November 15, 2006
Friends of Small Places is a local Northern CA organization concerned with impacts to rural neighborhoods and river ecosystems brought about by gravel mining and crushing, and asphalt and concrete production. Friends of Small Places (FOSP) was founded by Kristen Lark, Carlos Quilez, and Jessica Puccinelli when they realized how difficult it would be to prevail as individuals against the strong and lucrative gravel industry.
The story begins in April 2005, when a gravel miner on the Van Duzen River applied for a modification to his mining permit--he wanted to add a gravel crushing facility in order to expand the profitability of his enterprise. The neighbors opposed the crusher but did not know how to stop it. Carlos and Jessica helped lead the neighborhood organization against the adverse impacts that the new crushing facility would bring. The residents' first concern had been the dangerous conditions created by gravel truck traffic on their one-lane road. But as they learned more about the mining, they became increasingly concerned about the environmental impact on the river. A road had been built on the river bar to be used by heavy industrial traffic. They had seen increased erosion, sedimentation, and fish entrapment from channels created by the gravel mining, and they had seen huge amounts of concrete construction debris dumped in the river.
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This reach of the Mad River, from the fish hatchery to the mouth, endures many pressures along its banks. These range from four major gravel mining and processing facilities, ranching, agriculture, and an industrial park, to recreation, educational field classes, and native and hatchery fisheries; and this is the closest river in the area where sport fishermen can keep their daily catch. It also supports a municipal drinking water supply.
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Over the past two years, FOSP has studied Humboldt County's gravel mining taking place in our rivers. We have found that the County has been careless with the issuance of permits and neglects to provide comprehensive oversight of mining operations, thereby creating a situation where gravel miners are basically left alone to do as they please. We have discovered that the resource agencies charged with enforcement of environmental laws consistently fail to apply sanctions to irresponsible gravel miners. The resource agencies regularly issue permits that rely on the County's insufficient environmental analysis.
Friends of Small Places believes that our rivers are a public trust resource deserving of protection and preservation, to be enjoyed by present and future generations. We believe that our rivers are threatened by poorly regulated expansion of gravel mining and industrial processing.
However, little attention has been paid by the public to the cumulative effect of industrial gravel mining. Gravel mining in the river can cause sedimentation and channelization, which can result in countless fish being lost through egg destruction and fish entrapment. We believe that the present high levels of gravel mining in Humboldt County are not compatible with a healthy environment and are directly responsible for much of the destruction of our watersheds and fisheries. We also believe that as commercial logging decreases, gravel mining will continue to increase to replace lost revenues. The next environmental disaster facing our North Coast will come from extreme gravel mining operations.
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We are not an anti-gravel-extraction group. Clearly, gravel is needed for roads and construction. We do, however, want to ensure that all mining, crushing, and concrete and asphalt production are done in an environmentally responsible manner and that all required permits have stringent provisions which are strictly adhered to.
Friends of Small Places believes that all future river gravel mining and industrial processing in Humboldt County must be done in such a way as to avoid negatively impacting our unique and fragile human communities and river ecosystems. And we want to make sure that regulatory agencies actually follow through on the necessary environmental oversight and enforcement. Since our inception, we have been working to bring together interested parties and environmental groups, including Humboldt Baykeeper and EPIC, to help in this effort.
Friends of Small Places looks forward to a long and very productive relationship with the Trees Foundation. We are honored and proud to be a part of the Trees Foundation family of sponsored projects. We look forward to continued success in the environmental protection of our wonderful small places.
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TOC for Forest & River News, Fall 2006