Critical Dam Safety Documents Need to Be Made Public

Scott Dam is a dangerous dam in our backyard.

Friends of the Eel River has long been pursuing more clarity from PG&E on dam safety at the Potter Valley Project. The utility company has long made the choice to classify dam safety and emergency planning documents related to the project as “Critical Energy Infrastructure Information” or CEII, thus concealing critical details about stability and … Read more

Comments on PG&E’s Flow Variance Request

Restorative Vision for the Upper Eel River

The Potter Valley Project, which blocks access to pristine, cold water spawning habitat for Eel River salmonids, is no longer a functioning hydroelectric project. PG&E has announced plans to remove both Scott and Cape Horn dams as soon as possible. Until Scott Dam is removed, management of the Potter Valley Project must focus primarily on … Read more

Letter to the Great Redwood Trail Board in Support of Indigenous Communities

March 26, 2024 Dear Chair Hart and Board Members, Friends of the Eel River (FOER) and allied organizations support the Great Redwood Trail and have a deep and long- standing interest in remediating the environmental mayhem left by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. As you may remember, federal regulators closed the rail line in 1998. FOER … Read more

PG&E’s Initial Draft Surrender and Decommissioning Plan Released

PG&E PLANS TO REMOVE EEL RIVER DAMS IN 2028 Draft Surrender and Decommissioning Plan Offers Two Paths to Freeing the Eel – Soon to be California’s Longest Free-Flowing River Eureka, CA – For well over a century, Eel River dams have blocked salmon access to hundreds of miles of cold water habitat in the Upper … Read more

Comments on PG&E’s Proposed Plan and Schedule

Free The Eel, Endangered Species Act, Dam Removal

December 29, 2022 Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20426 Re: Potter Valley Project (P-77) Decommissioning Plan and Schedule Dear Secretary Bose, On behalf of the undersigned organizations, this letter conveys our concerns regarding the plan and schedule to file a surrender application for the Potter Valley … Read more

Conservation Groups Joint Statement on PG&E Herbicide Spraying

On September 29, 2022, PG&E alerted Humboldt County that it was going to spray herbicides along its easements across the region. PG&E failed to alert landowners or tenants of this new threat; instead, local news broke the story just two days before spraying was set to commence. Today, it appears that PG&E has postponed spraying … Read more

Support for Save Jackson Coalition

Secretary Wade Crowfoot California Natural Resources Agency 715 P Street, 20th Floor Sacramento, CA 95814 Sent via email to secretary@resources.ca.gov Dear Secretary Crowfoot, Friends of the Eel River supports the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians as they negotiate for equal co-management of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) in their ancestral lands. The JDSF … Read more

Comments to FERC Regarding Potter Valley Project (P-77) Decommissioning Plan and Schedule

Summer steelhead by Shaun Thompson

  July 29, 2022 Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20426 Re: Potter Valley Project (P-77) Decommissioning Plan and Schedule Dear Secretary Bose, On behalf of the undersigned organizations we offer these comments on the PG&E draft license surrender schedule for the Potter Valley Project, P-77 (Project). … Read more

Coal Train Update

In the last month, there’s been a flurry of activity from the federal Surface Transportation Board, entities seeking to take the Northwest Pacific Rail right-of-way from the public, and those of us seeking to protect our region from the threat of coal trains and support the Great Redwood Trail. You may have seen the news that … Read more

FOER Comments on Humboldt County’s Draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Friday, December 24, 2021 Hank Seeman Humboldt County via email Re: Comments on Draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan Dear Hank and Groundwater Team: Thank you for the informative presentation on the draft GSP last Friday. The following brief notes and comments may help to improve the final plan. At this writing, several technical memos remain outstanding. … Read more