Karen Pickett

Join us at the Ecology Center in Berkeley – 2530 San Pablo Ave. at Dwight for The Buffalo Field Campaign’s 2013 Roadshow event. A night of spoken-word, video, music, and story-sharing about the plight of wild buffalo; the Buffalo Field Campaign’s effective efforts to defend them; the strong links between First Nations, buffalo, and BFC; and how you can become involved. This evening will feature video presentation and storytelling with Mike Mease, co-founder and campaign leader of the Buffalo Field Campaign. We are also honored to be hosting special guest John Trudell (http://johntrudell.com), acclaimed poet, national recording artist, actor and …

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Two people were taken out of a large, ancient ash tree and arrested with a crew of 50 CHP cops using giant “cherry-picker” crane trucks on Sept. 18, but resistance to the Caltrans Bypass continues. The four month long tree-sit was in the last remaining grove of trees sitting in the path of Caltrans over-built highway construction of a bypass around the town of Willits in Mendocino County, California.  The tree also sits near wetlands that Caltrans is draining and filling with 55,000 “wick drains” sunk into the soil and massive amounts of fill. Activists and local residents have been …

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Three people were arrested after stopping a caravan of 20 trucks headed to load up with fill, destined to be dumped on wetlands.  The line of trucks was stopped for 8 hours after two brave activists used steel tubes to lock themselves to the underside of the lead truck, with supporters nearby, brandishing a banner reading “Save Our Water, Stop Caltrans Now!” The Bypass highway Caltrans is building around the town of Willits has met with fierce opposition and persistent protests, making the point that it is overbuilt, environmentally devastating and ridiculously exensive.  Recently, the County of Mendocino was forced …

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Last week was a big week in the Caltrans Willits Bypass campaign, starting with a day in court. As covered in our last update, two groups had filed suit against the County of Mendocino over permits issued to allow excavation by Caltrans contractors of nearly a million cubic yards of fill being dumped on wetlands in Willits.  The fill is being dumped on the wick drains in the wetlands at the north end of Willits to make way for the boondoggle highway, and the groups charged violations of the Calif. Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA) because of a lack of review. A hearing …

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In the small northern California community of Willits where people have been waging a pitched battle against Caltrans plans to massively expand the capacity of Highway 101 (see previous alerts about Richardson Grove and the project in the Smith River Canyon), new chapters are unfolding. Caltrans announced that its contractors would begin hauling fill this week to cover hundreds of acres of wick drains that have been sunk into the wetlands grounds.  Once the wick drains are covered, the tons of fill will begin squeezing the water up and out of the drains, causing irreversible damage to the wetlands. Though …

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Blockades, tree-sits, hunger strikes from the branches of trees, overflow crowds at County Supervisors meetings, caravans to Sacramento, lock-downs to heavy equipment and MORE have been the order of the day of the scrappy and dedicated campaign to stop the ecologically disastrous and expensive Willits Bypass highway project!  Just this morning (6-12) 30 local people entered the construction site and blocked the path of the heavy machinery, and stayed until all equipment was shut down and workers left the site. Willits City Councilwoman Madge Strong was with the group of activists. Watch for  an announcement soon of a big regional …

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There will be a weeks’ worth of events surrounding Judi Bari Day, May 24, the anniversary of the Oakland car bombing that nearly took her life and that she was almost framed for. ,  the 93-minute documentary Directed by Mary Liz Thomson and produced by Darryl Cherney, will be screening four times in the Bay area: twice in Oakland and twice in San Francisco, in addition to related events celebrating Judi’s life. Please attend any or all of these upcoming Bay area events. There is something for everyone. Who Bombed Judi Bari? Documentary screens: Monday *May 20 * Who Bombed …

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Why the Bypass is Bogus Caltrans Ignores Local Sensible Alternative Plans, Bulldozing Forward with an Expensive, Ecologically Devastating and Unnecessary Bypass for Willits   Ecological Considerations Caltrans Bypass project would entail the largest filling of wetlands in Northern California in 50 years.  Placing huge amounts of fill dirt on top of wetlands will require that the ground below be drained and collapsed by the insertion of 55,000 wick drains. This will form an underground dam across the flood plain with unpredictable underground hydrological effects. The state Fish & Wildlife agency has already issued stop work orders several times to force …

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