EcoNews Report

Petey Brucker, stalwart defender of the Salmon River and friend to many, passed away on April 22, 2024. On this week's show, we are joined by his daughter, Allegra Brucker, and friends, Larry Glass and Nat Pennington, to talk about the impact Petey had on the planet on their lives. Listen to Petey's music. OBITUARY: Petey Brucker, 1952-2024 Support the Show.

The Scott and Shasta Rivers were once salmon strongholds, but over-allocation of water has made these rivers nearly uninhabitable for Coho and Chinook. The State Water Resources Control Board established emergency regulations that set minimum streamflows during the most recent drought. But those will likely expire soon. Without new permanent instream flows, both rivers could run dry. A coalition of tribal governments, fishermen and environmental nonprofits are asking the State Board for new permanent instream flow dedications. And new legislation, if passed, will strengthen the ability of the state to protect those instream flows. Karuk Vice-Chairman Kenneth Brink, Cody Phillips of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, and Klamath advocate Craig Tucker join the EcoNews to talk about what's needed to save California's salmon. Let Senator McGuire know that you support AB 460 and AB 1337. Support the Show.

California’s system of awarding water rights is anachronistic and out of touch with modern needs. Yet, we are still bound by it. The Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District is navigating these challenges. The District once provided a lot of water to the pulp mills of Humboldt Bay. When these shuttered, the District faced a challenge: without putting that water to “beneficial use,” the District could lose its water right. (And in the worst case scenario, some big water user could put their straw into our river and slurp that water away, like is done in the Trinity and Eel Rivers.) Now the District is proposing a new in-stream flow dedication to protect that water right. District Board Director Michelle Fuller joins the show to discuss the process to dedicate an in-stream flow right. Support the Show.

The Smith River needs your help. Agricultural operations along the estuary are polluting the river with high levels of pesticides. This pesticide pollution is impacting coho salmon, tidewater goby and other wildlife that rely on the river, as well as the human residents that live amongst the pollution. Greg King, executive director of the Siskiyou Land Conservancy, joins the show to discuss his organization’s new report detailing the 40 year history of pesticide pollution in the river and what needs to be done to restore it. Support the Show.

“One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.” - Aldo Leopold Do you also have a gnawing, seemingly ever-present hum in the back of your head—an intrusive thought about the immensity of the climate crisis and your own miniscule ability to do anything about it? If so, you are not alone. Some 83% of the United States thinks that climate change poses a "serious and imminent threat to the planet" and "59% of youth and young adults said they were very or extremely worried about climate change." Doomerism is not the only option. Would you like to reduce your own eco-anxiety? This show is for you. Join Chelsea Pulliam, EcoSomatic Coach at Somatic Earth, for a discussion about how you can cultivate resilience. Want to hear more? Check our interview with Sarah Jaquette Ray, author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety. Support the Show.

This week on the EcoNews Report, we discuss how fish are monitored and counted. Our host Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River is joined by Dave Kajtaniak from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Samantha Kannry from TRIB Research. Tune in to learn about the hopeful returns salmon returns on the Eel and why preserving genetic diversity is so important to giving species the adaptability they need to survive our changing climate. Click here to learn more about TRIB Research. Support the Show.

The industrial legacy of the 20th Century left many contaminated sites around Humboldt Bay. Our second special episode on communities at risk from sea level rise features local residents talking about several of the most vulnerable sites, including Tuluwat Island, Butcher Slough in Arcata, and the nuclear waste storage site above King Salmon. Many thanks to Hilanea Wilkinson, Adam Canter, Jerry Rohde, Nate Faith, and to Jessie Eden, who produced this episode with funding provided by the California Coastal Commission Whale Tail Grant Program. For more info: The 44 Feet ProjectCal Poly Humboldt Sea Level Rise InstituteHumboldt Bay Shoreline, North Eureka to South Arcata: A History of Cultural Influences -Humboldt Bay King Tide Photo Project Support the Show.

Spice up your life by checking out the spectacular dunes of Humboldt County! Just like the shifting sands of Arrakis in the iconic Dune series, these sandy landscapes are home to unique and fragile ecosystems, adapted over millennia, which were once at threat from exploitation. And who are the Fremen that protect our dunes from OHVs, invasive species, and other threats? Meet Suzie Fortner, the new executive director of Friends of the Dunes. Suzie and outgoing executive director Mike Cipra join the show to discuss the restoration and education work of the Friends and why our Dunes are worth fighting for! Need some gear? Check out the annual Get Outside Gear Sale on April 6 (open for members starting at 11am-noon and the general public 12-6pm). Or donate your own used gear! *No Stillsuits, used helmets, weapons, skis, snowboards, moldy/rusty items, and other similar items. Want more? Meet the original Muad'Dib of the dunes, Hortense Lanphere. Support the Show.

Klamath River dam removal is underway, with drawdown of the three largest reservoirs occurring now and physical removal of these dam structures scheduled for this summer. The dams have impacted the river for over a hundred years and dam removal has its own environmental impacts. While fish biologists and water quality scientists are confident that the long-term benefits will outweigh the short-term impacts, a loud group of dam removal antagonists have glommed onto the ‘messy’ part of this massive ecosystem restoration project — temporary increases in suspended sediment and associated impacts to water quality and the recent mortality event of hatchery juvenile salmon— to continue their fight against dam removal. Luckily, Toz Soto, Senior Fisheries Biologist with the Karuk Tribe, and Dr. Maia Singer, Senior Scientist at Stillwater Sciences, join the show to help sort fact from fiction. For more information about Klamath Dam removal, check out: Lower Klamath Project – Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) | California State Water Resources Control Board Klamath Dam Removal Overview Report for the Secretary of the Interior an Assessment of Science and Technical Information, Version 1.1, March 2013 | FWS.gov Klamath Dam Removal Studies | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov) Klamath River Renewal (klamathrenewal.org) Klamath Basin Monitoring Program Support the Show.

Mass transit along California's North Coast is difficult. The long distances between rural communities are trouble for ordinary battery-powered electric buses, which don't have the range to make there-and-back trips. Hydrogen buses, however, are able to make the long journey. And thanks to a $38.7 million grant, Humboldt Transit Authority is purchasing 11 state-of-the-art buses and building a hydrogen fueling station. Guests Peter Lehman of the Schatz Energy Research Center and Jerome Qiriazi join the show to discuss Humboldt's forthcoming fleet of hydrogen buses. Support the Show.

Join us for the first in a special series on communities at risk from sea level rise featuring local residents who share their thoughts on the challenges and potential solutions facing our region. Many thanks to Marnie Atkins, Jerry Rohde, Nate Faith, Troy Nicolini, Adam Canter, and to Jessie Eden, who produced this episode with funding provided by the California Coastal Commission Whale Tail Grant Program. For more info: Cal Poly Humboldt Sea Level Rise InstituteCommunities at Risk: King Salmon, Fields Landing, Fairhaven and FinntownHumboldt Bay Shoreline, North Eureka to South Arcata: A History of Cultural InfluencesHumboldt Bay King Tide Photo Project Support the Show.

The Humboldt Bay Harbor District has been in the news a lot this year. The Harbor District has committed to a "green terminal" strategy that commits the District to a goal of a zero emission terminal capable of building offshore wind turbines. And Congressman Huffman helped to deliver $426m in federal funding for the construction of this new green terminal. What does building a green terminal look like? Maddy Hunt and Ysabelle Yrad, fellows at the Blue Lake Rancheria, have produced a new white paper on the state of port electrification that offers insights into what a green terminal in Humboldt might look like. Support the Show.

Humboldt County's transmission infrastructure is old. Connections to the larger grid are weak and undersized, forcing Humboldt to be reliant on the fracked gas-burning Humboldt Bay Generating Station because we cannot pull enough power from our grid connections to keep the lights on. And, conversely, those same undersized powerlines mean we cannot export the power that would be generated from offshore wind. Until new grid infrastructure is operational, offshore wind can't be operational. While offshore wind is driving grid improvements, grid improvements can also benefit Humboldt. With improved grid connections, we can shut down our greenhouse gas-spewing power plant. And improvements to the grid can improve energy resiliency for communities like Hoopa that frequently experience outages. Arne Jacobson of the Schatz Energy Research Lab joins the EcoNews to discuss recent research produced by Schatz on transmission infrastructure planning. Required reading: Northern California and Southern Oregon Offshore Wind Transmission Study Support the Show.

On this week’s episode of the EcoNews Report, host Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River is joined by long-time Eureka resident and fisherman Steve Rosenberg and Humboldt Trails Council’s Advisory Chair Karen Underwood. Alicia and her guests reflect on the history of losing public access to rivers and wild spaces, and discuss modern efforts underway to protect what remains. Featured is the recent issue of attempts to limit access to one of the few remaining fishing access points along the Van Duzen River at Fisher Road. To learn more about this issue, please visit this link. Support the Show.

Have you ever wondered what exactly the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District does, who runs it, and how on earth did they manage to get a $426 million federal grant for a Heavy Lift Terminal for building offshore wind turbines? Tune in for a conversation with Chris Mikkelsen, the District's new Executive Director. For more info: Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal ProjectThe Biggest Federal Grant in Humboldt History?Support the Show.

In politically progressive circles, a strange phenomenon can occur. Supply skepticism, the belief that housing prices are divorced from impacts to housing supply, abounds. On this week's EcoNews Report, Professor Vicki Been from the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, joins to discuss her metaanalysis of research into the relationship between housing supply and cost. (Hint: More housing moderates housing costs, generally.) Required Reading: Supply Skepticism (2018) Supply Skepticism Revisited (2023) Support the Show.

Are there Coho salmon in small urban streams like Jolly Giant and Janes Creek? If so, how often, and how far upstream do they go? Our guests, fisheries biologists Colton Dixon and Darrren Ward, are studying these streams and have some answers that might come as a surprise. Tune in to learn more about these streams and the fish that call them home for a fairly brief but critical time in their life cycle. For more fascinating info on the fish in our local streams and rivers and the people who study them, you can follow Colton Dixon on Instagram and TikTok @colt.j.dixon. Also check out Humboldt Outdoor's Tour of Jolly Giant Creek - Part 2, which follows the part of Arcata's ~4 mile long Jolly Giant Creek as it flows through Arcata's urban downtown area. A tour of the upper half of the Creek can be seen in Jolly Giant Creek - Part 1. Support the Show.

Start your new year on a poetic note. Poets Jerry Martien and Katy Gurin join the EcoNews for our annual new year's poetry reading. Do you have an environmental-themed poem that you want read on air? Email tom@wildcalifornia.org and you might hear your poetry read on the EcoNews. Support the Show.

Humboldt's Queen of Quakes, Dr. Lori Dengler professor emeritus of geology at Cal Poly Humboldt, joins Gang Green to break down the 6.4 magnitude rumbler that hit Rio Dell hard last December. It was the third most "shaky" recorded earthquake in California's history (as measured by peak ground acceleration), with 1.46 g-force of acceleration. Why was Rio Dell harder hit when the earthquake was centered closer to Ferndale? Why did this earthquake feel much more violent than other past earthquakes (which may have had higher magnitudes)? And what lessons can we learn from this earthquake to keep us safer in the future? PS: Check out Thomas Dunklin's great virtual tour of the Mendocino Triple Junction. Want more? Earthquakes are not fun, make sure you are prepared for next oneThe complex relationship between small, large earthquakesSupport the Show.

On this week's EcoNews Report, spotted owl experts Dave Wiens and Peter Carlson join bird nerds Ken Burton and Tom Wheeler to discuss barred owls and their impact to West Coast ecosystems. The barred owl is in the news because of a draft strategy released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to cull the invasive owl to benefit the native northern spotted owl and California spotted owl. The impacts of barred owls are well-documented—together with habitat loss, barred owls are driving the spotted owls to extinction!—but the barred owl's impact to other species is a deep concern for ecologists. The more varied diet and higher densities of the barred owl result in significant and new impacts to basically anything that moves and is smaller than the barred owl, from birds to rodents to amphibians and crayfish. Listen and nerd out! Support the Show.