Benbow Billboard

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

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

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!

Musical Action!

STOP HIGHWAY EXPANSION THRU RICHARDSON GROVE WITH FUNKY SONG & DANCE!

FLASH MOB! We are really excited about the song we've written, a parody of "We Got the Funk" by Parliament. Here's the version BEFORE we changed the words to be all about the road widening plan through Richardson Grove and the resistance to it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UypeE3zTwBs

For those of you who haven't been involved in the flash mob so far, know that the routine is: very easy to learn, a lot of fun, and very informative. Our lyrics are in the link here: http://www.box.net/shared/3qo5tr2m8k If you are a musician, than by all means bring your instrument. If you don't think you have any talent at all- no worries, it's very simple!

Some examples of other flash mobs:
Don't Get Caught in a Bad Hotel www.youtube.com/watch?v=-79pX1IOqPU
Target Ain't People www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FhMMmqzbD8

Funky song and dance to prevent the road widening thru Richardson Grove! Let's bust out in this song and dance action where it counts. Takes about an hour to learn!!

Call Richardson Grove Action Now at 707.602.7551 or email rgroveactionnnow@gmail.com

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

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.

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

Flier/Handbill for Thursday Direct Action Training

Link to Flier:
http://www.box.net/shared/38ty14v048

Thurs, March 31st Direct Action Training!

This Thursday, March 31st, on Cesar Chavez' birthday, Richardson Grove Action Now will be facilitating a Non-Violent Direct Action training. We will begin at 12:00 Noon at Synapsis in Eureka. That's way down on the west end of 3rd Street, next to the St. Vincent de Paul's Free Meal site. Synapsis is a great space and we're excited to be able to do the training there!

This direct action workshop will focus on insurgent skills: organizing ways to become a wrench in the machine; demystifying potential legal risks; preparing us to assert our power with confidence; and arming us with knowledge to prevent the legal system from separating or silencing us.

We will talk about non-violent resistance, historical and current examples of direct action for social and environmental justice, consensus decision-making, choosing our targets and non-violent methods, action roles and affinity groups, and legal and solidarity tactics. While Richardson Grove Action Now is looking forward to more and more people mobilizing and feeling ready for action to stop the road widening, this training can be useful for anyone wishing to stand up, fight back, and assert the power of the people!

The training is free and for people of all ages. We'll have food, coffee, tea, and juice and we welcome you to bring food as well.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thursday, March 31st
NOON
at
Synapsis, 47 West 3rd Street, Eureka


NO ROAD WIDENING THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!

Road Widening: Cutting Ancient Trees, Replacing Local Jobs With Outside Corporate Interests

Soon, Richardson Grove Action Now will be putting out a new info pamphlet focused on more lies from CalTrans, in particular about its plan for ancient trees in Richardson Grove State Park. Maps from CalTrans fail to show some of the large, old trees that would need to be cut for the road widening.

We ask: Have you seen Richardson Grove? Do YOU believe that road widening can happen without CUTTING BIG TREES?

There are several places where the road is so tight between the trees, CalTrans would have to cut the ancient trees in Richardson Grove State Park to make the road the size it wants. Measuring between two huge old trees on either side of the road, there is only 22.8 feet right up to the trees. STAA truck road, what the feds and CalTrans want, is 28 feet wide! CalTrans needs 24 feet of "traveled way" (road) and two feet of shoulder on each side-even without shoulders they don't even have that much room! The road would necessarily cut right into the trees. Also, there are "fill" and "cut [roots] lines on the CalTrans maps which go right through big trees in the Grove!

In addition, CalTrans, according to its Final Environmental Impact Report, can still cut whole areas of forest on private property to build a retaining wall. The retaining wall is still listed on the CalTrans website charts. CalTrans would have to steal the Singing Trees property through 'eminent domain' to do that. CalTrans has a practice of lying to the public and to the property owners from whom it plans to take land and homes for its highway expansions.

Not ONLY about Ancient Trees

Several local trucking companies, including Gosselin, Customer Truck Service, and Altos Brothers will be forced to fire truck drivers and support personnel if CalTrans does its plan through our old growth redwoods and allows super trucks and trailers into our communities.

At a minimum, six to twelve jobs will disappear from just those Humboldt County companies if CalTrans gets its way. We’re talking $500,000 in lost annual payroll. And that's just three companies. And that's without considering all of the big businesses that will come in and force out local trucking contracts and businesses in time.


Here are links to Richardson Grove Action Now literature. Please distribute! If you need hard copies to give people and can't print them yourself, call (707) 602-7551 and we'll get you some!

Pamphlet for printing: http://www.box.net/shared/3kstv8flz7

Pamphlet for reading on the computer: http://www.box.net/shared/6xyyml02vu

CalTrans Lies Booklet: http://www.box.net/shared/j9bygxbgn3

Letter to Humboldt Board of Supervisors (March 8, 2011): http://www.box.net/shared/rv8qpyh5q3

General Flier, 1-sided: http://www.box.net/shared/jmthnd8da5

Monday, Feb 21st: CalTrans Lies Exposed!

We are here in this tree to draw attention to trees threatened by Caltrans' plan, and to send the message that we are prepared to stop the plan at any time, at every step. The tree we were in was one of a grove of trees marked for removal, including at least six ancient trees, on land to be taken by "eminent domain". Not one ancient should be cut!

The trees in the grove have all been spray-painted with white dots. When a tree is spray-painted, this means death. Caltrans has denied any knowledge of the marks and denied intent to cut the grove. The decision-makers at Caltrans originally wanted to push the highway widening through without a public comment period. And when public meetings were held, Caltrans had already made the decision to go ahead, despite a majority of people with real, valid opposition. Caltrans has misclassified trees, and made every effort to minimize the effect of their project in the media. With them pushing the plan so hard, why should we believe they aren't going to cut those trees? Why should we believe they have no ulterior motives? Caltrans will take license to cut whatever they want.

It is common knowledge that highways are the arteries of military, industry, development, and capitalist opportunists: everything which represents death to us. These things turn living places into dead, like Camden, New Jersey, or Pelican Bay. These things are "progress", and we say it ends here for Humboldt.

ONE DEMAND: CANCEL THE PLAN!

EXPOSE CalTrans' Lies and

Mis-information

CalTrans proponents of the federally-funded road widening through Richardson Grove initially tried to push the project ahead unlawfully, without the required Environmental Impact Report and thus, without public input. If a CalTrans [California Department of Transportation] employee had not discovered this disgraceful attempt, the Richardson Grove plan would have gone through without our prior knowledge or the minimal required environmental review. CalTrans' District One Supervisor, Charles Fielder, wants the road widening through the Grove to improve his political status with government and corporate entities. The highway expansion plan through Richardson Grove is no minor project, as CalTrans¹* would have you believe.

CALTRANS IS DECEITFUL

ABOUT THE PLAN'S EFFECTS

ON THE ENVIRONMENT:

CalTrans lies about the effects that cutting the roots of ancient redwoods would have. CalTrans denies that cutting the roots will kill ancient trees. CalTrans lies about the effects of paving over ancient redwood tree roots. CalTrans lies about the effects of pneumatically excavating the roots of ancient trees. Redwoods (and these are in a park where they are supposed to remain protected) cannot survive cut, blown out, or paved-over roots. If the ancient trees in and near Richardson Grove are not cut now, but their roots are damaged the way CalTrans intends, the old trees, next to the highway, will slowly die and eventually be cut. CalTrans will call them “dangerous.” Not one tree should be cut in Richardson Grove State Park. And we are not fooled. We know that trees are affected by what happens to their roots!

“...physical damage that will occur to the root systems of these ancient trees will jeopardize their long-term health & well-being.”

Long-time horticulturist & plant pathologist, Stan Binnie, who now resides in Humboldt wrote in a February 12, 2011 Eureka Times-Standard Op-ed:

...I witnessed the death of hundreds of mature maple and oak trees from damage to their root systems during the construction process. The problem was significant enough for me to author a university publication, which is still being distributed to concerned developers and homeowners. Consequently, I have some knowledge & background to justify my concerns about the root systems of the old-growth redwoods in Richardson Grove.”

Mr. Binnie also cited Dr. Stephen Sillett of Humboldt State University, and a world-renowned expert on coastal redwood trees, as writing in a letter to CalTrans: “I have studied redwoods for many years, and my repeated observations of large redwoods near construction sites have convinced me that cutting large roots is a BAD IDEA if maintaining tree health and vigor is a goal.”

Mr. Binnie continued, “...Caltrans states that no roots larger than 2 inches in diameter will be cut during this project. However, it appears that no surveys were conducted to determine if any larger roots are in the area of the proposed project-which seems inevitable when dealing with such large trees-or where the roots are located... “... what will happen if larger roots are encountered, and what will happen if larger roots need to be cut or removed. Will the project be stopped or canceled? I seriously doubt it.

In Richardson Grove State Park, just feet from where the road project is proposed, there are signs that say: “AREA CLOSED TO PROTECT ROOTS.” And another nearby sign says: “Ironically, one of the greatest threats to a redwood's longevity comes from well-intentioned humans. Continuous foot traffic compacts the soil around a tree, damaging its network of fine surface roots and restricts their intake of water and nutrients. For this reason, visitors are asked to stay on designated paths.”

How is it that there is concern about foot traffic damaging the roots of ancient redwoods but there seems to be little concern over heavy equipment crushing their roots or the ...cutting, filling and compacting of soil over their delicate root systems. ...as far as the trees are concerned, nothing good can come to them as a result of this project.

Why would we want to jeopardize the long-term well-being of these few remaining old-growth redwoods?...”

CalTrans downplays the impact and significance of the road widening project.

We know that it IS a big deal. CalTrans is relying upon an “incidental take permit”as the go-ahead to kill endangered species and wipe out rare habitats. “Take” defined by the Endangered Species Act is 'to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect any threatened or endangered species.' Harm may mean that a construction or development project, or resource extracting activity, kills or injures a listed species by interfering with essential behavior like nesting or reproduction. This project requires an incidental take permit which means harassment and death to otherwise protected species and habitats in and around Richardson Grove State Park- that may never again exist on Earth. Forests cannot survive in isolated strips. Redwood forests, in particular, have developed for thousands of years in circular, shallow, and connected root families.

CalTrans, in its mis-information campaign, responds to the people's outrage, to simple science and to common sense by casually claiming to care for our environment. CalTrans officials repeat over and over the incredible lie that the road widening project will not affect old-growth trees. If you look at the marker stakes in the Grove that show where CalTrans aims to cut, excavate, compact, and pave over, you will see markers leaning right up against ancient redwood trees.

????Why are there White Dots Painted on Ancient Trees adjacent to Richardson Grove State Park ????

The huge old redwood trees, which are on the Singing Trees Recovery Center property, were marked with white paint in June of 2010 - the property owners' knowledge. We figured CalTrans painted the dots during a survey but Kim Floyd, Caltrans manager for the road widening project through the Grove, denied knowledge of the marked trees. The ancient trees, branded with white paint, are between CalTrans' orange project markers and Hwy 101.

Do the white paint dots mark the location for CalTrans to build a retaining wall through the Singing Trees property - as part of the road widening project? Does CalTrans intend to cut the marked trees to make an equipment staging area? Does CalTrans want to wipe out the old trees to create a vehicle detour?

Any way we think about it, it doesn't look good. Road construction usually requires retaining walls, equipment staging areas, and vehicle detours. CalTrans' plan has stated the government's intention to declare eminent domain on parts of the Singing Trees property. Does CalTrans want to take out those huge ancient singing trees to accomplish their plan?... and not tell anyone?

CalTrans fails, in all public discourse, to mention its intended use of DEFOLIANTS. Agent Orange is an example of a defoliant. Just as defoliants had no place in the jungles of Vietnam, in the bodies of human beings, or in the waters that flow through the land, defoliants have no place in Richardson Grove or the Eel River, much less any forest or its inhabitants.

As CalTrans claims it can build a road through the redwoods with no environmental harm, it is being fined by the Regional Water Board for immense environmental violations on the Confusion Hill bypass. The Board's Complaint alleges 154 violations and 141 days that CalTrans violated General Discharge Prohibitions. CalTrans illegally and consistently discharged sediment, concrete water, and construction waste directly into the Eel River and into active streams. CalTrans caused welding slag to fall in the river and sent sandblasting waste, hydrolic fuel and other pollutants into the water and gravel bars.

One key point made by supporters and propagators (CalTrans, Feds, and ill informed locals) of the highway expansion project is that, as the road is widened, more traffic will flow quickly thru the Grove, primarily more (excessively polluting) STAA trucks. Unfortunately, a widened road and more trucks mean that rain & storm water, instead of being filtered by soil particles, will flow across the road picking up contaminants associated with air pollution particles, spilled oil, detergents, solvents, pesticides, and other toxins, which then readily make their way into the Eel River, the creeks running through Richardson Grove, and marshy patches along the river bank.

There is no basis for us to trust CalTrans to care for the well-being of our environment.

Have you seen Richardson Grove?
Do YOU believe the road can be
widened without CUTTING BIG TREES?

The only guaranteed economic outcomes from another NAFTA highway are crappy, short-lived jobs, less money for education, healthcare, and other necessary social programs, massive highway maintenance expenses, consistent access for unaccountable trans-national corporations, and the rapid urbanization of our landscape. These conditions will be long-term and pervasive, and will only get worse with time. CalTrans spreads misinformation about economic impacts of its plans. Widening highway 101 through Richardson Grove must be stopped.

The U.S. military defends the interests of multi-national and trans-national corporations, and the highways (i.e. "NAFTA highways") are expanded for both the corporations and their military protectors.

CALTRANS HIDES THE AGENDA OF INCREASED MILITARIZATION OF OUR COMMUNITIES, WATERS, & LANDS.

Highways were designed for the purpose of moving military convoys.

Today, they are still part of networks such as STRAHNET. "The Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET) system of public highways provides access, continuity, and emergency transportation of personnel and equipment in times of peace and war. The 61,000-mile system, designated by the Federal Highway Administration in partnership with DOD[Department of Defense], comprises about 45,400 miles of Interstate and defense highways and 15,600 miles of other public highways. STRAHNET is complemented by about 1,700 miles of connectors—additional highway routes linking more than 200 military installations and ports to the network."

The Redwood Curtain area has been a natural bottle-neck blocking the swift access of military vehicles, tanks, etc for a long time. CalTrans intends to "straighten out" such rural highway routes so there are no obstacles to increased military access to & throughout the coast. There is also a plan to re-route Hwy 101 through Cutten- to pass the armory there.


With the Pentagon trying to station military personnel throughout communities in the U.S., with the Navy planning war games off the Pacific Coast, with the increased rounding up of undocumented people, houseless people, and mentally ill people, with the increased militarization of the police, with civil unrest more frequently occurring (thankfully), with the drug war continuing on overload, with military recruitment a major interest and enormous federal expenditure to keep bodies of poor young people going to war, with Obama's Council of Governors "strengthening" the power and alliance between state and federal "defense" abilities, and with the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and National Security Agency doing everything they can to infiltrate every part of our lives and movements, there is no doubt that widening Hwy 101 and straightening out other entry routes to the west coast continue to be motivated (as most federally funded highway projects are) by military desires.

CALTRANS' RICHARDSON GROVE PLAN WILL MAKE US LESS SAFE

Only since direct action, media, and controversy have put the Richardson Grove plan in the spotlight (Feb 2011), has CalTrans acknowledged the 1500 trucks of nuclear material that would travel through this region from the Humboldt Bay power plant- if the highway were widened. CalTrans continues, however, to conceal the larger federal plan for nuclear waste to come into the Bay from all over the world, and then be transported through and beyond California on highways. The Humboldt County Planning Commission conceded a few years ago, that if the port in Humboldt Bay were to be further developed and the highways made accessible to more and more large trucks, nuclear materials coming from overseas would likely be transported through this region, with or without our consent, to Yucca Mountain. Can you imagine? Transporting nuclear waste only means extremely dangerous possibilities for all of us.

CalTrans lies when it cites highway safety as a priority motivation for the Richardson Grove project. There are rarely accidents through Richardson Grove. If the road widening plan was implemented, shoulders would be designated for trucks to drift into the shoulder rather than off-track. Pedestrians and bicycles will be in grave danger. Heavy truck traffic, including military vehicles, will make a once beautiful and safe stretch of highway through Richardson Grove, a busy and frightening thoroughfare.

"Expose CalTrans Lies and Mis-information" was written by Richardson Grove Action Now

1*Throughout this pamphlet we write about CalTrans, a State entity. While we may implicate planners, supervisors, managers and engineers from CalTrans, we are not referring to the regular, non-managerial workers of CalTrans. We know that many CalTrans employees are against the highway widening through Richardson Grove and hope they join us in the struggle to stop the plan.

Richardson Grove Action Camp! Feb 12th-15th

Richardson Grove Action Now!
presents
ACTION CAMP
near the grove
FEB 12TH - 15TH

Train & Prepare for Direct Action

Bring Food & Gear if you have it!


Set up starts 7pm Fri, Feb 11th
PLEASE CALL (707) 602-7551
rgroveactionnow@gmail.com


The camp needs donations* of Funds, Food, Firewood, Tents, AA and AAA Batteries, and Warm Stuff (sleeping bags, hats, etc)!!
You can bring donations to the camp
or drop them off at PARC in Eureka
or drop them off at the Used Bookstore in Garberville.


We will be setting up on Friday night and could use help. We will also need help in the kitchen throughout the duration of the camp.

There will be meeting places for ridesharing to the camp every day:

Northern Humboldt Rideshare
9:30am - Arcata Corp-Op Kiosk (Arcata)
10:10am - Parking Lot between Walgreen's and Eureka Natural Foods (Eureka)

Southern Humboldt Rideshare
10:30am - Used Bookstore (Garberville)


Please refrain from bringing alcohol to camp.

*Some other things we always need:
Olive Oil
Grains
Coffee
Mate
Fruit
Nuts
Headlamps

Location To Be Announced any moment now!!

For more info, call Richardson Grove Action Now:
(707) 602-7551
rgroveactionnow@gmail.com

A Statement from Lock-downers at Monday's Direct Action at CalTrans

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

Right now, community members from Richardson Grove Action Now are locked down inside here in the CalTrans District 1 Headquarters building with One Demand:

Cancel the plan to widen the highway through Richardson Grove IMMEDIATELY!!

ONE DEMAND! CANCEL THE PLAN!! ONE DEMAND !! CANCEL THE PLAN!

ONE DEMAND! CANCEL THE PLAN!!

The people who are locked down to the CalTrans office risk their freedom in order to Inspire You.

This direct action is born of URGENCY.

The people locked down take this direct action to inspire you to prepare and take action now to stop this destructive plan through Richardson Grove.

Even though we've opposed the plan in the courts,

Even though the Richardson Grove project promises nothing but the downfall of our local economy and the irreparable destruction of our natural environment,

Even though our Earth strains to support over consumption and expansion, and over consumption and expansion would only increase with this road widening,

CalTrans continues to move forward.

In spite of our input, our petitioning,

In spite of our letters to the editors, our calls to politicians

In spite of our lawsuits, our presence in meetings,

In spite of all the outright opposition to the road widening, it seems like they haven't heard us.

We've been loud, but we need to get louder.

Get loud folks!!!

And it's time for us to get more bold!

CANCEL THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!!

CalTrans and elected representatives continue to ignore our will, the will of the people, bowing instead to a few big business owners and the wealthiest one percent of our population. People charged with the duty of representing the will of the people blatantly go against us: The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors both secretly and overtly have shut out public participation regarding this project. Elected state assembly member, Wes Chesbro, has lied and given the green light for the ruin of Richardson Grove. CalTrans project manager, Kim Floyd, and District One Supervisor, Charles Fielder, stand to advance their own positions with the completion of the Richardson Grove road widening. They have all rubber stamped this horrendous project in spite of the will of the people.

The people have made a Loud and Bold expression of our desire for autonomous communities. Autonomous communities that operate free from outside domination, free of top-down governance.

We want communities without unnecessary infrastructure.

We want communities not dependent on endless expansion and the false progress of convenience.

We want a place free of corporate invasion, free of WalMarts and prisons.

We want a place that honors the spirit of the land and the spirit of the people who call it home.

We want to cultivate community and we will stand together until this plan and any other nasty plans are canceled!

CANCEL THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!!

Profit-driven corporations are vulnerable because working people keep those corporations going and therefore, working people can shut them down! While those who think they are in power are short-sighted and close-minded, the people are fueled by their hearts and spirits. We are compelled, out of necessity, to act to preserve the survival of our ecosystem and respond to the needs of our living families and communities.
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!

CANCEL THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!!!

Richardson Grove Action Now is in solidarity with the people of Tunisia, Algeria, Albania, Yemen, Chiapas, Egypt, and people all over the world who say NO, WE WILL NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!

We are in solidarity with all people resisting oppressive conditions imposed upon them and who are rising up against corrupt systems that attempt to enslave them.

We are in solidarity with those fighting back for their freedom. We are here to say “NO. You WILL NOT expand the highway through Richardson Grove. WE WILL STOP YOU.”

During this perilous time in the herstory of this planet and the history of our species, we must, WE MUST Stop the Destruction of the Natural World. We must stop destruction that comes in all shapes and sizes, from international laws that keep people in poor qualities of food, water and air, to the mass of plastic bottles floating in the ocean, the paving over of the life-giving land, to the toxicity that enters our bodies and minds.

The Earth is undergoing a continual smothering into a concrete hell. Capitalism is killing us. We know it's the problem. Focusing on simplifying our lives is the first step towards surviving and determining our own healthy existence.

The people who think they are in power orchestrate wanton destruction of the land and push for the building up of structures that only ensure their profits and deny the survival and quality or our lives. Their aims are presented as progress, yet in reality, they bring us sickness.

CANCEL THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!!

We want to be able to walk along the road through Richardson Grove. Those trees in Richardson Grove are in a protected park. We want them to stay that way. With such a small amount of ancient forest left, everything we do to it should be good for the trees, not good for the trucks.

We will defend what's left. We will defend the ancient trees. We will defend our lives from further corporate and military invasion. We have the power to protect the forests for future generations!

Raise your voices and shake the walls of CalTrans! We will Stop This Plan and we are CANCELING THE HIGHWAY EXPANSION PLAN THROUGH RICHARDSON GROVE!

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Join us with direct action. It is urgent!