Who supports this project anyways?

The only "people" who are promoting this project is big development.

The Times-Standard printed SIX letters supporting the project, opposed to the massive public outcry of opinion denouncing the project in both the Times-Standard and North coast Journal.

These six op-ed letters turned out to be paid endorsements, funded by the Headwaters Fund.

Let's look at the special interests attached to the small enclave of project supporters. Then maybe we can evaluate whether their interests in the project are to help the community...or exploit it.

-J. Warren Hockaday-
-Eureka Chamber of Commerce Executive Director
-Member, Timber Heritage Association
-J. Warren on our port-"Eureka Chamber of Commerce Executive Director J. Warren Hockaday endorsed Option B, citing a predicted "dramatic increase in Pacific Rim Trade" that "other ports can't take due to air quality issues."(Mr. Hackaday would prefer to spoil OUR air)

-Ray Flynn-
-Former Humboldt County Assessor(Hmmmm...)
-Chairman of the Buckeye Conservancy influencing 300,000 acres of forests and ranchland in the county.(The "conservancy" is actually a band of foresters and ranchers dedicated to streamlining timber harvest permits and challenge regulatory restrictions in order to make it easier for landowners to clearcut paradise).
-Ray flynn on Prop. 13-"Though personal income was rising almost as fast as property values, that was little consolation to retired people, or people otherwise on a limited income. Ray Flynn, Humboldt County's assessor at the time, says that though the boom in Humboldt County wasn't as dramatic as it was in the state's urban areas, he witnessed its effect."I had a lot of people sitting across from me crying their eyes out," Flynn says. "They said, "You're forcing me out of my home.'"(Thanks a lot, Ray)

-Mark Loughmiller-
-Executive Director Arcata Recycling Center(Ok...but...)
-Official Arcata "Hippiecrit"
-Mark Loughmiller on population growth-"Loughmiller added, however, that a curbside program can be effective if it collects enough tonnage, since commercial haulers can increase recyclable pick up without a corresponding cost hike. "We need a bigger population base, so perhaps we can look at the possibility of combining Arcata, Eureka and McKinleyville. It's all about volume - if you don't have it, it won't work.""(For Mark, it's all about volume...not community)

-Kit Mann-
-Vice President Kokatat(Korpatat)
-Kit Mann on unions and federal employer regulations- "Invoking the "C" word - "corporation," that is - Kit Mann, vice president and production manager of Kokotat, noted that it is necessary for a business to be profitable to be good, in the basic sense of covering insurance, worker's compensation, benefits and so on. He said, "I have a very deep and abiding commitment to my employees," but argued that the intervention of a third party - whether the government, a union or shareholders - interrupts the relationship between a corporation and its employees."(It's a very deep and abusive relationship when employees are buggered by Kit)
-Kit Mann on Kokatat-"Most people there don't stick it out. Kit Mann, the vice-president of Kokatat, says they hire new people all the time. That's partly because those jobs have high turnover because they are difficult and monotonous."It takes a certain type of person to do that every day," Mann says. "I have a lot of respect for [the workers]. I couldn't do what they do.""(But you can exploit [the workers] just like a big box or corporate chain, right Kit? Where is your conscience?)

-Charles Fiedler-
-CalTrans District 1 Director
-State employee caught with hand in Headwaters Fund cookie jar. (Is this a conflict of interests? A State employee dipping into local funds to promote an unpopular project that would benefit Caltrans district 1 employees? Enough said...)

-Bryan Plumley-
-President of the Arcata Downtown Business Association($)
-Arcata Economic Development Corp. Loan Committee($$)
-Arcata's Economic Development Committee($$$)
-Financial advisor for Edward Jones' Arcata office($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)
-Former Third District Supervisor Candidate(Nice try Brian)
-Former President Arcata Mainstreet Board of directors(See ya!)
Brian Plumley on development-"Economic development is a key to a lot of other problems," he said. "With success in that area, a community is able to deal with poverty, housing shortages and drug abuse."(You have it backwards, Brian. Overdevelopment IS the source of a lot of problems, such as poverty, housing shortages and drugs. Get your facts straight)

In summation:
-Project supporters were paid for their endorsements.
-ALL of the above project supporters have financial interests in the mass development of Humboldt County.
-Project supporters clearly have little or no regard for air quality, environmental regulations, retirees and low income residents, workers rights and union organizations, smartgrowth advocacy, and overall community cohesion. This may appear to be a generalization, but after analyzing the facts, it is more than apparent that the handful of paid project supporters have interests opposed to a sustainable and community based lifestyle for Humboldt County residents.

In short, they want to profit from the collapse of the Humboldt Nation.

This is a call for action, as Paul Revere rode to warn the rebel colonialists that the British were invading. "The corporations are coming...the corporations are coming! One if by land(101), two if by sea(Bay), and three if by air(Arcata airport)."

There is a single light in the churchtower. Now is the time for action! Let's kick those greencoat$ out of Humboldt!

Richardson Grove: A look at the bigger picture

By: Jeff Musgrave/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 05/16/2009 01:30:20 AM PDT

The impact of widening Richardson Grove will affect both the “left” and the “right,” this is not limited to an environmental or political issue. This is a social and economic issue that will adversely affect everyone, unless you are the developer, builder or landowner.

Richardson Grove is not the only front in this battle for our way of life. The gateways to exploiting our paradise have been opened throughout Humboldt's history, such as with the timber, gold, whaling, and ganja booms. These booms all had their windfalls for the few, steady and honest work for the many, and of course their various detriments to the land, and native populations. These booms also bring more people. Then the retraction, or “bust” as resources plummet, demand dwindles and profiteers jump ship (sayonara Charlie Hurwitz).

The commercial boom is not quite different, except for the fact that the future of small business owners will be bleak. Whether the plan is to create a bigger harbor, reinstate the rail system, build a larger airport, free up timber lands for tract homes or as in this case ... widen the highway thoroughfare to the nearest major city (San Francisco) and seaport (Oakland); the overall plan is for a few to profit from the hard work of the many. The bigger picture is the plan to develop Humboldt.

The shock wave from small business collapse will be felt by all native (or current) Humboldt residents. As corporate chains and “big boxes” create vacant storefronts, wages will begin to fall. Profits will leave Humboldt County (remember the corruption of PL after the Maxxam takeover?), and homes will become vacant. Meth and gangs will become rampant. Opportunities for entrepreneurial pursuits will cease to exist in a corporatised wasteland of McDonald's, Home Depots, and cookie cutter tract homes and mini-malls.

I lived through this type of change myself. In fact, by the time my hometown was overrun by mass commercialism, I was old enough to move out. I've worked so many different jobs, sometimes as much as two full-time jobs while sleeping in my car between them. Jobs were easy to get because no one wanted them, like graveyard shifts at Taco Bell or a security guard at the apartment complex. All to pay for a place that was beyond my means, impress a girl that was beyond my means, and live up to mass media's imposed living standards, which were beyond my means.

My point is not to scare you with fear tactics. I am simply sharing my experience of my hometown community that became a zombified version of some Orweilian nightmare. The world won't end for Humboldtians if the project goes through. Some trees that have been around for thousands of years will probably die eventually from root disturbances, but at least that Caltrans worker will have a meager paycheck and a slim retirement plan for their 80 or so years on the planet. Some people will definitely benefit. But most of us will see Humboldt permanently distorted, and you can't go back once this occurs. There are some people in our community that welcome this, but they do not have the foresight or experience of Southern Californication.

Is it more than widening the highway through virgin redwood stands? It should be for all of Humboldt's labor force that has had its shares of ups and downs. There's always that “greeter” position for minimum wage at Wal-Mart, a company that leaves Medi-Cal and food stamp information in their break rooms.

Jeff Musgrave lives in Arcata.

The Hole in the Headwaters Fund...To Make a Hole in Richardson Grove

After the sale of Headwaters Preserve by Maxxam operated Pacific Lumber to the State of California, $22 million dollars was allocated to Humboldt County to offset economic loss of the timberlands to the local economy.

$12 million came from the State earmarked for "Economic Assistance".

The $10 million that came from the feds was deemed "Direct Payment" to Humboldt County.

However, the citizens of Humboldt County had been bamboozled . The fund that was intended to improve "economic prosperity and quality of life for all Humboldt County residents" was pirated by a County bureaucracy elected for the special interests of developers. While displaced workers

were forced to work minimum wage jobs, timber community infrastructures collapsed(such as Rio Dell's wastewater cease and desist), and vacant homes turned into meth houses; the fund was squandered during a recession for grants and loans for promoting the corporatisation of Humboldt County.

Aside from using the fund to promote and study "Super Sizing" the Bay and Airport Terminal, county officials misappropriated these funds to serve the interests of Big Box development and to rip Humboldt County wide open for commercialization. "Among those(interests) were the Caltrans project to widen U.S. Highway 101 through Richardson Grove".

Even the local media was influenced with the public fund. "My Word" editorials submitted to the Times-Standard were discovered to have been funded by the Headwaters Fund by Dr. Ken Miller(Thank you Dr. Ken!):

A recent Quarterly Report to the Headwaters Grant Fund reveals money was approved to pay for assistance in “submission of approximately six ‘My Word’ editorials in support of the Richardson Grove Project.” Coincidentally (or not) The T-S archives show in fact six “My Words” supporting the widening through the ancient redwood grove.

Submissions came from:
J Warren Hockaday Ray Flynn Mark Loughmiller Kitt Mann Charles Fiedler Bryan Plumley

Dr Ken continues to expose the misuse and corruption of the Headwaters Fund, as public information shows that the County used local public money to promote a State project:

The campaign is a line item in their 2/25/09 Grant update report on their accomplishments to date:
“Hired a PR Contractor to manage the EIR summarization, a letter-writing campaign, media outreach, business and public outreach.”

and

“Assisted in submission of approximately six “My Word” editorials in support of RG Project, written by business owners affected by the restrictions.”

We taxpayers who funded the Headwaters Fund, and constitute “the public,” should have been told that a media campaign, including letters to the editor and six “My Word” OpEd’s, was being funded by public funds.

Essentially, The Headwaters Fund was a "gift" from the State to Humboldt County(at the time, predominantly timber industry workers)from economic impact of Headwaters Deal, with the intentions of "Economically Assisting" the timber community while providing a "Direct Payment" to the county to offset infrastructure loss. But the sale of PL's timberlands to the State came at a cost to everyone, from the tireless efforts from environmentalists, the loss of livelihood for timber workers, and the State taxes paid for the land acquisition by everyone.

In effect, the fund was a "Stimulus Package" for the people of Humboldt, not for the development interests of big business or big development(Does this treacherous tale sound familiar, as with the bank bail-outs?). How did they get their hands on our money, anyway? Who let the fox into the chicken coop?

Don't be a chicken. Say No to the Corporatisation of Humboldt!

Save Richardson Grove. Save Humboldt County!

Fox and Chicken link

We must all protect the Redwood Curtain from the Imperial Cruisers

I had to post this one as a Star Wars fan :)

Why are you promoting this travesty?
Redwood Times
Posted: 04/29/2009 09:36:11 AM PDT

Editor’s Note: This letter is addressed to the editor of the North Coast Journal and was submitted to the Redwood Times for publication as well.

In Star Wars, Chapter IV, R2-D2 and C3PO are spiraling down in the escape pod and you can’t see Leia’s crippled ship, only the distant triangle of the Imperial Cruiser that holds it in its bay. Then everyone chuckles when C3PO comments, “The damage doesn’t look as bad from out here.” Since so many people have written to the NCJ explaining the obvious to Hank Sims et al, concerning the Richardson’s Grove realignment, that is not the purpose of this letter. Obviously you have the same perspective concerning it that C3PO had of Leia’s ship and you discount it.

The bottom line is that the project is expensive, unnecessary and more than just “slightly” damaging to the grove. It’s only one mile of highway where big trucks will lose little time by slowing down and driving safely. Besides, there are better alternatives. The damage that will ensue looks slight only to you town dandies way up in the north county. So, what is your vested interest in this project going through, and why are you, the pot, calling the kettle “ham-headed?” Somehow you’ve even managed to make your cartoonist turn his perspective around to a far less accurate one than he had in the previous issue. Our stand in Southern Humboldt is not a “knee-jerk reaction.” From down here the serious damage this will bring home for us is obvious.

My question is, why are you promoting this travesty and discounting the damage? Can you answer that question in your paper, rather than just rhetorically pointing at someone else that was paid off? That’s what this letter is about. Like many other readers down here I’d just like a straight answer to that. No games down here in So Hum, just honest perspectives and concern for our environment.

Saxon Roe
Redway

"The Town Dandy" eats "Humboldt Pie"...

Proponents of the Cal-Trans project to widen Highway 101 through Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County, California have another fire to extinguish. One that may as well “burn-out” of control.

After Richardson Grove supporters were likened to MAXXAM’s failed recall effort by Hank Sims(The Town Dandy), commander and editor of the once community minded North Coast Journal; Hank has apparently but unapologetically changed his tone about the corrupted special interest enclave receiving Headwaters funding to promote the largely contested project.

Included in Hank’s vicious attack was The Northcoast Environmental Center(NEC), a long-term non-profit information center devoted to providing education to the public regarding industry’s role in the destruction of our planet Earth. The NEC was apparently attacked by Mr. Sims due to the center’s providing of a donation drop for the Friends of Richardson Grove, those who are opposing the destructive and unwarranted Cal-Trans project to widen Highway 101 through the State Park.

One of the ironies of the attack was the fact that the role of the NEC was crucial in stopping the accelerated destruction from MAXXAM’s plundering of Pacific Lumber. Pacific Lumber became the main focus of action in the fight to save the redwoods in a two decade+ long resistance to corporate greed and from which Earth First!, Judy Bari, Darryl Cherney, Julie Butterfly Hill and other pioneers of enviro/eco-action were conceived.

Richardson Grove State Park is considered by many as "The Gateway to the Redwoods", an archway of amazingly tall Virgin Old Growth Stands which tower above Highway 101 as you enter Humboldt County Redwoods State Park. Despite the fact that William Richardson(25th governor of California) vetoed every state park funding bill during his reign(simliar to our current governor's slash and burn fiscal tactics), the park stands to this day. The park includes the ninth largest Coastal Redwood(sequoia sempervirens), camping and fishing along the Eel River, and is the closest State Park containing Old Growth Redwoods north of San Francisco. This Cal-Trans project is only one of many ecologically sensitive projects promoted by our current "greenwashed" governor.

The controversy regarding the project began after Cal-trans submitted a controversial project to allow longer trucks into and out of Humboldt County through Richardson Grove. The issues include the fact that the project will disturb the roots of these ancient trees resulting in the probable demise of millennial redwoods, absolute and unavoidable disturbances to endangered species such as the Marbled Murrelet(brachyramphus marmoratus) and the Northern Spotted Owl(Strix occidentalis), along with the root of the issue…the gutting of Humboldt County by big business.

The bottleneck at Richardson Grove has helped prevent the commercial corporate takeover of small businesses throughout Humboldt County by limiting the length of trucks entering the grove. This is where the special interest portion of the Cal-Trans project enters into the tale. Discovered by concerned local residents Dr. Ken Miller and David Spreen, apparently over $25,000 of public grant money was spent by the Community Development Services department to sway public opinion regarding the controversial project by using print and online media. Tactics as sinister as paying citizens to submit editorials supporting the project to the local Times-Standard paper were even utilized, along with the publicly financed North Coast Prosperity website. But why and by whom?

The funding to promote the unnecessary project came from The Headwaters Fund, a triumph for environmentalists in the battle for the Redwoods against MAXXAM. The Headwaters Fund was a twelve million dollar public fund crafted after the sale of The Headwaters Forest by Pacific Lumber to the State of California. The fund was developed by the State to offset losses to timber industry jobs and the local economy after the Headwaters sale, which also included stricter environmental controls on timber practices. Imagine how those who participated in the Headwaters Campaign feel after hearing that the fund they helped fight to create was being used to destroy the Richardson Grove Redwoods, and Humboldt County!

Essentially, the fund was to be used to promote education for timber workers(never happened), local business development(low wage jobs for ex-timber employees), and rebuild and maintain community infrastructure(City of Rio Del on cease and desist for storm water pollution into Eel River). Despite the fact that small amounts of the fund have been used in the form of loans for existing and startup businesses, the bulk of what the fund has supported has been redevelopment and to fund and promote special interest projects, such as the expansion of Arcata airport and highway projects, such as this one.

Considering the fact that Cal-Trans filed an incomplete and ineffectual environmental impact report(EIR) intended to address concerns about the impacts to Richardson Grove and concerned resident species; the massive community outcry against the necessity of the project; impacts to local business from out of area corporations offering lower wages and product standards; increased traffic and pollution along Highway 101 including amplified congestion and air pollution issues in Eureka; and now…the corruption attached to the misuse of Headwaters Funding to promote an unpopular state project aimed at bringing in Wal-Mart and Home Depot trucks coinciding the corporatization of our small town county that is big on local sustainability and fair trade.

I cannot see this project going through, and if it does, we will put a stop to it through non-violent resistance.

Whew…That was lot to say! Like a big piece of blackberry pie.

In fact, I think it’s a big piece of “Humboldt pie“… just for you , Hank Sims!

Conflict of interests...

This one is sick...

From the Sub-Standard 02/25/09:

"The public criticism of the Headwaters Fund's five-year report took nearly as long as the report to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

Patrick Cleary, chairman of the Headwaters Fund board, presented the report covering the fund's work between 2003 and 2008.

Originally, the fund started at a shade more than $18 million, Cleary said. Now it totals almost $21 million. During the past five years, the fund has distributed $1.6 million in grants, $951,000 in community investment grants and $2.5 million in community investment loans.
One of the main focuses in the past half-decade has been on infrastructure -- amounting to $5 million although the local needs are much more.

”We've had to pick and choose our spots,” Cleary said.

Among those were the Caltrans project to widen U.S. Highway 101 through Richardson Grove; Horizon's addition of a flight to Los Angeles; providing upfront money to bring Delta Airlines service to the North Coast; and leveraging funds to acquire an $8.5 million Federal Aviation Administration grant and funding a study on the Humboldt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation District's Redwood Dock."

One more major reason why this project must be stopped...The fund should be used for the Trees, not against them!

My public comment for Caltrans...

Dear Ms. Harmon,

I am deeply concerned about the proposed project for Richardson Grove. After reading the EIR for the said project, it is more than apparent that the project has had little or no consideration in regards to the detrimental impact to the park, species of concern, and millennial Old Growth Redwoods.

It is a fact that only three percent remains of our original forests. Since there is such a miniscule amount of original growth remaining, it is necessary to protect our inheritance. The Richardson Grove project puts our arboreal inheritance in jeopardy, a grove that is owned by the people of the State of California, the same people that pay your salary.

It is evident that the EIR fails to address a mitigated impact to the grove. For example, the EIR states:

"The noise of construction is not expected to exceed ambient traffic noise (Appendix E). Noisy equipment will include jack hammering, concrete sawing, and concrete grinding as well as the back-up warning signal on heavy equipment."

This statement is difficult to comprehend, for obvious reasons. Jack hammering is a foreign noise event to the Grove, as opposed to ambient traffic noise. Ambient by your own definition infers to typical day to day highway and park background noise, and activities such as jack hammering are foreign activities to Richardson Grove. Normal traffic noise is typical for the Grove, as a human based activity that has taken wildlife decades to grow accustom to in the area. Therefore, construction activities cannot be compared to the ambient sounds of route 101, as it exists currently.

Furthermore, Appendix E in the EIR states that a heavy truck or motorcycle(the loudest ambient noise makers according to the DIR) creates a 81-84 decibel noise level. Yet, In the same appendix, the EIR states that activities such as Jack hammering(89dba), concrete sawing(90dba), various 5HP equipment(85dba), and pneumatic tools(85dba) exceed the highest ambient noise level of traffic. How can these construction activities not exceed ambient traffic noise, when the EIR states that the activities will?

The EIR continues to literally debunk itself by stating:

"To minimize traffic delays during peak travel hours there may be some night work as well as day work. For night work, lighting will be directed downward toward the work area to avoid disturbance to foraging northern spotted owls."

Foraging Owls(no matter the type), depend heavily upon small ground creatures for food, typically rodents. Owls hunt by swooping onto these rodents from a perch. Owls are primarily nocturnal, and their night hunting activities WILL be disrupted by construction disturbances to their prey, especially by "night work". How will "directing the light downward" mitigate this issue, as they depend upon nocturnal foraging of small animals that will be forced to evacuate during construction? What difference does it make where the focus of these imposing lights is directed?


The EIR further baffles me by hypocritically stating:

"To avoid impacting nesting migratory birds, any tree and shrub removal will also take place outside of the bird breeding season. The bird breeding season is March 1 to September 1."
"The noise and activity disturbance generated by the construction of this project will not substantially exceed the existing disturbance levels. However, the temporary noise, night work, and activity associated with project construction, is likely to disturb murrelets that are nesting in the area."
"4.1. Construction Noise
The noise of construction is not expected to substantially exceed ambient traffic noise (traffic background noise; Appendix E). Noisy equipment will include jack hammers, concrete saws, and concrete grinders as well as the back-up warning signal on heavy equipment. Because the project area already experiences high noise level from vehicular traffic. The additional noise of construction noise will have no impact on breeding birds in the project area."

I am well aware of the nesting season forestry guidelines for the Marbled Murrelet, one of many endangered species present in Richardson Grove. In fact, the Marbled Murrelet's presence on local timberlands prohibits most major road construction and timber extraction activities during said nesting season. Yet the Richardson Grove project proposes high decibel noise disturbances from equipment such as excavators, jackhammers, concrete saws, augers, ground compactors, and other various noise making equipment during nesting season. The noise from this equipment, as stated above in paragraph five and six, creates foreign and threatening sounds to creatures nesting in the grove, and cannot be compared to "ambient" traffic noise. Moreover, the EIR states that temporary noise, night work, and activity is likely to disturb nesting Murrelets. Yet, somehow the additional construction noise will not impact breeding birds in the project area. Which one of these conflicting statements is factual?

Here is one of my favorite statements, completely based out of reality:

"4.2. Construction Activity
Richardson Grove State Park has year-round campgrounds and foot trails, and is subject to a high level of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The construction work for this project will not substantially increase activity in the park. Therefore, there will be no effect to special status species due to increased human activity levels."

From what I understand, Richardson Grove is a State Park and is protected year round from harmful activities by all visitors, including loud noise and music. Increased human activities during the summer are typical ambient sounds made by annual increases of visitor traffic(see paragraphs five and six). However, construction sounds WILL effect special status species due to the fact that these sounds are foreign(as opposed to normal ambient sound levels) and threatening towards nesting species. This justification for increased human activity levels is ridiculous, and I find it hard to believe that anyone could interpret construction sounds as being comparable to the ambient sounds from a normal or even increased flow of visitor traffic.

At least we can all agree on this statement:

"4.4. Root Impacts to Large Redwoods
This work will involve the structural root zones of approximately 25 large redwood trees ranging in diameter from 3 feet to 15 feet DBH as listed below....Additional paving and the placement of shoulder backing could cause soil compaction and disturbance within the structural root zones of large redwoods. Studies have shown that compaction of the soils within the root zone can have an adverse effect on these trees (Arnold 1975). Adverse effects to large trees may be a significant impact to this unique natural community."

In order to protect the remaining three percent of original growth, valiant measures of non-violent civil disobedience have taken place here in Humboldt County over the past decades. In the EIR, it is stated that no large trees will be cut. However, it is important to understand the long-term effects of disturbing this sacred place, a place that is often referred to as the gateway to the Giant Redwoods. Therefore, any threatening action taken against the Richardson Old Growth, including root disturbances that would likely lead to any Old Growth Redwood(s) demise, will be taken very seriously by local and experienced Forest Defenders. If the Richardson project is given a green light under the current project plans, it is my opinion that a massive community based resistance will rise up to protect Richardson Grove. I do not believe that the State is prepared to handle this situation, both legally and financially. Moreover, I don't feel the State can afford such unneeded and unnecessary projects during the current fiscal crisis regarding the State's budget.

Chapter Five in the EIR is apparently supposed to address concerns regarding negative effects and impacts to Richardson Grove. Yet I cannot find any type of mitigation or minimalization in regards to the project's effects on Old Growth root systems except this vague and non-descript statement:

"5.6. Additional Measures
Due to the uniqueness of this natural community, measures will be taken to avoid and minimize impacts. Daily work windows will be observed. Disturbed areas will be replanted. To mitigate for potential structural root zone impacts to large redwoods and potential impacts to elements of marbled murrelet Critical Habitat Caltrans will implement out-of-kind mitigation. In coordination with California Department of Parks and Recreation, Caltrans will replace the 13 existing trash containers near parking, picnic and camping areas in Richardson Grove State Park with corvid proof waste receptacles to enhance habitat for nesting migratory birds in Richardson Grove."

In summary, I would have to infer that this project is beyond unnecessary, inherently destructive, and poorly planned. The "out-of-mind" mitigation for issues such as noise pollution imposed on endangered nesting species(trash can lids?), root structure disturbances(trash can lids??), and construction zone impacts(more trash can lids???) can only describe where this project is headed, approved or not.

Into the trashcan...

For the trees,

Jeff Muskrat