Comment now: TELL CALTRANS that Richardson Grove, Willits Bypass and 197/199 Smith River Projects Contradict Their Own Goals

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Tell Caltrans that big trucks don’t mix with big trees, wild rivers & wetlands!    Caltrans has released a long-term planning document, called the Caltrans Transportation Plan (CTP) 2040.  The agency opened a short comment period, which ENDS APRIL 17.  In keeping with our Put the Brakes on Caltrans campaign to put a halt to the environmentally disastrous plans on the north coast, we are submitting comments pertinent to those projects. Please take a minute to send Caltrans comments. We need to tell Caltrans that Californians prioritize big redwoods, lush wetlands, threatened species and wild rivers over giant big rigs! The link to submit comments …

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Richardson Grove Attack Redux Announced

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Caltrans Just Won’t Quit Even When They Are Wrong…So Wrong. It appeared for a time that the jackhammer shovels had been called off excavation duty around feeder roots of the redwood giants in Richardson Grove State Park. However, Caltrans just announced they plan to release new documents in the fall of 2015 to restart the project with a goal of making Hwy. 101 more accessible to over sized trucks. This announcement came only three months after news celebrated in early December 2014 that the highway agency would be withdrawing their permit documents in an agreement with the courts. Successful lawsuits–thanks …

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Caltrans’ Construction of Bypass Collapses: Workers Hurt; Alkaline Cement in Salmon Stream

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With a crash and a roar, a 150 Ft. section of Caltrans’ Willits Bypass collapses, sending workers to the hospital. You can view an ABC story with dramatic video at http://abc7news.com/traffic/investigation-continues-on-collapsed-willits-freeway/498503/ On Jan. 22, 2015, a 150-foot section of a 30 ft. elevated viaduct, part of the “Willits Bypass” on Highway 101 in Northern California collapsed as concrete was being poured into forms. With a tremendous roar, the elaborately constructed ‘falseworks’ crashed to the ground in a tangle of twisted steel, splintered timbers, crumpled rebar and wet concrete. Workers said they ran for their lives and several “rode it down”. Five …

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Great News for Redwoods; Demo Report-Back; Caltrans Wants More $$

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First the good news:   I.  Ancient Richardson Grove Redwoods are Safe for the Forseeable Future!   Caltrans has WITHDRAWN its Environmental Assessment and approvals for this ill-conceived, potentially devastating highway expansion project in the ancient redwoods of Richardson Grove State Park, keeping the precious grandmother trees safe from jack-hammer shovels (for now, and we hope forever).  Accompanying this action, the hard-fighting legal eagles waging this battle in court have withdrawn their lawsuits that have kept this project at bay until this victory. This action does not preclude Caltrans from re-proposing the project, but they would have to start over from …

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Join A.I.M. elders, Pomo Indian People & Earth Defenders for a Demonstration in S.F. Nov. 18 to protest desecration of Ancient Pomo Indian Sites!

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On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Native American Tribal members, including direct descendants of the Pomo peoples who once populated the Little Lake Valley (Mendocino Co.) where Caltrans is currently building an oversized freeway bypass, will join environmental groups and AIM elders to protest the desecration of archaeological sites and destruction of wetlands. The protest will be at the San Francisco office of the Army Corps of Engineers, 1455 Market St. at noon. The Army Corps, as the permitting agency, has the authority to down-size the project, sparing both wetlands and many archaeological sites. Instead, they have stonew-alled Tribal members’ attempts to …

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Army Corps caves and reinstates suspended permit; campaign continues

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After taking a strong stand against Caltrans’ multiple violations in the wetlands by suspending their work permit on June 20, the Army Corps of Engineers on July 10  caved in and reinstated the 404 permit. The permit was reinstated under conditions, but many conditions are promises that Caltrans has been making all along. Caltrans committed to accelerate work on the complicated and extensive mitigation for wetlands destruction, and add additional mitigation, supposedly to compensate for delays in starting mitigation work. Will that mean successful mitigation?  Ask the fish and the birds. The value of the wetlands being lost is immeasurable …

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Activists Defend Old Growth in Mattole River Valley

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Timber Wars Continue As Humboldt Activists Begin New Tree Sit To Defend Unlogged Forest In Mattole Watershed: Resistance to Humboldt Redwood Company’s (HRC) plans to cut hundreds of acres of previously unlogged forest have escalated with the creation of a new tree sit blocking road access to the Long Ridge area in the Mattole. “We see HRC’s plans to log old growth Doug fir in the Mattole watershed as a ‘testing of the waters’, in that if they get away with it, more old growth forest will come crashing down” said the activist tree sitter who is suspended 70 ft. …

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Caltrans Permit for Willits Bypass Project SUSPENDED!

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Willits, CA—In a move that was welcomed by but that stunned long-time opponents of the highway project and stung Caltrans, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) suspended the permit for the Caltrans Willits Bypass on Friday, June 20, reported ABC News. ACE is the agency that regulates impacts on federally protected wetlands.   “This appears to be the first time ACE has ever pulled a permit on an approved project under construction,” said Ellen Drell, co-founder of the Willits Environmental Center, one of the project’s opponents.” We are surprised and elated that ACE has finally acted, although we have been …

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