December 18, 2009
What do you do if your state budget is being slashed and burned by an inept actor (again), your State Parks are closing, and corporations are conspiring with developers and state transportation agencies to invade your rural and progressive paradise? On October 2, 2009, activists departed north of Arcata, California, on a bicycle ride heading south to bring attention to the proposed Caltrans project to widen Highway 101 within Richardson Grove State Park; and to support California State Parks facing closure due to Governor Schwarzenegger's state budget cuts. The "Redwood Curtain Bicycle Run" was a three-day adventure of cycling, camping, fun, and interaction with residents of Humboldt County along the Redwood Highway, ending at the "Redwood Curtain" of Richardson Grove State Park.
The Redwood Curtain is a living barrier that shields our pristine location from mass development and Big Box invasion. The Richardson Grove "Improvement" Project (RIP) is designed to RIP a hole in the Redwood Curtain. The project proposes removal of 87 trees, cutting and paving over the roots of 30 ancient coastal redwoods that line the highway, and construction of a three-hundred-foot-long retaining wall. This is a $10 million project for a two-mile section of the Redwood Highway, US 101. Within a State Park. Without wildlife surveys.
Following is my account of the Redwood Curtain Bicycle Run.
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We immediately began to receive honks and "thumbs up" from passing motorists--not only from progressive and environmentally conscious drivers with bumper stickers to match their philosophies, but also from loggers and seemingly conservative people. Redwood Curtain Copwatch followed to protect participants from threats made by the California Highway Patrol to shut down the action. We rode into Eureka in good spirits for a rendezvous at Eureka Natural Foods. The Times-Standard covered this part of the event.
It was such a blessing to have the company of all the participants who joined the ride, even for a short distance. We next stopped in Fernbridge and spoke with a person who surveyed the Richardson Grove project for Caltrans a few years back. He was dismayed by the fact that Caltrans was pursuing the project and felt that the risks to the ancient trees and local businesses outweighed the supposed benefits of the RIP. As we spoke, I couldn't help noticing the view of the former Humboldt Creamery local dairy plant, now owned by Central Valley-based Foster Farms. The once-local Humboldt Creamery was bankrupted by former CEO and book cook Rich Ghilarducci (an avid supporter of the RIP), currently on the run from the law.
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After arriving to camp, I invited cyclists on a hike to visit "Spooner," a 2000-year-old coast redwood located within a recently protected ancient redwood grove on former Pacific Lumber (PL) timberlands. Through the tireless efforts of hundreds of activists, Nanning Creek (home of "Spooner") and Fern Gully (located in Freshwater) were both "saved" with a verbal promise "no cut" old-growth policy from Mendocino Redwood Company, owners of the newly formed Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC).
Despite the fact that HRC claims not to fell ancient trees, they recently felled an 8-foot-diameter coast redwood within the Nanning Creek "Bonanza" timber harvest plan. The sizable tree did not meet the multitude of criteria for HRC's "Old Growth Characteristics." The greenwashed timber company also clear-cuts, uses herbicides, and logs on steep and unstable slopes. Some say anyone could manage PL's timberlands better than MAXXAM; the Texas corporation headed by the infamous Charles Hurwitz, who acquired PL in the 1980s through the sale of junk bonds, tripled the cut rate and bankrupted PL by stripping assets (trees). I say meet the new boss, same as the old boss, only greener in appearance.
I escorted "Gambit" of Earth First! Humboldt up the path I had hiked so many times in the past. Gambit is currently one of the defenders of the McKay Tract, an ongoing tree-sit located on Green Diamond timberlands outside Eureka. He was really excited to see Spooner, perhaps the largest coast redwood ever defended at 297 feet tall. I left Gambit to camp within the safety of the ancient grove and wondered to myself if he would make it down early enough the next morning to join the other cyclists. I also contemplated if we would have to return someday, to again defend Nanning Creek, if HRC decides to recant its flimsy verbal promise. Even if I suspected in the past that we would lose the battle against Big Timber to save both groves, I would still do it all over again.
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We could not wait any longer for Gambit, because we were already two hours behind schedule. I didn't want Gambit to feel like we ditched him. But Nanning Creek is a special place, a magical vortex, and I really wasn't surprised that he didn't show. (Later, we met up with Gambit along the Avenue of the Giants; it turned out we were late and he got a head start.) We paused as a group for a water break in Pepperwood, a tiny community located at the north end of the Avenue of the Giants. Suddenly a bunch of what appeared to be "backwoods" folks came scampering out of the woods toward us! My innate fear of logger types, and maybe watching Deliverance one too many times, increased my apprehension. I thought we were about to be attacked!
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TOC for Forest & River News, Winter 2009