For nearly half a century (47 years, to be exact!), with your support the small but mighty Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) has done just what our name suggests—collect, monitor, publicize, and act on scientifically-based information about projects, issues, and changes that influence our collective environment, all in the interest of conserving and protecting the forests, rivers, wildlife, and communities of Northwest California.
In the past year, we have helped to protect:
Wildlife and mature forests on public lands from logging by...
Commenting on nearly every timber sale proposed on the more than five million acres encompassing Klamath, Shasta-Trinity, Six Rivers, and Mendocino National Forests.
Launching an action alert encouraging members of the public to submit comments urging the Six Rivers National Forest to rethink the proposed Rattail “logging and road building” project.
Launching two action alerts, one in January and one in September, that helped gather more than 1 million public comments urging the U.S. Forest Service to protect mature and old-growth trees on national forests across the country from logging via a “national old-growth amendment” in accordance with President Biden’s April 2022 Executive Order #14072.
Drawing public attention to the destructive, opportunistic roadside logging conducted by Caltrans along Highway 199 and the Wild & Scenic Smith River towards the end and shortly after the 2023 Smith River Complex, as well as the devastating clearcutting of large trees and snags by the U.S. Forest Service within Humboldt marten critical habitat in the Smith River National Recreation Area quite some time after the 2023 Smith River Complex without input from the Smith River Collaborative (despite a 2017 agreement to collaboratively advance habitat restoration and fuels treatment in the area through the Little Jones Creek Pilot Project)—both done in the name of “fire protection” but actually serving the end of commercial timber production.
Launching an action alert that helped gather more than 200 electronic public comments asking the U.S. Forest Service to close the Horse Mountain Botanical Area to unsupervised recreational target shooting.
Amplifying the petition urging President Biden to protect the Sáttítla Medicine Lake Highlands as a national monument.
Launching an action alert encouraging members of the public to submit comments to the U.S. Forest Service in support of wise, forward-thinking Northwest Forest Plan amendments.
The planet from climate change by...
Actively engaging in the planning process for the proposed Humboldt offshore wind energy projects to help ensure that they will be on the cutting edge of responsible renewable energy development, including studying offshore wind technology in-depth, monitoring the proposed project onshore, near-shore, and offshore developments, touring two existing offshore wind farms (one in Massachusetts and one in Norway), and publishing a website that aims to answer frequently asked questions and serve as an information hub.
Urging the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to procure sufficient offshore wind energy in line with California’s decarbonization goals. In response to EPIC’s comments, the CPUC elected to procure up to 7.6 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.
Commenting on the draft Humboldt County Climate Action Plan, which aims to effectively reduce Humboldt’s emissions to 40% of 1990 levels by 2030 as directed by the State of California.
Commenting on the Redwood Region RISE economic development plan and urging them to focus on climate change and environmental protection when developing plans for the Redwood Region’s economic development.
861,000 acres of land in California from development and resource extraction through our work with the Power in Nature Coalition towards achieving the state’s goal of conserving 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030, including...
Leading the Far Northern Regional Group of the Power in Nature Coalition.
Hosting webinars with expert panels about the proposed national old-growth amendment in March, the Great Redwood Trail in May, and Northwest Forest Plan amendments in July.
Attending the annual Power in Nature 30x30 Advocacy Day in Sacramento on Earth Day in April.
Launching an action alert that helped successfully protect funding for the Habitat Conservation Fund in the California State budget in June.
Successfully asking the Eureka City Council to pass a resolution declaring its support for 30x30 and the city as a “30x30 Community for Nature,” which the Council did in August.
Attending the annual 30x30 Partnership Summit in Sacramento in October; and
Successfully calling for a climate bond to be included on the general election ballot, which the California Legislature approved in July and California voters passed in the form of Proposition 4 in November (thank you!).
Jackson Demonstration State Forest from further mismanagement by the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) by...
Continuing to work with lawmakers, tribal members, and forest activists to halt logging, develop a new management plan with environmental review, and advocate for tribal management of the 48,652-acre state-owned coast redwood forest as a cultural landscape, as we have since 2021.
Attending a series of public meetings hosted by CAL FIRE throughout October, November, and December to provide input into the new forest management plan, insisting that the plan requires tribal co-governance and environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The ancient redwoods along Highway 101 in Richardson Grove from harm by...
Arguing yet another case in August against Caltrans’ 17-year-old proposed road-widening project, which the agency still obstinately denies will impact adjacent trees despite scientific evidence that road building does cause long-term harm to coast redwoods forests, that the judge unfortunately ruled against us in on November 13th and we anticipate appealing next year.
Launching an action alert on October 14th through which 536 EPIC members urged the California Transportation Commission to reject Caltrans’ bid for more project funding, and after which Caltrans withdrew its request on October 25th without stating a reason (likely because the agency was nervous that so many people were engaged in what is usually a rote, dry, and somewhat obscure governmental decision process).
Endangered salmon in the Shasta and Scott Rivers from extinction by...
Actively participating in the Scott/Shasta Flows Coalition.
Legally petitioning the California State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) in January seeking a permanent instream flow requirement that is sufficient to achieve recovery of endangered species and satisfy beneficial uses of the Shasta River, including subsistence fishing and recreation.
Drawing public attention in June to low flows in the Shasta and Scott Rivers, and the ineffectiveness of the Water Board’s local cooperative solutions (LCS) program at reducing water use by irrigators in place of diversion curtailments.
Launching an action alert in October through which 350 EPIC members urged the Water Board to establish legally enforceable minimum “recovery flow” requirements for imperiled salmonids in the Shasta and Scott watersheds.
Threatened northern spotted owls from extinction by...
Following through on a formal notice of intent to sue from June by filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service in September for violations of the Endangered Species Act stemming from the South Fork Sacramento Project, a timber sale proposed by the Forest Service in 2021 that would log over 8,000 acres of owl habitat in Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Lake Siskiyou, approximately three miles west of Mount Shasta City, California, and result in the “taking” of 12 spotted owls from two currently active nest sites.
Publicly speaking out in support of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s barred owl removal strategy, which is difficult and unsavory, but ultimately necessary for the continued existence of the northern spotted owl and the broader health of Pacific Northwest forest health—including being featured in earned media by the San Francisco Chronicle, Time Magazine, and NPR.
Persisting in a lawsuit filed last year against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for violating the Endangered Species Act by issuing a permit to Sierra Pacific Industries (California’s largest landowner) to “take” spotted owls on its private lands.
Del Norte County from environmental degradation by...
Supporting the Friends of Del Norte, including curating the group’s website and helping host a meet & greet in Crescent City in September encouraging new board members to join the organization.
Deeply engaging in the environmental review process for the Last Chance Grade Project, including hosting a radio show on the topic in early January, submitting comments on the draft environmental impact statement/report released in late January, and celebrating public environmental processes, as well as committing to continue working with Caltrans to refine the project to reduce avoidable impacts and ensure that whatever impacts cannot be avoided will be minimized and mitigated to the maximum extent possible, once the tunnel alternative was chosen in June.
Delivering testimony on behalf of snowy plovers (Charadrius nivosus), a federally threatened species that is in grave danger in Del Norte County, at the California Coastal Commission meeting in Crescent City in May, asking the Commission to put pressure on California State Parks and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife to place signage, fencing and boulders to prevent illegal vehicle trespass and facilitate real change and better conditions for plovers.
Encouraging members of the public to attend two public meetings hosted by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board in Del Norte County in October to voice concerns about the impacts that pesticide-intensive cultivation of Easter lily bulbs have had on water quality, human health, and protected species in the Smith River Plain, and subsequently amplifying the Redwood Voice article which reported on testimony delivered at the meetings from Smith River residents about illnesses purportedly linked to pesticide use in the local lily industry.
Foundational environmental laws from right-wing, Trumpian attacks by...
Intervening in June in a lawsuit filed by 21 Republican State Attorneys General that seeks to undo progressive updates by the Biden administration to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) that would, among other things, reverse Trump era-rollbacks and allow agencies to specifically consider Indigenous knowledge as a form of expertise and engage with groups with environmental justice concerns.
Drawing public attention to the overturn of the Council of Environmental Quality’s multidecadal authority to issue implementing regulations for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in late November.
Preparing a multifaceted strategy to counteract anticipated right-wing, Trumpian attacks to foundational environmental laws, including promoting better success at the ballot box in midterm elections for Congress in 2026, using litigation to stop implementation of new bad regulations or delay their implementation into the next presidential term, working project-by-project to scrap and brawl over everything that federal law will still allow, and pushing the State of California to strengthen its own environmental laws to make up for any federal rollbacks.
Imperiled species from further degradation and extinction by...
Advocating for broader rodenticide bans to protect wildlife in February.
Celebrating the designation of 1.2 million acres of critical habitat for Humboldt martens in northwestern California and southeastern Oregon in May.
Publicizing an opportunity in June for members of the public to provide the California Department of Fish & Wildlife with input on its draft Black Bear Conservation Plan.
Drawing public attention in September to the marbled murrelet’s continued struggle for survival.
This year we also...
Celebrated the steady comeback of gray wolves in California, including 30 wolf pups born into five of the state’s nine wolf packs this year.
Commemorated the completion of dam removal on the Klamath River, including drawing connections between the Sarawak and Klamath Rivers by touring the Klamath dam removal project with members of the Yurok Tribe and Borneo Project in April.
Hosted EPIC’s 2024 fire campout on the King Range led by Susan Nolan from May 18th-19th; EPIC’s 47th annual Fall Celebration, Sempervirens Award Ceremony honoring Rob DiPerna, and 2024 silent auction supporting EPIC’s work on November 9th; and EPIC’s annual holiday party and membership meeting on December 6th.
Participated in the 42nd annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, OR, from March 1st to 3rd; Zero Waste Humboldt’s Zero Waste Market at the Arcata North Coast Co-op on April 20th; the Decolonizing Economics 2024 Earth Day Festival at Pierson Park in McKinleyville on April 21st; Ten Mile Creek Revival in Laytonville on June 28th; the Salmon River Restoration Council’s 32nd annual Cooperative Salmon River Spring Chinook & Summer Steelhead Census Dives on July 24th; and the 50th annual North Country Fair on the Arcata Plaza on September 21st and 22nd.
Bid farewell to two influential North Coast environmental activists: watershed advocate Petey Brucker in April, and Tribal leader Priscilla Hunter in November.
And finally, 2024 in numbers:
18,646 members and supporters
1,664 comments from online activists
650 followers gained on Instagram
126 letters from ally organizations signed onto
112 blog posts
82 mentions in the news
55 public hearings
50 radio shows
45 projects commented on
37 email newsletters
17 coalitions/collaboratives - Power in Nature, California Natural Resources Agency 30x30 Partnership Coordinating Committee, Friends of Del Norte & EPIC Alliance, Lily Bulb Order Technical Advisory Group, Last Chance Grade Technical Advisory Group, Pacific Wolf Coalition, Climate Forest Alliance, Western Klamath Restoration Partnership, Smith River Collaborative, Federal Carbon Coalition, CORE Hub Offshore Wind Coalition, California Offshore Wind eNGO Collaborative, Humboldt Climate Action Plan Collaborative, Save Jackson Coalition, North Coast Streamflow Coalition, Klamath Ad Hoc Coalition, Scott & Shasta Rivers Flows Coalition
14 action alerts
5 ongoing lawsuits
2 new lawsuits
Happy New Year! See you in 2025; our office reopens on January 1st.
~the EPIC team
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