Updates + News
An Ode to an Indigenous Justice Movement During Indigenous People's Week
October 14, 2020
This week, we are to remember the lives taken and the relatives (natural resources) that are plundered to this day. It is also important to remember the people who have fought and continue to fight to end violence and the exploitation of nature. Because of this, we wanted to make an ode to highlight an incredibly important Indigenous justice movement in our country. read more >>
Green Diamond: Climate Change “Skeptic”
October 6, 2020
Our planet is getting hotter. Climate change likely exacerbated this year’s fires, lengthening the fire season—it is now drier and warmer for longer—and by causing more extreme weather that helps to drive the large, fast-moving fires often to blame for the loss of life and property. Climate change is felt elsewhere locally. All of this is obvious. Except apparently to Green Diamond Resource Company, whose clearcuts pockmark the North Coast. In every timber harvest plan (THP) submitted for approval to CALFIRE, Green Diamond begins the discussion of the impacts of harvest on climate change by questioning whether climate change is real. read more >>
New Rodenticide Law – A Win For Wildlife
October 6, 2020
AB 1788, the California Ecosystems Protection Act prohibits the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) until the Department of Pesticide Regulation completes a reevaluation and adopts additional restrictions necessary to ensure that use of rodenticides will not result in significant adverse effects to nontarget wildlife. The law provides exemptions for agricultural activities, public health activities, invasive species on offshore islands, scientific studies, or to control rodent infestations associated with public health needs in certain locations and under specified conditions. The bill declares violation of new law is a misdemeanor. read more >>
Contrasting Federal Legislation Shows How (and How Not) to Deal with Fire
September 22, 2020
California federal legislators have offered dueling bills to respond to the recent large fires that have gripped the West. In one corner stands Senator Dianne Feinstein and her bill S. 4431; in the other are Sen. Kalama Harris and the Northcoast’s own Rep. Huffman, who have brought forward S. 2882 and its House companion, H.R. 5091. To be clear who we are rooting for: EPIC has joined our friends at Earthjustice, Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club, The League of Conservation Voters, The Wilderness Society, and Western Environmental Law Center in opposing Senate Bill 4431. read more >>
Fire Facts and Fictions
September 22, 2020
There have been plenty of frustrating headlines that attribute one thing for this year’s fire behavior. Predictably, the main culprit changes by the story. In some, fuel accumulation from a lack of logging is to blame. In others, the history of colonization that has removed traditional cultural burning is at fault. The truth is that there are many, many variables that influence fire behavior. We humans have better control over some (like whether homes are to be constructed out of fire-resistant materials than others (like the weather). Be careful of oversimplification!read more >>
Forging Fire Strategies
September 22, 2020
The time to adapt and live with wildfire is here. There are many communities across the west working toward that goal. The climate crisis is thrusting change upon urban and rural towns alike. As the flames and smoke become more familiar, our relationship with fire must progress. Here in the Pacific Northwest corner of California, strategic fire planning is underway. read more >>
Stop the Salvage Logging of Post-Fire Forests
September 21, 2020
Post-fire logging is sold as a way to recover at least some of the economic value of timber the trees can be made into. But, while private timber companies do profit from the cheap raw materials logging provides, the costs to the public and to our forests are immense. Not only is it an economic ripoff, post-fire logging is also an ecologically disastrous practice that does not protect us or forests. As we face the effects of a changing climate, including more intense wildfire across the west, it is essential that we invest our limited resources into programs that will both increase wildfire resilience and protect habitat.read more >>
Save The Date! The 43rd Annual EPIC ‘Virtual’ Fall Celebration: Bringing The Wild To You
September 8, 2020
As some may have figured, this year’s Fall Celebration will be looking a little different. On behalf of the staff and board of EPIC, you are cordially invited to the The 43rd Annual EPIC ‘Virtual’ Fall Celebration starting at 6pm on Friday, November 6th, 2020 on Zoom. Despite not getting to see your lovely faces in person, we are certainly looking forward to this event! We will be featuring a wonderful schedule, complete with break-out happy hour groups, live music, catered meals, and a great silent auction. Please join us this November 6th! read more >>
Victory! Old-Growth Redwood Saved from Caltrans Project
September 8, 2020
The original plans for the Hely Creek bridge would have negatively altered a half-acre of the forest, a six-foot-wide old-growth redwood, other large trees along with their root systems, as well as pruning sacred old-growth redwoods. We are pleased to announce that the liaison between Caltrans and EPIC informed us that they will now be cutting their previous eight-foot shoulder down to a four-foot shoulder on the new bridge to preserve the lives of several large trees including a magnificent six-foot-wide old-growth redwood.read more >>
BREAKING: Humboldt Martens Receive Long-Awaited Endangered Species Act Protection
September 1, 2020
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that the Humboldt marten will receive protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The decision comes after EPIC and the Center of Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration for its long delay in finalizing protections for this rare species.read more >>
