EcoNews Report

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...

The transmission lines running into Humboldt County are fairly small. This has big implications for local efforts to decarbonize our local electricity supply. The lines are too small to supply enough of Humboldt’s current power demands, necessitating the Humboldt Bay Generating Station, run off methane gas (Gang Green refuses to call it “natural gas”). It also limits our ability to fully realize o...

On this week’s EcoNews Report, Warner Chabot of the San Francisco Estuary Institute joins Gang Green to talk about micro-plastic pollution, including that which comes from car tires. A chemical in tires has been found to kill coho salmon. Now the California Department of Toxic Substances Control is considering regulation to address this threat. People can submit written comments on the rulemaking...

Two weeks ago, the federal Surface Transportation Board made some important decisions about the future of trails in our region. Tune in to hear about the latest developments including what’s in store for the Annie and Mary Trail and what comes next in determining the future for the Great Redwood Trail. Will it be a spectacular 300-mile trail connecting communities from San Francisco to Humboldt Ba...

Organic matter — things like banana peels, coffee grounds, and newspaper — clog our waste system and when it reaches a landfill, breaks down into methane, a potent greenhouse gas. That’s why California is requiring more and more diversion of this organic matter from our waste stream.  Two compost nerds — Layla Richardson of Zero Waste Humboldt and Daniel Hosapple of the Blue Lake Rancheria — join...

The McKay Community Forest is one step closer to reality with the release of the draft Forest Stewardship Plan. The McKay Community Forest looks to join its famous neighbor to the north, the Arcata Community Forest, as a local hub for recreation, wildlife, and even timber production—all directed by the Forest Stewardship Plan. Hank Seemann of Humboldt County and Stevie Luther of the Humboldt Trail...

Karelian Bear Dogs were bred to hunt large game, like bears. Now they are being used to save them. Wildlife biologist Jessica Reyes of the Wind River Bear Institute joins Gang Green to talk about how these fearless dogs train bears to avoid humans - and how the dogs train humans to be better for bears. Want more? Check out this YouTube video or the Wind River Bear Institute’s website . Support the...

On Thursday, we celebrated the expiration of PG&E’s 50-year license for the Eel River dams. Next up comes license surrender, decommissioning and ultimately dam removal.  Tune in to hear about what this process might look like and why it is so important to act swiftly to seize the opportunity for recovery of the Eel River’s wild runs of salmon and steelhead. And in other celebratory news: Klama...

Plastic pollution in our oceans is a high-profile problem. Jen Savage, Senior Manager of the Plastic Pollution Initiative of the Surfrider Foundation, joins the show to talk about just how bad the problem has gotten — if the headline didn’t give it away, it’s so bad that a recent study found microplastics in human blood — and what can be done to stop the problem. [Note from Jennifer Savage: Since...

On this week’s EcoNews Report, planning expert Dan Zack joins Gang Green to talk about “urbanism” — a term that might sound scary for rural Humboldt County. But despite its name, principles of urban design can be applied across the whole of the county, from Bridgeville to Eureka. Because at its core, urbanism is just about making planning work for humans. Dan also breaks down “form based codes,” a...

With gas prices spiking and a climate crisis making you feel guilty every time you get into your car, you might be thinking about dragging your bike out of the garage for a ride. But what about the rusty chain, the flat tire and old brakes? And what about your own anxiety: Will I look dumb? Where is it safe to bike? Your friends at Moon Cycles are here to help! Sage and Sprout, the owners of Moon...

Humboldt County is faced with some important and difficult decisions regarding our energy future, and if the TerraGen project taught us anything it’s that the public needs to be involved as energy projects are planned. But civic engagement requires an educated populace, so the Northcoast Environmental Center is working to figure out what folks do and don’t know about renewable energy sources and h...

Ask anyone who has tried to look for rental housing lately and they’ll tell you that housing in Humboldt is expensive. Humboldt, like California generally, suffers from a housing affordability crisis brought on chiefly by failing to build enough housing. Our housing crisis is an environmental issue and local green groups are working to support new infill housing development. On this week’s episode...

On this week’s EcoNews, the gang’s nerdy lawyers — Tom, Matt and Scott — are joined by CalPoly Humboldt’s own professor of environmental law, Jennifer Marlow, to talk about the recent oral argument in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency.  Is the court going to jettison Chevron deference in favor of its newly constructed “major questions doctrine” or will we see a return to Lochner -er...

This week, Gang Green sits down with Caltrans’ Jeff Pimentel to discuss Caltrans’ work to improve Broadway for all road users (and not just motorists). Through fixing sidewalks, adding pedestrian crossings, and other changes to the road, we can influence individuals to make safer decisions.  Caltrans’ work on Broadway is also a reflection of larger cultural changes within the agency. Once almost s...