of well planned and designedmultiple-use centers which include industrial,commercial, and residential development within acohesive, walkable area. PlanAlternativeInvestment PoliciesStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M A BED-P11. Financial Resources. Acquire anddistribute financial resources for workforce training,economic research, infrastructure, and businessdevelopment.B CED-P12. Freight Mobility. Pursue financial andtechnical solutions to provide reliable interstate truckaccess on both U.S. 101 and State Highway 299.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart B CED-P13. Broadband Internet. Support thedevelopment and management of a redundant fiberoptic line that connects to the fiber backbone runningalong the U.S. 5 corridor. Support the expansion anddelivery of broadband Internet in the rural or remotecommunities in the county through all appropriatetechnologies.See alternativewording belowAED-P13. Broadband Internet. Support the expansionand delivery of broadband Internet in the rural orremote communities in the county through allappropriate technologies.Plan A alternativewordingA BED-P14. Workforce Housing. Encourage productionof housing at a price commensurate with income levels,and a transportation system to provide efficientconnectivity between housing and places ofemployment to maintain satisfactory commute traveltimes and distances.A BED-P15. Public Infrastructure. Pursue anddistribute funding and technical assistance to upgradeand enhance the water and wastewater facilities ofcommunities.A BED-P16. Brownfields. Pursue and distribute fundingand technical assistance to assess, clean up, and reusebrownfields.PlanAlternativePartnership PoliciesStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M A BED-P17. Job Growth. Collaborate with economicdevelopment entities in the region to promote jobgrowth, technical innovations, and entrepreneurship inbase and emerging industries.A BED-P18. Workforce. Work with the education andprivate sectors to promote education, vocationaltraining, professional development, and lifelonglearning.A BED-P19. Cities and Counties. Collaborate withcities and neighboring counties to identify andimplement regional economic initiatives that benefitbase and emerging industries.A BED-P20. Child Care. Foster private/publicpartnerships with child care service and informationproviders.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart PlanAlternativeImplementation MeasuresStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M A BED-IM1. Ordinances. Update ordinances related toeconomic development for consistency with the uses ofbase and emerging industries.A BED-IM2. Commercial and Industrial SitesDatabase Mapping. Update the Commercial andIndustrial Sites Database on a two-year cycle andprovide online maps of vacant industrial andcommercial properties using the County’s GeographicInformation System.A BED-IM3. Broadband Deployment. Revisesubdivision regulations to provide infrastructure forbroadband internet.A BED-IM4. Programs. Support technical and financialassistance programs, including delivering capital,technical expertise, and training to businesses startingup and expanding.B CED-IM5. Streamlining. Provide regular review andimprovement of ordinances and permit processes toincrease efficiency and reduce permit processing timesfor strategic targets such as, but not limited to,microenterprises, home based-businesses, andworkforce housing.A BED-IM6. Child Care. Investigate and supportfinancing tools that leverage public and private fundingto increase the establishment, rehabilitation, expansion,and viability of child care facilities.A BED-IM7. Informed Public. Conduct and publiceconomic research relating to emerging markets,innovations, and opportunities in which the region mayhave competitive advantages.PlanAlternativeExisting Framework PlanStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M D 1. Promote economic development by coordination ofefforts with both local economic developmentorganizations and members of the private sector.Replaced by P16,P17. P18 and P19
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart D 2. Encourage a diverse range of commercial andindustrial development consistent with communitygoals and the level of services provided in each of thecities and communities.Replaced by G1, P1and P9D 3. Continue to provide for, through General Planamendments and zoning revisions as needed, anadequate supply of commercial and industrial land tomaximize opportunities for development.Replaced by P1, P7,P9, IM1, and IM2D 4. Prevent the loss of designated industrial lands toother uses requiring permanent facilities.Replaced by P1D 5. Ensure that industrial or commercial developmentwhich requires provision for public water, sewagedisposal, roads and other needed utilities and services isplaced in a suitable urbanized area.Replaced by P14D 6. Allow Resource Dependent Industrial uses outsideof urban areas when such uses are:• dependent upon close proximity to resourceproduction lands, and• not dependent on urban services.D 7. Where appropriate, promote development of wellplanned and designed industrial parks catering toexisting local, as well as outside opportunities.Encourage master environmental assessments forindustrial parks in order to streamline the subsequentdevelopment process.Included as P10D 8. Locate commercial development in appropriatecommunity centers that will assist and supplementexisting commercial activity.Replaced by P9D 9. Discourage strip commercial development, whereappropriate.D 10. Encourage the economic opportunities forproduction facilities that efficiently utilize all productsand by-products of forestry, fishery, or agriculturaluses.D 11. Maximize local energy opportunities from therenewable resources found in the County.D 12. Encourage innovative methods for pollutionreduction and waste product disposal and utilization.
The Healthy Humboldt Coalition
P.O. Box 1301,
Eureka CA 95502
707.822.1166
www.healthyhumboldt.org
mail@healthyhumboldt.org
May 10, 2007
Planning Commission
Community Development Department
3015 H Street
Eureka, CA 95503
Re:Chapter Group 4 PoliciesEconomic Development
Dear Commissioners and Staff,
We are writing to provide comments and specific recommendations regarding the recently releaseddraft policies for the Economic Development Element for the General Plan Update. While we aregenerally supportive of the direction established by the staff’s document, we do have some specificconcerns which we believe must be addressed to ensure the document’s consistency with otherelements and with the General Plan’s Guiding Principles, and to ensure the adequacy of theforthcoming EIR.The document lists draft policies for Alternative B, with occasional alternate policies for AlternativesA and C. There are a number of policies which are listed for Alternatives B and C which areexcluded for Alternative A. We understand that the purpose of this is to assure that eachalternative brings with it its own suite of policies. However, most of the omissions for Alternative Aappear to be arbitrary, and are inconsistent with the Guiding Principles for that alternative.The Staff’s document reads:“Plan Alternative A includes many of the components of Alternative B, but as anenvironmentally superior alternative, some wording and policy choices are presented thatare less robust toward economic development initiatives, particularly those that might behigh impact or growth inducing, such as road, rail, and airport expansions. Alternative Adoes not accommodate big box in the unincorporated area.”Staff’s presumption that a ‘robust’ economic development policy is somehow at odds with an‘environmentally superior’ General Plan is misleading and completely unsupported by any facts ordata. More to the point, this assertion is completely contradictory to the narrative in the staff’s owndocument.The policy document identifies nine base industry clusters, none of which are in any way at oddswith the focused-growth approach of Alternative A. In truth many, if not all, of these industrieswould likely benefit from the increased protections for resource lands, scenic beauty and quality oflife presented in Alternative A, making it quite likely the best and most robust alternative foreconomic development. Our comments in this letter are primarily an attempt to remedy thatinconsistency, so as to ensure that the policies ascribed to each alternative are consistent with thatalternative’s goals.There are numerous policy choices which are omitted from A for no apparent reason. Some ofthese omissions create the false impression that something in the nature of Alternative A wouldsomehow be at odds with the desire to create a strong and stable economy. We have providedour own recommendations below and in the attached table.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org The version of policy ED-G1 which is listed for Alternatives B and C reads:ED-G1. Stable Economy. To enhance and maintain a diverse, stable, and growing localeconomy with an emphasis on base and emerging industries, innovation,entrepreneurship, and global competition.The version listed for Alternative A reads:ED-G1. Stable Economy. To maintain a diverse, stable local economy with an emphasison strengthening existing local industries.Again, this gives the false and unsupported impression that Alternative A would not fostereconomic growth, and would not support emerging industries, innovation, entrepreneurship orglobal competition. The reasoning for this is not given. We ask that staff reference the recent“Targets of Opportunity” report, which clearly shows the high premium placed on open space,environment, and quality of life by those business which are thriving locally. An accurate goal forAlternative A should include all of the goals listed in ED-G1, plus the reference to “strengtheningexisting local industries.”It is equally inconsistent to include Alternative C in policy goal ED-G1. As a ‘free-market’ approachto our future, the County should not be making any judgements about what kind of economicgrowth it will be supporting, and should allow the County’s economic fortunes to rise or fall uponthe whims of the market. There should be no presumption that a less-controlled market will be agood thing for us in Humboldt County.Goal ED-G4 is also improperly omitted from Alternative A, and equally improperly listed forAlternative C. If government is to ‘get out of the way’ of industry, then it should be making nopresumption as to the type of workers that will be needed by industry in the future, nor should ithave any obligation to provide for those industries.ED-G5 falsely assumes that clarity and specificity regarding land use is somehow at odds withtimely and efficient processing of permits. If anything, such clarity should make permittingsmoother. On the other hand, the lack of specificity in Alternative C should be assumed to be arecipe for permitting gridlock when it comes to implementation. G5 should apply to A, and not C.Alternative A should also be assumed to have the most efficient and best planned infrastructure fortransportation and wastewater, where C will be unplanned and inefficient. Thus, G6 should alsoapply to A and not C.We have provided these corrections in the attached table, shown in markup.Sincerely,Mark LovelaceHealthy Humboldt Coalition
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart PlanAlternativeGoalsStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M B CED-G1. Stable Economy. To enhance and maintaina diverse, stable, and growing local economy with anemphasis on base and emerging industries, innovation,entrepreneurship, and global competition.See alternativewording belowAED-G1. Stable Economy. To enhance and maintain a diverse, stable, and growing local economy with anemphasis on base and emerging industries, innovation,entrepreneurship, global competition maintain adiverse, stable local economy with an emphasis on and strengthening existing local industries.Plan A alternativewording CED-G1. Que Sera Sera. Whatever happens happens,and we will live with it. A B CED-G2. Broadband Internet. To establish a reliablebroadband internet infrastructure that distributes achoice of economically accessible broadband servicesinto our most rural communities, and is not vulnerableto disruption. Integrate broadband service capabilityinto new buildings and developments. Providebroadband access in remote or rural communities.A BED-G3. Quality of Life. To attract and retain youngtalent by developing vibrant town centers thatincorporate a mix of employment, housing, and retailuses as well as access to child care, transportation, andcultural and natural amenities. A B C ED-G4. Skilled and Ready Workforce. To foster alocal workforce that is prepared to succeed in theindustries growing in Humboldt County, which valuesearly education, vocational training, and lifelonglearning. A B C ED-G5. Streamlining. To implement permitting andlicensing processes that are more responsive to theneeds and timelines of the marketplace, particularly formicroenterprises and home-based businesses. A B C ED-G6. Transportation Networks. To havetransportation facilities that allow freight mobility alongthe interstate highway system and provide connectivitybetween residential neighborhoods and employmentcenters.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart A BED-G7. Public Water and Wastewater. To haveand maintain adequate public water and wastewaterfacilities to accommodate workforce housing andprovide opportunities for businesses to grow.A BED-G.8 Natural Resource Assets. To protectproductive agricultural, mineral resource, timber, andcoastal dependent lands.A BED-G9. Brownfields. To clean up and reusebrownfield sites.A BED-G10.Cooperation and Collaboration. To buildand maintain partnerships with cities, neighboringcounties, and the private sector that build and enhancecommon assets and resolve common obstacles.A BED-G11. Economic Development AssistancePrograms. To administer and support financial andtechnical assistance programs that support workers,businesses, and service providers.A BED- G12. Informed Public. To educate Countyresidents of economic trends, emerging markets,innovations and opportunities for entrepreneurshipthat benefit the region’s economic prosperity. C ED-G12. Public kept in the Dark. The public shallhave neither a role nor a voice in our economy. PlanAlternativeDevelopment PoliciesStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M A BED-P1. Prime Employment Land Protection.Identify and protect prime employment lands fromconversion and encroachment of conflicting uses.B CED-P2. Airport Expansion. Support expansion ofthe airport to include service to major airport hubs andexpanded flight schedules.A BED-P3. Broadband Internet. Promote the provisionof broadband infrastructure in all communities.A BED-P4. Workforce Housing. Promote thedevelopment of workforce housing and mixed-usehousing around multi-modal transportation options.A BED-P5. Child Care. Promote the provision of childcare facilities within business, commercial andindustrial centers and housing developments.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart A BED-P6. Revitalization. Promote the revitalization ofunderutilized lands in communities in transition due tothe decline of resource-based industries.A BED-P7. Brownfields. Consider land use designationsfor brownfields to encourage cleanup and reuse.A BED-P8. Commercial and Industrial SitesDatabase. Maintain a commercial and industrial sitesdatabase and continue to improve accessibility toonline information on commercial and industrialproperty.AED-P9. Commercial Retail. Large format “big box”commercial uses shall not be located in theunincorporated area to avoid sprawl.Plan A alternativewordingBED-P9. Commercial Retail. Include standards fordiscretionary review of large format “big box”commercial uses to reduce their land use impact.Plan B alternativewordingCED-P9. Commercial Retail. Include standards fordiscretionary review of large format “big box”commercial uses.Plan C alternativewordingBED-P10. Industrial Parks. Where appropriate,promote development of well planned and designedindustrial parks catering to existing local, as well asoutside opportunities. Encourage masterenvironmental assessments for industrial parks in orderto streamline the subsequent development process.From FrameworkPlan AED-P10. Industrial Parks. Where appropriate,promote development of well planned and designedmultiple-use centers which include industrial,commercial, and residential development within acohesive, walkable area. PlanAlternativeInvestment PoliciesStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M A BED-P11. Financial Resources. Acquire anddistribute financial resources for workforce training,economic research, infrastructure, and businessdevelopment.B CED-P12. Freight Mobility. Pursue financial andtechnical solutions to provide reliable interstate truckaccess on both U.S. 101 and State Highway 299.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart B CED-P13. Broadband Internet. Support thedevelopment and management of a redundant fiberoptic line that connects to the fiber backbone runningalong the U.S. 5 corridor. Support the expansion anddelivery of broadband Internet in the rural or remotecommunities in the county through all appropriatetechnologies.See alternativewording belowAED-P13. Broadband Internet. Support the expansionand delivery of broadband Internet in the rural orremote communities in the county through allappropriate technologies.Plan A alternativewordingA BED-P14. Workforce Housing. Encourage productionof housing at a price commensurate with income levels,and a transportation system to provide efficientconnectivity between housing and places ofemployment to maintain satisfactory commute traveltimes and distances.A BED-P15. Public Infrastructure. Pursue anddistribute funding and technical assistance to upgradeand enhance the water and wastewater facilities ofcommunities.A BED-P16. Brownfields. Pursue and distribute fundingand technical assistance to assess, clean up, and reusebrownfields.PlanAlternativePartnership PoliciesStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M A BED-P17. Job Growth. Collaborate with economicdevelopment entities in the region to promote jobgrowth, technical innovations, and entrepreneurship inbase and emerging industries.A BED-P18. Workforce. Work with the education andprivate sectors to promote education, vocationaltraining, professional development, and lifelonglearning.A BED-P19. Cities and Counties. Collaborate withcities and neighboring counties to identify andimplement regional economic initiatives that benefitbase and emerging industries.A BED-P20. Child Care. Foster private/publicpartnerships with child care service and informationproviders.
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart PlanAlternativeImplementation MeasuresStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M A BED-IM1. Ordinances. Update ordinances related toeconomic development for consistency with the uses ofbase and emerging industries.A BED-IM2. Commercial and Industrial SitesDatabase Mapping. Update the Commercial andIndustrial Sites Database on a two-year cycle andprovide online maps of vacant industrial andcommercial properties using the County’s GeographicInformation System.A BED-IM3. Broadband Deployment. Revisesubdivision regulations to provide infrastructure forbroadband internet.A BED-IM4. Programs. Support technical and financialassistance programs, including delivering capital,technical expertise, and training to businesses startingup and expanding.B CED-IM5. Streamlining. Provide regular review andimprovement of ordinances and permit processes toincrease efficiency and reduce permit processing timesfor strategic targets such as, but not limited to,microenterprises, home based-businesses, andworkforce housing.A BED-IM6. Child Care. Investigate and supportfinancing tools that leverage public and private fundingto increase the establishment, rehabilitation, expansion,and viability of child care facilities.A BED-IM7. Informed Public. Conduct and publiceconomic research relating to emerging markets,innovations, and opportunities in which the region mayhave competitive advantages.PlanAlternativeExisting Framework PlanStaff Remarks Vote:R,D,M D 1. Promote economic development by coordination ofefforts with both local economic developmentorganizations and members of the private sector.Replaced by P16,P17. P18 and P19
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The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition The Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt CoalitionThe Healthy Humboldt Coalition P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org Table 11-1. Plan Alternatives Comparison Chart D 2. Encourage a diverse range of commercial andindustrial development consistent with communitygoals and the level of services provided in each of thecities and communities.Replaced by G1, P1and P9D 3. Continue to provide for, through General Planamendments and zoning revisions as needed, anadequate supply of commercial and industrial land tomaximize opportunities for development.Replaced by P1, P7,P9, IM1, and IM2D 4. Prevent the loss of designated industrial lands toother uses requiring permanent facilities.Replaced by P1D 5. Ensure that industrial or commercial developmentwhich requires provision for public water, sewagedisposal, roads and other needed utilities and services isplaced in a suitable urbanized area.Replaced by P14D 6. Allow Resource Dependent Industrial uses outsideof urban areas when such uses are:• dependent upon close proximity to resourceproduction lands, and• not dependent on urban services.D 7. Where appropriate, promote development of wellplanned and designed industrial parks catering toexisting local, as well as outside opportunities.Encourage master environmental assessments forindustrial parks in order to streamline the subsequentdevelopment process.Included as P10D 8. Locate commercial development in appropriatecommunity centers that will assist and supplementexisting commercial activity.Replaced by P9D 9. Discourage strip commercial development, whereappropriate.D 10. Encourage the economic opportunities forproduction facilities that efficiently utilize all productsand by-products of forestry, fishery, or agriculturaluses.D 11. Maximize local energy opportunities from therenewable resources found in the County.D 12. Encourage innovative methods for pollutionreduction and waste product disposal and utilization.
The Healthy Humboldt Coalition
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:kISPSGZnK5oJ:co.humboldt.ca.us/planning/gp/PrelimHearingDraft/GeneralComments/1-22-07HealthyHumboldt.pdf+Mark+Lovelace,+Healthy+Humboldt&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us&client=safari
Page 1
The Healthy Humboldt Coalition
P.O. Box 1301,
Eureka CA 95502
707.822.1166
www.healthyhumboldt.org
mail@healthyhumboldt.org
January 22, 2007
All County Supervisors
825 5th Street
Eureka, CA 95502
Re: Request for 60-day review period for General Plan Update documents
Dear Supervisors and Staff,I am writing to request that your Community Development staff provide a 60-day public review period forthe draft chapters of the General Plan, EIR, and ordinances, rather than the 30-day period currently beingprovided.
We believe that this extended review period will provide greater opportunity for public input, willimprove the quality of that input, and will ultimately result in greater public understanding of, andconfidence in, the final General Plan.The December 5 th , 2005 General Plan Update: Status Report and Proposed Work Plan states:The Department will publish hearing drafts of the Plan, EIR and ordinances at least thirtydays prior to Planning Commission and Board review. Updated versions, revised throughpublic hearings, will be published at least ten days prior to Planning Commission andBoard review, unless your Board or the Planning Commission modifies the public reviewtime period.From the December 5 th , 2005 Schedule for the General Plan Update it appears that the revised drafts willtypically be made available at the same time that the initial draft documents for the next group are beingreleased. Similarly, there will likely be some overlap between the hearings on the initial draft documentsfor a given group and the hearings on the revised drafts for the prior group. Both staff and the public willthus have to juggle initial and revised draft documents for two different groups within an overlapping 30-day window. This is simply not enough time for the public’s input to be meaningful, and will likely lead toincreased confusion and decreased confidence in both the process and the product.These grouped chapters for the General Plan are likely to be lengthy and complex, and will requiresignificant time for public review. For organizations such as Healthy Humboldt, we will need time toreview and discuss these documents before we can provide informed and meaningful input in the way ofsuggestions or recommendations. Additionally, time will be needed for us to gather input from oursupporters and from the broader community. We believe that a 60-day review period for the initial draftdocuments will improve the public’s understanding of these documents, provide greater opportunity formeaningful input, and increase the public’s confidence in the resulting General Plan.We are aware that initial hearings on the first two Chapter Groups are already being scheduled, and thatthis 60-day review period simply could not be accommodated for these groups without creating asignificant delay. Due to this, we believe that it would be prudent and reasonable to accept the 30-dayreview period for these first two groups and move towards the 60-day review period beginning with Group3 or, if that cannot be accommodated, Group 4.We thank you for considering these comments.
Sincerely,Mark LovelaceHealthy Humboldt Coalition
Page 1
The Healthy Humboldt Coalition
P.O. Box 1301,
Eureka CA 95502
707.822.1166
www.healthyhumboldt.org
mail@healthyhumboldt.org
January 22, 2007
All County Supervisors
825 5th Street
Eureka, CA 95502
Re: Request for 60-day review period for General Plan Update documents
Dear Supervisors and Staff,I am writing to request that your Community Development staff provide a 60-day public review period forthe draft chapters of the General Plan, EIR, and ordinances, rather than the 30-day period currently beingprovided.
We believe that this extended review period will provide greater opportunity for public input, willimprove the quality of that input, and will ultimately result in greater public understanding of, andconfidence in, the final General Plan.The December 5 th , 2005 General Plan Update: Status Report and Proposed Work Plan states:The Department will publish hearing drafts of the Plan, EIR and ordinances at least thirtydays prior to Planning Commission and Board review. Updated versions, revised throughpublic hearings, will be published at least ten days prior to Planning Commission andBoard review, unless your Board or the Planning Commission modifies the public reviewtime period.From the December 5 th , 2005 Schedule for the General Plan Update it appears that the revised drafts willtypically be made available at the same time that the initial draft documents for the next group are beingreleased. Similarly, there will likely be some overlap between the hearings on the initial draft documentsfor a given group and the hearings on the revised drafts for the prior group. Both staff and the public willthus have to juggle initial and revised draft documents for two different groups within an overlapping 30-day window. This is simply not enough time for the public’s input to be meaningful, and will likely lead toincreased confusion and decreased confidence in both the process and the product.These grouped chapters for the General Plan are likely to be lengthy and complex, and will requiresignificant time for public review. For organizations such as Healthy Humboldt, we will need time toreview and discuss these documents before we can provide informed and meaningful input in the way ofsuggestions or recommendations. Additionally, time will be needed for us to gather input from oursupporters and from the broader community. We believe that a 60-day review period for the initial draftdocuments will improve the public’s understanding of these documents, provide greater opportunity formeaningful input, and increase the public’s confidence in the resulting General Plan.We are aware that initial hearings on the first two Chapter Groups are already being scheduled, and thatthis 60-day review period simply could not be accommodated for these groups without creating asignificant delay. Due to this, we believe that it would be prudent and reasonable to accept the 30-dayreview period for these first two groups and move towards the 60-day review period beginning with Group3 or, if that cannot be accommodated, Group 4.We thank you for considering these comments.
Sincerely,Mark LovelaceHealthy Humboldt Coalition
It is interesting to read this now - knowing now that Mark Lovelace was being paid to be Healthy Humboldt, though he only lists his usual title, the "president" of "Humboldt Watershed Council." Now he has stated that "Healthy Humboldt" is a "project of "Humboldt Watershed Council." And that the $125,000 grant that paid his salary to attend meetings, and lobby extensively for changes to the General Plan Update came from the Resources Defense Fun Foundation. The grant, however was paid to Humboldt Watershed Council, a 501(c)(3), forbidden to actively seek to change public policy. So in funneling the money into "Healthy Humboldt" you could say he was effectively cheating the tax system.
The Healthy Humboldt Coalition
P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166
www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org
Op Ed By Mark Lovelace
Our Future is at Stake
The County General Plan Update is an opportunity for us to define our vision for Humboldt County’s
future. Do we want to preserve our unique local character and quality of life, or do we want to grow into
something else? This is not merely a discussion about where new homes will go, but of how much
population growth we want to invite. It is a reciprocal process, where the amount of growth we plan for
will largely dictate the amount of growth we receive. If we carve out room for 63,000 more people, they
will come. In a fast growing state, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, and the stakes for Humboldt County
couldn’t be higher.
The County has produced 4 'sketch plans', outlining different concepts for future growth. These include a continuance of the County's existing 1984 Framework General Plan, an ‘Expanded Growth’ plan which converts more of our resource lands and natural areas to subdivisions, a 'Focused Growth' plan, which protects these open space lands by promoting higher development potential within our existing communities, and a 'Mixed Growth' plan. This last plan offers some improvements over the existing plan, but it would ultimately allow the largest overall increase in population growth.
Recently, a proposal was introduced by a group calling itself HELP (Humboldt Economic and Land Plan), which is backed by real estate and development interests. At the core of the HELP proposal is a fourfold increase in the rate of population growth. The County has projected a growth rate of .5 percent (half of one percent) per year for the next 20 years. HELP wants the County to plan on growth of 2% per year, fully four times as much. Compounded, this calculates out to a population increase of almost 50% in just 20 years, from 130,000 to 193,173. That's over 63,000 more people.
The HELP plan would mean as many as 32,000 new homes added to our landscape (versus the County’s current projection of 5,900). The County also projects that only 5,095 of those new homes could be accommodated in our existing cities and sewered areas, leaving nearly 27,000 new homes that would have to be built in rural areas. Using the County’s average of 5 acres per dwelling unit in rural areas, the HELP plan would consume 135,000 acres of working open space and resource lands.
Healthy Humboldt has a different vision for our future. Healthy Humboldt is a coalition of individuals, business owners, and community and environmental organizations. Our vision centers around preserving Humboldt’s unique quality of life, protecting our environment, and strengthening our local economy. Our coalition seeks to maintain Humboldt’s rural, ‘small town’ character, with separate and distinct communities. We seek to preserve the wild and working open spaces which provide both an important part of our economic base and the scenic backdrop for our communities. We envision creating a truly
sustainable relationship between our natural environment and our economy.
Healthy Humboldt is working for a County General Plan that will focus new growth into our existing communities, preserve open space, reduce County infrastructure costs, provide certainty and predictability for builders, and maintain our small-town character. This community-centered approach will enhance our neighborhoods, strengthen our local economy, and protect the County’s bays, rivers, streams, and natural landscapes.
The Healthy Humboldt Coalition
P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166
www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org
Healthy Humboldt’s Guiding Principles are:
Maintain separate and distinct ‘small town’ communities with a variety of cultural and recreational
amenities, surrounded by wild and working open spaces.
Restore a sustainable relationship with our natural environment to provide for clean water, fish
and wildlife, scenic beauty, and natural resources.
Promote housing, education and health care to meet community needs throughout the County.
Reduce County infrastructure costs by channeling new growth to existing cities and communities
currently served by water and sewer.
Support locally-based businesses and industries.
Ensure a locally sustainable energy future.
Provide clear and concise County land-use policies for the public.
There is a fundamental difference between planning and reacting. Healthy Humboldt’s careful planning
approach is to look at the road ahead and ask ourselves “What’s our destination, and how do we get
there?” The reactionary approach looks at the road ahead and simply asks “How many lanes do we
need?”
We can build a future of our own design, but it will take the help and support of Humboldt County’s
residents. If you share our vision, please join us in working toward a healthy Humboldt County.
Mark Lovelace is the President of the Humboldt Watershed Council. For more information, please check
the Healthy Humboldt website at www.healthyhumboldt.org.
The Healthy Humboldt Coalition
P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166
www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org
Op Ed By Mark Lovelace
Our Future is at Stake
The County General Plan Update is an opportunity for us to define our vision for Humboldt County’s
future. Do we want to preserve our unique local character and quality of life, or do we want to grow into
something else? This is not merely a discussion about where new homes will go, but of how much
population growth we want to invite. It is a reciprocal process, where the amount of growth we plan for
will largely dictate the amount of growth we receive. If we carve out room for 63,000 more people, they
will come. In a fast growing state, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, and the stakes for Humboldt County
couldn’t be higher.
The County has produced 4 'sketch plans', outlining different concepts for future growth. These include a continuance of the County's existing 1984 Framework General Plan, an ‘Expanded Growth’ plan which converts more of our resource lands and natural areas to subdivisions, a 'Focused Growth' plan, which protects these open space lands by promoting higher development potential within our existing communities, and a 'Mixed Growth' plan. This last plan offers some improvements over the existing plan, but it would ultimately allow the largest overall increase in population growth.
Recently, a proposal was introduced by a group calling itself HELP (Humboldt Economic and Land Plan), which is backed by real estate and development interests. At the core of the HELP proposal is a fourfold increase in the rate of population growth. The County has projected a growth rate of .5 percent (half of one percent) per year for the next 20 years. HELP wants the County to plan on growth of 2% per year, fully four times as much. Compounded, this calculates out to a population increase of almost 50% in just 20 years, from 130,000 to 193,173. That's over 63,000 more people.
The HELP plan would mean as many as 32,000 new homes added to our landscape (versus the County’s current projection of 5,900). The County also projects that only 5,095 of those new homes could be accommodated in our existing cities and sewered areas, leaving nearly 27,000 new homes that would have to be built in rural areas. Using the County’s average of 5 acres per dwelling unit in rural areas, the HELP plan would consume 135,000 acres of working open space and resource lands.
Healthy Humboldt has a different vision for our future. Healthy Humboldt is a coalition of individuals, business owners, and community and environmental organizations. Our vision centers around preserving Humboldt’s unique quality of life, protecting our environment, and strengthening our local economy. Our coalition seeks to maintain Humboldt’s rural, ‘small town’ character, with separate and distinct communities. We seek to preserve the wild and working open spaces which provide both an important part of our economic base and the scenic backdrop for our communities. We envision creating a truly
sustainable relationship between our natural environment and our economy.
Healthy Humboldt is working for a County General Plan that will focus new growth into our existing communities, preserve open space, reduce County infrastructure costs, provide certainty and predictability for builders, and maintain our small-town character. This community-centered approach will enhance our neighborhoods, strengthen our local economy, and protect the County’s bays, rivers, streams, and natural landscapes.
The Healthy Humboldt Coalition
P.O. Box 1301, Eureka CA 95502 707.822.1166
www.healthyhumboldt.org mail@healthyhumboldt.org
Healthy Humboldt’s Guiding Principles are:
Maintain separate and distinct ‘small town’ communities with a variety of cultural and recreational
amenities, surrounded by wild and working open spaces.
Restore a sustainable relationship with our natural environment to provide for clean water, fish
and wildlife, scenic beauty, and natural resources.
Promote housing, education and health care to meet community needs throughout the County.
Reduce County infrastructure costs by channeling new growth to existing cities and communities
currently served by water and sewer.
Support locally-based businesses and industries.
Ensure a locally sustainable energy future.
Provide clear and concise County land-use policies for the public.
There is a fundamental difference between planning and reacting. Healthy Humboldt’s careful planning
approach is to look at the road ahead and ask ourselves “What’s our destination, and how do we get
there?” The reactionary approach looks at the road ahead and simply asks “How many lanes do we
need?”
We can build a future of our own design, but it will take the help and support of Humboldt County’s
residents. If you share our vision, please join us in working toward a healthy Humboldt County.
Mark Lovelace is the President of the Humboldt Watershed Council. For more information, please check
the Healthy Humboldt website at www.healthyhumboldt.org.
One-on-one with Mark Lovelace
One-on-one with Mark Lovelace
by Glenn Franco Simmons
The Eureka Reporter
(Editor’s note: In last week’s Eureka Reporter, there was a story about
The Pacific Lumber Co. that featured an interview with PALCO President
and Chief Executive Officer Robert Manne. This week’s story features an
interview with Mark Lovelace of the Humboldt Watershed Council.)
The Humboldt Watershed Council said it would like to support The Pacific
Lumber Co., but it finds itself unable to do that.
“We would love to see PL be a company that we could support and get
behind,” said watershed council President Mark Lovelace, “because timber
is an important part of our economy up here. Unfortunately, there are
some long-standing issues with Pacific Lumber Co. that make that an
uphill battle.”
Part of the problem, Lovelace said, is flooding in the Freshwater and
Elk River watersheds.
“The watershed council and residents of Elk River and Freshwater have
been dealing for years with the impacts (of logging),” he said. “There
have been the damages caused by flooding that these residents have been
suffering from. There are people in these watersheds who have boats who
only use them for getting around when it floods.”
Lovelace said it takes about 1.24 inches in a 24-hour period to flood
some areas of these watersheds — and, it causes significant problems for
some residents.
“It causes damage to people’s homes, their foundations, vehicles, septic
systems and wells,” he said. “When a septic tank is flooded and you have
a well on your property, then you have just got septic contamination in
your well. People have been told by the (county) Health Department that
any time it floods, they need to put on waders, rubber gloves and masks
and scrub their whole house out because they have septic contamination
in it.
“And there are people in these watersheds who have taken to keeping a
Sharpie around so that every time it floods, on their door jam they keep
track of the height of the flood.”
Lovelace said there is one house that is more than 100 years old that
has recordings of floods in it.
“It has markings from the whole 100-year history,” he said. “Almost all
the marks have been from the last 15 years, so it (flooding) is a real
serious problem.”
Lovelace said the cause of the flooding is overlogging.
“The watershed council and residents of Elk River and Freshwater have
been dealing for years with the impacts: the flooding and damages caused
by the flooding,” he said. “They first started noticing problems with
the river and Freshwater Creek in the early 1990s and formed a group
called the Friends of Freshwater.
“It wasn’t until 1996 that things really got to be too bad. At that
point, residents in both of these watersheds started forming, in
conjunction with some other people, what became the Humboldt Watershed
Council, in 1997.”
The organization started going to various agencies involved in the
timber harvest approval process.
“They started going to the Board of Forestry, with an emergency petition
that went no where,” Lovelace said. “They went to CDF, likewise, which
didn’t do anything about it (flooding). They really had a huge learning
curve about what these agencies will or won’t do. And they started going
to the regional water board.”
The water board began looking at watersheds in total and said there were
problems from cumulative logging that caused increased sedimentation
but it wasn’t only in Freshwater and Elk River watersheds, Lovelace
said.
“It was Freshwater, Elk River, and Bear, Stitz and Jordan creeks,” he
said. “They called them the five watersheds. Along with being impacted,
what these five watersheds have in common is that they are all owned in
the majority or completely by The Pacific Lumber Co.
“Flooding used to happen, on average, maybe twice a decade. It is now
happening as often as four or five times a year. Over all these years,
they have yet to get any relief from this flooding. The agencies have
studied the issue, they have looked at it for many years. The water
board has an appointed board that presides over the staff, and the board
has been convinced by PL and others that their (water board) staff was
out of line. Their staff was saying the problem was that there was too
much timber harvesting, and the board didn’t believe them for a long
time.
“It took years and years of research,” Lovelace said. “The board had
lots of independent studies done. They commissioned independent
scientific review panel reports and they tried to facilitate mediation
between the residents and PL, which failed because PL said they would
not allow any discussion of the rate-of-harvest issue. The rate of
harvest was just off-limits.”
The flooding, Lovelace said, can be traced back to when PALCO was first
acquired by MAXXAM.
“MAXXAM was an investment company,” he said. “They had no background in
timber. They knew nothing about timber harvesting, so one of the first
things they did after acquiring PL was to hire a consultant called
Pacific Meridian Resources to study what they had acquired and how they
should run the business.”
Lovelace said PALCO then became a company that would start liquidating
its timber resource with heavy logging and high employment. He claimed
PALCO knew that down the line, its rate of harvest would lead to less
logging and less employment, meaning mills would have to shutdown and
employees be laid off.
“After the 1985 takeover by MAXXAM, PL’s rate of harvest increased
dramatically,” according to a handout Lovelace gave The Eureka Reporter.
“By 1999, it had skyrocketed to 10 times PL’s historic average, and
three times PL’s previous highest rate ever.
“CDF later reduced that rate somewhat to the current 500- and 600-acre
caps in Freshwater and Elk River, respectively, but those rates are
still four times the historic average and 50 percent greater than PL’s
highest-ever pre-MAXXAM rate.”
The watershed council said the current timber harvest rate is high and
comes “on top of the devastation already caused by the even-higher rates
of the 1990s.”
“Effectively, CDF responded to the designation of these watersheds as
impaired by granting PL a rate of harvest that was higher than they had
ever been subjected to in the 135 years before MAXXAM took over,”
according to the handout. “This rate of harvest was driven by a plan to
maintain not pay off the debt that had been incurred through
MAXXAM’s leveraged buyout of the company.
“Since 1986, a steady ‘upstreaming’ of $100 million per year to MAXXAM
kept PL bordering on the brink of bankruptcy. The only significant
payment towards principal occurred when MAXXAM sold off PL’s cutting and
welding division and gutted the employee retirement plan, netting some
$431 million. Even then, the majority of this profit went straight to
MAXXAM.”
In 1993, the council said, MAXXAM refinanced its debt, taking hundreds
of millions of dollars out of the company while returning the debt to
its 1985 level.
“In 1998, MAXXAM refinanced again,” the handout stated. “This time they
mortgaged all of the company’s timberlands, leaving PL in as much debt
as ever, but minus its greatest asset.
“The significance of this arrangement is two-fold: First MAXXAM used its
increased rate of cut as a way to show a track record of growth before
making a public offering. At the same time, MAXXAM lobbied CDF that they
need a high rate of harvest to meet their outstanding financial
obligations.”
The council said PALCO is structured so that its profits flow to MAXXAM
“while (it) remains on the edge of bankruptcy.”
Lovelace said the net result is that MAXXAM has intentionally
manipulated PL into a precarious financial situation so as to guarantee
a steady income stream and to ensure that state regulatory agencies
won’t curtail PALCO’s rate of harvest, for fear of economic hardship.
“You’ve got a resource that is renewable but it only renews at a certain
rate,” he said. “Trees only grow so fast. If you log in excess of that,
you can’t sustain it. The more you log upfront, the more of a decline
you are going to have further down the line.”
Lovelace said PL is cutting too much by selectively logging an area and
then going in 15 years later and harvesting the rest of the lumber.
“When you are talking about trees that should have a lifecycle of around
600 years, the idea that a 15-year difference in age qualifies for
uneven-aged harvest (is incorrect),” Lovelace said.
He said the net effect of such logging “means there is little
harvestable timber” that PALCO is logging.
And it’s the cumulative impact of logging on multiple timber harvest
plans in single watersheds that has Lovelace and others concerned. He
said CDF looks at each harvest plan as an isolated plan, rather than
contributing to a cumulative effect in a watershed.
“They (CDF) keep approving each timber harvest plan based on one timber
harvest plan; meanwhile, their stack of plans to approve keeps growing
and they are not looking cumulatively at all of these timber harvest
plans having an impact. They claim to, but they simply don’t have a
mechanism to do that. CDF does not even have a desire to look at
cumulative impact.
“CDF is supposed to regulate the impact of timber harvesting and they
have to protect the public interest, but at the same time they are
supposed to be advocates for and facilitate timber harvest plans. You
can’t really do both, so they typically, consistently, opt for
facilitating and advocating for timber harvesting.”
Visit us at http://www.ourhumboldt.org
This message came to you from the Alliance for Ethical Business. This list is intended to serve exclusively as an information and organizing tool for building a strong volunteer base to promote corporate and civic responsibility.
by Glenn Franco Simmons
The Eureka Reporter
(Editor’s note: In last week’s Eureka Reporter, there was a story about
The Pacific Lumber Co. that featured an interview with PALCO President
and Chief Executive Officer Robert Manne. This week’s story features an
interview with Mark Lovelace of the Humboldt Watershed Council.)
The Humboldt Watershed Council said it would like to support The Pacific
Lumber Co., but it finds itself unable to do that.
“We would love to see PL be a company that we could support and get
behind,” said watershed council President Mark Lovelace, “because timber
is an important part of our economy up here. Unfortunately, there are
some long-standing issues with Pacific Lumber Co. that make that an
uphill battle.”
Part of the problem, Lovelace said, is flooding in the Freshwater and
Elk River watersheds.
“The watershed council and residents of Elk River and Freshwater have
been dealing for years with the impacts (of logging),” he said. “There
have been the damages caused by flooding that these residents have been
suffering from. There are people in these watersheds who have boats who
only use them for getting around when it floods.”
Lovelace said it takes about 1.24 inches in a 24-hour period to flood
some areas of these watersheds — and, it causes significant problems for
some residents.
“It causes damage to people’s homes, their foundations, vehicles, septic
systems and wells,” he said. “When a septic tank is flooded and you have
a well on your property, then you have just got septic contamination in
your well. People have been told by the (county) Health Department that
any time it floods, they need to put on waders, rubber gloves and masks
and scrub their whole house out because they have septic contamination
in it.
“And there are people in these watersheds who have taken to keeping a
Sharpie around so that every time it floods, on their door jam they keep
track of the height of the flood.”
Lovelace said there is one house that is more than 100 years old that
has recordings of floods in it.
“It has markings from the whole 100-year history,” he said. “Almost all
the marks have been from the last 15 years, so it (flooding) is a real
serious problem.”
Lovelace said the cause of the flooding is overlogging.
“The watershed council and residents of Elk River and Freshwater have
been dealing for years with the impacts: the flooding and damages caused
by the flooding,” he said. “They first started noticing problems with
the river and Freshwater Creek in the early 1990s and formed a group
called the Friends of Freshwater.
“It wasn’t until 1996 that things really got to be too bad. At that
point, residents in both of these watersheds started forming, in
conjunction with some other people, what became the Humboldt Watershed
Council, in 1997.”
The organization started going to various agencies involved in the
timber harvest approval process.
“They started going to the Board of Forestry, with an emergency petition
that went no where,” Lovelace said. “They went to CDF, likewise, which
didn’t do anything about it (flooding). They really had a huge learning
curve about what these agencies will or won’t do. And they started going
to the regional water board.”
The water board began looking at watersheds in total and said there were
problems from cumulative logging that caused increased sedimentation
but it wasn’t only in Freshwater and Elk River watersheds, Lovelace
said.
“It was Freshwater, Elk River, and Bear, Stitz and Jordan creeks,” he
said. “They called them the five watersheds. Along with being impacted,
what these five watersheds have in common is that they are all owned in
the majority or completely by The Pacific Lumber Co.
“Flooding used to happen, on average, maybe twice a decade. It is now
happening as often as four or five times a year. Over all these years,
they have yet to get any relief from this flooding. The agencies have
studied the issue, they have looked at it for many years. The water
board has an appointed board that presides over the staff, and the board
has been convinced by PL and others that their (water board) staff was
out of line. Their staff was saying the problem was that there was too
much timber harvesting, and the board didn’t believe them for a long
time.
“It took years and years of research,” Lovelace said. “The board had
lots of independent studies done. They commissioned independent
scientific review panel reports and they tried to facilitate mediation
between the residents and PL, which failed because PL said they would
not allow any discussion of the rate-of-harvest issue. The rate of
harvest was just off-limits.”
The flooding, Lovelace said, can be traced back to when PALCO was first
acquired by MAXXAM.
“MAXXAM was an investment company,” he said. “They had no background in
timber. They knew nothing about timber harvesting, so one of the first
things they did after acquiring PL was to hire a consultant called
Pacific Meridian Resources to study what they had acquired and how they
should run the business.”
Lovelace said PALCO then became a company that would start liquidating
its timber resource with heavy logging and high employment. He claimed
PALCO knew that down the line, its rate of harvest would lead to less
logging and less employment, meaning mills would have to shutdown and
employees be laid off.
“After the 1985 takeover by MAXXAM, PL’s rate of harvest increased
dramatically,” according to a handout Lovelace gave The Eureka Reporter.
“By 1999, it had skyrocketed to 10 times PL’s historic average, and
three times PL’s previous highest rate ever.
“CDF later reduced that rate somewhat to the current 500- and 600-acre
caps in Freshwater and Elk River, respectively, but those rates are
still four times the historic average and 50 percent greater than PL’s
highest-ever pre-MAXXAM rate.”
The watershed council said the current timber harvest rate is high and
comes “on top of the devastation already caused by the even-higher rates
of the 1990s.”
“Effectively, CDF responded to the designation of these watersheds as
impaired by granting PL a rate of harvest that was higher than they had
ever been subjected to in the 135 years before MAXXAM took over,”
according to the handout. “This rate of harvest was driven by a plan to
maintain not pay off the debt that had been incurred through
MAXXAM’s leveraged buyout of the company.
“Since 1986, a steady ‘upstreaming’ of $100 million per year to MAXXAM
kept PL bordering on the brink of bankruptcy. The only significant
payment towards principal occurred when MAXXAM sold off PL’s cutting and
welding division and gutted the employee retirement plan, netting some
$431 million. Even then, the majority of this profit went straight to
MAXXAM.”
In 1993, the council said, MAXXAM refinanced its debt, taking hundreds
of millions of dollars out of the company while returning the debt to
its 1985 level.
“In 1998, MAXXAM refinanced again,” the handout stated. “This time they
mortgaged all of the company’s timberlands, leaving PL in as much debt
as ever, but minus its greatest asset.
“The significance of this arrangement is two-fold: First MAXXAM used its
increased rate of cut as a way to show a track record of growth before
making a public offering. At the same time, MAXXAM lobbied CDF that they
need a high rate of harvest to meet their outstanding financial
obligations.”
The council said PALCO is structured so that its profits flow to MAXXAM
“while (it) remains on the edge of bankruptcy.”
Lovelace said the net result is that MAXXAM has intentionally
manipulated PL into a precarious financial situation so as to guarantee
a steady income stream and to ensure that state regulatory agencies
won’t curtail PALCO’s rate of harvest, for fear of economic hardship.
“You’ve got a resource that is renewable but it only renews at a certain
rate,” he said. “Trees only grow so fast. If you log in excess of that,
you can’t sustain it. The more you log upfront, the more of a decline
you are going to have further down the line.”
Lovelace said PL is cutting too much by selectively logging an area and
then going in 15 years later and harvesting the rest of the lumber.
“When you are talking about trees that should have a lifecycle of around
600 years, the idea that a 15-year difference in age qualifies for
uneven-aged harvest (is incorrect),” Lovelace said.
He said the net effect of such logging “means there is little
harvestable timber” that PALCO is logging.
And it’s the cumulative impact of logging on multiple timber harvest
plans in single watersheds that has Lovelace and others concerned. He
said CDF looks at each harvest plan as an isolated plan, rather than
contributing to a cumulative effect in a watershed.
“They (CDF) keep approving each timber harvest plan based on one timber
harvest plan; meanwhile, their stack of plans to approve keeps growing
and they are not looking cumulatively at all of these timber harvest
plans having an impact. They claim to, but they simply don’t have a
mechanism to do that. CDF does not even have a desire to look at
cumulative impact.
“CDF is supposed to regulate the impact of timber harvesting and they
have to protect the public interest, but at the same time they are
supposed to be advocates for and facilitate timber harvest plans. You
can’t really do both, so they typically, consistently, opt for
facilitating and advocating for timber harvesting.”
Visit us at http://www.ourhumboldt.org
This message came to you from the Alliance for Ethical Business. This list is intended to serve exclusively as an information and organizing tool for building a strong volunteer base to promote corporate and civic responsibility.
12.02.2007
2/17/05 Rodoni cleared
RODONI CLEARED: The Fair Political Practices Commission last week let it be known that it had concluded its investigation of Supervisor Roger Rodoni and that no charges would be filed against him. The commission received complaints about Rodoni nearly two years ago, when the supervisor joined a 4-1 board majority denying District Attorney Paul Gallegos' request to hire help in his fraud suit against the Pacific Lumber Co. Rodoni has leased a 9,000-acre southern Humboldt ranch from the company for more than 30 years -- at the time of the vote, he was paying $350 per month for the lease. Rodoni did not return the Journal's calls or provide a copy of a letter the FPPC sent him; according to the Times-Standard, the letter stated that FPPC staff found that there was "insufficient evidence" that Rodoni received a discounted rate on the lease.
9.28.2007
Gallegos takes on PL
District Attorney Paul Gallegos has come out with both guns blazing in a case filed against the Pacific Lumber Co. earlier this week.
In essence, the case alleges that the company and several of its subsidiaries hid scientific data that could have led to a curtailment of logging on its timberlands.
The DA's office is contending that the company lied in its representation of the severity of landslides in Jordan Creek, located upstream of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The office also says the company suppressed the distribution of several key environmental documents.
Gallegos is seeking $250 million in restitution for the alleged violations.
Local environmentalists are ecstatic.
"I'm flying. This is the best thing that has ever happened," said Ken Miller, a member of the Humboldt Watershed Council, and a longtime opponent of PL, in a phone interview Tuesday. "My god, finally we have a champion who has some power."
When Gallegos came into office he sent out a letter to many of the local environmental and property rights groups, saying that he believed it was his duty, under California's constitution, to enforce certain environmental laws and asked for any input the groups thought would be helpful.
The DA's office declined to comment on the case, citing ethical rules that prevent them from biasing anyone against their opponents. Pacific Lumber could not be reached for comment.
Gallegos' action comes less than a week after he vowed to the Journal that his office would not sit idly by if environmental laws were being trampled (see "Fresh Air," Feb. 20).
In essence, the case alleges that the company and several of its subsidiaries hid scientific data that could have led to a curtailment of logging on its timberlands.
The DA's office is contending that the company lied in its representation of the severity of landslides in Jordan Creek, located upstream of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The office also says the company suppressed the distribution of several key environmental documents.
Gallegos is seeking $250 million in restitution for the alleged violations.
Local environmentalists are ecstatic.
"I'm flying. This is the best thing that has ever happened," said Ken Miller, a member of the Humboldt Watershed Council, and a longtime opponent of PL, in a phone interview Tuesday. "My god, finally we have a champion who has some power."
When Gallegos came into office he sent out a letter to many of the local environmental and property rights groups, saying that he believed it was his duty, under California's constitution, to enforce certain environmental laws and asked for any input the groups thought would be helpful.
The DA's office declined to comment on the case, citing ethical rules that prevent them from biasing anyone against their opponents. Pacific Lumber could not be reached for comment.
Gallegos' action comes less than a week after he vowed to the Journal that his office would not sit idly by if environmental laws were being trampled (see "Fresh Air," Feb. 20).
9.16.2007
Lost Coast League, Humboldt Watershed Council and EPIC
The genesis of a lawsuit?
Home >> EPIC Cases >> Cases filed - 1997 to the present >>
The Ancient Forests of the Mattole River
Lost Coast League, Humboldt Watershed Council and EPIC v. Pacific Lumber and CDF
Date Filed: September 8, 2000
While we believe that this case clearly raises a number of critical issues regarding implementation of PLs HCP, we failed to secure a Preliminary Injunction pending the trial. The future of this case is somewhat uncertain.
On Friday September 8, 2000, EPIC, the Lost Coast League, and the Humboldt Watershed Council won an emergency stay from the California Court of Appeals to stop a 53 acre logging plan in ancient forest in the North Fork of the Mattole watershed. Our local trial court was unable to find an unbiased judge to hear our motion for a restraining order, but fortunately we had anticipated this hurdle and were able to get an emergency stay from the District Court of Appeals by the afternoon.
THP 475 proposes a clear-cut in the heart of the states largest contiguous stand of unprotected low-elevation old-growth Douglas fir forest, in one of the most seismically active and geologically unstable areas in the U.S. The area is home to the threatened Coho salmon and steelhead trout, as well as rare River Otters, Peregrine Falcons, Pacific Fishers, and Northern Goshawks. This plan is the first of six pending harvest plans in the immediate area.
If these plans go forward, PL could potentially liquidate much of the 4,000 acres of ancient Douglas fir in the Mattole River watershed. Unfortunately, the California Department of Forestry has illegally waived PLs responsibility to analyze the effect of leveling this old growth forest.
This is the first logging plan that we have challenged in court that allegedly complies with the standards of the Headwaters Deal. This challenge has illustrated how difficult it is going to be to overcome the perception by the court that the Headwaters Deal protections are adequate, just because the Deal entailed mountains of paperwork and documentation. Either through this case or in some other forum, the weaknesses of the Headwaters Deal urgently need to be exposed and remedied, before all remaining high-quality habitat is liquidated.
Home >> EPIC Cases >> Cases filed - 1997 to the present >>
The Ancient Forests of the Mattole River
Lost Coast League, Humboldt Watershed Council and EPIC v. Pacific Lumber and CDF
Date Filed: September 8, 2000
While we believe that this case clearly raises a number of critical issues regarding implementation of PLs HCP, we failed to secure a Preliminary Injunction pending the trial. The future of this case is somewhat uncertain.
On Friday September 8, 2000, EPIC, the Lost Coast League, and the Humboldt Watershed Council won an emergency stay from the California Court of Appeals to stop a 53 acre logging plan in ancient forest in the North Fork of the Mattole watershed. Our local trial court was unable to find an unbiased judge to hear our motion for a restraining order, but fortunately we had anticipated this hurdle and were able to get an emergency stay from the District Court of Appeals by the afternoon.
THP 475 proposes a clear-cut in the heart of the states largest contiguous stand of unprotected low-elevation old-growth Douglas fir forest, in one of the most seismically active and geologically unstable areas in the U.S. The area is home to the threatened Coho salmon and steelhead trout, as well as rare River Otters, Peregrine Falcons, Pacific Fishers, and Northern Goshawks. This plan is the first of six pending harvest plans in the immediate area.
If these plans go forward, PL could potentially liquidate much of the 4,000 acres of ancient Douglas fir in the Mattole River watershed. Unfortunately, the California Department of Forestry has illegally waived PLs responsibility to analyze the effect of leveling this old growth forest.
This is the first logging plan that we have challenged in court that allegedly complies with the standards of the Headwaters Deal. This challenge has illustrated how difficult it is going to be to overcome the perception by the court that the Headwaters Deal protections are adequate, just because the Deal entailed mountains of paperwork and documentation. Either through this case or in some other forum, the weaknesses of the Headwaters Deal urgently need to be exposed and remedied, before all remaining high-quality habitat is liquidated.
4.29.2007
NCJ - Activist must pay fees
Activist must pay fees
Local activist Bob Martel received an expensive setback this week in his ongoing battle against Pacific Lumber and its parent company, MAXXAM. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Martel's appeal to an earlier decision in MAXXAM's favor and ordered him to pay the company legal fees of more than $110,000.
The case concerns the failure in 1988 of a savings and loan association in which MAXXAM and its chairman, Charles Hurwitz, were investors. Martel contends that Hurwitz exercised control over the company; Hurwitz denies the charges. Related cases are still pending, but the court ruled that Martel's case was "frivolous."
Martel disputes that claim, saying that the suit cost him $250,000 and took five years of research. That, he said, "doesn't actually fit the definition of frivolous."
As to how he might pay the legal fees awarded by the court, Martel said he hasn't earned "more than six thousand dollars in a year in recent memory"
MAXXAM spokesman Josh Reiss said that the corporation intends to pursue the claim.
Local activist Bob Martel received an expensive setback this week in his ongoing battle against Pacific Lumber and its parent company, MAXXAM. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Martel's appeal to an earlier decision in MAXXAM's favor and ordered him to pay the company legal fees of more than $110,000.
The case concerns the failure in 1988 of a savings and loan association in which MAXXAM and its chairman, Charles Hurwitz, were investors. Martel contends that Hurwitz exercised control over the company; Hurwitz denies the charges. Related cases are still pending, but the court ruled that Martel's case was "frivolous."
Martel disputes that claim, saying that the suit cost him $250,000 and took five years of research. That, he said, "doesn't actually fit the definition of frivolous."
As to how he might pay the legal fees awarded by the court, Martel said he hasn't earned "more than six thousand dollars in a year in recent memory"
MAXXAM spokesman Josh Reiss said that the corporation intends to pursue the claim.
NCJ - Order to pay attorney fees (Bob Martel)
An interesting piece of the puzzle. The genesis of Humboldt Watershed Council? A failed lawsuit, the first of many.
Order to pay attorney fees
A taxpayer and a local nonprofit group have been ordered to pay legal fees for two separate lawsuits involving Pacific Lumber and its chief stockholder, Charles Hurwitz.
In 1995, Humboldt County resident Robert Martel filed suit against Hurwitz, alleging he had defrauded the federal government of $1.6 billion in the collapse of the United Savings Association of Texas 11 years ago, according to a report in the Times-Standard. Now Martel has been ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Hughes to pay Hurwitz' $110,123 in legal fees and expenses.
Hughes ruled that Martel's suit was "abusive litigation" because Martel had based much of his suit on information garnered from newspaper reports. Hughes also said Martel, who had filed the suit as a taxpayer, lacked standing to sue on behalf of the federal government.
Neither Martel nor Hurwitz could be reached for comment.
In a separate case, the Garberville-based Environmental Protection Information Center was ordered to pay Pacific Lumber $17,731 in legal costs as a result of a June 1997 lawsuit. EPIC sued PL in March of 1995, maintaining that the California Department of Forestry should have prepared an environmental impact study before it granted the company a salvage-logging permit for spotted owl habitat now protected as part of the Headwaters Reserve.
EPIC spokesperson Kevin Bundy said U.S. District court judge Louis Bechtle dismissed the suit because EPIC "couldn't convince the court (salvage logging) would violate the endangered species act."
John A. Campbell, PL president, recently issued a statement saying PL is entitled to the court costs.
"The favorable court ruling highlighted that salvage and other logging would not cause a take of endangered species," he said. "The court ... made clear in this case that endangered species would benefit from the working relationship developed by Pacific Lumber, federal wildlife agencies and the California Department of Forestry."
Bundy said the amount EPIC must pay is a fraction of the $700,000 PL originally requested to cover fees.
Order to pay attorney fees
A taxpayer and a local nonprofit group have been ordered to pay legal fees for two separate lawsuits involving Pacific Lumber and its chief stockholder, Charles Hurwitz.
In 1995, Humboldt County resident Robert Martel filed suit against Hurwitz, alleging he had defrauded the federal government of $1.6 billion in the collapse of the United Savings Association of Texas 11 years ago, according to a report in the Times-Standard. Now Martel has been ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Hughes to pay Hurwitz' $110,123 in legal fees and expenses.
Hughes ruled that Martel's suit was "abusive litigation" because Martel had based much of his suit on information garnered from newspaper reports. Hughes also said Martel, who had filed the suit as a taxpayer, lacked standing to sue on behalf of the federal government.
Neither Martel nor Hurwitz could be reached for comment.
In a separate case, the Garberville-based Environmental Protection Information Center was ordered to pay Pacific Lumber $17,731 in legal costs as a result of a June 1997 lawsuit. EPIC sued PL in March of 1995, maintaining that the California Department of Forestry should have prepared an environmental impact study before it granted the company a salvage-logging permit for spotted owl habitat now protected as part of the Headwaters Reserve.
EPIC spokesperson Kevin Bundy said U.S. District court judge Louis Bechtle dismissed the suit because EPIC "couldn't convince the court (salvage logging) would violate the endangered species act."
John A. Campbell, PL president, recently issued a statement saying PL is entitled to the court costs.
"The favorable court ruling highlighted that salvage and other logging would not cause a take of endangered species," he said. "The court ... made clear in this case that endangered species would benefit from the working relationship developed by Pacific Lumber, federal wildlife agencies and the California Department of Forestry."
Bundy said the amount EPIC must pay is a fraction of the $700,000 PL originally requested to cover fees.
4.28.2007
ASJE - another cog in the activist wheel
Houston Principles
of the
Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment
Preamble
On May 19, 1999, environmental and labor leaders confronted CEO Charles Hurwitz in Houston to demand that his Maxxam Corporation, which owns Kaiser Aluminum and Pacific Lumber Company, be held accountable for its impact on working people, communities and the environment.
By clear cutting ancient redwoods in Northern California, and by locking out striking steelworkers in five cities, the Maxxam corporation and its subsidiaries, Pacific Lumber Company and Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, have become icons of corporate irresponsibility.
Recognizing that we have a common interest in making corporations more accountable for their behavior world wide, environmental and labor leaders have formed the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment and circulated the following statement, dubbed the "Houston Principles."
Whereas:
* The spectacular accumulation of wealth by corporations and America's most affluent during the past two decades has come with a huge price tag
* Corporations have become more powerful than the government entities designed to regulate them.
* The goal of a giant, global corporation is to maximize wealth and to wield political power on its own behalf. Too often, corporate leaders regard working people, communities, and the natural world as resources to be used and thrown away.
* Recognizing the tremendous stakes, labor unions and environmental advocates are beginning to recognize our common ground. Together we can challenge illegitimate corporate authority over our country's and communities' governing decisions.
* While we may not agree on everything, we are determined to accelerate our efforts to make alliances as often as possible
We believe that:
* A healthy future for the economy and the environment requires a dynamic alliance between labor, management, and environmental advocates.
* The same forces that threaten economic and biological sustainability undermine the democratic process.
* The drive for short-term profits without regard for long-term sustainability hurts working people, communities, and the earth.
* Labor, environmental and community groups need to take action to organize as a counter-balance to abusive corporate power
The environmental and labor advocates who have signed these principles resolve to work together to:
* Remind the public that the original purpose behind the creation of corporations was to serve the public interest - namely working people, communities, and the earth.
* Seek stricter enforcement of labor laws and advocate for new laws to guarantee working people their right to form unions and their right to bargain collectively.
* Make workplaces, communities and the planet safer by reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
* Demand that global trade agreements include enforceable labor and environmental standards.
* Promote forward-thinking business models that allow for sustainability over the long term while protecting working people, communities, and the environment.
This ground-breaking alliance of labor and environmentalists invites all people to join with us in a spirit of creative cooperation. Together, we can forge a partnership that protects people and the planet.
Back to top
Signed
ENVIRONMENT
Bruce Hamilton
Conservation Director
Sierra Club
Paul Hawken
Author
David Brower
Brower Fund
John A. Knox
Executive Director
Earth Island Institute
John Cavanagh
Director
Institute for Policy Studies
Michael Renner
Senior Researcher
Worldwatch Institute
Richard Drury
Acting Executive Director
Commentates for a Better Environment
Juliette Majot
Executive Director
International Rivers Network
Brent Blackwelder
President
Friends of the Earth
Carl Anthony
Executive Director
Urban Habitat Program
Jonathan Parfrey, MDA
Executive Director
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Suzanne Murphy
Managing Director
Redefining Progress
Paul Schwartz
National Campaign Director
Clean Water Action
Mark Ritchie
President
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Carol L. Wright
Executive Director
Klamath Forest Alliance
Kelly Quirke
Executive Director
Rainforest Action Network
Jim Jontz
Executive Director
American Lands Alliance
John Passacantando
Executive Director
Ozone Action
Lois Gibbs
Executive Director
Center for Health and Environmental Justice
Tom Turner
Director of Publications
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund
Peter Rosset
Executive Director
Food First/ Institute for Food and Development Policy
Paul Mason
Executive Director
Environment Protection Information Center (EPIC)
Hal Kane
Executive Director
Pacific Environment and Resource Center
Marguerite Young
California Director
Clean Water Action
Huey D. Johnson
President
Resource Renewal Institute
Diane Takvorian
Executive Director
Environmental Health Coalition
Paul Spitler
Executive Director
California Wilderness Coalition
Patricia M. Clary
Executive Director
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics
Samuel La Buddy
Executive Director
Endangered Species Project
Christine Stevens
President
Animal Welfare Institute
Paul Hughes
Executive Director
Forests Forever
Dr. Henry Clark
Executive Director
West County Toxics Coalition
Gary Cohen
Director
Environmental Health Fund
Greg Small
Executive Director
Pesticide Watch
David Korten
President
People Centered Development Forum
Ted Smith
Director
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
Franses F. Korten
Executive Director
The Positive Futures Network
Dave Henson
Executive Director
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
Jay Letto
President
Central Cascades Alliance
David Cobb
Secretary
Green Party of Texas
Jill Ratner
President
Rose Foundation
Craig Thomas
Director
The Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation
Gina Giazzoni
State College Coordinator
Allegheny Defense Project
Adam Roberts
Research Associate
Society for Animal Protective Legislation
Sanford Lewis
Attorney
Strategic Counsel on Corporate Accountability
Karen Pickett
Coordinator
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters
Luke Cole
Director
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
David E Ortman
President
Wise Use Movement
Thomas R. Lent
President
Association of Flight Attendants--Alaska Airlines
Wenonah Hauter
Director
Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project
Paula Palmer
Executive Director
Global Response
Cal Broomhead
Bureau of Energy Conservation
San Francisco, CA
Prof. Lee Altenberg
Information and Computer Sciences,
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Jim Puckett
Director
Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange (APEX)
David Wood
Senior Associate
Center on Wisconsin Strategy
Lisa Mastny
Staff Researcher
Worldwatch Institute
William A Shutkin
President
New Ecology Inc.
Chris Ford
Steering Committee Member
Southern Arizona Alliance for Economic Justice.
Charles M Miller, esq.
Attorney
Law Office of Charles M. Miller
Celia F. Alario
Communications Team
USWA and Amazon Watch
Thomas Ryan
Community Services Director
San Francisco Labor Council
Scott Tundermann
Sustainable Energy Choice Project
Institute for Science and Interdisciplinary Studies
EMT O'Nan
Director
Protect All Children's Environment
Bill Welsch
President
Safe Alternative for our Forest Environment (SAFE)
Beth Burrows
President/Director
The Edmonds Institute
Harlin Savage
Director
Colorado Forest Program
Fredy Champagne
President
Veterans for Peace, Inc.
Julia Butterfly Hill
Alan Rose
Professor Emeritus
University of Idaho
Nancy Kubasek
Author
"Environmental Law"
Hugh M. Carola
Coordinator
Hackensack Meadowlands Preservation Alliance
Mary Bull
SF Coordinator
Boycott the Gap Campaign
John Grech
Public Officer
Earth Worker Inc., Canada
Steve Brooks
Coordinator
Virginia Forest Watch
Larry Weiss
Coordinator
Labor, Globalization and Human Rights Project
Resource Center of the Americas
Stephen Bezruchka, MD, MPH
Affiliate Assistant Professor
Department of Health Services
University of Washington
David Muhly
Chair
Virginia Forest Watch
Bill Devall
Chairman
Deep Ecology Resource Center
Shirley J Shelburn
Humbolt Watershed Council
Rt 1 Trinidad ,Ca 95570
Ken Miller
Salmon Forever
Mckinleyville, Ca 95519
Marianne DE Sobrino
Redwoods Chapter Sierra Club
Eureka, Ca 95503
Kyle Haines
Forest Protection Coordinator
Klamath Forest Alliance
John Sellers
Director
Rukus Society
Karen Litfin, Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Washington - Seattle
Bob Martel
Executive Director
Humboldt Watershed Council
Chad Hanson
Executive Director
John Muir Project
Christine Cooper, Ph.D
Faculty of Business
University of New Brunswick Saint John
Jacek Purat
School of Information Management and Systems
University of California at Berkeley
Steve Thompson
Natural Resource Consultant
Whitefish, MI
Cam Walker
Friends of the Earth Australia
Darryl Cherney, Executive Director
Environmentally Sound Promotions
Redway, CA
Stephen Graves
Land Use Consultant
Soquel, CA
Bryony Schwan, Exec. Director
Women's Voices for the Earth
Missoula, MT
Nancy Fesco
Boreal Forest Campaign Coordinator
Northern Alaska Environmental Center
Julian Powers
Co-Chair for Legislative Affiars
Spokane Transportation Choice Coalition
Kimberly Burkland
Director
Central Cascades Alliance
Robert Cramer
Co-founder
Taxpayers for Headwaters
Martha Bergotten
Campaign Coordinator
Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project
Lois Barber
International Coordinator
EarthAction
Tim Bristol
Organizer
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
Larry Campbell
Executive Director
Friends of the Bitterroot
Bill Metzger
Publisher
Great Lakes Brewing News
Kurt Newick
Global Warming activist
Juliette Beck
Campaign Director, Global Exchange
of the
Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment
Preamble
On May 19, 1999, environmental and labor leaders confronted CEO Charles Hurwitz in Houston to demand that his Maxxam Corporation, which owns Kaiser Aluminum and Pacific Lumber Company, be held accountable for its impact on working people, communities and the environment.
By clear cutting ancient redwoods in Northern California, and by locking out striking steelworkers in five cities, the Maxxam corporation and its subsidiaries, Pacific Lumber Company and Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, have become icons of corporate irresponsibility.
Recognizing that we have a common interest in making corporations more accountable for their behavior world wide, environmental and labor leaders have formed the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment and circulated the following statement, dubbed the "Houston Principles."
Whereas:
* The spectacular accumulation of wealth by corporations and America's most affluent during the past two decades has come with a huge price tag
* Corporations have become more powerful than the government entities designed to regulate them.
* The goal of a giant, global corporation is to maximize wealth and to wield political power on its own behalf. Too often, corporate leaders regard working people, communities, and the natural world as resources to be used and thrown away.
* Recognizing the tremendous stakes, labor unions and environmental advocates are beginning to recognize our common ground. Together we can challenge illegitimate corporate authority over our country's and communities' governing decisions.
* While we may not agree on everything, we are determined to accelerate our efforts to make alliances as often as possible
We believe that:
* A healthy future for the economy and the environment requires a dynamic alliance between labor, management, and environmental advocates.
* The same forces that threaten economic and biological sustainability undermine the democratic process.
* The drive for short-term profits without regard for long-term sustainability hurts working people, communities, and the earth.
* Labor, environmental and community groups need to take action to organize as a counter-balance to abusive corporate power
The environmental and labor advocates who have signed these principles resolve to work together to:
* Remind the public that the original purpose behind the creation of corporations was to serve the public interest - namely working people, communities, and the earth.
* Seek stricter enforcement of labor laws and advocate for new laws to guarantee working people their right to form unions and their right to bargain collectively.
* Make workplaces, communities and the planet safer by reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
* Demand that global trade agreements include enforceable labor and environmental standards.
* Promote forward-thinking business models that allow for sustainability over the long term while protecting working people, communities, and the environment.
This ground-breaking alliance of labor and environmentalists invites all people to join with us in a spirit of creative cooperation. Together, we can forge a partnership that protects people and the planet.
Back to top
Signed
ENVIRONMENT
Bruce Hamilton
Conservation Director
Sierra Club
Paul Hawken
Author
David Brower
Brower Fund
John A. Knox
Executive Director
Earth Island Institute
John Cavanagh
Director
Institute for Policy Studies
Michael Renner
Senior Researcher
Worldwatch Institute
Richard Drury
Acting Executive Director
Commentates for a Better Environment
Juliette Majot
Executive Director
International Rivers Network
Brent Blackwelder
President
Friends of the Earth
Carl Anthony
Executive Director
Urban Habitat Program
Jonathan Parfrey, MDA
Executive Director
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Suzanne Murphy
Managing Director
Redefining Progress
Paul Schwartz
National Campaign Director
Clean Water Action
Mark Ritchie
President
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Carol L. Wright
Executive Director
Klamath Forest Alliance
Kelly Quirke
Executive Director
Rainforest Action Network
Jim Jontz
Executive Director
American Lands Alliance
John Passacantando
Executive Director
Ozone Action
Lois Gibbs
Executive Director
Center for Health and Environmental Justice
Tom Turner
Director of Publications
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund
Peter Rosset
Executive Director
Food First/ Institute for Food and Development Policy
Paul Mason
Executive Director
Environment Protection Information Center (EPIC)
Hal Kane
Executive Director
Pacific Environment and Resource Center
Marguerite Young
California Director
Clean Water Action
Huey D. Johnson
President
Resource Renewal Institute
Diane Takvorian
Executive Director
Environmental Health Coalition
Paul Spitler
Executive Director
California Wilderness Coalition
Patricia M. Clary
Executive Director
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics
Samuel La Buddy
Executive Director
Endangered Species Project
Christine Stevens
President
Animal Welfare Institute
Paul Hughes
Executive Director
Forests Forever
Dr. Henry Clark
Executive Director
West County Toxics Coalition
Gary Cohen
Director
Environmental Health Fund
Greg Small
Executive Director
Pesticide Watch
David Korten
President
People Centered Development Forum
Ted Smith
Director
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
Franses F. Korten
Executive Director
The Positive Futures Network
Dave Henson
Executive Director
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
Jay Letto
President
Central Cascades Alliance
David Cobb
Secretary
Green Party of Texas
Jill Ratner
President
Rose Foundation
Craig Thomas
Director
The Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation
Gina Giazzoni
State College Coordinator
Allegheny Defense Project
Adam Roberts
Research Associate
Society for Animal Protective Legislation
Sanford Lewis
Attorney
Strategic Counsel on Corporate Accountability
Karen Pickett
Coordinator
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters
Luke Cole
Director
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
David E Ortman
President
Wise Use Movement
Thomas R. Lent
President
Association of Flight Attendants--Alaska Airlines
Wenonah Hauter
Director
Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project
Paula Palmer
Executive Director
Global Response
Cal Broomhead
Bureau of Energy Conservation
San Francisco, CA
Prof. Lee Altenberg
Information and Computer Sciences,
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Jim Puckett
Director
Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange (APEX)
David Wood
Senior Associate
Center on Wisconsin Strategy
Lisa Mastny
Staff Researcher
Worldwatch Institute
William A Shutkin
President
New Ecology Inc.
Chris Ford
Steering Committee Member
Southern Arizona Alliance for Economic Justice.
Charles M Miller, esq.
Attorney
Law Office of Charles M. Miller
Celia F. Alario
Communications Team
USWA and Amazon Watch
Thomas Ryan
Community Services Director
San Francisco Labor Council
Scott Tundermann
Sustainable Energy Choice Project
Institute for Science and Interdisciplinary Studies
EMT O'Nan
Director
Protect All Children's Environment
Bill Welsch
President
Safe Alternative for our Forest Environment (SAFE)
Beth Burrows
President/Director
The Edmonds Institute
Harlin Savage
Director
Colorado Forest Program
Fredy Champagne
President
Veterans for Peace, Inc.
Julia Butterfly Hill
Alan Rose
Professor Emeritus
University of Idaho
Nancy Kubasek
Author
"Environmental Law"
Hugh M. Carola
Coordinator
Hackensack Meadowlands Preservation Alliance
Mary Bull
SF Coordinator
Boycott the Gap Campaign
John Grech
Public Officer
Earth Worker Inc., Canada
Steve Brooks
Coordinator
Virginia Forest Watch
Larry Weiss
Coordinator
Labor, Globalization and Human Rights Project
Resource Center of the Americas
Stephen Bezruchka, MD, MPH
Affiliate Assistant Professor
Department of Health Services
University of Washington
David Muhly
Chair
Virginia Forest Watch
Bill Devall
Chairman
Deep Ecology Resource Center
Shirley J Shelburn
Humbolt Watershed Council
Rt 1 Trinidad ,Ca 95570
Ken Miller
Salmon Forever
Mckinleyville, Ca 95519
Marianne DE Sobrino
Redwoods Chapter Sierra Club
Eureka, Ca 95503
Kyle Haines
Forest Protection Coordinator
Klamath Forest Alliance
John Sellers
Director
Rukus Society
Karen Litfin, Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Washington - Seattle
Bob Martel
Executive Director
Humboldt Watershed Council
Chad Hanson
Executive Director
John Muir Project
Christine Cooper, Ph.D
Faculty of Business
University of New Brunswick Saint John
Jacek Purat
School of Information Management and Systems
University of California at Berkeley
Steve Thompson
Natural Resource Consultant
Whitefish, MI
Cam Walker
Friends of the Earth Australia
Darryl Cherney, Executive Director
Environmentally Sound Promotions
Redway, CA
Stephen Graves
Land Use Consultant
Soquel, CA
Bryony Schwan, Exec. Director
Women's Voices for the Earth
Missoula, MT
Nancy Fesco
Boreal Forest Campaign Coordinator
Northern Alaska Environmental Center
Julian Powers
Co-Chair for Legislative Affiars
Spokane Transportation Choice Coalition
Kimberly Burkland
Director
Central Cascades Alliance
Robert Cramer
Co-founder
Taxpayers for Headwaters
Martha Bergotten
Campaign Coordinator
Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project
Lois Barber
International Coordinator
EarthAction
Tim Bristol
Organizer
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
Larry Campbell
Executive Director
Friends of the Bitterroot
Bill Metzger
Publisher
Great Lakes Brewing News
Kurt Newick
Global Warming activist
Juliette Beck
Campaign Director, Global Exchange
3.25.2007
ER - It ain't over until it's over - Ken Miller
Better title is "Desperation"
***
It ain't over until it's over
by Ken Miller, 7/27/2005
We should not forget that the evidence alleged in the DA’s lawsuit vs.
PL argues that Maxxam PL committed fraud during the Headwaters
Agreement in order to obtain a rate of harvest that would allow Hurwitz to
refinance PL’s long-term debt by liquidating PL’s forest inventory.
This alleged scam has cost our county hundreds of millions of dollars
in impacts to private property and infrastructure, and the compromised
future of our timber and fishing industries.
Is anyone surprised that Maxxam PL would pull off such a stunt? If so,
check out what they did in Owl Creek in 1992
(www.humboldtwatersheds.org). A Nixon-appointed federal judge found them guilty of forging
documents that they then deceptively submitted to government regulators, in
an MO remarkably similar to the fraud alleged in the DA’s complaint.
Same with the deceit that led to the loss of their timber license in 1998.
Amid all the attacks on the DA’s Office, and Tim Stoen, we must not
lose sight of the effects of PL’s alleged and proven fraud(s), and the
implications of Judge Freeborn’s ruling.
The judge got the facts and the law wrong. A DA must have the right to
penalize malfeasance in administrative proceedings, to protect
communities from the potentially devastating consequences of lying and cheating
by permit applicants. Otherwise, we will need very big government to
uncover sophisticated scams, and no one wants, or can afford, that.
Allegations against Debi August also would constitute anti-competitive
behavior. Her attorney, Greg Rael, claims that Debi August’s conflicts
of interest do not constitute a “truly serious case of political
misconduct.” I beg to differ. Ms. August has been president, Humboldt County
Board of Realtors, and regional chair, California Association of
Realtors, and a member of the Fortuna Planning Commission for 15 years.
She knows better. What she alleged to have done, which has not been
denied, is blatant insider trading, an inexcusable and intolerable
textbook case of serious political corruption.
The real mystery is why Judith Schmidt, the grand jury foreperson, and
her attorney Allison Jackson, who has it in big-time for Mr. Gallegos,
have not been charged with jury tampering and obstruction of justice.
Their defense? The DA has a vendetta. Perpetrators frequently blame
their accusers of crimes they themselves commit. PL has made a career out
of this strategy.
Tim Stoen has bravely challenged corruption by the well-connected in
pursuing Paul Gallegos’ promise of meting out justice for all. Their
courage should be a beacon for us all.
(Ken Miller is a McKinleyville resident. Opinions expressed in columns
and guest opinions do not necessarily represent those of The Eureka
Reporter or its staff. Readers who would like to respond to this and other
columns and guest opinions may e-mail letters, columns and guest
opinions to editor@eurekareporter.com.)
***
It ain't over until it's over
by Ken Miller, 7/27/2005
We should not forget that the evidence alleged in the DA’s lawsuit vs.
PL argues that Maxxam PL committed fraud during the Headwaters
Agreement in order to obtain a rate of harvest that would allow Hurwitz to
refinance PL’s long-term debt by liquidating PL’s forest inventory.
This alleged scam has cost our county hundreds of millions of dollars
in impacts to private property and infrastructure, and the compromised
future of our timber and fishing industries.
Is anyone surprised that Maxxam PL would pull off such a stunt? If so,
check out what they did in Owl Creek in 1992
(www.humboldtwatersheds.org). A Nixon-appointed federal judge found them guilty of forging
documents that they then deceptively submitted to government regulators, in
an MO remarkably similar to the fraud alleged in the DA’s complaint.
Same with the deceit that led to the loss of their timber license in 1998.
Amid all the attacks on the DA’s Office, and Tim Stoen, we must not
lose sight of the effects of PL’s alleged and proven fraud(s), and the
implications of Judge Freeborn’s ruling.
The judge got the facts and the law wrong. A DA must have the right to
penalize malfeasance in administrative proceedings, to protect
communities from the potentially devastating consequences of lying and cheating
by permit applicants. Otherwise, we will need very big government to
uncover sophisticated scams, and no one wants, or can afford, that.
Allegations against Debi August also would constitute anti-competitive
behavior. Her attorney, Greg Rael, claims that Debi August’s conflicts
of interest do not constitute a “truly serious case of political
misconduct.” I beg to differ. Ms. August has been president, Humboldt County
Board of Realtors, and regional chair, California Association of
Realtors, and a member of the Fortuna Planning Commission for 15 years.
She knows better. What she alleged to have done, which has not been
denied, is blatant insider trading, an inexcusable and intolerable
textbook case of serious political corruption.
The real mystery is why Judith Schmidt, the grand jury foreperson, and
her attorney Allison Jackson, who has it in big-time for Mr. Gallegos,
have not been charged with jury tampering and obstruction of justice.
Their defense? The DA has a vendetta. Perpetrators frequently blame
their accusers of crimes they themselves commit. PL has made a career out
of this strategy.
Tim Stoen has bravely challenged corruption by the well-connected in
pursuing Paul Gallegos’ promise of meting out justice for all. Their
courage should be a beacon for us all.
(Ken Miller is a McKinleyville resident. Opinions expressed in columns
and guest opinions do not necessarily represent those of The Eureka
Reporter or its staff. Readers who would like to respond to this and other
columns and guest opinions may e-mail letters, columns and guest
opinions to editor@eurekareporter.com.)
3.24.2007
Mark Lovelace looking for warm bodies
Date:
Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:39:24 -0700
To:
bach@lists.riseup.net
From:
"Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters" Add to Address Book
Subject:
[bach] Water Board's Sept. hearing in Fortuna
><::><::><::><::><::><::><::><
Hearing Notice
from the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters
August 29, 2005
><::><::><::><::><::><::><::><
>>Notice regarding the evidentiary hearing about the watershed-specific discharge requrirements being considered by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, taking place in Fortuna on Sept. 14
If you may be attending this hearing, read on. It will probably not be possible to sign up to speak at the hearing.
Any persons wishing to speak at the Regional Water Board's September 14th hearing on Palco's Watershed-wide Waste Discharge Requirements permits for Freshwater and Elk River need to contact the Regional Water Board as soon as possible to assure a time slot.
The Regional Water Board is making the final procedural arrangements for this evidentiary hearing, which will be held at the River Lodge in Fortuna. This hearing will likely last into the evening, if not into a second day. While there are still some details to be worked out, it is clear at this point that public comment or "policy statements" by the public will happen at the very beginning of the hearing. However, due to the large amount of persons believed to be planning to speak at the hearing, only two hours will be alloted, and the time will be granted first to persons making arrangements to speak in advance.
The concern here is of course that a 'pro-PL' contingent will monopolize the time, as has happened at other meetings. Therefore it is urgent that anyone who even thinks they might wish to speak as a member of the public at this hearing should call or e-mail the Regional Water Board as soon as possible, preferably by the end of the day on Tuesday, August 30th. Yes, it's that urgent, as we expect a campaign by Palco to fill up the public comment time.
These kinds of statements by the public need not be lengthy, detailed, or technical, but rather express the public's desire to see water quality protected, and the public interest served. Simple messages reminding the RWB that the public has been waiting 8 years for some action in these two damaged watersheds would be a good reminder, especially for the new members of the Board. Some Board members are likely to be swayed by PL's assertions that there really is no problem here, or that water quality and flooding are improving, or that the solution to flooding is raising the roads. The public needs to help keep the RWB focused and on task, so as not to get distracted by non-issues raised by the other side.
Again, if there is any possibility at all that you may wish to speak at this hearing (and I would urge our supporters to do so!), then please contact the RWB as soon as possible. Please e-mail the Regional Water Board at the 3 addresses below (use all 3, to be safe), and please also cc the Humboldt Watershed Council.
Contact:
Catherine Kuhlman Ckuhlman@waterboards.ca.gov
Sheryl Schaffner sschaffner@waterboards.ca.gov
Terri Korell TKorell@waterboards.ca.gov
Thank you for your support.
BACH is forwarding this message sent by Mark Lovelace, Humboldt Watershed Council
sheds@humboldt1.com
2. Interested Persons
Interested persons may participate in the hearings with certain limitations. Interested persons may present non-evidentiary policy statements which will be heard first, prior to the presentation of evidence by the parties. Interested persons are not subject to cross-examination and may not cross-examine other parties. Interested persons will receive 3 minutes to make their policy statements.
--
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH)
2530 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702
phone: 510 548 3113
email: bach@headwaterspreserve.org
http://www.HeadwatersPreserve.org
Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:39:24 -0700
To:
bach@lists.riseup.net
From:
"Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters"
Subject:
[bach] Water Board's Sept. hearing in Fortuna
><::><::><::><::><::><::><::><
Hearing Notice
from the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters
August 29, 2005
><::><::><::><::><::><::><::><
>>Notice regarding the evidentiary hearing about the watershed-specific discharge requrirements being considered by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, taking place in Fortuna on Sept. 14
If you may be attending this hearing, read on. It will probably not be possible to sign up to speak at the hearing.
Any persons wishing to speak at the Regional Water Board's September 14th hearing on Palco's Watershed-wide Waste Discharge Requirements permits for Freshwater and Elk River need to contact the Regional Water Board as soon as possible to assure a time slot.
The Regional Water Board is making the final procedural arrangements for this evidentiary hearing, which will be held at the River Lodge in Fortuna. This hearing will likely last into the evening, if not into a second day. While there are still some details to be worked out, it is clear at this point that public comment or "policy statements" by the public will happen at the very beginning of the hearing. However, due to the large amount of persons believed to be planning to speak at the hearing, only two hours will be alloted, and the time will be granted first to persons making arrangements to speak in advance.
The concern here is of course that a 'pro-PL' contingent will monopolize the time, as has happened at other meetings. Therefore it is urgent that anyone who even thinks they might wish to speak as a member of the public at this hearing should call or e-mail the Regional Water Board as soon as possible, preferably by the end of the day on Tuesday, August 30th. Yes, it's that urgent, as we expect a campaign by Palco to fill up the public comment time.
These kinds of statements by the public need not be lengthy, detailed, or technical, but rather express the public's desire to see water quality protected, and the public interest served. Simple messages reminding the RWB that the public has been waiting 8 years for some action in these two damaged watersheds would be a good reminder, especially for the new members of the Board. Some Board members are likely to be swayed by PL's assertions that there really is no problem here, or that water quality and flooding are improving, or that the solution to flooding is raising the roads. The public needs to help keep the RWB focused and on task, so as not to get distracted by non-issues raised by the other side.
Again, if there is any possibility at all that you may wish to speak at this hearing (and I would urge our supporters to do so!), then please contact the RWB as soon as possible. Please e-mail the Regional Water Board at the 3 addresses below (use all 3, to be safe), and please also cc the Humboldt Watershed Council.
Contact:
Catherine Kuhlman Ckuhlman@waterboards.ca.gov
Sheryl Schaffner sschaffner@waterboards.ca.gov
Terri Korell TKorell@waterboards.ca.gov
Thank you for your support.
BACH is forwarding this message sent by Mark Lovelace, Humboldt Watershed Council
sheds@humboldt1.com
2. Interested Persons
Interested persons may participate in the hearings with certain limitations. Interested persons may present non-evidentiary policy statements which will be heard first, prior to the presentation of evidence by the parties. Interested persons are not subject to cross-examination and may not cross-examine other parties. Interested persons will receive 3 minutes to make their policy statements.
--
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH)
2530 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702
phone: 510 548 3113
email: bach@headwaterspreserve.org
http://www.HeadwatersPreserve.org
by Ken Miller of Salmon Forever
So clever, pretending that you aren't Humboldt Watershed Council, but that you have teamed up with "them"
in your "Sunny Brae sediment lab" no doubt
Salmon Forever
http://www.treesfoundation.org/publications/article_print_friendly-40
by Ken Miller of Salmon Forever
November 1, 2000
Measuring stream velocity with an orange peel and measuring tape
Photo: Clark Fenton
Salmon Forever was founded in 1996 to encourage enlightened, constructive public debate on issues related to forests, watersheds, and the beneficial uses of water. To fulfill this mission, we work with the scientific community, the public, and regulatory agencies. We also conduct scientific research using relatively low-tech methods accessible to community volunteers. A key part of our work is monitoring turbidity and suspended sediment. We also examine revegetation rates on logged-over lands, the extent of canopy cover, and the “batting average” of certified engineering geologists who provide consultation about timber harvesting–associated landslide risks. We are interested in the mechanisms by which impacts occur and methodologies for cumulative impact analysis.
Until their population crash twenty-five years ago, salmon were the mainstay of a $100 million fishing industry in California. Dr. Peter Moyle, renowned fisheries professor at UC-–Davis, calls watershed deterioration the principal cause of the coastal salmonid decline, with logging and road-building as major factors. Because approximately 50 percent of coho habitat is privately owned, and 100 percent runs through private property, salmon must pass through severely impacted areas before reaching presumably more protected, often public, stretches. Such impacts can destroy entire runs. By protecting private property from the effects of irresponsible management of watershed lands, we simultaneously promote biologically viable creeks, the integrity of objective science, and the potential recovery of native salmonid populations.
According to a 1996 National Research Council report on Pacific Northwest salmonids called “Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific NW,” genetic diversity underlies the success of the species; healthy habitat sustains local variations. The report poignantly notes: “One important reason to protect local populations is that they are locally adapted to the streams that support them. In other words, evolution has made a local breeding population better able to survive and reproduce in its home stream than in other streams. Re-establishing new populations through introductions once the local populations have been lost has proved to be extremely difficult”.
This is where we come in—those of us invested in an ecological future that not only sustains us economically but also nourishes us spiritually. This is the vision of Salmon Forever.
Why turbidity?
The North Coast Water Quality Control Board uses “turbidity levels” as thresholds: the Basin Plan will not permit turbidity levels in streams to rise (due to sediment entry) more than 20 percent over naturally occurring background levels. Quantities of sediment that settle out and cause nuisance, such as aggradation causing flooding, are also prohibited. The Pacific Lumber (PL) Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) recognizes turbidity “as the single-most sensitive measure of the effects of land use on streams.”
Young salmonids are exquisitely sensitive to turbidity, which obscures their vision and hence decreases their ability to feed. They are also sensitive to suspended sediments, which cause injury in direct proportion to sediment levels and duration of exposure. Fine sediments smother the egg nests of salmonids and fill the interstices in which the young hide. Since smolt size is correlated with ocean survival of salmonids, if sediment-choked water results in smaller fish migrating to the ocean, the number of healthy adults returning to spawn likely will be reduced.
State agencies have identified increased flooding resulting from accelerated logging by PL as a major problem for Freshwater and Elk watersheds. In Freshwater last year, more than 4.5 million kilograms of suspended sediment went down the mainstem of Freshwater Creek past Salmon Forever’s sampling station equivalent to more than 220 truckloads of dry sediment. Each of the 6–7 square miles of logged watershed above the station probably contributed about 600–700 tons. Each of the three biggest storms moved more than a million kilograms past the sampling stations.
By monitoring watersheds with comparable geology, such as the Little South Fork Elk River in Headwaters Forest and Humboldt Redwoods State Park lands, we hope to be able to answer the question: how much sediment is natural? We are monitoring six watersheds in the Trinity, Eel, Van Duzen, and Humboldt Bay drainages. The information not only shows the impacts of ground-disturbing activities that have taken place but also provides an early warning system about upstream landslides, failing culverts, or other sediment sources posing threats to water quality, channel form, and in-stream habitat.
Samples are taken regularly during storms and measured in a portable turbidity monitor, and the filtered sediment is weighed in our Sunnybrae sediment lab. By measuring channel cross-sections, a 3-D picture of the channel can be used to calculate volumes. Correlations among turbidity, suspended sediment, and water discharge (volume or cubic meters/feet per second) characterize the turbidity “signature” of a stream. Comparing these signatures among similar watersheds undergoing different intensities of land use helps to reveal the effects of upstream management activities.
Since monitoring requires multiple samples taken 24-hours, seven days a week during rainstorms, the only economically feasible strategy might be local volunteers invested in the health of their creeks. (A side effect is watershed residents’ enthusiasm for turbidity monitoring as they learn the dynamics of their streams.) Alternative automatic sampling is available for remote sites and for more comprehensive data-gathering.
Salmon Forever has recruited and trained more than fifty volunteers in fifteen watersheds and analyzed more than 2,800 samples in our Sunny Brae Sediment Lab. The U.S. Forest Service Redwood Sciences Lab has provided technical assistance to analyze this data. We are developing a web site for this information. Public agencies contemplating large-scale monitoring programs are evaluating the protocols we have developed. The protocols are also undergoing final review by the U.S. EPA, and, when approved, qualify us to certify monitors under EPA standards.
almon Forever has joined with the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) to develop the THP Watch Program. This program provides citizens with access to our data and research library for their comments on timber harvest plans submitted to CDF. Our input has modified many THPs and helps establish a useful administrative record should THPs be litigated.
We made a video with Howard Russell which presents some of the scientific evidence for the logging-related flooding in Freshwater, and residents’ experiences. Our PL HCP/Sustained Yield Plan Watch program is integrated with community participation in watershed analysis, which will be coming to all of the watersheds in which PL has some ownership. In conjunction with esteemed Steelhead publisher Emelia Berol, we plan to publish a quarterly interview featuring local scientists’ work relevant to salmon and watershed issues.
Salmon Forever has worked closely with local groups to emphasize the vulnerability of the North Fork Mattole River to sediment impacts, where more than 3,000 acres of virgin old-growth Douglas fir are proposed to be clearcut—1,000 within the next ten years. (The Mattole, which means “clear water” to the Mattole Indians, is known as “the other Headwaters” by local residents and is treasured for its beauty and wild native salmon.) We also serve as a scientific consultant to Voices of Humboldt County, a monthly publication of the Humboldt Watershed Council. The publication’s name comes from a video Salmon Forever and Humboldt Watershed Council co-produced in 1997.
Salmon Forever helps those who want to better understand the mechanisms by which impacts occur so that they can protect their home watersheds more effectively. We invite you to join our efforts. If we can help with your monitoring, watershed analysis, or THP comment needs, let us know.
This article can be found online at www.treesfoundation.org/publications/article-40
Branching Out is produced by Trees Foundation. For more information contact:
Salmon Forever
P.O. Box 3014
McKinleyville, CA 95519
Phone: (707) 839-7444 Fax: (707) 839-7447
in your "Sunny Brae sediment lab" no doubt
Salmon Forever
http://www.treesfoundation.org/publications/article_print_friendly-40
by Ken Miller of Salmon Forever
November 1, 2000
Measuring stream velocity with an orange peel and measuring tape
Photo: Clark Fenton
Salmon Forever was founded in 1996 to encourage enlightened, constructive public debate on issues related to forests, watersheds, and the beneficial uses of water. To fulfill this mission, we work with the scientific community, the public, and regulatory agencies. We also conduct scientific research using relatively low-tech methods accessible to community volunteers. A key part of our work is monitoring turbidity and suspended sediment. We also examine revegetation rates on logged-over lands, the extent of canopy cover, and the “batting average” of certified engineering geologists who provide consultation about timber harvesting–associated landslide risks. We are interested in the mechanisms by which impacts occur and methodologies for cumulative impact analysis.
Until their population crash twenty-five years ago, salmon were the mainstay of a $100 million fishing industry in California. Dr. Peter Moyle, renowned fisheries professor at UC-–Davis, calls watershed deterioration the principal cause of the coastal salmonid decline, with logging and road-building as major factors. Because approximately 50 percent of coho habitat is privately owned, and 100 percent runs through private property, salmon must pass through severely impacted areas before reaching presumably more protected, often public, stretches. Such impacts can destroy entire runs. By protecting private property from the effects of irresponsible management of watershed lands, we simultaneously promote biologically viable creeks, the integrity of objective science, and the potential recovery of native salmonid populations.
According to a 1996 National Research Council report on Pacific Northwest salmonids called “Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific NW,” genetic diversity underlies the success of the species; healthy habitat sustains local variations. The report poignantly notes: “One important reason to protect local populations is that they are locally adapted to the streams that support them. In other words, evolution has made a local breeding population better able to survive and reproduce in its home stream than in other streams. Re-establishing new populations through introductions once the local populations have been lost has proved to be extremely difficult”.
This is where we come in—those of us invested in an ecological future that not only sustains us economically but also nourishes us spiritually. This is the vision of Salmon Forever.
Why turbidity?
The North Coast Water Quality Control Board uses “turbidity levels” as thresholds: the Basin Plan will not permit turbidity levels in streams to rise (due to sediment entry) more than 20 percent over naturally occurring background levels. Quantities of sediment that settle out and cause nuisance, such as aggradation causing flooding, are also prohibited. The Pacific Lumber (PL) Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) recognizes turbidity “as the single-most sensitive measure of the effects of land use on streams.”
Young salmonids are exquisitely sensitive to turbidity, which obscures their vision and hence decreases their ability to feed. They are also sensitive to suspended sediments, which cause injury in direct proportion to sediment levels and duration of exposure. Fine sediments smother the egg nests of salmonids and fill the interstices in which the young hide. Since smolt size is correlated with ocean survival of salmonids, if sediment-choked water results in smaller fish migrating to the ocean, the number of healthy adults returning to spawn likely will be reduced.
State agencies have identified increased flooding resulting from accelerated logging by PL as a major problem for Freshwater and Elk watersheds. In Freshwater last year, more than 4.5 million kilograms of suspended sediment went down the mainstem of Freshwater Creek past Salmon Forever’s sampling station equivalent to more than 220 truckloads of dry sediment. Each of the 6–7 square miles of logged watershed above the station probably contributed about 600–700 tons. Each of the three biggest storms moved more than a million kilograms past the sampling stations.
By monitoring watersheds with comparable geology, such as the Little South Fork Elk River in Headwaters Forest and Humboldt Redwoods State Park lands, we hope to be able to answer the question: how much sediment is natural? We are monitoring six watersheds in the Trinity, Eel, Van Duzen, and Humboldt Bay drainages. The information not only shows the impacts of ground-disturbing activities that have taken place but also provides an early warning system about upstream landslides, failing culverts, or other sediment sources posing threats to water quality, channel form, and in-stream habitat.
Samples are taken regularly during storms and measured in a portable turbidity monitor, and the filtered sediment is weighed in our Sunnybrae sediment lab. By measuring channel cross-sections, a 3-D picture of the channel can be used to calculate volumes. Correlations among turbidity, suspended sediment, and water discharge (volume or cubic meters/feet per second) characterize the turbidity “signature” of a stream. Comparing these signatures among similar watersheds undergoing different intensities of land use helps to reveal the effects of upstream management activities.
Since monitoring requires multiple samples taken 24-hours, seven days a week during rainstorms, the only economically feasible strategy might be local volunteers invested in the health of their creeks. (A side effect is watershed residents’ enthusiasm for turbidity monitoring as they learn the dynamics of their streams.) Alternative automatic sampling is available for remote sites and for more comprehensive data-gathering.
Salmon Forever has recruited and trained more than fifty volunteers in fifteen watersheds and analyzed more than 2,800 samples in our Sunny Brae Sediment Lab. The U.S. Forest Service Redwood Sciences Lab has provided technical assistance to analyze this data. We are developing a web site for this information. Public agencies contemplating large-scale monitoring programs are evaluating the protocols we have developed. The protocols are also undergoing final review by the U.S. EPA, and, when approved, qualify us to certify monitors under EPA standards.
almon Forever has joined with the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) to develop the THP Watch Program. This program provides citizens with access to our data and research library for their comments on timber harvest plans submitted to CDF. Our input has modified many THPs and helps establish a useful administrative record should THPs be litigated.
We made a video with Howard Russell which presents some of the scientific evidence for the logging-related flooding in Freshwater, and residents’ experiences. Our PL HCP/Sustained Yield Plan Watch program is integrated with community participation in watershed analysis, which will be coming to all of the watersheds in which PL has some ownership. In conjunction with esteemed Steelhead publisher Emelia Berol, we plan to publish a quarterly interview featuring local scientists’ work relevant to salmon and watershed issues.
Salmon Forever has worked closely with local groups to emphasize the vulnerability of the North Fork Mattole River to sediment impacts, where more than 3,000 acres of virgin old-growth Douglas fir are proposed to be clearcut—1,000 within the next ten years. (The Mattole, which means “clear water” to the Mattole Indians, is known as “the other Headwaters” by local residents and is treasured for its beauty and wild native salmon.) We also serve as a scientific consultant to Voices of Humboldt County, a monthly publication of the Humboldt Watershed Council. The publication’s name comes from a video Salmon Forever and Humboldt Watershed Council co-produced in 1997.
Salmon Forever helps those who want to better understand the mechanisms by which impacts occur so that they can protect their home watersheds more effectively. We invite you to join our efforts. If we can help with your monitoring, watershed analysis, or THP comment needs, let us know.
This article can be found online at www.treesfoundation.org/publications/article-40
Branching Out is produced by Trees Foundation. For more information contact:
Salmon Forever
P.O. Box 3014
McKinleyville, CA 95519
Phone: (707) 839-7444 Fax: (707) 839-7447