Preliminary Injunction GRANTED! July 6, 2011

The judge granted the preliminary injunction in the federal lawsuit against CalTrans' Richardson Grove highway plan!

Here's a link to the July 6, 2011 order from the judge. (pdf)
http://www.box.net/shared/7b2xe9mvd6de4zpkz7vv

Below is the first 5 pages, a glimpse...

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
Case No. C 10-04360 WHA

BESS BAIR; TRISHA LEE LOTUS; BRUCE EDWARDS; JEFFREY HEDIN; LOREEN ELIASON; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION INFORMATION CENTER, a non-profit corporation; CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, a non-profit corporation; and CALIFORNIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO TOXICS, a non-profit corporation, Plaintiffs,
v.
CALIFORNIA STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, and CINDY McKIM, in her official capacity as Director of the State of California Department of Transportation, Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

INTRODUCTION
This environmental-impact litigation arises out of a proposal to widen Highway 101 through old-growth redwood trees. A preliminary injunction is warranted until a final decision on the merits, for the reasons below.

STATEMENT
Two hundred miles north of San Francisco, at the southern edge of Humboldt County, is
Richardson Grove State Park. It is home to ancient redwoods 300 feet tall and thousands of years old. The park shelters an abundance of wildlife, including the marbled murrelet and spotted owl.

Highway 101 threads through the park for about one mile. Some huge redwood trees come right up to the road, narrowing the two-lane highway to a mere 22 feet (EA 3). Due to its narrow and winding curves, this section of the highway poses safety hazards for large trucks. Specifically, trucks authorized by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, 23 U.S.C. 101, are often longer and carry more volume than standard trucks. Most of these longer vehicles are prohibited from using this section of Highway 101 because of “off-tracking.” A truck off-tracks when its back tires do not follow its front tires around a curve, but rather take the shorter route. Narrow lanes and tight turns lead to off-tracking. Despite the safety hazard, there are a few legislative exceptions, including a temporary exception for livestock haulers, which allow some STAA trucks access through the park (EA 1–4).

Defendants California Department of Transportation and Cindy Kim, the director of Caltrans, have initiated the Richardson Grove Operational Improvement Project to widen the road to meet highway requirements in order to allow all STAA trucks safer passage through the park. The stated purpose of allowing larger trucks through-access on Highway 101 is to lower the cost of transportation for goods imported into and exported from Humboldt County (EA 5). Currently, for instance, STAA trucks going from Oakland to Eureka must take a 446-mile detour via I-5 through Oregon and back south on Route 101 (EA 5).

This environmental-impact controversy arises because widening the road might have adverse effects on the redwoods. Their roots are shallow. The roots extend outward three to ten times the diameter of the tree trunk (EA 41 n.6; Compl. ¶ 36). Their interlacing root system provides mutual reinforcement (Compl. ¶ 71). The soil is loose and aerated. Redwoods breathe through their roots, absorbing air, nutrients, and water. The trees need non-compact soil to thrive (McBride Decl. ¶¶ 11–14).

For these reasons, the proposal is merely to widen the roadway slightly and to do so using minimal-impact techniques. During oral argument, Caltrans’ attorney stated that the plan would fell 54 trees. Only six of them are redwoods, two of which are located inside the park and none of which are old growth — meaning those six redwoods have diameters less than 30 inches (EA 40).

Once cleared, the project plans to regrade, realign, and widen the road. In most cases, the project would shift the center line of the highway by one to six feet. The maximum realignment would shift the centerline 17 feet (EA 62). The construction calls for cut-and-fill techniques. In other words, Caltrans would cut the soil and fill it with sturdy, compact material suitable for highway foundation. This, however, is a main point of contention. (This poses a risk for the root system, which needs loose soil, not compact soil.) To continue with mitigation precautions, excavation near old-growth redwoods would be done by hand or with an air spade. An air spade uses air compression to clear away dirt rather than cutting roots while digging away at soil. Roots that are less than two inches would be cut and watered so they would not dry out. Brow logs would be braced against tree trunks to minimize the effect of fill on the trees (EA 113–15). A retaining wall to support the roadway would be installed spanning 200 feet and reaching ten to thirteen feet high (EA 19). New culverts would replace older ones to improve drainage (EA 41). Clearly, the proposal has been drawn with an eye to mitigating most damage to the redwoods.

Caltrans issued a draft and then a final Environmental Assessment. In its draft EA, Caltrans stated that construction around redwood roots has the “most potential to result in impacts to trees” and that the project would be “likely to [a]dversely [a]ffect” the spotted owl (Draft EA 83, 104). After issuing its draft EA — pursuant to NEPA — and its Section 4(f) analysis — pursuant to the Department of Transportation Act of 1966, 49 U.S.C. 303 — Caltrans received hundreds of letters protesting the project (Duggan Decl. Exh. 3-1 through 3-12). In response, Caltrans slightly changed its proposal. In May 2010, Caltrans issued a final EA, which documented relocating a proposed retaining wall, added a chart describing trees whose roots would be affected by the cut and fill soil, more than doubled the estimate of trees whose root structures might be adversely impacted, and cited the names of two arborists who claimed no significant impact would occur (EA 19–20, 108–12). Despite opposition, the agency adopted a “finding of no significant impact.” The FONSI avoided the requirement of performing a complete investigation and producing an Environmental Impact Statement.

Plaintiffs are individual supporters and non-profit environmental groups who claim this project will jeopardize the health of the trees and wildlife. Plaintiff Bess Bair is the granddaughter of the owner of The Harstook Inn (situated in the Park), which was sold to Save-The-Redwoods League. The granddaughter of the man who originally gave Richardson Grove to California, plaintiff Trish Lee Lotus remains an avid visitor to the Grove. Plaintiff Bruce Edwards is a truck driver from Humboldt County who regularly drives on this section of Highway 101. While performing volunteer work for the Piercy fire department, plaintiff Jeffrey Hedin drives through Richardson Grove. Plaintiff Loreen Eliason owns an inn on Highway 101 just six miles north of Garberville and claims that the preservation of Richardson Grove is essential to her business and those like it (Compl. ¶¶ 20–23). Plaintiffs Environmental Protection Information Center, Center for Biological Diversity, and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics are non-profit organizations that promote environmental protection. These groups and individuals bring this action on behalf of their members who have an interest in California’s wildlife and natural wonders (Compl. ¶¶ 24–26). Harm to the redwoods and natural environment of the park would allegedly irreparably hurt the “health, recreational, scientific, cultural, inspirational, educational, [and] aesthetic” interests of the plaintiffs (Compl. ¶ 27).

This action alleges that defendants have violated the National Environmental Protection Act, the Department of Transportation Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The complaint claims defendants violated NEPA by failing to (1) establish the need and purpose for the project, (2) disclose and evaluate the significant environmental effects, (3) explore and evaluate reasonable alternatives to the project, (4) adequately document public comments and concerns and responses to those comments, and (5) prepare an environmental impact statement (Compl. ¶ 99). Plaintiffs also allege that Caltrans violated Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act by failing to determine that no alternatives existed and by failing to create a plan that would minimize harm (Compl. ¶ 120). In not consulting with the National Park Service concerning the effects of relocating the retaining wall closer to the Eel River, defendants allegedly violated Section 7 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (Compl. ¶ 125). The Administrative Procedure Act was violated, it is said, by approving and adopting an EA/FONSI contrary to NEPA and Section 4(f) standards.

By the instant motion, plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction to halt all activity on this project while we litigate the merits. At this stage, defendants have not submitted the administrative record, but instead we have the record submitted on this motion.

ANALYSIS
A plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction must show (1) that she is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction, (2) that she is likely to succeed on the merits, (3) that the balance of equities tips in her favor, and (4) that an injunction is in the public interest. Winter v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 129 S.Ct. 365, 374 (2008). So long as a likelihood of irreparable harm is always shown, these elements are balanced on a sliding scale, so that a stronger showing of one may offset a weaker showing of others. Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Cottrell, 632 F.3d 1127, 1131 (9th Cir. 2011). More specifically, if a likelihood of irreparable harm is shown, “[a] preliminary injunction is appropriate when a plaintiff demonstrates . . . that serious questions going to the merits were raised and the balance of
hardships tips sharply in the plaintiff’s favor.” Id. at 1134–35 (citation omitted).

PARADE THROUGH THE REDWOODS! JULY 3RD

Given the number of people currently visiting Richardson Grove State Park, we are planning a July 3rd PARADE through Richardson Grove!
Short notice, we know, but we'd love to see you there. Everyone can join in!

PARADE Through the Redwoods!

Sunday, July 3rd Begins 2 pm at the Day Use Area of Richardson Grove State Park

Richardson Grove is threatened by CalTrans' highway expansion plan!

Show your support for the survival of Richardson Grove-
where some of the trees were 1,000 years old at America's birth.

Feel free to dress colorful and bring music makers and colorful non-explosives. (No Fireworks)


~Richardson Grove Action Now
707.602.7551

"large diesel trucks on 101...24-hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year"

Richardson Grove as important as general plan update

Ken Miller/For The Times-Standard

06/22/2011

Wholesale STAA access through Richardson Grove is potentially the most immediately devastating threat to our county.

It would open the north-south link in a circuit connecting Interstate 5 and U.S. Highway 101 via routes 199, 299, and 20, putting large diesel trucks on 101 through, not just into, our county, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Signaling or one-way traffic would create harmful congestion in the grove, and do nothing about the STAA traffic through the county.

Who benefits?

Mainly the international trucking industry and a few local businesses. Caltrans' EIR acknowledges that local industries do not need these trucks: “... There is a maximum weight restriction for loads as well as maximum length of cabs and trailers, and that for heavy loads, the economic advantage for the larger [STAA] vehicles is not there,” concluding that the “Proposed project would not result in significant increases in overall economic productivity in the region.”

Wal-Mart and Home Depot in Crescent City have been the squeakiest wheels for Richardson Grove and 199, whining that lack of STAA access costs them $15,000 monthly, savings they would surely use to undercut local businesses, and exchange good paying jobs for low-wage employment as their stores are linked all along the 101 corridor.

Could the new general plan stand up to STAA-related sprawl development?

Vehicular traffic from the proposed Marina Center is estimated at 16,000 trips daily. Add STAA to that and the pressure to open and widen Waterfront Drive and bypass Eureka escalates. Caltrans never considers this, despite the 2003 Caltrans-funded study warning about the “constraint on economic development” from “traffic congestion on U.S. 101 in Eureka's commercial and retail areas due to heavy overlapping uses for trucking, through traffic, and local traffic.”

Ambulance and coroner business may spike. These large trucks represent less than 3 percent of vehicles, but are involved in 14 percent of fatal crashes, and automobile passengers constitute 98 percent of the fatalities in car vs. truck accidents.

Who loses?

The project is a job killer for many local businesses, and will cost the rest of us in road damages, safety hazards, noise and air pollution, congestion, and quality of life. Trinidad will not be so quaint, or quiet, with 24/7 STAA on the 101 grade.

Many of these trucks have extra cabs with kitchens and beds enabling transit from Mexico to Canada without needing a motel or restaurant.

Ancient redwoods may not tolerate modern road use and construction technology. Trees that have survived for a century next to the current roadbed may have benefited from the paucity of heavy truck traffic, as well as construction in 1915 with horse and buggies, hand tools, and gravel, mitigating factors that this project would undo overnight.

Arguments that road construction will not harm ancient redwoods rely on Caltrans' arborists who have no expertise in redwoods, and on Caltrans' own claims.

Experts like Steve Sillett and Stan Binnie registered serious concerns about disturbing woody and feeder roots, justified by the numerous ancient redwoods whose tops are dying back along 101, and those which have fallen, revealing evidence of road or path-induced damage. Hence Redwood Park warnings to avoid walking over roots.

Scientific literature is clear that redwood roots interconnect for up to 500 feet, and that roots larger than one inch are considered “major.” Yet Caltrans claims that roots larger than two inches in diameter will not be cut in the structural root zone, ignoring the critical feeder roots. According to HSU's Professor Sillett, there have been no relevant studies on the impacts of roadways on redwood roots.

If ancient redwoods suffer due to this project, how many hundreds or thousands of years will it take for the damage to show up? And what penalty, or relief, is there?

Perhaps the saddest casualty has been the failure to consider alternatives to 6 mpg STAA trucks for our goods movement in the face of greenhouse gas emissions, rising fuel costs and sea levels, and climate change.

Short sea shipping from our undeveloped port is the most efficient transport modality on the planet, and with 299 STAA access it could meet nearly all of our shipping needs, creating boatloads of jobs.

A 2003 Caltrans' Cambridge Systematics study summed up the benefit of not widening 101 through Richardson Grove, and retaining the critical buffer between 101 and I-5: “The county's relative geographic isolation has spared it from some of the sprawl and growth pressures that have impacted many of California's coastal communities, lending the area a quality of life cherished by residents.”

Source: http://www.times-standard.com/guest_opinion/ci_18328563

YouTube from Sacramento Flash Mob- Pass It On!

Richardson Grove Action Now Returns from Bay Area and Sacramento

For Immediate Release (pdf Here) June 14, 2011

Richardson Grove Action Now Steps Beyond the Redwood Curtain –
Direct Action Resistance Brought to Sacramento June 8-10!

Contact: Verbena Lea 707.602.7551 rgroveactionnow@gmail.com

After six months of organizing rallies and actions behind the 'redwood curtain' protesting CalTrans' plan to expand Highway 101 through Richardson Grove State Park and adjacent forestland, Richardson Grove Action Now [RGAN] last week upped the ante by taking the fight to the state capital in Sacramento, where they carried out a flash mob action. The highway expansion plan has global significance, threatening some of the last 2% remaining ancient redwoods on Earth.

RGAN activists rode on the White Rose bus to Oakland, Sacramento, and Glen Cove, Vallejo in order to mobilize widespread resistance to the highway expansion, demonstrate at the Capitol, and connect with an ongoing spiritual encampment established to stave off development on a sacred indigenous burial shellmound site in Glen Cove. RGAN's Verbena Lea says, “Worldwide, people are opposed to harming or cutting ancient redwood forests, which CalTrans plans to do; ancient redwoods have all but been wiped off the face of the earth and, like the people at Glen Cove, we are saying to developers, government and corporations, 'You have already desecrated and taken too much- We're stopping you here.'”

The road widening would mutilate an ancient grove in order to facilitate trans-national corporations, nuclear materials, development, and military having greater access to the Humboldt Bay region which has been relatively protected by forest bottlenecks and winding roads. Highways 199, 299, and 36, entering the region from the East, are also on the cutting block for highway expansion.

The “White Rose” bio-diesel bus was formerly used by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, and as a support vehicle for the Longest Walk 2 in 2008, organized by AIM to draw attention to indigenous sacred sites in danger of being destroyed by developers. (The White Rose was a German anti-fascist group during Hitler's reign, executed for distributing pamphlets encouraging resistance to the Nazis.)

Thousands of individuals and groups, including RGAN, have written Gov. Jerry Brown, urging him to cancel the road widening plan using the Governor's authority. RGAN made this demand at the Capitol through a contemporary direct action known as a flash mob, and will reach the world through their musical protest, executed without permit, then circulated via YouTube. The video will be released this week.

On the Capitol steps, despite threat of arrest from onlooking officers, RGAN activists- joined by supporters from Chico, Sacramento, Oakland, and San Francisco- busted out a flash mob version of George Clinton/ Parliament's “We Got the Funk.” RGAN's updated lyrics detail multi-faceted opposition to road widening through Richardson Grove (i.e. “We want old growth, not corporate flow.”) Followed by police, RGAN marched to CalTrans' state headquarters & chanted “No Road Widening Through Richardson Grove. We are the People and the People Say NO,” handing literature to CalTrans employees & passers-by. The final Sacramento flash mob action was done on a busy street in the business district. Families took photos, and many people including a foreign magazine writer took literature to spread the word against the highway expansion.

While at the Capitol, RGAN learned that four women in wheelchairs had just been arrested protesting California officials' refusal to fund peoples' survival needs- cutting healthcare, in home services, education, etc.-with ever-increasing monies going to prisons, corporations, police, and urbanized development. Gov Brown recently shut down seventy state parks to “save” $22 million; however, the state intends to sink $5.5 million of public money, matching federal funds, into the 1.1 mile highway expansion through Richardson Grove.

RGAN's Sue Ricker said, “If CalTrans can widen the highway through Richardson Grove, a world-renowned old-growth redwood forest, they'll go to any length to convert the 101 into an interstate NAFTA artery.” Already Cypress Grove Chevre -once a locally-owned goat cheese producer, now owned by Swiss multi-national Emmi Corp.- trucks in goat milk from Mexico. Cypress Grove is a supporter of CalTrans' project.

Although CalTrans claims that the project will not harm ancient trees, it is well-established that cutting, compacting, & excavating redwood roots, as planned for the road widening, would harm or kill the trees. Also, it appears that huge ancient redwoods would have to be cut to implement CalTrans' road widening.

RGAN vows to stop this plan in the roads, offices, trees, construction sites, & gov't buildings- near and far.
###

No Willing Contractors, No Road Widening!

CLICK HERE FOR A LARGER VERSION OF THE POSTER

*New Handout* Brought to Bay Area & Sacramento

STOP HIGHWAY 101 EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!

Richardson Grove is the mystifying stretch of Highway 101 that curves through the south fork of the Eel River where, coming north, one first encounters ancient redwood forest. The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) is set to implement a plan, launched by federal, state, and corporate interests, to widen Hwy 101 through Richardson Grove.
This project threatens the survival of ancient redwood forest and would usher in and exacerbate a host of
horrendous social, economic, and cultural problems.

Some of the last 2% remaining old growth redwoods, including the 9th tallest in the world, lives in Richardson Grove. It's crucial to do everything possible NOW in order to stop Caltrans. You know you're in redwood country when you bike, walk or drive through the road lined with giants of many generations. Further from the road, the redwood grove extends. You might notice the tops of some of the huge trees along Hwy 101. No greenery and no branches way up there, but instead “spike tops.” They're the result of top die-off from compaction & other injury to the shallow roots of the giant trees. Roots must be protected.

The Richardson Grove area, for millenia, has been & remains sacred territory for First Nations people in this region and is an important place for visitors and inhabitants, human & non-human, of many nations.

Traveling north up Hwy 101 from the Bay Area, you pass hillsides, stripped of their majestic oaklands, now replaced by miles of grape vineyard grids as far as the eye can see. North of that, you arrive in Willits, where there is an arched entry announcing “Gateway to the Redwoods”. But there are no redwoods there; only gas stations and chain stores lining a four lane highway.

As the redwoods in Willits have been replaced by roads and chain-stores, the current “gateway to the redwoods” is about 60 miles north:
Richardson Grove State Park.

CalTrans, using federal and state funds, plans to cut old and young trees, excavate ancient roots, and harm rare and endangered species that inhabit Richardson Grove- all to expand Hwy 101 for greater truck and military access through the coast. Richardson Grove State Park was established to protect this area from the “drums of progress." Not one tree should be cut or harmed in a State Park.

Ancient redwood forest is rare, highly threatened, near extinction. Ancient redwood trees: at risk of there being no more left on Earth. Roads, sprawl, development & short-sighted profiteers have, in a relatively brief period of time, stripped the earth of these amazing beings & the wisdom & life they support.

“There's a real NAFTA scam ruining lives all around.
Don't bring tanks and sweatshops through our ancient grounds.” Richardson Grove Action Now

►CONTACT
RICHARDSON GROVE ACTION NOW

707.602.7551 rgroveactionnow@gmail.com

Direct Action to Stop the Road Widening!

Resist Corporate and U.S. Military Invasion

“I've seen great glaciers melting...met lightning eye to eye.
Now I hear bulldozers coming & I know that I am soon to die” The Tree, Dana Lyons

***

CALTRANS PLANS TO EXPAND HIGHWAY 101
THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE STATE PARK

● Funded by the Federal Govt. & the State of California, $5.5 million from each of them.

● A State Park is supposed to be protected from any tree cutting or damage. Tree cutting and irreparable damage are part of this plan.

● Ancient redwoods inhabit Richardson Grove. ● CalTrans would have to cut ancient redwoods in order to widen the road to the plan's dimensions.

● CalTrans would excavate and cut the roots of the ancient trees in Richardson Grove and severely compact the root zones.

● Redwood tree roots are shallow. They stay healthy through their connection to other redwood roots in the area, and cannot withstand compaction.

● CalTrans would be would stealing private property which includes old growth trees, is steeply sloped on both sides of the road, and houses Singing Trees (Drug) Recovery Center. ● That land would be stripped bare and flattened into roadbed for the road widening project.

● CalTrans also has plans to widen every highway coming from the East into the Humboldt Bay region. One of those plans would desecrate Jedediah Smith State Park on Rte 199. One plan has already included a huge clearcut on both sides of Rte 299, on the eastern end.

● Highway expansion through Richardson Grove is motivated by corporate, military, & nuclear industry interests.

● CalTrans tried to pass this plan through without environmental review or public input. ● There are 2 lawsuits with multiple plaintiffs against the plan.

● Politicians, from the County Supervisors to the Congress reps, rubber-stamped the plan, ignoring legalities and large public outcry.

● Local gov't used $55, 000 public funding to disingenuously promote the plan through paid letters to the editor, lobbying, & teaching business owners how to promote it.

● The State promotes the road widening to increase access for big trucks.

● There is a low incidence of accidents on Hwy 101 thru Richardson Grove currently -even though big semi's get through already.

THE ROAD WIDENING THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE WOULD:

►bring an increase in large trucks going faster. Conditions would make the stretch dangerous for drivers and almost impossible for anyone to walk or bike on the shoulders as they do now.

►allow an inundation of trans-national corporations into north coast towns, subjecting the land, waters, forests, local economies, and working conditions to the ruinous dominance of greedy corporations.

►in conjunction with highway expansions from every other entrance into the Humboldt Bay region, expose the entire northcoast to increased militarization and corporate exploitation.

►have irreparable negative consequences. Change the face of the north coast.

THERE IS A STRONG PEOPLES' RESISTANCE TO HIGHWAY EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE. WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Richardson Grove Action Now 707.602.7551 rgroveactionnow@gmail.com
saverichardsongrove.blogspot.com

Lead Hazardous Waste in Richardson Grove

There is an important issue concerning Richardson Grove that Caltrans has done their best to keep from the public's eye. This issue is hazardous waste in the form of aerially deposited lead (ADL).

ADL is lead left behind from years of leaded gasoline use. On old roads like 101 that have been in existence since the early 1900's, lead was continuously deposited from the tailpipes of cars and poorly combusted leaded gasoline. This lead ended up in either the surrounding soil or moving downstream. In areas with thick canopy cover and deep rich soil, like Richardson Grove, much of the lead remained in the soil and usually ended up between 6 and 24 inches underground. The top six inches are usually lead free, as this is duff and recent soil accumulation post leaded gasoline.

Lead serves no purpose in our bodies and is dangerous to all living things. It is toxic to numerous organs and biological functions, including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems. It is especially toxic to children, causing potentially permanent learning disabilities and behavior disorders. There is no safe threshold for lead exposure, no amount small enough to not cause harm. We all carry a pre-existing body burden of lead in our bones, blood and tissue, and unless specialized therapys are undertaken, it remains for life. That is why hazardous waste guidelines for lead exist. In Richardson Grove, levels of lead were found in many places to be above hazardous waste levels, and other places just slightly below. Considering how sensitive a state park like Richardson Grove is, with familys camping and people strolling about throughout the year, and automobile traffic up 101, one would think that CalTrans would care about the potential for exposing people to lead. They don't.

Removing leaded hazardous waste from roadsides requires great care and large amounts of money. Care and money that Caltrans doesn't have. This is why Caltrans is doing their best to avoid listing areas in the state as hazardous waste sites. They are doing this by either raising the allowable limits 30 times current standards in non sensitive areas. Or in the case of Richardson Grove and other sensitive areas, fudging the books and manipulating data collection. They did this in four ways;

1) Caltrans tests every six inches and then combines these together for a "Total Threshold Limit Concentration" (TTLC). If the combined levels exceed 5 ppm soluble lead its hazardous waste. Their rationale for using this dubious method is that all of the removed soil will be mixed up into one mass by the projects end. However, in the case of Richardson Grove, the project calls for excavating down 24" (except for new wall pillars that go much deeper), yet Caltrans only tested down to the 18" depth, avoiding the area with potentially the greatest concentration of lead. Caltrans website states that “Aerially deposited lead is typically found within the top 2 feet of material in unpaved areas within the highway right of way”.

2) The top 4 inches, which are lead free, were added to the mix to come up with a TTLC that was just under haz waste criteria. Yet this soil will not end up with the rest of the soil and shouldn't have been added. The FEIR states "The top 4 inches of duff (redwood tree and Douglas fir leaf litter) shall be removed, stored at a staging area location and subsequently spread out on exposed disturbed soils within the park boundary."

3) Caltrans never tested the area where the new wall is going and where the deepest excavating is to take place.

4) Caltrans used an inaccurate test method. Even though Caltrans has always prided themselves as being more protective from hazardous lead exposure than other states because they use a test method known as CA-WET (CA=citric acid), for Richardson Grove they used a method called Di-Wet. This method is known for being inaccurate, so much so that in 2007 WQCB issued a memorandum and action alert that stated “analytical data from the Waste Extraction Test (WET) performed with deionized water as the extractant (DI-WET) were used to classify a waste stream as non-hazardous. When samples of the waste were subjected to the correct version of the WET (using citric acid as the extractant), it became clear that the waste had been improperly tested initially and may have been inappropriately accepted for discharge to a landfill that was not permitted to accept hazardous waste. As a result, the owner and operator of that landfill may face significant enforcement proceedings and expensive corrective action measures.”

For Caltrans to honestly evaluate the potential for lead hazardous waste, they need to retest to the depth of 24”, the need to test the new wall site, they need to exclude the 0-4” horizon from the TTLC and they need to use their normal method of CA-WET when they test. But even then, the question will remain, will they manipulate new testing as well. Since the answer is probably yes, the testing should instead be done by an independent agency that can be trusted.

Dan Zimmerman / Environmental Investigator / Northcoast Ocean and River Protection Association (NORPA)

Richardson Grove State Park Placard "Secrets of Survival"

And this is why CalTrans puts out so much propaganda trying to fool people into thinking that excavating and cutting the ancient redwood root system won't harm or kill the trees.

May 4, 2011 Lumberjack Article

Caltrans STAA Juggernaut Stalls at Richardson Grove

by Emma Nation

The Arcata-based Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) announced on April 20 that Caltrans agreed not to bid the Richardson Grove Improvement Project or otherwise move forward on their plan to widen Richardson Grove before July 1.

EPIC and a coalition of environmental groups and individuals filed a lawsuit against Caltrans for violations of the California Environmental Quality Act in the California Superior Court in San Francisco in May 2010, and the case was transferred to Eureka in November 2010.

“We are intent in seeing that the merits of our case are heard before Caltrans attempts to implement the project, and this development is an important step in achieving that objective,” said EPIC executive director Gary Graham Hughes.

Hughes cited “environmental democracy” as one reason for the legal case, stating that Caltrans has “largely ignored” complaints about the project from citizens throughout the county and state. The legal challenge is based on procedural grounds because, Hughes says, “It is the precise and correct facilitation of the environmental review process that guarantees democracy.”

The Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA), passed by Congress in 1982 and implemented in California the following year, set the maximum limit for trucks on the national highway system. The largest rigs include sleeper cabs which, when coupled with the largest legal trailer, puts the overall length of the truck over the California legal limit going through Richardson Grove.

Caltrans terms their Richardson Grove STAA-access project as “a long-standing transportation priority” for Humboldt County.

California law allows maximum-length STAA moving vans and cattle transports through Richardson Grove, and these vehicles pass through the grove daily.

David Spreen of Kneeland has been following the issue since 2007. He points out that the largest STAA rigs are not the industry standard, but routinely referred to as “industry standard” to create an argument for imperative road widening through Richardson Grove and on all major routes into the region. He says the largest STAA trucks are not appropriate for Humboldt County.

“If we’re going to become a de facto part of the national highway system, what are the overall implications of that for the county? They’ll put a lot of wear and tear on the county roads once they’re off the highway,” he said.

Spreen says Caltrans asserts that the improved access for the big rigs will not result in more trucks, just fewer loads in larger trucks.

“To my knowledge, there has never been a project allowing larger trucks to travel through an area that resulted in no increase in truck traffic,” he says.

In a letter to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, Spreen asked the agency to consider the cumulative watershed impacts of road building the same way it reviews the cumulative impacts of timber harvesting.

Spreen cites a November 17 article in the San Francisco Chronicle by Peter Fimrite, reporting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned Caltrans that its storm runoff management is inadequate throughout the state.

Fimrite quoted EPA enforcement officer Greg Gholson: “At any given construction site the problems may not have required enforcement, but taken as a whole the agency was very concerned with the deficiencies that were seen.”

The Chronicle article said EPA documents revealed storm water discharges of metals, sediment, oil, grease, pesticides and trash from numerous Caltrans construction sites along California’s 50,000 miles of highway and freeway.

Spreen urged Water Board members to deny Caltrans a permit and send the matter back to Water Board staff to conduct a cumulative impact analysis to be completed by December 31, 2011, after Caltrans releases its upgraded storm water management plan.

Luis Rivera, executive at the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, said Caltrans' 401 water permit for the Richardson Grove project has been approved and sent to Sacramento for attorney review before it will be signed.

Although the agency is suing Caltrans for numerous 401 permit violations during the Confusion Hill Bypass Project (completed several years ago a few miles south of the Humboldt/Mendocino border), Rivera says the agency can’t deny a permit application based on Caltrans' past work performance because the water board has no power to effect reprisals for shoddy work. That matter would be up to the California Legislature, he said.

Answering concerns about excavating and severing old-growth redwood roots in the Richardson Grove plan, Caltrans says it won’t cut roots over two inches, and discounts environmental concerns that the work will harm the trees.

Caltrans states, however, that similar work on the Weott Four Bridges Project (in the planning phase) is “likely” to harm the old-growth redwood trees at that location.

The smallest, “hairy roots,” are the main water uptake organs for redwood trees.

Caltrans also states that it will work around the nesting season of the marbled murrelet in Richardson Grove, where potential nesting exists. However, the agency says in the Four Bridges project proposal that it can’t avoid working during marbled murrelet nesting season because it has to take advantage of the good weather.

Caltrans’ road widening project for Highway 199/197 may face similar problems to the Richardson Grove project, because the road through Jedediah Smith State Park also narrowly twists through old-growth forest.

The Middle of Buckhorn Project, a portion of Caltrans’ Highway 299’s proposed modification, has 17 curve improvements and is entirely earthwork—no bridges or major structures are in the plans—and could represent a major threat to the health of the Trinity River during construction and afterwards, as erosion often accompanies deforestation and mountain removal.

Chris Harvey, Caltrans District 2 Project Manager, calls the $11 million Middle of Buckhorn “a great project,” and says it’s funded by the agency’s safety program because of the accident history there.

Not everyone shares Harvey’s enthusiasm for the project, however.

Joseph Orozco, manager of tribal radio station KIDE-FM in Hoopa, and founder of the 7-Rivers Radio Network, says if Highway 299 and other roads were good enough to get the timber out of the region, they should be good enough for other exports. “If it wasn't for the roads, the logs wouldn't have gotten out of here,” he said.

Orozco says improving conditions for the big rigs would enable all traffic to go faster. He says Highway 96, which bisects Hoopa Valley, just off the 299, makes it difficult to develop the region's economy.

“People come in at a high speed and unconsciously go by at a high speed, making it unsafe for kids and others,” he said. “It's very easy to be in harm's way here.”

Orozco said fuel prices should be enough to discourage adopting transnational trucking as economic policy. “Keep the roads the way they are,” he advised. “They’ve been serving us for years. Keep commerce within your geographic area.”

In 2009 the Humboldt County Planning Commission disbursed grant money from the Headwaters Fund, which it oversees, to the Office of Economic Development to promote the Caltrans Richardson Grove Project to the public. The OED reportedly spent some of this money contracting a public relations firm to help prominent locals, including Caltrans executive Charles Fielder, write and edit six “My Word” columns in the Eureka Times-Standard, all promoting the Richardson Grove STAA project.
The OED supervises a branding scheme called Humboldt Made, and reportedly used some of the Headwaters grant money to produce a series of commercial videos featuring local products from the county's largest local exporters, including Sun Valley Floral, Lost Coast Brewery, and Cypress Grove Cheese.

These companies complain about the current cost of trucking their products out of the area, but critics of the STAA-access project say there is little evidence that their cost savings from using STAA trucks would translate into more jobs in the county.

Cypress Grove was bought last August by Emmi Holding Company, a Swiss conglomerate.

There have been 20 arrests for civil disobedience at recent demonstrations at Caltrans and before the Board of Supervisors.

Some say Humboldt County should develop sea and rail commercial routes because increased truck traffic sacrifices programs of economic sustainability and compromises the health of the region’s remaining natural resources.

Others say Humboldt County’s slow pace, quality of life, and natural beauty is what attracts tourists, some of whom see old growth redwood trees for the first time driving north on Highway 101 through Richardson Grove.

http://thelumberjack.org/news/caltrans-staa-juggernaut-stalls-richardson-grove

Wed, 2011-05-04

Times-Standard Conflict of Interest...

From the 2003 Caltrans funded study by Cambridge Systematics

A representative of the Eureka Times-Standard, the local newspaper, commented that some businesses, such as newspapers, must keep higher inventory levels due to poor access, erratic deliveries, and damage during transfers. The newspaper’s shippers do not want to bring in newsprint because of the limitations on trucks. The paper probably loses two to three truckloads of newsprint per year. The extra handling due to transferring loads to smaller trucks causes problems. Advertising inserts are printed elsewhere and added to the paper. Typically, about 30 percent of the inserts are bent through extra handling, which requires them to be inserted by hand (rather than using machines). The newspaper has to pay overtime for extra staff to add the inserts. The newspaper is unable to recoup the higher costs through advertising revenue.

[Can a newspaper that wants the road widening project through Richardson Grove cover the issue without biasing everything in favor of the project? We know the Times-Standard has pretty low standards when it comes to objective journalism AS IT IS.]

PHOTOS from April 18, 2011 Rally/Protest at CalTrans, on the Streets of Eureka, & at the Courthouse

Etched in stone and delivered to CalTrans:
ONE DEMAND. CANCEL THE PLAN!

Richardson Grove Action Now Press Release, April 20, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 20, 2011

Opponents of Federally-Funded CalTrans Plan To Widen Hwy 101 Through Richardson Grove State Park Warn Contractors Seeking To Work On The Plan:

“BIDDER'S BEWARE -WE WILL STOP YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!”

Contact: Richardson Grove Action Now 707.602.7551, rgroveactionnow@gmail.com

Humboldt County, CA: In an April 18, 2011 protest, the latest in a series of direct actions and mass rallies, including a day-long lockdown occupation of the CalTrans District 1 Headquarters, a treesit on private property bordering Hwy 101 that CalTrans plans to steal and de-forest, two large banner hangs, and a crafty public meeting disruption, Richardson Grove Action Now (RGAN) declared, “Bidders Beware! We will stop you every step of the way.” Northcoast communities are not only threatened with the Naval war games testing and bomb detonation currently taking place off the Northern Pacific Coast, but now must stave off a federally-motivated CalTrans plan to mutilate an ancient redwood grove so that trans-national corporations, nuclear materials, development, and military have greater access to Humboldt Bay and to towns that have been relatively protected by a bottleneck of forests and winding roads from the South and East.

Sue Ricker of RGAN said at Monday's demonstration, “It's preposterous in 2011 to be destroying the last remaining 2% of old growth. If CalTrans can widen the highway through Richardson Grove State Park, a world-renowned redwood forest, they'll go to any length to convert the 101 into an interstate NAFTA artery.”

RGAN vows to stop this plan in the trees, roads, and offices, and has been relentlessly vocal about CalTrans' lies regarding the motivations, logistics, and consequences of the road widening project. “Despite CalTrans' biased claims that no old-growth trees will be cut or harmed if the project moves ahead, we know that excavating, cutting, compacting, and paving over the roots of ancient redwood trees spells certain death.” says members of RGAN. Furthermore, anyone traveling through the Grove, as do thousands of awestruck people every year, knows that in the narrowest sections of the road, there is little space (only 23 feet) between the humungous old growth trees. CalTrans' plan calls for 28 feet and would require CalTrans to cut the ancient monuments. RGAN notes that every time there is a protest against the expansion project, CalTrans trips over itself to create new lies and to counter growing awareness of the nefarious plan. While CalTrans claims that root excavation does no harm, several landslides have occurred in the past month, including a massive slide onto Highway 101 north of Richardson Grove, exhibiting of what happens to roads and mountains when roots no longer stabilize the ground.

April 18th was CalTrans' Advertised Bid day for the major construction in the road widening plan. Although recent activity in lawsuits against the project suggest that CalTrans will halt its bidding process for a couple of months, CalTrans District 1 Supervisor spoke on Monday to the press about the bidding process going forward, while the only delay he acknowledged regarded a related, but separate, culvert project in the Grove.

On Monday (April 18th), while a hundred community members protested at the CalTrans District 1 HQ in escalating resistance to the highway expansion, CalTrans locked its doors to the public. While demonstrating on the office lawn, people made dozens of phone calls to CalTrans to express opposition to the plan; CalTrans responded by turning off its phones. One demonstrator climbed a ladder onto the roof to address the crowd and highlight the urgency of direct action to prevent the road widening: “We are strong, unified and growing in numbers. We will not back down, and our determination to protect the Redwood Curtain is not shaken by the violence, lies, and scare tactics perpetuated by the State, nor by distortions of the truth from the complicit corporate media.” She was arrested by several officers. Many officers were posted inside, at the front doors, and on the various rooftops of the HQ.

One demonstrator's thorough presentation to the crowd included information about the long-standing and shrouded motivations of the project and the fact that there are also CalTrans road “widening” projects on every highway entrance east to the Northcoast. The cracking open of the Redwood Curtain promises to forever change the physical, social, and economic landscape of the Northcoast and what has been, for millenia, redwood country.

RGAN will broaden and intensify the non-violent direct action campaign against the wasteful, illegal, and irreparable plan. The group warns potential bidder companies that contractors will deal with more than just a construction job if they choose to do harmful road widening through the world-renowned ancient grove.
###

Photos will be posted soon from April 18th Mass Rally Protest!

Download PDF of Press Release:
http://www.box.net/shared/73sxabqa48

YouTube Invite: Mass Rally II at CalTrans, Direct Action Campaign to Defend Richardson Grove 04-18-11

Mass RALLY at CalTrans Monday, April 18th

Link to April 18 Rally Flier (2 sided)
http://www.box.net/shared/b8hdd3xle9

Mass RALLY at CalTrans To Oppose Road Widening Thru Richardson Grove!

Protest On The Advertised Bid Day for Main Phase of
Richardson Grove Road Widening Construction

April 18th at NOON
CalTrans District 1 Headquarters
1656 Union St. (Union and Wabash)
EUREKA

April 18th, according to CalTrans, is when the highway expansion plan will be advertised for contractor bids.

WE WILL STOP THIS PLAN

No “business as usual” until this plan is canceled!

JOIN THE MASS PHONE CALL BLACK-OUT AT THE RALLY!


**GROUP BIKE RIDE!
Gathering at the Arcata Plaza at 9:30am
Bicyclists will leave at 10am for the mass Rally in Eureka!

Bring signs, banners, musical instruments, & bullhorns on Monday to get your message across.

Protect the forest and our future. RESIST INVASION.

Contact: Richardson Grove Action Now
707.602.7551 rgroveactionnow@gmail.com

Disrupt the bid start day! Mass Rally Mon April 18 To Oppose CalTrans' Federally-Funded Road Widening Plan Through Richardson Grove State Park

MEDIA ALERT: April 14, 2011 For Immediate Release

Contact: Richardson Grove Action Now (707) 602-7551, rgroveactionnow@gmail.com



Mass Rally Monday April 18 at Noon To Oppose CalTrans'
Federally-Funded Plan to Widen the Highway Through Richardson Grove State Park

Protest Coincides With Advertised Bid Day for Bulk of Richardson Grove Highway Construction



Humboldt County: Richardson Grove Action Now has organized a rally for Monday, April 18, 2011 at CalTrans District One Headquarters in Eureka to protest the federally-funded plan to widen Highway 101 through Richardson Grove State Park. April 18th is the advertised bid day for the main phase of construction for the Richardson Grove project. The protest will begin at noon where participants will again demand “No Road Widening Through Richardson Grove.”



Richardson Grove Action Now asks , “If CalTrans can build in a State Park and injure protected old-growth, steal adjacent private property forestland, and violate the Endangered Species Act, what is stopping them from building anywhere for any reason and turning it all into highway?”



The organizers invite all who value living ecosystems and locally-owned business instead of free-trade corridors for interstate commerce to come to CalTrans and declare “HANDS OFF THE ANCIENT FOREST! We are resisting your military and corporate invasion!” Rallyers are encouraged to bring signs, banners, musical instruments, and bullhorns on Monday to make sure that there is no business as usual for CalTrans on the bid day and to deliver the message cancel the plan.



On the morning of Monday April 18th , bicyclists against the highway expansion through Richardson Grove will depart at 10am from the Arcata Plaza for a group ride to the Mass Rally at CalTrans in Eureka.



Richardson Grove Action Now believes that a grassroots movement committed to direct action is key in the struggle against Caltrans' disastrous and destructive project. Richardson Grove Action Now is interested in organizing with anyone to protect the autonomy of west coast rural communities, and to keep corporate and government entities from ruining our local economy and dominating and bullying us. Organizers know that CalTrans' highway expansions are supported by U.S. Military and so-called defense agencies that wish to have greater access to and control over the people and natural resources of this region.



Richardson Grove Action Now invites all opposed to the plan to CalTrans this Monday, April 18th to insist on the right to survive and determine what passes through our lives and covers the landscape of our home.



For more info: Richardson Grove Action Now at (707) 602-7551 or email rgroveactionnnow@gmail.com.

Can't You Read the Signs, CalTrans?

Second Mass RALLY at CalTrans on MON, APRIL 18

Mass RALLY at CalTrans In Opposition to the Road Widening Through Richardson Grove!

Richardson Grove Action Now announces and invites all to a mass RALLY at CalTrans in Eureka on Monday, April 18th. April 18, 2011, according to CalTrans, is the date when the highway expansion plan through Richardson Grove State Park will be advertised for subcontractor bids.

We are the people and the people say "NO ROAD WIDENING THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!"

Protect the forest and our future. Resist Invasion.


Rally on Monday, April 18th at NOON
at
CalTrans District 1 Headquarters
1656 Union St. (Union and Wabash)
Eureka

There will be a group bike ride meeting at the Arcata Plaza at 9:30am before the rally. Bicyclists will leave at 10am for Eureka!

For info or to get more involved contact Richardson Grove Action Now, call
(707) 602-7551 or email rgroveactionnow@gmail.com.

***

Monday April 18th, mass Rally to protest the road widening plan through Richardson Grove. Noon at CalTrans District 1 Headquarters at Union and Wabash in Eureka.

Chock Full of Info: Letter to Jerry Brown from Barbara Kennedy

To Humboldt County Supervisors:

It should be obvious that Highway 101 traverses land that is geologically sensitive. The Franciscan formation underlies our area - it is porous, allowing water to penetrate and loosen its soil and rocks - as a result, it slides. CALTRANS is barely able to keep Highway 101 open. I refer not just to the slide north of Redway but also to the large slipout north of Redcrest that has taken years to repair, and the huge slide along the Ridgewood grade between Willets and Ukiah. This is a highway that is prone to failure and will continue to fail.

In spite of these facts, CALTRANS is embarked on a multifacted project to widen and straighten the major arteries (199,197,299 and 101) leading to and from our area to allow access by STAA trucks, thus creating a network of alternate routes to I-5. Although CALTRANS claims that more truck traffic will not ensue, this flies in the face of reason - millions of dollars have been allocated to these projects for this very purpose.

STAA trucks are not only unlimited in length but they will be heavier as well if the trucking industry succeeds in its lobbying efforts in Congress to increase the weight limit from 80,000 lbs. to 97,000 lbs.

STAA trucks will not stay exclusively on the highway - they will leave the highway on terminal access routes and service access routes - in other words, into our neighborhoods and onto our local roads. The cost of maintenance of our local roads is borne by Humboldt County taxpayers, not the Federal or State governments.

The County is presently unable to maintain the local roads. The condition of these roads approaches those of an undeveloped, third world country. Yet, in spite of all these obvious facts, Supervisors remain in lock-step as to their approval of the Richardson Grove and 197/199 projects as communicated to CALTRANS in a Consent Calendar agenda item without any public opportunity for comment on September 9, 2008 and vigorously reiterated ever since.

Highway 101 is NOT Interstate 5. We do not need, want, or can afford larger, heavier trucks on Highway 101, in our neighborhoods, or on our local roads. It is time that the Humboldt County Supervisors stand up for the best interests of the citizens of Humboldt County and oppose the CALTRANS projects.

Very truly yours, Barbara Kennedy

Open Letter to Gov Jerry Brown from Richardson Grove Action Now

March 30, 2011
Sent Via Facsimile, U.S. Mail, and Electronic Mail

RE: Opposition to California Department of Transportation's Highway 101 Road Widening Project Through Richardson Grove State Park (project number #464804)


Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.
c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814


Open Letter to Governor Jerry Brown,

We, Richardson Grove Action Now, are writing today to inform you of CalTrans' plan to widen Highway 101 through Richardson Grove State Park in hopes that you will use your power to prevent this project from proceeding. The word “inform” has been used very specifically here. Given that you're known for your reverence of the ancient redwood forests and indeed your respect for your constituents, many of whom make the North Coast their home, we cannot imagine that you are aware of the specifics of this project. Before we outline those specifics, we would like to relay the words of John Muir displayed on a placard in Richardson Grove State Park: “God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods.” However, the end of Muir's statement, not seen on this placard, continues as follows: “But he cannot save them from fools.” Let us not be fools.

A major concern with the proposed project to widen Highway 101 through Richardson Grove is the damage it will cause to the ancient old-growth redwoods in and around the Grove. Many of these living monuments already border the road and many more are within several feet. The proposed project, as outlined in CalTrans' Environmental Impact Report [EIR], entails cutting forest and widening the road so that the asphalt reaches the trunks of ancient trees. Redwood root systems are both shallow and wide. Thus, in order to expand the road, CalTrans intends to “excavate” and cut into the root systems of ancient trees and impact them with pavement. Although CalTrans claims that it will not be cutting roots larger than two inches in diameter, it is clear, once again from the EIR, that this claim is false. CalTrans likely tells this lie because it is well known that redwoods experience canopy die-off when their root systems are damaged. It is also disingenuous for CalTrans to claim it will not fall ancient trees for this project. The road and shoulder expansion that CalTrans plans cannot physically fit between several of the huge, ancient redwoods lining the narrowest parts of the road. Cutting trees in the State Park and compromising the health and vitality of old-growth redwoods, especially considering how few of them are left on Earth, is unacceptable.

The purpose of the federally and state funded “Richardson Grove Improvement Project” (as it's dubbed by CalTrans) is economic in nature. As stated on the CalTrans website, the project would allow Surface Transportation Assistance Act [STAA] trucks heavier use of Highway 101 north of Leggett. Currently, the smooth area of road running through Richardson Grove State Park is the only section of Highway 101 where STAA trucks are restricted from traveling, although these trucks are regularly granted exemptions and do pass through the area. CalTrans alleges that the STAA prohibition (albeit exemptions) results in economic disadvantage because “truck cargo must be unloaded and transferred to shorter trucks, making goods movement more expensive.” Though we do not believe in this reasoning, as will be further discussed later in this letter, our purpose in mentioning it here is to highlight that this project is clearly predicated on economic, not safety or environmental, reasons. Interfering with a state park for economic purposes is not only wrong; it is illegal. Furthermore, in this time of economic crisis, the ten million plus dollars that are being allocated for the road widening project through the Grove could be better utilized elsewhere.

The 1.1 mile stretch of Highway 101 that passes through Richardson Grove State Park announces one's southern entry into redwood country. It is both the symbolic and literal threshold to what is lovingly known as the Redwood Curtain. Beyond this portal exists a relatively strong regional economy where the majority of businesses are locally-owned. Allowing easier and constant access to this area for more STAA trucks will open the flood gates for large, multi-national corporations to gain a foothold here. Indeed, this is what the project to widen Highway 101 through Richardson Grove is truly about. While it may offer an economic boost for some in the short term, we know that time and time again, this pattern of economic “growth” has proven to be detrimental to communities across the country. Widening the road through Richardson Grove would defile the spirit and unique character of the North Coast, a sanctuary that we cannot afford to lose.

In closing, we believe there are many reasons why the “Richardson Grove Improvement Project" is wrong. It is wrong to jeopardize the vitality of one of California's State Parks for purported economic gain. It is wrong to injure and risk what is left of the ancient redwood ecosystem. It is wrong to increase the vulnerability of our communities and landscape by subjecting us to the will of multi-national corporations. It is wrong to perpetuate the genocide of indigenous peoples by further degrading the Grove, a place of spiritual and cultural significance. Only employment initiatives which promote, not degrade, the health of Humboldt residents and the region's unique ecosystems should be explored. We implore you to act with us to help save Richardson Grove State Park and in the process, help preserve the unique cultural heritage, true wealth, and beauty found on the North Coast of California.



Sincerely,

Richardson Grove Action Now
P.O. Box 5692
Eureka, CA 95502
(707) 602-7551