Public Lands

Preserving, Growing, and Accessing Public Lands

We strive to improve and enhance access to public lands and to support new designations. Over 50% of the land in the Eel watershed is privately held. Finding safe access points to the river is a challenge for anyone wanting to exercise their public trust rights including fishing, collecting traditional medicines and food sources, and recreating. 

Public lands include navigable waters below the high water mark, and as such the Great Redwood Trail is a significant opportunity to expand access to public waters. Other opportunities include remediating and conserving abandoned cannabis cultivation properties, supporting land returns to Tribes, and supporting congressional wilderness designations.

Public Lands News

Current and historical news affecting our Public Lands

No Coal In Humboldt

The power of clean energy and the value of clean water

Great Redwood Trail

A 320-mile rail-to-trail project connecting communities from San Francisco Bay to Humboldt Bay

Public Lands News

Our River Needs You

Our River Needs You

Well friends, I write this the day after the election and two months after the birth of my second baby. As so many of us are, I am wrestling with hope and despair. New life brings such promise, yet grave new dangers face families like mine. Our work gives me hope. But...

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Restoring the Eel Must Be Done Right

Restoring the Eel Must Be Done Right

Dear Friends, Can you believe we are preparing to celebrate 30 years of protecting the Eel River? Many of you have been with us since the beginning, for which we are incredibly grateful. Some of you may have participated in Friends of the Eel River’s very first...

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Comments on the Great Redwood Trail Draft Master Plan

Comments on the Great Redwood Trail Draft Master Plan

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...

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Scoping Comments on the Great Redwood Trail PEIR

Scoping Comments on the Great Redwood Trail PEIR

  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...

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No Coal In Humboldt

No Coal in HumboldtNo Coal In Humboldt is a growing coalition of health, environmental, faith, business, and community groups across the North Coast of California that believe in the power of clean energy and the value of clean water. We oppose new coal export infrastructure that will pollute our air and water, harm our communities and worsen the impacts of climate change.

Abandoned rail car

Abandoned rail car

No Coal In Humboldt opposes restoration of rail on the Northwestern Pacific right-of-way through the Eel River Canyon because of the threat it poses to the rugged and magnificent river ecosystem. Restoring rail to the North Coast would inevitably lead to coal transportation because coal is the only commodity with sufficient volume to repay the multi-billion dollar cost of restoring the rail line. Major impacts to the environment and public health would inevitably ensue.

Restoring rail would also mean the end of the Great Redwood Trail, a spectacular outdoor recreation opportunity for our region. The Great Redwood Trail would be the longest rail-to-trail project in the nation, connecting San Francisco Bay to Humboldt Bay and offering world-class hiking and biking through the stunning Eel River Canyon.

Thus coalition members oppose both restoring rail to the region and the export of coal out of Humboldt Bay.

Great Redwood Trail

Great Redwood TrailThe Great Redwood Trail is a 320-mile rail-to-trail project connecting communities from San Francisco Bay to Humboldt Bay. This world-class, multi-use trail will make use of the Northwest Pacific Railroad right-of-way, traveling through some of the wildest and most scenic landscapes in the United States; traversing old growth redwood forests, running alongside oak woodlands, and winding through the magnificent Eel River Canyon.

After Friends of the Eel River’s critical victory at the California Supreme Court in our challenge against the North Coast Railroad Authority, California Senator Mike McGuire introduced SB 1029, the NCRA Closure and Transition to Trails Act, which provided funding to dissolve the NCRA and begin planning for the Great Redwood Trail. Three years after SB 1029 was signed by the Governor, the California Legislature passed Senator McGuire’s SB 69, the Great Redwood Trail Act, which establishes the new Great Redwood Trail Agency and authorizes it to complete railbanking and to “plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain” the Trail.

For our part, FOER is excited about the opportunities to introduce new visitors to the spectacular and remote portions of the Eel River. We look forward to encouraging ecologically appropriate river-access, assisting with interpretation featuring the rich Indigenous history and diverse wildlife, and of course cleaning up the mess left by a century of irresponsible railroad development.

Visit greatredwoodtrail.org to learn more about the trail and sign up for notifications.

Northwestern Pacific Railroad

Northwest Pacific Railroad and the North Coast Railroad Authority

Construction began on the Northwest Pacific Railroad in 1906 and was completed in 1914. A landslide delayed the inaugural run and golden spike ceremony, an appropriate start for a rail line in such a geologically fragile location as the Eel River Canyon.

In 1989 the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) was established by the California Legislature and tasked with saving the rail line from total abandonment.

The Northwest Pacific Railroad was the first railroad to be officially closed by the Federal Railroad Authority. At the time of closure in 1998, the railroad contained more than 208 damaged areas along the 216 miles of track and was within numerous violations of the Fish and Game Code, Health and Safety Code and the Water Code, all meant to protect our Public Trust resources.

The NCRA’s efforts to manage the railroad presented a threat to fisheries recovery. The agency asserted that they could operate outside the regulations of the California Environmental Quality Act, and ultimately in 2011 Friends of the Eel River and Californian’s for Alternatives to Toxins filed joint notices of intent to sue.

History of FOER and CATs v. NCRA

2011 Press Release: Environmental Groups Challenge Railroad’s Failure to Review Impacts
July 20, 2011
2013 Press Release: Court of Appeals Denies Railroad’s latest Attempt to Avoid Trial
March 6, 2013Press Release: Environmental Groups File Appeals in Railroad Case
July 8, 2013
2014 Press Release: California Supreme Court to Review North Coast Railroad Lawsuit
December 11, 2014
2017 Video: FOER and CATs v. NCRA, oral arguments before the California Supreme Court
May 3, 2017A Major Win: The Justices published their opiniondeclaring that California Environmental Quality Act does apply to state-owned rail projects. The NCRA responded by seeking appeal with the Supreme Court of the United States.Meanwhile, the California Transportation Commission in July asked the NCRA to “prepare a shut-down plan“, in light of their negligent use of state funds. In their annual report to the California legislature, the CTC suggests forming a legislative committee to “explore various scenarios for the Agency’s future”.
July 27, 2017
2018

In January the California Transportation Commission heard testimony from representatives for the NCRA and Friends of the Eel River, as well as other stakeholders in the future of the Northwest Pacific line. Click here to watch video footage of the hearing (select January 31 2018 Pt 2). Click here to read more about the CTC hearing.

 

In February, State Senator Mike McGuire introduced SB 1029, The Great Redwood Trail Act. The legislation is intended to dismantle the NCRA, railbank the Northwest Pacific line, and establish a multi-use trail along the canyon in a “rails to trails” process. Friends of the Eel River remain engaged in the drafting of this legislation to ensure that cleanup of the existing rail line (including removal of toxics and removing fish passage barriers) is fully funded, and that any trail development complies with California Environmental Quality Act. Click here to read more about FOER’s vision for the Great Redwood Trail.

In April, the Supreme Court of the United States denied the NCRA’s petition to review the 2017 California Supreme Court ruling. This decision means that the State Supreme Court’s ruling stands, and the NCRA remains subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.

Railroad Article Archive

2006-2018 Archives

2018

U.S. Supreme Court Roundfiles NCRA’s Appeal, McGuire Bill to Dismantle Agency Progresses Through Legislature

Friends of the Eel River Cautiously Optimistic About Great Redwood Trail Act

It’s Official: Senator Mike McGuire Introduces ‘Great Redwood Trail Act’

All the Fight Has Gone Out of the North Coast Railroad Authority

END OF THE LINE? State Senator Mike McGuire Drafting Legislation to Dissolve NCRA, Form ‘Great Redwood Trail Agency’ to Manage Humboldt, Mendocino Assets

North Coast Rail Agency Faulted by State Commission for Vague Financial Plan

The NCRA’s ‘Plan’: A Grifter’s Pitch for Suckers

Under Pressure from State Regulators, North Coast Railroad Authority Signals That It’s Willing to Railbank its Tracks Through the Eel River Canyon – For a Price

2017

Citing ‘Uncertain Future’, California Transportation Commission Calls for Special Committee to Hash Out What to Do With the NCRA

North Coast Railroad Authority Seeks Permission to Ignore State Law from the Supreme Court of the United States

Government Railroad Agency Says It’s Still Looking to Bring Trains Back to Humboldt County, Even as its Finances and Fortunes Spiral Downward

State Transportation Commission Raises Eyebrow at North Coast Railroad Authority Finances, Asks the Perennially Beleaguered Agency to Prepare “Shutdown Plan”

Hazardous Tankers Here to Stay

2016

SMART Prevents More Deliveries of Gas-Filled Cars to Schellville

Officials Raise Alarm Over 2.4 Million Gallons of Flammable Gas Parked in Rail Cars South of Sonoma

2015

Farm Bureaus Jump into Supreme Court High-Speed Rail Case

State Owned NCRA Asserts its Right to Ignore State Law

Rail Case Heading for State Supreme Court

2013

NCRA Directory Gives Agency a Withering Indictment on his Way Out the Door

Bernie Meyer’s Farewell Report

Highspeed Rail Agency Says Federal Law Trumps State Environmental Rules

The Disappearing Railroad Blues

Off The Tracks

North Coast Railroad Authority Goes Rogue

CEQA Key to Holding Railroad Authority Accountable

2012

North Coast Railroad Director: Lets Stop Throwing Money Down a Black Hole

Why NCRA Needs Help With Lease Negotiations

2011

North Coast Railroad Authority: ‘We Dont Have To Follow Your Laws’

2009

Toxic Cleanup Must Come Before Freight

2008

Railroad Proposals Under Scrutiny

2007

Freight Trains Raise Ruckus in Novato

The Railroad Dilemma

2006

Train Whistling in the Wind

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Contact Us

Membership forms and other printed material may be mailed to:

Friends of the Eel River
PO Box 4945
Arcata, CA 95518

Email: foer(at)eelriver.org

Phone: (707) 798-6345

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