Things are really starting to warm up in the new year! We expect
the final Environmental Impact Report to be released in March,
2010.
Here is what has been accomplished to date:
- over 2,000 postcards containing comments opposing the project
have been delivered to CALTRANS and the California Transportation
Commission;
- the Center for Biological Diversity has entered the fray and
circulated an online petition to its mailing list (see below for
the results);
- research has been done on the effects of STAA (federal size
truck) access into the County including increased green house
gases, big box development and impact on local roads;
- research has been done on alternatives to diesel truck
transportation including sustainable port development.
Should any of you on this general mailing list wish to be active in
this effort to oppose this project please contact me. Other ways
for you to help would be to write letters to the editors of our
local papers and letters to the Board of Supervisors. It is the
County through its Economic Development Division that is behind
the push for this project.
The economic justification for this project was established by an
online survey of businesses in Humboldt and Del Norte counties
which generated 19 responses. The Headwaters Fund gave the
County's Economic Development Division a $50,000 grant to promote
the project, part of which paid for the survey. 14 of these
responders then provided economic data on a confidential basis (so
no one could validate it) and a professor at Chico state generated
the Gallo Report which is supposed to justify the $5.5 million
dollar project. Does this make sense to you? Does this justify
disturbing the ecology of a supposedly protected State Park?
Soon a billboard will be visible one mile north of Standish-Hickey
Park with our message to Save Richardson Grove and an image by a
local artist. We would love to generate television and radio
spots. Financial assistance would be appreciated. Please check
our web site at www.saverichardsongrove.org to donate if you can.
With best regards for a peaceful new year.
Barbara
--Redwood Saviors or Cyber Criminals? Center Supporters Update Democracy--
5,100 of the Center for Biological Diversity's supporters love the
redwoods so much they deluged the California Department of
Transportation with emails complaining of the agency's plan to
slice a road through the gorgeous Richardson Grove in the state's
remote North Coast.
Rather than responding to the public's concern, the Department of
Transportation called the State Police Cyber Crime Division to
report that they were under attack by hostile forces. Apparently
interacting with the public was "diverting" the agency from its
real job -- chopping down forests and paving the wilderness. A
crime if there ever was one.
A police investigation determined that the agency was suffering
from an acute case of citizen involvement, to which there is no
cure.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Still there, but not thriving
Still there, but not thriving
Posted: 02/21/2010 01:15:18 AM PST
I read Frisbie's opinion column Thursday morning and then got on the phone to the four stores he says are still in business in spite of Home Depot coming to Ukiah. I found it hard to believe that a big box did not impact locally owned stores. In my conversation with each business, they all said they had been affected when Home Depot opened. Some lost 10 percent, others 20 percent of business, and all but one said they had to lay people off. One said they had to re-think their marketing strategies to survive. As one person put it, “There are only so many pieces of the pie to go around, so of course it has affected business, we lost some profit.” Another manager said, “Yeah, it's fine to say we're still here, but we are not thriving. We lost business we will never get back, lost employees we could not replace.” Another person said that initially they lost business, but then “service was so bad at Home Depot, that they've gained back most of what they lost” when the store opened. Our area has more than nine lumber businesses and equally as many hardware stores. These do not include the many independently owned plumbing, lighting, and painting stores. All of these would be impacted by any big box store being approved to open business in our county. The issue is not just “driving out” these local stores, but whether they can sustain a profitable business. It's not just about competition and who can survive. This is about all of us making a commitment to sustain our local economy and those businesses that care as much about us, their customers, as they do about their profit. And we do not need more options for shopping. We have enough.
Pamela Brown
Arcata
Isn't it interesting
Isn't it interesting
Posted: 02/21/2010 01:15:30 AM PST
After attending the scoping meeting for the wind turbine project proposed for Bear River Ridge, it is my contention that the rush to widen Highway 101 through Richardson Grove is to facilitate Shell Oil's wind turbine project. They stated that huge trucks will haul all the needed equipment up Monument Road to Bear River Ridge out of Rio Dell. So how to get the trucks, cranes, turbine parts and tons of other materials, such as concrete, to Rio Dell? If 101 is widened, then Shell Oil will have the ability to haul their equipment to Humboldt County. Isn't it interesting that the timing of the road widening happens to be just “the right timing” for Shell Oil Company. And I was not impressed to learn that the meetings held in Fortuna and Eureka only concern “Phase One” of the wind turbine project. A Shell representative said that only 25 to 30 turbines are to be built, in Phase One. When asked, one Shell rep suggested many other phases of the project will follow with the number 300 total wind turbines planned. Why else would Shell have secured 35,000 acres for the wind turbine project? You don't need 35,000 acres for 25 to 30 turbines. So what impact would 300, 300-foot tall wind turbines have on Bear River Ridge? Shell Oil is who will profit from widening Highway 101, not the communities, the wildlife or the citizens.
C Goodson
Fortuna
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Paving Paradise
A plea lies at the southern entrance to Humboldt County: “Save Richardson Grove.”
Despite years of public opposition, the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) plans to adjust the alignment of Highway 101 in Richardson Grove just north of the Humboldt/Mendocino county border in order to make room for semi trucks.
The Richardson Grove project should be finalized sometime in March, said Project Manager Kim Floyd. It marks the final step for CalTrans’s plan to open Highway 101 to the largest trucks on the road. They are currently prohibited north of Mendocino County.
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