EcoNews Report

Plastic is everywhere and not in a good way. From the Mariana Trench to the top of Mount Everest to even your own blood (ew!), plastic pollution is a big and growing problem.  Jen Savage, Senior Plastic Pollution Manager at the Surfrider Foundation joins the show to talk about Plastic Free July, an international movement to try to reduce plastic use as much as possible for the entire month.  Need...

How do you improve the flow of a river? Just ask our friends at Salmonid Restoration Federation. On this week's episode of the EcoNews Report host Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River is joined by Dana Stolzman and Katrina Nystrom from Salmonid Restoration Federation, and Joel Monschke from Stillwater Sciences for a discussion of flow monitoring and enhancement projects on the South Fork...

Sea otters ( Enhydra lutris ) once swam along the North Coast of California, but 18th- and 19th-century fur trappers nearly caused the species to go extinct. Statewide, only one remnant population of approximately fifty individuals was left in Big Sur by the 1930s.  Today, thanks to concerted efforts, more than 3,000 sea otters call California home from that small initial remaining population. Whi...

This week on the EcoNews Report hosts Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River and Tom Wheeler from EPIC discuss an experimental installation in the South Fork of the Eel River. Guests Marisa McGrew from the Wiyot Tribe's Natural Resources Department and Gabe Rossi and Philip Georgakakos, both research scientists with UC Berkeley, tell us all about the collaborative effort to install and m...

Let’s face it: Broadway - that section of Highway 101 in south Eureka - sucks. Especially for people getting around on foot or on a bike. Thankfully, Caltrans recognizes the deep suckiness of Broadway and is committed to making it better.  You may have seen cones and temporary bollards and wondered, “WTF?!” They are part of a “pop-up” demonstration of potential measures to make the road just a lit...

It would seem unbelievable if it weren’t true. EarthFirst!, bombs, crooked cops, racists. This is the story of the redwoods, or rather, the fight to protect the redwoods, as told by one of the partisans of this fight, Greg King. His new book, The Ghost Forest: Racists, Radicals and Real Estate in the California Redwoods is part memoir of his own time as fiery young radical in the Redwood Wars and...

For offshore wind to be successful, there will need to be considerable investment in Humboldt County — big infrastructure, like new transmission lines and substations, but also investment in housing, healthcare, childcare and other “human infrastructure.” On this week’s show, we talk about how we can draw community benefits from offshore wind development. Erik Peckar of Vineyard Power joins the sh...

California has set a bold conservation goal to protect 30% of its lands and coastal waters by 2030. This “30x30” goal aligns with a global 30×30 movement to protect nature all around the world to avoid an extinction crisis. The Power in Nature Coalition brings together environmental organizations, activists, and tribal nations to collectively push Sacramento to meet its 30x30 target. Advocates are...

The barred owl, not native to California, is quickly becoming established in the state, having flown down the West Coast. The barred owl’s presence is bad news for its cousin, the northern spotted owl, the iconic species of the Timber Wars. The barred owl outcompetes the northern spotted owl and quickly takes over its territory.  With the northern spotted owl on the road to extinction, now is the...

Running a transit agency in a rural area is hard work. Just ask Greg Pratt, General Manager of the Humboldt Transit Authority. Less dense development means longer distances between fewer people, both increasing operational costs (diesel is expensive, y'all!) and limiting potential ridership revenue. Despite these challenges, Humboldt Transit Authority is plowing ahead with new solutions to bo...

Nordic Aquafarms recently announced that it was making a switch: yellowtail kingfish, a fish native to the warm waters of the Pacific, instead of Atlantic salmon. Biologically, the two fish require different environments, with yellowtail needing warmer, saltier water compared to chilly brackish water for Atlantic salmon.  Yellowtail, perhaps better known as hamachi to our Japanese cuisine loving f...

Local environmental groups have gotten very good at saying “no” to developments, whether it is a Liquid Natural Gas export facility on Humboldt Bay or cutting and paving over redwood roots at Richardson Grove State Park . But some development is socially necessary and desirable, such as affordable housing projects. On this week’s episodes, leaders from Humboldt Baykeeper, the Northcoast Environmen...

Despite the wildly wet year, the Bureau of Reclamation has threatened to reduce flows in the Klamath River below the mandatory minimum for salmon. Such an action will dry up critical habitat for salmon at a time when salmon populations are critically low. Now, the Yurok Tribe and fishermen are in court together to challenge the low flows.  Amy Cordalis, legal counsel for the Yurok Tribe and a trib...

On this week's EcoNews Report, Ken Burton, local bird nerd, joins the show to discuss this year's Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival and other big news in the birding community. This year's festival, running from April 13-16, features over 75 events, from bird walks to lectures. We hope to see you there! In other bird news, we chat about the controversy in the birding commun...

Tune into the EcoNews Report for big news about Eel River dam removal – PG&E is finally taking dam safety seriously! On March 16, the company announced big changes to how they will manage Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury reservoir based on an updated evaluation of seismic stability and dam safety. Dam removal advocates at Friends of the Eel River have been ringing alarm bells about dam safety for...

Do you live or work in a tsunami zone ? Do you drive through one to take your kids to and from school? Do you like to go to the beach but wonder how to know if there might be sneaker waves? Do you wonder what you should do to prepare for climate change? This week’s guest is Troy Nicolini, Meteorologist-in-Charge at the National Weather Service in Eureka. Troy has lots of practical, time-tested tip...

This week, Colin Fiske of Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities and Matt Simmons of EPIC join the show to talk about why the race to electrify cars and trucks isn't a one-size-fits-all solution to our climate woes. More - and larger - electric vehicles mean more mining lithium for batteries, which comes with social and environmental costs. And the more vehicles on our streets, t...

Today’s guests, Jaytuk Steinruck of Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation and Megan Rocha of Resighini Rancheria, join the show to talk about the Tribal Marine Stewards Network , an alliance of Tribal Nations working together to steward, protect, and restore the ocean and coastal resources along the California coast.  The network’s initiatives include monitoring important marine species like surf smelt, mussels,...

So you have decided to do your part to fight climate change (or maybe you just don’t want a gas stove to slowly kill you) . Great! There are a bunch of incentives now available to help insulate and electrify your house. Aisha Cisna and Stephen Kullman of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority walk through the incentives available to people who want to make climate-smart improvements to their homes. Fo...

We don't know why he continues to join the show—doesn't he realize he's palling around with a bunch of treehugger dirt worshipers?—but Congressman Jared Huffman joins the EcoNews again for more discussion on what's going on in Washington D.C. Who does he want to replace Feinstein? What's it like to work with George Santos? How is D.C. going to help fund offshore wind infra...

For a weird, brief moment, prominent conservatives pitched a collective freak out over the false notion that the Biden Administration was coming to steal gas stoves. ("You can have my stove when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!") While bad faith scare mongering in the conservative culture war isn't really newsworthy, the moment had something of a Streisand effect : it exposed th...

Local jurisdictions have very limited control over regulating local pesticide use. New legislation introduced by Assemblymember Damon Connoly would return some local control. Assembly Bill 99 would require Caltrans to respect resolutions passed by counties banning the roadside spraying of pesticides. This legislation builds on decades of work by anti-spray advocates, who have continuously pushed o...

On this week’s EcoNews Report, we travel to California’s Central Valley to explore the elaborate plumbing that connects North Coast rivers to the Central Valley and the impact of this massive diversion system has on local fish populations.  In December, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland reversed a Trump-era decision that got Central Valley irrigrators off the hook for habitat restoration costs. Chris...

Global warming increases the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, supercharging winter storms like the slate of atmospheric rivers that have smashed the West Coast. More moisture also means increased risk of flooding, as we have tragically experienced this year.  Lots of rain might sound good in recent drought years but it's more complicated than that. A warming planet also increases the ris...

I don't think it's just us: 2022 has been stressful, right? Between earthquakes and a bomb cyclone, you could use to take your mind off things. Never fear! Gang Green is here with some poetry to soothe your soul and reset the new year on a more positive note.  The EcoNews welcomes poets Jerry Martien and Katy Gurin to read some of their poetry, discuss their creative process, and how the...