We recently submitted a letter to Chuck Bonham, the director of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, requesting that his agency provide overdue stream flow studies and minimum flow recommendations to the State Water Resources Control Board. The State Water Board is in turn responsible for managing instream flows and rights to divert water. Maintaining … Read more
Special guest Rep. Jared Huffman is heading a task force in the Democratic caucus to address Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s policy outline for a second Trump administration. The document is pervaded by anti-science and anti-regulatory animus, with a particular focus on climate science and renewable energy. This week on the EcoNews Report, Friends of … Read more
FOER worked hard to provide detailed comments on the Great Redwood Trail Agency’s (GRTA) nearly 600-page Draft Master Plan for the Great Redwood Trail. In addition to the comments linked below, we submitted location-specific comments using the GRTA’s pdf commenting application focused on locations to expand equitable river access, camping or access sites popular with … Read more
As many of you are likely now familiar, PG&E is unable to meet the flow schedule for the Potter Valley Project as outlined in their amended license from 2004. This flow schedule is unobtainable in most years due to a variety of factors including strategies employed to reduce dam safety risk, and changes in climate … Read more
PG&E announced on Friday, May 31 late last week that it will request a 7-month extension from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in decommissioning the Eel River dams. Stakeholders were expecting the utility to file its Draft Surrender Application plan with FERC this month, with a final version due in January 2025. PG&E now … Read more
Whenever a state agency begins a new development project, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires agencies to evaluate and disclose to the public the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project. This evaluation of impacts usually comes in the form of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). These reports are an important part of … Read more
This week on the EcoNews Report, our host Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River discusses the opportunities and challenges presented by the Great Redwood Trail. The project, proposed to be the longest rail-trail in the nation, is the state’s opportunity to fulfill their responsibility to remediate the environmental harms caused by the … Read more
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
Tune into this clip from Episode 8 of “Unmanageable with Alicia Bales” to hear Friends of the Eel River Conservation Director Scott Greacen break down dam removal at the Potter Valley Project and what a diversion means in the eyes of California water law. This show aired live on April 7, 2024. To listen … Read more
Have you or someone you known been around Humboldt County since the 1970s? If so, perhaps you can help protect public access to the Van Duzen river and the future Carlotta Spur of the Great Redwood Trail. The Great Redwood Trail Friends coalition is currently investigating historical public use of Fisher Road in Carlotta to … Read more