EcoNews Report

Humboldt's Queen of Quakes, Dr. Lori Dengler professor emeritus of geology at Cal Poly Humboldt, joins Gang Green to break down the recent 6.4 magnitude rumbler. It wasn't just you: that was a big one! It was the third most "shaky" recorded earthquake in California's history (as measured by peak ground acceleration ), with 1.46 g-force of acceleration.  Why was Rio Dell ha...

Trespass cannabis grows, those rogue operations of pot production on public land, often employ chemicals banned for sale in the United States. Past research has demonstrated that these chemicals have poisoned rare and endangered species like the Pacific fisher, Humboldt marten, and northern spotted owl. But what are they doing to our aquatic environment? Dr. Mourad Gabriel of the Forest Service an...

The recent lease auction for the Humboldt Wind Energy Areas shows that wind energy developers are excited about the potential for floating offshore wind off of Humboldt's coast. Where will these floating turbines be built? The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District is visioning how they can be built locally, with family-wage blue collar jobs building our renewable energy f...

Trying to be an ethical person in the modern world is hard. How should we weigh the site-specific impacts from wind energy development against the potential climate benefit? How far should we go to try to save an endangered species (and at what point is that resource allocation better served somewhere else)? Should we rely on our intuition or does that risk confirmation bias? Does climate change c...

Do we have a fundamental human right to a healthy climate? If so, how do we know when our rights have been violated?  Global climate agreements are structured to keep warming below 1.5C (or 2.7F, for our American friends). But this number reflects a political compromise—what global leaders believe is politically achievable—not a scientific understanding of climatic risks. Below this threshold, sci...

The "Red Wave" turned out to be more like a ripple, with Democrats holding onto the Senate and Republicans taking only a slim majority in the House. What does this election mean for our environment? LoCo Editor Hank Sims joins Gang Green to breakdown local, state, and national election results. Support the show

On this week’s edition of the EcoNews Report, host Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River is joined by three fisheries experts to talk about how we count fish in the Eel River.  Tune in to hear from Wyatt Smith from the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Dave Kajtaniak from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Charlie Schneider from California Trout as they discuss DIDSON cameras installed through...

On this week's EcoNews Report, host Tom Wheeler talks to friends from across California about "rewilding." What the heck is rewilding? It is a global movement to restore lands and ecosystems to a more complex and "wild" state, often with the reintroduction of keystone species—think large mammals like elk or ecosystem engineers like beavers—that may be absent.  This episode...

This week on the EcoNews Report your host Tom Wheeler chats with Friends of the Eel River's Alicia Hamann about the fantastic news that the Great Redwood Trail is finally in the clear from threats to take the public right of way. It's now full steam ahead on trail master planning - tune in to learn about how you can be involved and check out greatredwoodtrailplan.org . And in other groun...

Humboldt County has some of the highest pedestrian fatality numbers in the state. Thankfully, a large cultural change is taking over in local transportation planning. Under the banner of "Vision Zero," transportation planners are imagining how we can manage our road network to reduce road fatalities down to zero. Sounds too lofty? Other jurisdictions have already seen significant improve...

News of PG&E's plans to spray power poles on its easements throughout Humboldt County alarmed residents. Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino Counties have a long and storied history in challenging the application of pesticides. On this week’s EcoNews, Gang Green talks to two veterans of the Pesticide Wars, Larry Glass of Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment and Patty Clary of Califor...

Before 2022, you may have thought that nuclear weapons were blasé — that’s so 20th Century — but Russian nuclear sabre rattling in Ukraine may have you practicing your dunk-and-cover drills. Where should you turn for expert thought on nuclear proliferation in the modern age? The Which Way the Wind Festival, starting this week! The third-annual Which Way the Wind Festival tackles the problems of nu...

New research published in the journal Global Change Biology raises alarming questions about the efficacy of forest carbon programs registered in California’s cap-and-trade program. Utilizing satellite imagery, particularly of forests in Northwest California, researchers have compared the carbon sequestered by forests versus what is claimed and have emerged with a concerning conclusion: forests reg...

Michael Kauffman and Justin Garwood are in love with the Klamath Mountains, the rugged and remote mountain range in Northern California that is world-renowned for its biodiversity. They, together with 32 other co-authors, have published the first definitive natural history guide to the region. Michael and Justin explain to Gang Green why the region is so special on this week’s episode of the EcoNe...

It is tough to be a fish in the Klamath River. On the heels of a large fishkill caused by a debris flow following the McKinney Fire comes another fishkill , this time caused by a pathogen, Flavobacterium columnare , more commonly known as gill rot. Hot, tepid waters in the lower Klamath form a perfect breeding ground for the disease. Elsewhere in the Klamath watershed, ranchers are illegally diver...

The Inflation Reduction Act is the largest single action taken by the United States against the climate crisis ever. Roughly $370 million will go to a variety of eco-groovy things, from rebates for consumers for things like solar panels or heat pumps to tax incentives for large renewable power projects.  How will this impact the North Coast? Gang Green investigates. Support the show

In July, the Wiyot Tribe finalized the acquisition of a 46-acre coastal property in the ecologically and culturally significant Wiyot place of Mouralherwaqh or “wolf’s house,” which will be prioritized for ecocultural restoration purposes. The property is located at the present day site known as King Salmon at the base of Humboldt Hill and represents the first forestland to be returned to the Trib...

Obi Kaufmann, naturalist and best-selling author, joins Gang Green to talk about his new book, The Coasts of California: A California Field Atlas .  Like his previous best sellers, The Coasts of California explores the Golden State’s wild places in a way only Obi can, through hundreds of watercolor paintings and maps, woven together with philosophy and lyrical naturalism. Obi also has a new podcas...

On this week's EcoNews Report, Scott and Alicia from Friends of the Eel River join Gang Green to talk about dam removal and FERC relicensing. Also, the coal train is officially dead! Let’s take a moment to celebrate that big victory. Support the show

From skunks to songbirds, the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center is here is help the wildlife of the region. Gang Green sits down with Monte Merrick, director of the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, to talk about the center's work, what to do if you see an injured animal and the center's upcoming big move.  To learn more about volunteer opportunities or to help with moving costs, visit the Humb...

On this week's EcoNews Report, Gang Green and special guest Melodie Meyer, staff attorney with the Yurok Tribe, talks about the Land Back movement—the indigenous-led campaign to return political and economic control to indigenous people and tribes—and why rank-and-file environmentalists should support this movement. Some local examples of Land Back: Yurok Tribe now operating Chah-pekw O’ Ket’...

Marbled murrelets, the ocean-going bird that was once at the heart of the showdown with the Pacific Lumber Company over Headwaters Forest, are back in court in Oregon. Nick Cady of Cascadia Wildlands joins Gang Green to discuss their recent victory protecting the large, old trees that murrelets need to survive. And there is a Humboldt connection: local biologists testified on behalf of the environ...

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA not only throws a substantial hurdle ahead of regulating greenhouse gas emissions from coal power plants, it takes a vicious swipe at the entirety of the modern administrative state. Using a new invention—the “major questions doctrine”—the Supreme Court has set up an easy way for conservative judges across the country to invalidate any re...

What can we learn about the national and political landscape from the results of the 2022 primary election? Those enviro-political nerds at RCCER (the Redwood Coalition for Climate and Environmental Responsibility) and the Lost Coast Outpost’s own Hank Sims break down election results and reflect on lessons learned from this election. Support the show

On this week’s EcoNews Report, Gang Green talks with Professor Dan Kammen of UC Berkeley and Gary Hughes of Biofuelwatch to investigate how the state of California intends to meet its climate targets and whether its plan is sufficient. (Spoiler alert: it’s not).  The California Air Resources Board has released its draft scoping plan, a document intended to guide the state’s climate actions moving...