Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Welcome to the KMUD News. I'm your news Director, April Lewis, and I'm glad to be with you for this broadcast.
In this episode, we're going straight into our main stories.
This episode includes stories on California Assembly Bill 2494 that was just vetoed by Governor Newsom, the Humboldt Planning Commission approving Eureka area large tree removals, potential impacts of El Nino on Mendocino county, and our in depth interview with District 2 state Senate candidate Damon Connolly.
This is KMUD News.
Removal of large redwood trees is controversial, but a voting majority of Humboldt County's Planning Commission has approved doing so in the Eureka area. Daniel Mintz reports.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: With three members absent and one dissenting, the Humboldt County Planning Commission has approved the first significant tree removals since the controversial one in Redway.
Approvals of permits for two tree removal projects were made at the Sept. 17 commission meeting amid debate about the definition of gold growth and neighborhood impacts.
The first and more substantial project involves four acres in the Eureka area in the vicinity of the Mitchell and Lentil roads intersection.
Under a special permit, 80 redwood trees within 300ft of residential structures will be removed.
Four of the trees near residences have diameters ranging from 60 to 71 inches and with one that's close to a house to be left standing. But planning staff recommended retaining all four trees due to community concerns about the Redway tree cutting and the policy making response to it.
Staff and some commissioners described the project's goal as non commercial, but Commissioner Todd Fulton said there's no problem with profiting from tree harvests.
[00:02:24] Speaker D: If I left a stand of trees now, are you saying that by the time my children get old enough to cut them and they're 70 years old, they've now exceeded the limit of size because my investment has gone so well? That makes no sense and I hope you do make money off these trees. That's the whole point. That was the reason these trees were saved is for ancestors down the line to make some money. They shouldn't be restricted by that. I understand the restrictions on old growth and, you know, merrellet habitat and stuff like that, but these don't fit. They may fit the size requirement, but they're not the right trees.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: The aftermath of the Redway tree cutting includes the Board of Supervisors directing the development of a county wide tree preservation ordinance.
An interim moratorium on tree removals will come to supervisors on October 6, but the need for tree removals in some instances was described during a public comment period when with a resident of the project area saying in winter to early spring months, his house gets absolutely no sun at all and it's almost a total blackout.
Lewis Call, the main applicant and parcel owner said the status quo is a hazardous situation because these huge things at some point will fall down and most likely fall on our house.
Lucas Titus, the Cal fire forester who assessed the Redway trees, questioned the validity of the staff recommendation and asked the commission to, quote, make sure the county is not practicing forestry without a license.
But Commissioner Lorna McFarlane lobbied for approval of the staff recommended conditions.
[00:04:10] Speaker E: The heartbeat of this county is not just our trees, it's the environmental protections. We're one of the last stand holds in California that does this. Look at Ventura, look at this is what we don't want to become.
So I appreciate the extra due diligence that was given to the environmental side in the staff report. I am disappointed that the Coastal Commission didn't respond to your request for comment. I'm also disappointed in CDFW's minimal response.
So I don't know that I have like a final stance, but I'm really struggling with this one.
[00:04:45] Speaker C: Commissioner Ivar Skavdal differentiated between the project area and where the trees were cut in southern Humboldt.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: I don't want to understate the concern, I guess, that you expressed about the public's response about old growth trees that we heard when we were dealing with the Q zone in Redway, which was a specific zone overlay agreed on by and set up in the neighborhood to protect old growth growth redwood trees. I have to tell you, when I drive out to Mitchell Heights, which I did today, it's not Redway and it has been logged a number of times. And a lot of these property owners out there are removing trees and they're not old growth redwood trees. It's just a completely different habitat than the area that we reviewed in Redway. So I'm a little concerned that we're overstepping a bit from our past experience in Redway and bringing that on top of this area Now.
[00:05:48] Speaker C: Skavdal made a motion to assess the four larger trees based on the state's large old trees definition, which will allow removal of three of them and to have Cal Fires Forester make determinations on others.
The motion also included taking out a recommended condition that no more than 25% of all trees between 4, 40 and 60 inches be removed in the midst of the vote. McFarlane objected to it because three commissioners, Sarah West, Noah Levy and Peggy O' Neill, were absent.
But the vote happened and the motion was approved 3 to 1 with McFarlane voting against.
The same voting tally was seen for a second Eureka area permit with eight trees with diameters ranging from 12 to 63 inches to be removed.
Staff recommended retaining the 63 incher, but the permit was approved without that condition.
McFarlane voted against for the same reasons as the previous application in Eureka. For KMUD News, this is Daniel, Miss.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: California Assembly Bill 2494, which would impact state demonstration forests, was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Roger Coryell reports.
[00:07:15] Speaker F: Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have changed how California runs Jackson Demonstration State Forest. Jackson covers about 48,000 acres between Willits and Fort Bragg. It's the largest of the state's 14 demonstration forests and Cal Fire manages all of them.
State law now says the forest should be managed mainly for timber production with recreation, watersheds and wildlife. Also Considered Assembly Bill 2494 from Santa Rosa Democrat Chris Rogers would have changed that. The bill listed public benefits instead, including wildfire habitat, carbon storage, wildfire resilience and research.
Logging would have been allowed only for research, demonstration and restoration.
The bill also would have let the state sign co management agreements with California tribes. Newsom signed the veto on Friday. In his veto message, he said the bill would narrow how the forests are managed and cost the state the flexibility it needs on climate changes. Mendocino county supervisors voted unanimously to support the bill.
The Rural County Representatives of California, which is a group that includes Mendocino county, went the other way and asked the governor to veto it. So did Tulare County.
The bill was sponsored by the Environmental Protection Information center in Arcata.
[00:08:40] Speaker G: The bill had strong support in both houses.
[00:08:42] Speaker F: Every Democrat who voted backed it and every Republican who voted opposed it. For the Mendocino Voice Bay City News NKMUD I'm Roger Coryell.
[00:09:01] Speaker B: With the November election quickly approaching, KMUD News spoke with District 2 state Senate candidate Damon Connolly to learn more about his plans for the North Coast. KMUD News reports.
Damon Connolly is the current California State assembly member for California's 12th district, which consists of Marin and parts of Sonoma County.
Currently, the Democrat is the clear frontrunner to win California's 2nd district state senate seat in November.
This would expand Connally's constituency greatly across the entirety of the north coast, including Humboldt, Mendocino, Del Norte and Trinity counties. KMUD News spoke with the prospective state senator to learn what ideas and perspectives he has on the north coast region he would be serving. We began the conversation with Damon speaking on what running for State Senate has entailed in the diversity of his prospective district.
[00:09:58] Speaker H: Well, thanks for having me on the show, April.
It's always a pleasure.
Yeah, I've been running for State Senate District 2 now for probably the better part of two years, and it's been an amazing opportunity to really start to get to know seven counties, which is the scope of the district a lot better. And probably the main difference from writing for the assembly, and I enjoyed serving in that role for about four years representing the about half the Senate district is the sheer size of the district, the amount of travel, as you can well imagine the range of issues and interests, starting with the fact that this state Senate district has some of the wealthiest communities in California located in it, but also those facing the most poverty in California. As we know, rural issues are very unique as well.
So really coming up to speed on those and trying to meet as many new people as I can.
[00:11:13] Speaker I: Trinity county is the poorest in California. So as you mentioned, these are areas with very different needs. What have you found so far have been the most successful appeals to voters in these areas, especially as someone coming from a very different sort of space, coming from the North Bay in terms of the constituents there.
What have you done specifically to better appeal to voters up here?
[00:11:39] Speaker H: Piece of advice that was imparted to me early when we started on this, which I've tried to live up to every day, is folks along the north coast want to see their representative show up where they are to better understand what's happening. And that's really been one of the main pieces of joy I've had in this race, is to be able to do that.
Of course, some of the most beautiful places on earth, but also a lot of unique challenges as well.
I think one thing I bring to the table that has resonated with folks is, is a strong environmental background. And I've found that ethos very strong up and down this coastal district.
I know the north coast stands strong in protection of our coastlines, opposition to offshore oil drilling.
And in fact, I've participated already in community gatherings and forums and outreach efforts around that all the way up and down this coastal district as well.
Rural health care is a huge issue up the north coast. So that has really stuck out to me as a key issue to continue to work with north coast residents. It includes things like attracting and retaining healthcare professionals. It's proving very hard in some of our more rural communities as well as, of course, fighting strongly back against the Trump administration on Medi cal cuts, which directly affects the ability to deliver quality health care all over California. But again, particularly in rural Communities like those I'm seeking to represent.
[00:13:42] Speaker I: Speaking of environmental issues, one of the questions I wanted to ask you about is Assembly Bill 2494 which was recently vetoed by Governor Newsom. And for us here up here of course has a big impact because Jackson Demonstration forest is over 48,000 acres in Mendocino and the largest in that system.
I wanted to read one quote from Governor Newsom's statement after vetoing that bill. It was quote, by narrowing the management of these forests to a limited set of public benefits, this bill risks the state's ability to fully demonstrate the best science based practices. At a time when California is racing to keep pace with a rapidly changing climate, we cannot afford to lose the flexibility needed to safeguard our forest for future generations.
What do you see as the future of at least the mission behind changing the basically the format of these demonstration for us like this bill would have. And do you agree with the Governor's statement or do you see it from a different perspective?
[00:14:48] Speaker H: Yeah, I would say I see it from a different perspective and I was a little bit confused by that statement that he made. It's interesting we both honed in kind of on the same statement in that I was a supporter of AB 2494 and a big shout out to Assemblymember Chris Rogers who represents the north coast who brought the bill forward.
I was a co author of received bipartisan support throughout the process.
But then of course in recent days as you noted was VetoeD by the governor. Yeah, if anything AB 2494 was an effort to update the perspective on demonstration force, most notably on Jackson, which you noted is the largest one in the state.
This bill came from a lot of community input. Folks are recognizing that kind of the old days of the prioritization and emphasis on logging and economy based on that needs to be broadened now where we're looking at community benefits, recreational opportunities, climate adaptation around these demonstration forests. So I think the bill was simply a way to do that rather than narrowing the focus. In effect it was kind of increasing it to really reflect new thinking around sustainable long term management of our forests that are not simply based on kind of the older extraction based economy.
[00:16:46] Speaker I: Should we be considering any structural changes to Cal fire especially in regards to funding sources and timber as a funding source?
[00:16:56] Speaker H: Yeah, we should be. And in fact that work is actually ongoing right now. So the bill I referenced, AB 1891 for example would be a dedicated source of funding for beneficial fire out of the Caltrans budget which is in turn now as you know, funded To a great extent by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which is coming out of the, the reauthorization of the Cap and Invest program in California.
As part of that, we are very much looking at how do we make these funding streams sustainable. Voters also stepped up and passed Proposition 4 a couple years ago, the historic climate bond.
And a lot of the key focuses of that money, which is $10 billion over 20 years, is looking at things like home hardening, like best practices around forest management. So one of my key roles is to make sure that money is flowing out to our communities.
So you hit it on the head. There's actually a conversation going on right now about exactly how all these funding sources weave in together.
And the bottom line is making sure that money and concrete results are being delivered to our communities so people can better protect themselves, their homes, their communities.
And we do it in a sustainable way. We do it in partnership with tribes and the like.
[00:18:50] Speaker J: So.
[00:18:50] Speaker H: So we're going to keep working on that as a priority.
[00:18:55] Speaker I: Between your current assembly district and what it would look like as a state senator, you're taking over a space that is the entirety of what was considered the historical Emerald Triangle. And of course that's led to really bad economic issues in the last 10 years. Garberville is, right where we are, is a bit of a ghost town compared to what it was years ago, especially during the boom years around legalization.
Have you thought about any specific approaches to helping the economy in these areas?
[00:19:27] Speaker H: Look, we all can't help but notice the change.
I remember coming back or going up north back, let's say 15 to 20 years ago, and you can tell even a lot of the local businesses, whether they were coffee shops, auto repair shops.
The cannabis industry was generating local economic activity and jobs, even aside from those employed in the industry themselves. But the spillover effects, this area is no stranger to boom and bust. Back in the day it was logging and other extraction.
I think the community wisely moved away from complete reliance on that. Then it was cannabis and that seems like that has fundamentally changed now. Gone are those days where you can walk into a coffee shop and sense that that's what was going on in terms of the money supply and economic activity locally. So it's kind of what's happening, the next step.
I'm very excited by things like Cal Poly, Humboldt being in the community, how we can leverage that and utilize that to spur economic activity. Offshore wind, which is a very promising direction for the region, of course now is on hold, pulled by some short sighted decisions by the Trump administration.
In the meantime, we're continuing to try to at least keep the economic local portion of that alive through, for example, Humboldt Bay and economic activity around that.
So I think there's a number of things I know it's a key issue in local races as well. I'm really tuned into those up in Mendo and Humboldt around how can we bring these areas back to life, the healthcare business, how can we attract and retain good employees there as well? So all this fits in together in terms of re energizing our communities on the north coast economically. So I'm happy to be in the middle of that working with others.
[00:22:07] Speaker B: Prospective District 2 State Senator Damon Connolly is planning to be in Eureka for an event hosted by the Humboldt association of realtors on October 24th. We'll let listeners know more about that event once it's finalized and announced.
Reporting for kmud, I'm April Lewis.
Mendocino county may see significant impacts from this year's El Nino weather. Roger Coriol reports Federal forecasters put the
[00:22:40] Speaker G: odds of a very strong El Nino this winter above 90% and they're giving 3 in 4 odds. It becomes the strongest since records start in 1950.
Daniel Swain is a climate scientist with the University of California. Some people, Daniel, say that Mendocino county is going to drown this winter. Mendocino, Humboldt, most of Northern California. Others say we don't have a clue because big El Ninos have been dry before.
What does that really mean?
Swain says in most years that doubters have a point. El Nino makes a pull on California weather that is strongest in the south and weakest on the Mendocino and Humboldt coast.
[00:23:25] Speaker J: It's a rare case where the caveat is the story.
This is not an ordinary El Nino event.
We are now predicting with pretty high confidence. And these are the NOAA numbers you're referring to the strongest El Nino event on record by potentially a significant margin. There is no historical analog for this event in terms of looking at what past impacts have been for this one in any exact manner because we've never seen an event that's as big as the one that we're expecting for this winter.
[00:23:57] Speaker G: Swain says the computer models that run the physics months ahead nearly all agree on a wet winter for California, and this includes the Mendocino and Humboldt coast this winter.
[00:24:09] Speaker J: That signal extends all the way up to the Oregon border.
[00:24:12] Speaker G: He puts the odds of a dry winter at 1 to 4%.
[00:24:17] Speaker J: I mean, the odds of a wetter than average winter in most or all of California. And yes, Specifically including, you know, Mendocino coast are north of 80 to maybe even 90% at this point. If there was an 80 or 90% chance of rain, would you bring an umbrella? I mean, I think almost everybody would.
[00:24:35] Speaker G: So my colleague Lloyd Lindsey Young, who's a retired radio meteorologist, told me that atmospheric rivers are independent of El Nino. Is that true? Well, partly. Swain says atmospheric rivers bring about 60% of California rain in any year, and El Nino adds other storms between them and that keeps the ground soaked, which is pretty critical thing to keep an eye on.
[00:24:59] Speaker J: It doesn't decrease the number of atmospheric rivers, but it increases everything else and it makes atmospheric rivers more intense.
[00:25:09] Speaker G: So what's a likely winter for Mendocino county and Humboldt County?
Wetter than average. Swain says with at least one very
[00:25:18] Speaker J: wet month, there probably will be increased flood risk this winter. Will it be risk of terrible flooding or more routine like, oh, 101 is under a foot of water again, type of flooding that is not really possible to predict at this stage.
[00:25:34] Speaker G: And on the coast, the ocean comes up too.
[00:25:37] Speaker J: El Nino does bring an increase in sea level this winter of a foot or two, which doesn't sound like a lot, but that's about how much sea level ice has risen due to climate change over the past century. So it's kind of like suddenly doubling the amount of climate change related sea level rise. Along the Mendocino coast.
[00:25:54] Speaker G: Swain says low stretches of Highway 1 and 101 near river mouths and bays could flood with salt water.
Howard Daschle runs Mendocino County's Department of Transportation. In an email, he says the trouble spots are the flood floodplains along the Russian river from Hopland to Potter Valley and then the flat valleys at Willits and Kovalo. And he writes, quote, there is nothing the county can do about floodplains.
His department has about one road worker for every 25 miles of county road and no additional resources for El Nino. His advice for a stormy night, limit travel to essentials and drive in daylight again.
[00:26:37] Speaker J: Daniel Swain doesn't guarantee apocalyptic flooding, but it does greatly increase the likelihood of a wet winter. It does probably also increase the risk of flood.
[00:26:48] Speaker G: The next federal winter outlook comes out on October 15th, and we'll keep you posted on that. For the Mendocino voice in kmud, I'm Roger Coryell.
[00:26:58] Speaker B: That's all for our news broadcast. Thanks for listening.
Thanks to our rotation of broadcast engineers Dennis Marr, Katie Phillips, Bianna Federico, Michael McCaskill, Larry Lashley and Javier Rodriguez.
Also thanks to our reporters for this broadcast, Daniel Mintz and Roger Coriel. Also thanks to our assistant director, Bridget Karstensen, KMUD News is now on streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and download our stories and newscasts for offline listening. You can also follow us on social mediamodnews, including Facebook and Instagram.
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We honor ancestors past, present and emerging acknowledge the ongoing cultural, spiritual, physical connection that these tribes have to the region.
I'm April Lewis. Stay tuned in.
