November 2103 Dear Friends of the Eel River, We’ve come around again to the end of the year. It’s a good time to take stock and look forward. I offer a few thoughts about what lies ahead, in faith you’ll support our work. The Eel River is poised on a tipping point. The sinuous skein … Read more
In mid-October 2013 three coffer dams were removed from the Salt River creating a new 300-acre tidal marsh area. The Salt River channel will benefit as the new tidal marsh area maintains the river’s width and depth, enhancing habitat and migratory conditions for Coho Salmon, Chinook Salmon, Steelhead Trout, and Coastal Cutthroat Trout. Humboldt … Read more
Holder testifying under oath to one version of history while his prosecutors in California act out another shows “his U.S. Attorneys are not being controlled by the Department of Justice,” Pappas said. “(Washington D.C. is) not aware of what’s going on with individual U.S. Attorneys.” Article by: David Downs Photo courtesy of the Department … Read more
EcoNews October 2013 By Scott Greacen Under the latest so-called Cole memo, US Attorneys are directed to avoid marijuana prosecutions where there is a regulatory system in place that will keep pot away from kids, out of interstate commerce, and out of the hands of criminal organizations, among other specific measures. Of course, California does … Read more
Thanks to the drug’s illegal status, marijuana farms are not regulated – with serious costs to water and wildlife. A tax on excessive electricity use may seem like an indirect way of curbing household cannabis cultivation, but the city had to back away from its more direct approach—a zoning ordinance—when the federal government threatened to … Read more
Benbow Dam ($205,500): This project, in partnership with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, will ultimately open more than 100 miles of the South Fork Eel River for fish passage when completed. Removal of the Benbow Dam will benefit threatened populations of coho and Chinook salmon and steelhead. Read the full article here
There are more than 123,000 lakes greater than 10 acres in size spread across the United States, and based on the last EPA National Lakes Assessment, at least one-third may contain toxin-producing cyanobacteria. Dams; rising temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations; droughts; and increased runoff of nutrients from urban and agricultural lands are all compounding the … Read more
Law enforcement is now pointing to the environmental harms caused by illegal pot farms to justify the ongoing Drug War. But it was the Drug War that sent growers into California’s forests …some Northern California officials who are on the frontlines of combating trespass grows say they’re only a symptom of a much larger problem: … Read more
Dan Rather interviews Friends of the Eel River Executive Director Scott Greacen in this episode of Rather Reports titled “Gone to Pot”, 10/21/2013. Download the full episode from itunes here.
How California and the feds sold off more water than north state rivers usually hold. Today, powerful water brokers have made contracts that promise far more water than nature can deliver – particularly in the face of growing populations and climate change. Article by: Grant Scott-Goforth Picture by: Bob Doran Published: September 19, 2013 Read … Read more