Karen Pickett – Page 9 – Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters

Join A.I.M. elders, Pomo Indian People & Earth Defenders for a Demonstration in S.F. Nov. 18 to protest desecration of Ancient Pomo Indian Sites!

November 3, 2014 by Karen Pickett

On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Native American Tribal members, including direct descendants of the Pomo peoples who once populated the Little Lake Valley (Mendocino Co.) where Caltrans is currently building an oversized freeway bypass, will join environmental groups and AIM elders to protest the desecration of archaeological sites and destruction of wetlands. The protest will be at the San Francisco office of the Army Corps of Engineers, 1455 Market St. at noon. The Army Corps, as the permitting agency, has the authority to down-size the project, sparing both wetlands and many archaeological sites. Instead, they have stonew-alled Tribal members’ attempts to …

✥ Buffalo Campaign Show in Berkeley Sept 26 ✥ ✥ Native Archeological Sites At Issue in Caltrans Willits Bypass Campaign: Update ✥

September 19, 2014 by Karen Pickett

Big trucks, big highways or wild coastal ecosystems?

August 18, 2014 by Karen Pickett

Some of Caltrans’ highway expansion projects halted but heating up again; wetlands destruction continues in Willits

Army Corps caves and reinstates suspended permit; campaign continues

July 15, 2014 by Karen Pickett

After taking a strong stand against Caltrans’ multiple violations in the wetlands by suspending their work permit on June 20, the Army Corps of Engineers on July 10 caved in and reinstated the 404 permit. The permit was reinstated under conditions, but many conditions are promises that Caltrans has been making all along. Caltrans committed to accelerate work on the complicated and extensive mitigation for wetlands destruction, and add additional mitigation, supposedly to compensate for delays in starting mitigation work. Will that mean successful mitigation? Ask the fish and the birds. The value of the wetlands being lost is immeasurable …

Activists Defend Old Growth in Mattole River Valley

July 15, 2014 by Karen Pickett

Timber Wars Continue As Humboldt Activists Begin New Tree Sit To Defend Unlogged Forest In Mattole Watershed: Resistance to Humboldt Redwood Company’s (HRC) plans to cut hundreds of acres of previously unlogged forest have escalated with the creation of a new tree sit blocking road access to the Long Ridge area in the Mattole. “We see HRC’s plans to log old growth Doug fir in the Mattole watershed as a ‘testing of the waters’, in that if they get away with it, more old growth forest will come crashing down” said the activist tree sitter who is suspended 70 ft. …

Caltrans Permit for Willits Bypass Project SUSPENDED!

June 24, 2014 by Karen Pickett

Willits, CA—In a move that was welcomed by but that stunned long-time opponents of the highway project and stung Caltrans, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) suspended the permit for the Caltrans Willits Bypass on Friday, June 20, reported ABC News. ACE is the agency that regulates impacts on federally protected wetlands. “This appears to be the first time ACE has ever pulled a permit on an approved project under construction,” said Ellen Drell, co-founder of the Willits Environmental Center, one of the project’s opponents.” We are surprised and elated that ACE has finally acted, although we have been …

Join Us for Stomp the Stumps annual music & dance benefit ! Friday, May 16

May 6, 2014May 5, 2014 by Karen Pickett

The 16th annual Stomp the Stumps! brings together some of the Bay Area’s most dedicated political rock and dance bands for fundraising concerts to help save what’s left of natural Northern California. Longtime Stumpers the Funky Nixons and the Gary Gates Band perform before fellow returnees Curly cap the night. A rockin’ benefit for Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters at Ashkenaz Club: MAY 16! 1317 San Pablo Ave. at Gilman, Berkeley 94702 doors @ 8; music @8:30 3 dance beat bands: Funky Nixons, house band of Peoples’ Park and proponents of all good causes in the Bay brings …

Caltrans is out of step with the times, says independent study. Write a letter today to add your voice for redwoods and wetlands!

February 21, 2014February 15, 2014 by Karen Pickett

Sometimes—if you keep broadcasting your message logically, accurately and persistently, the echo comes back to you when you hear those in decision-making capacities using the same words. Please write to Brian Kelley, Secretary, Calif. State Transportation Agency, Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, Chair, State Senate Transportation Committee, with cc to Gov. Jerry Brown (addresses below) Caltrans is seriously out of step with the times, with the needs of the state of California, and with the ecological imperative. We have been voicing this for a long time, and now an independent study has come to that same conclusion. The Report, the …

Please Write This Letter to the Water Board Today!

February 15, 2014February 8, 2014 by Karen Pickett

Regional Water Board Should Issue Cease & Desist Order on Caltrans for Permit Violations Please write to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB) and urge them to put the issue of Mendocino wetlands being drained and filled without a mitigation plan by Caltrans on their March 13 agenda, and act on Caltrans’ intransigence in carrying out the Willits Bypass project. Caltrans, as part of their contract for their Bypass project in Willits was required to have an approved mitigation plan funded, in place and staffed before proceeding with the draining of the wetlands. The lack of …

Richardson Grove Update: WIN in Appeals Court!

January 31, 2014 by Karen Pickett

Appeals Court Reverses State Court Giving Green Light to Richardson Grove Highway Project See our report from the Courtroom in our Jan. 21 update here. The following is excerpted from the Center for Biological Diversity’s press release: The California Court of Appeal today ordered Caltrans to reevaluate the environmental impacts of a controversial highway-widening project in Humboldt County that would harm irreplaceable old-growth redwood trees in Richardson Grove State Park. The appeals court unanimously found that Caltrans failed to follow the law in assessing impacts on ancient redwoods and providing mitigation measures to reduce potentially severe harm to …