Benbow Billboard

Defend the Redwoods: Richardson Grove Action Camp Feb. 11-13

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has a plan to widen and realign Highway 101 at Richardson Grove to accommodate the largest commercial trucks on the road. Caltrans would cut down trees and destroy the roots of ancient redwoods causing substantial, irreparable damage to the trees. The redwoods of Richardson Grove represent the last standing giant ancient redwoods in the world, they are irreplaceable: once destroyed they are gone and they will not be replaced by equivalent trees for millennia.

Be Ready to Hug the Trees! Sponsored by Occupy Richardson Grove, Ecotrans Affinity Group and Earth First! in northern California, an ACTION CAMP will take place over Valentine’s Day weekend Feb. 11-13, 2012, near Piercy in northern Mendocino county. This action camp is in preparation for possible negative outcomes in upcoming court hearings concerning Caltrans highway project through Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County. If it turns out that direct action and tree hugging become necessary to stop heavy equipment, redwood forest defenders need to be ready!

The case against Caltrans and their attempt to widen highway 101 at Richardson Grove will be heard in Federal court on Feb. 23, in San Francisco. The fate of ancient redwoods and our beloved State Park is in our hands. We don’t know how or when the judge will decide. To express our love for these trees, we will prepare to hug them over the Valentine’s Day Weekend. Join us for a joyful love-in for the redwoods! Indoor lodging at Chinmaya Ashram near Piercy; Outdoor camping at nearby locations preregister with Occupy Richardson Grove by phone or email. Directions: take highway 101 to Cooks Valley exit West and follow the signs to Chinmaya Mission. Orientation: nonviolent direct action! Organized in short segments. Review of the principles of nonviolence, consensus process, jail, legal and solidarity issues with active participation by everyone!

At the Ashram, please respect our host: Please no weapons, drugs, alcohol, pets, fires, tents. Vegetarian and vegan meals only. Please discuss special needs at pre-registration.

Field trips! Adopt-a-Tree! Learn about the imperiled old growth redwoods along highway 101 with Grove hikes, tours, and campfires.

Art Workshops! Make signs, banners, and Valentines for the trees. Some materials provided. Your creative ideas needed.

Be Prepared! Bring food, (Vegetarian & Vegan only to Ashram), bedding, warm clothing, rain gear, art supplies, acoustic instruments, drums, songs, volunteer energy.

A “Truth Booth” will be set up during the week-end near the Grove at French’s Camp across from the Pioneer gas station to direct you to the Ashram and into the Grove.

Click here for more info

RIDESHARES to Celebration to Honor Richardson Grove, Sunday Aug 28th

Rideshare/Carpool Schedule for Sunday Aug. 28th
Travel to Richardson Grove for the Celebration To Honor the Trees of Richardson Grove

If you need a ride or can give a ride, meet at one or more of these spots
depending on where you are coming from:

10:00am at the ARCATA Co-op kiosk/bulletin board
10:20am in front of Walgreens (Broadway) in EUREKA
11:30am at the Used Bookstore in GARBERVILLE

Event In Richardson Grove, AUGUST 28th

Honor The Trees Of Richardson Grove

Sunday, August 28th
from noon to 6;00 pm

Richardson Grove State Park
day use picnic area

Bring food to share for community pot luck, as well as instruments and bathing suits.

Contact Maureen Kane at HonorRichardsonGrove@gmail.com or 707.267.8960

Benefit for Richardson Grove Legal Fund

Greetings, Friends of Richardson Grove! Let's get together and celebrate the recent success of our legal team in obtaining the Preliminary Injunction that has temporarily halted the CALTRANS project.

This event will be a benefit and fundraiser for the Richardson Grove Legal Fund being administered by EPIC. The event will be held at
Beginnings in Briceland- http://www.beginningsbrice​ land.org/
on Sunday, September 4 (Labor Day we...ekend.) Doors will open at 5:00PM Admission is $20.00/sliding scale. Dinner will be offered starting at 5:30PM for a separate fee, catered by Sue Moloney of Sue's Organics. Wine and beer will be available for purchase. There will be a silent auction including items of original artwork by local artists.

There will be fabulous music. Music during dinner will include local singer/songwriters with songs honoring the Grove: Jan Bramlett, Bud Rogers and Jessie Rubin. Following an invocation by Native Elder Jene McCovey, Gary Hughes, Executive Director of EPIC will give an update on the campaign to Save Richardson Grove.

After dinner, Joanne Rand will play a set including her new Richardson Grove song. The set by Jefferson Parson and his Rasberry Jam Band will include all 5 of his original Grove songs ... and hey ... it's Jefferson's 70th birthday! The Marjo Wilson Bank will climax the evening, ricking out and bringing all dancers to their feet.

This event is being planned by a dedicated crew of volunteers BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP! We need a set-up crew of volunteers to decorate and create the right ambiance, a take-down and clean-up crew, a crew to gather silent auction items, a parking crew and a crew to mind the door.

We will need a kitchen crew to work with Sue Moloney: 4 volunteers are needed for the 7:00-10:00 PM shift; 2 are needed for washing dishes from 5:30-9:30 PM; 2 are needed for drinks and dessert from 5:00-9:00 PM; and two are needed for kitchen clean-up from 9:00 until 11:00 PM.In addition, we need donations of wine and beer. Silent auction items can include original artwork, craft items such as jewelry, donations of sessions for body work, spa, massage, donations of hotel stays and meals at area restaurants, etc.

Start thinking of who you know that would be willing to donate and please ask now. Donations are tax-deductible since EPIC is a non-profit and all donations will receive a receipt for tax-deduction purposes.

Please contact Kelly Larson at 707-923-0152 or email at Kelly.Jane.Larson@gmail.co​m or contact Jefferson Parsons at 707-923-3499 or email at jefferson@asis.com with your questions and offers to volunteer. With everyone pitching in, this is guaranteed to be a great time. If you have ever asked "What Can I Do To Help The Grove?" - this is your answer!!

Feel free to forward this email to your own email lists, to Facebook friends and Twitter it. We have a great poster available - email for a copy.

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

The Highway Expansion Would Significantly Harm One Hundred and Eight Old Growth Redwood Trees

Redwood Times Honors our Namesake http://www.redwoodtimes.com/ci_18321895

I appreciate this fact-filled article in Redwood Times addressing the concerns of those of us who treasure Richardson Grove and our unique Humboldt way of life. Gary Hughes and Barbara Kennedy presented Rotary new information on the likely irreparable impact to Richardson Grove, and questioned the value of this project for our community.

The new report by Dr. Joseph McBride -- forester, professor at UC Berkeley, author of 277 articles on trees (especially Redwoods) and adviser to State Parks -- offers the real science that CalTrans failed to give.

Dr. McBride’s tree-by-tree analysis of project impact on RG finds 108 old-growth trees that will have root systems significantly affected, and anticipates 37 are likely to die.

We cannot accept this likelihood of irreparable harm to our State Park, and the Redwood Curtain.

Thanks to Rotary and to Redwood Times for this good start to a fair hearing.

Lauren Oliver
****

Here is a link to Dr. McBride's Declaration
http://www.box.net/shared/djce84fkqklcmu10116s presented in the lawsuit against CalTrans brought by the Environmental Information Protection Center [EPIC], Center for Biological Diversity, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics [CATS], and individuals. The case is formally called:

BESS BAIR et al vs. STATE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California

"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!

DIRECT ACTION WORKSHOP, Sat. June 18th

OPEN WORKSHOP for anyone who might want to take direct action for the Earth or any social justice struggle...

Focus on insurgent skills: organize to be a wrench in the machine; demystify legal risks; prepare to assert power with confidence; and arm ourselves with knowledge to prevent the legal system from separating or silencing us.

We'll talk about: ● non-violent resistance ●action roles
● historical & current examples of direct action for social & environmental justice ● consensus decision-making
● dealing with aggression toward you ● affinity groups
● choosing our targets & non-violent methods
● action/jail/court strategies & solidarity tactics

Lunch & snacks provided and welcomed!

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

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

Richardson Grove Action Now To Sacramento Wed, June 8th!

Richardson Grove Action Now invites you on a trip to Sacramento! We plan to leave SOON. We'll venture out on Wednesday, June 8th and will return June 10, Friday night.

We're riding down in a bio-diesel bus. We will send a creative musical message to Gov. Jerry Brown and to people ALL OVER- which will be broadcast on the world wide web. Our serenade will demand that the highway expansion plan through Richardson Grove be canceled. We will be covering old classics like "One Demand, Cancel the Plan", "Resist Invasion," and "We want old growth, not corporate flow."

We will be bringing a loud temporary presence to Sacramento regarding the road widening- which would bring a PERMANENT impact to our lives and to the survival of ancient redwoods.

If you are not able to join us, in person, on this trip, please support the action by contributing food or money. We are trying to raise $650 for travel expenses. And the food is for the people.

If you really want to go and you think there is some obstacle, call us.

If you are in the Bay area, we would like to come there for the night and bring you with us!
We are also considering, on the way, visiting the spiritual encampment/action at Glen Cove.

Our phone number is 707.602.7551
Our email: rgroveactionnow@gmail.com

DIRECT ACTION WORKSHOP, Sat. June 18th

Richardson Grove Action Now will host a free workshop, Saturday June 18th, open to anyone who might want to participate in direct action for the Earth or any social justice struggle.

Focused on insurgent skills and resistance teachings, each of us will become more prepared to decide what actions to take and how to go about planning and implementing them! Organize to be a wrench in the machine and assert your power with confidence.

We will discuss:

~action groups and roles

~non-violence

~group decision-making

~legal issues and tactics

~handling aggression directed at your action, and

~solidarity tactics

This workshop will help de-mystify the legal system which people often must deal with when involved in direct action. We won't let the legal system separate or silence us!

Food and beverages will be provided, and we welcome you to bring food too!

What: Non-Violent DIRECT ACTION Workshop

Where: Location To Be Announced

When: All day beginning at NOON

Who: YOU all ages welcome, all levels/types of experience encouraged to participate!

http://www.indybay.org/calendar/event_add.php

May 25, 2011: Injunction Sought in Lawsuit Against CalTrans

For Immediate Release, May 25, 2011

Contacts: Gary Hughes, EPIC; Patty Clary, CATS; Peter Galvin, Center for Biological Diversity

Challenge Seeks to Halt California Highway Project That Would Destroy Ancient Redwoods

SAN FRANCISCO— A coalition of conservation groups and local residents today asked a federal judge to stop California transportation officials from moving ahead with a controversial highway project that would jeopardize ancient stands of redwood trees in northern California’s Richardson Grove State Park.

The coalition seeks to halt plans by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to realign a section of Highway 101 that winds through old-growth redwoods in the park. The work would require crews to dig into the roots of towering redwoods that stand along the highway within park boundaries. Today’s filing asks a judge to stop the project until legal proceedings are complete.

The threat of possibly fatal damage to the prized ancient trees, as well as harm to sensitive wildlife posed by the controversial project, is driving today’s legal challenge, which is the second filed by the coalition. Caltrans has failed to evaluate impacts of the project in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

“The importance of this old-growth redwood stand, in view of the important heritage of the redwood forest, requires special consideration before projects that would impact the stand are allowed to go forward,” Joe McBride, a professor of forestry and landscape architecture at the University of California at Berkeley, said in today's filing. “Substantial, irreparable damage would occur to the trees in the project area. This would, in turn, cause negative impacts to the overall health of the forest.”

McBride’s finding is based on his scientific review of the potential of impacts to each tree along the project route — a review plaintiffs show Caltrans failed to undertake.

“This project will cause major damage to one of our most prized state parks,” said Gary Hughes of the Environmental Protection Information Center, one of the plaintiff groups and spokesman for the coalition. “For Caltrans to railroad this multimillion-dollar project by grossly understating its impacts is a violation of the public's trust and a wasteful use of taxpayer money.”

“With less than 3 percent of our ancient redwood trees remaining, we cannot allow Caltrans to injure and kill the precious giant trees of Richardson Grove State Park,” said Peter Galvin, conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We will fight this project to the end, no matter how long it takes.”

Plaintiffs are Trisha Lee Lotus, Bess Bair, Bruce Edwards, Jeffrey Hedin, Loreen Eliason, Environmental Protection Information Center, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics and the Center for Biological Diversity. They are represented by a team that includes Philip Gregory and former congressman “Pete” McCloskey of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, a law firm in San Francisco.

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)

Food and Fun in Piercy on May 28th!

FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS UNITED TO PRESERVE RICHARDSON GROVE want you and your family to ENJOY THIS SAT. MAY 28 AT THE PIERCY COMMUNITY CENTER

THE FUN BEGINS AT NOON AND GOES ALL DAY…

Food, music and games. The volleyball net will be up, the horseshoe court will be re-installed, basketball, Frisbees. The BBQ will be smoking nonstop. A kids corner will provide amusing books and toys. Bring your musical melody makers and something tasty to share.

LAW WORKSHOP: Get up-to-date information on the LEGAL STATUS OF THE LAW SUITS AGAINST THE STATE AND THE FEDS to Cancel the Plan. Find out how you can help.

Workshop on Nonviolence and consensus decision making: for those prepared to put their bodies on the pavement if need be.

CHECK OUT OUR TRUTH BOOTH FOR EDUCATION ON THE PLAN AND DEMONSTRATIONS HOW CALTRANS LIES

COME BY, PARTICIPATE, STAY AWHILE, LINK UP TO THIS ACTIVE CAMPAIGN, SIGN UP FOR A DAY IN THE GROVE WITH THE TRUTH BOOTH, LEARN ABOUT THE PLANS TO GO TO SACRAMENTO , UPCOMING CONCERTS, BRAINSTORM STRATEGIES FOR JUNE

FOR FURTHER INFO CALL 923 1491 or 923-4488

Flash Mob /Pot Luck WED, MAY 25th

FLASH MOB / POT LUCK!!

WEDNESDAY 05/25/11

6:00 P.M.

@ P.A.R.C. IN EUREKA

DIRECTIONS:
PARC is in Eureka in the Q Street alley between 3rd and 2nd. Go past the library north, staying on 3rd St. toward the Samoa Bridge; take a left at Q and 3rd, then an almost immediate right into the alley.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE EMAIL US @
rgroveactionnnow@gmail.com
or CALL (707) 602-7551

PLEASE BRING YOUR INSTRUMENTS
&
HIGH ENERGY!