EcoNews Report

This week on the Econews Report, we’re joined by Marc Hoshovsky and Bob Schneider, two of the authors of the new book Exploring the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument , which will be published early next year by Backcountry Press. Never heard of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument? It’s an incredibly strange stretch of land, with absolutely unique geologic and botanical features,...

On this week’s EcoNews Report, we take an audio tour of the Siskiyou Crest with Luke Ruediger , chief evangelist for the rugged and wild mountain range that connects the Coast Range with the Cascades along the Oregon/California border. The crest is renowned for its amazing biodiversity, including species, like the Siskiyou Mountains salamander and Baker cypress , found nowhere else on the planet....

This week on the EcoNews Report we're excited to share that the comment period for Eel River dam removal has finally opened! Tune in to hear co-hosts Tom Wheeler of EPIC and Alicia Bales of the Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club talk with Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River about this important moment. The Wild and Scenic Eel River offers an unparalleled opportunity to restore native fi...

The Yurok people are a fishing people. Since time immemorial, the Klamath River provided for the Yurok, with salmon, eels, eulachon, and other food. Colonization fundamentally upset the balance that existed. The Yurok faced genocide, and those that survived were confined to a small portion of their territory. The Klamath, once a mighty salmon stronghold, was choked by fish-killing dams. But the Yu...

On this week's EcoNews Report, historian Jerry Rohde joins the show to discuss his new book, Northern Humboldt Indians , which you can download as an e-version here . In his book, Jerry details the history of the seven tribes of Northern Humboldt County, with many newly colorized photographs and transcripts of interviews that help to bring to light the indigenous people of the area. The book...

Approximately a third of U.S. residents are non-drivers. Some by choice, but many are physically incapable of driving or financially cannot afford to. The Week Without Driving is an annual campaign that encourages people, especially those who drive, to go a week without their car — use alternative methods, like public transit, walking, biking, or riding-sharing to meet their transportation needs —...

Assemblymember Damon Connolly joins the program to break down what was a historic legislative session. The legislature made major revisions to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) with the stated purpose of helping to build more housing but some folks—like Assemblymember Damon Connolly—are concerned that the legislature may have gone too far and a "clean-up bill" is needed. As...

For decades pesticide-intensive farming of Easter lily bulbs on the Smith River Plain has contaminated groundwater and surface waters of the Smith River estuary, threatening the health of wildlife and humans along one of California’s healthiest, most ecologically pristine rivers. Now the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is considering new regulations to address this persistent poll...

High-severity wildfires that burn communities are obviously bad. But what about high-severity fire that burns in the backcountry? Guest Dr. Dick Hutto, Emeritus Professor of biology and wildlife biology at the University of Montana and author of the recently published book A Beautifully Burned Forest: Learning to Celebrate Severe Forest Fire , makes the case that high-severity fire has been unfair...

On this week's episode of the Econews Report we discuss restoration planning in the Eel River with a rockstar team of restoration experts. Your host Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River is joined by Kaydee Boozel from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marisa Parish-Hansen and Ruth Goodfield from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Julie Weeder, former NOAA...

Humboldt County just took a big step towards protecting our night sky! In August, the Board of Supervisors approved the Inland Outdoor Lighting Ordinance, regulating outdoor lights to limit light pollution and light trespass. This is a significant win for the dark sky movement and will require new development on unincorporated land to use light fixtures and bulbs that reduce light pollution. But t...

Government often moves slowly. This is a problem when there are immediate safety concerns for a street. The solution: Quick-build projects, which employ cheap and quick materials, like paint or plastic bollards. You may have seen this strategy in action, with new crosswalks and other improvements coming to local streets. Colin Fiske of the Coalition for Transportation Priorities joins the show to...

Hating on environmental laws is now a bipartisan activity. California Democrats have leaned into the “Abundance agenda” — a progressive case for weakening regulations to build more housing, renewable energy, and other public goods — to take swipes at the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). But to what extent does California’s landmark environmental law actually hold back housing productio...

Been thinking about that induction stove? Or maybe a nice new heat pump? Of course you have! It’s the 21st century. On Tuesday, 350 Humboldt and a bunch of allied organizations are hosting an “Electrification Fair” at the Jefferson Center, and there’ll be a whole host of experts on hand to help you navigate how to ditch natural gas in the easiest (and cheapest) possible way. More details here . 35...

PG&E recently tendered its License Surrender Application and Decommissioning Plan for the Potter Valley Project to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This plan details when and how PG&E plans to tear down its two dams on the Eel River. And since an agreement has been reached for run-of-the-river, wet season diversions to replace the existing diversion to the Russian River, support f...

We rarely post reruns, but this show from last December is quite relevant in light of the magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula last Tuesday. The subsequent tsunami watch along the West Coast soon became a tsunami advisory , and later, a tsunami warning was issued for the North Coast. Although the tsunami peaked at 3.6 feet in Crescent City, it was another goo...

Siskiyou Land Conservancy just finalized a new acquisition of 170 acres on Baduwa’t, joining a 183 acre property that the Conservancy acquired earlier in the year, to create a 353 acre reserve. Baduwa’t is, of course, important. It is home to coho salmon and a summer run of steelhead trout. And the river also provides domestic water for 70 percent of Humboldt County residents. Yet Baduwa’t remains...

To reach 100% renewable energy, we will need to store large amounts of energy generated from “intermittent” sources — things like solar or wind that only produce power sometimes. Large-scale industrial battery storage is one way to store this energy. But a recent fire at the Moss Landing battery facility in Monterey County has some folks concerned. A recent battery proposal in Blue Lake, for examp...

Roughly a third of people don’t drive . That might seem like a lot but you probably know non-drivers in your own life. Some people can’t, either because they have some kind of disease or disability that makes driving impossible. Some people can’t because they are too young or too old to safely operate a vehicle. Some people can’t afford to drive, as car ownership is stupidly expensive (the average...

The Trump Administration has announced it seeks to revoke the “Roadless Rule,” the 2001 regulation limiting U.S. Forest Service activities in unroaded areas of our National Forests. Guests Kimberly Baker of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and Scott Greacen of Friends of the Eel River join the program to discuss the history and purpose behind defending roadless areas and what...

The Bay Trail is finished, and now there’s a safe and beautiful trail that connects Humboldt Hill all the way to Clam Beach!  Guests Colin Fiske of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities and Jen Kalt of Humboldt Waterkeeper join the show to discuss the history of the trail (shout out to Supervisor Madrone for his work way back in the 1980s to get planning started) and how the trai...

Before enjoying Ruth Lake this summer, be sure to clean, drain and dry all gear, boats and trailers to prevent the spread of the invasive golden mussel. The golden mussel, native to East and Southeast Asia, was first documented in California in 2024. Like quagga and zebra mussels, the golden mussel is capable of rapidly spreading, wreaking ecological health and threatening water infrastructure and...

This week: An all-star roundtable with our favorite law wonks, wherein we try to figure out where the Supreme Court is taking the National Environmental Policy Act — the most important federal law regulating the environmental costs of development. Support the show

On Donald Trump's first day in office, he signed an Executive Order directing all parts of the federal government to take steps to stop the development of offshore wind. This has left people wondering: what's the future for offshore wind? Spoiler: it's unclear.  Citing his executive order, on April 16, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop work order for Empire Wind \,...

Pope Francis centered the climate crisis during his papacy, highlighting the moral obligations that we all share to our fellow humans (especially the poorest among us, as they will be disproportionately impacted by climate change) as well as our responsibilities to the Earth itself. In 2015, Pope Francis released his first encyclical, Laudato si’: On Care for Our Common Home , a 40,000 word treati...