Open Beaches & Trails

Arrest made in embezzlement case with $1 million warrants UPDATED

2012-02-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

◼ Del Norte County District Attorney Jon Alexander said they're also searching for alleged co-conspirator Ron LeValley, a senior biologist with the Eureka-based Mad River Biologists company. He also has a $1 million arrest warrant for burglary, embezzlement and conspiracy to commit a crime. - Times-Standard

...Alexander said Mad River Biologists' employee Sean McAllister was arrested this afternoon at the biology office on Second Street in Eureka. He was wanted on the same alleged crimes as both LeValley and Raymond.

Alexander said the alleged embezzlements are related to spotted owl research by the biology company and other incidents, including charging the tribe for the cost of putting tires on a personal vehicle.
Field said the investigation into this case started in October when the Yurok Tribe came to them with information. He said the Del Norte County District Attorney's Office has had the full cooperation of the Yurok Tribe during the investigation....

◼ Del Norte DA investigating former Yurok Tribe employee suspected of embezzlement - Times-Standard

The Del Norte County District Attorney's Office plans to arrest several people for an alleged embezzlement case connected to the Yurok Tribe.

According to Yurok Tribe officials, the office is looking for multiple people. Sources close to the investigation said there is a $1 million warrant out for the arrest of a former Yurok tribal employee who is suspected of embezzling from the tribe.

The story is developing.

◼ KIEM: DEL NORTE COUNTY SUSPECTS BEING SOUGHT IN EMBEZZLEMENT CASE

◼ Court documents outline alleged embezzlement from Yurok Tribe; former Yurok Tribe forestry director still wanted on $1 million warrant - Times-Standard

Court documents outline how three biologists allegedly used an elaborate system of fake invoices, false purchase requests and electronic bank transfers to embezzle more than $900,000 from the Yurok Tribe during a three-year period.

Officials with the Del Norte County District Attorney's Office traveled to Eureka on Thursday to execute three $1 million arrest warrants for suspects Sean McAllister, Ron LeValley and Roland Raymond. The men are accused of burglary, embezzlement and conspiracy to commit a crime.

McAllister, 45, an associate biologist with the Eureka-based Mad River Biologists, was arrested Thursday while at work. LeValley, 65, a senior biologist and founder of the business, was arrested Thursday night after turning himself in to Del Norte County officials. Raymond, 49, the former Yurok Tribe forestry director, was still at-large Friday night....

The documents state that 75 tribal checks were deposited into a Mad River Biologists account from February 2008 to December 2010. The checks totaled $870,064.91.

Of the 75 checks, 31 were deposited and funds withdrawn the same day using a deposit slip reportedly signed by McAllister. Twenty-six of the check deposits were followed by checks being written from the Mad River Biologists account to cash, Sean McAllister, MRB Research Inc. or North Valley Bank. The remaining 18 transactions involved an electronic transfer from the account to LeValley's personal account, followed by LeValley writing checks totaling $123,352 to Raymond, the documents state.

The affidavit states multiple debits and deposits were discovered from the company's account to another account called MRB Research, Inc.

”Investigators will discover the MRB Research, Inc. account was used to further hide, transfer and/or disperse monies originating from the embezzled checks,” the affidavit said.

According to the court documents, a review of Raymond's personal bank accounts shows he deposited some of LeValley's checks and embezzled funds from other sources.

◼ Shock, disbelief follow arrests: Biology community has trouble digesting embezzlement allegations

When news spread Thursday that a pair of respected Eureka biologists were arrested for their alleged roles in an elaborate embezzlement scheme, the reaction was stunned disbelief.

Many in the biology community contacted on Friday -- before information contained in the search warrant affidavits outlining the investigation was reported in the Times-Standard -- declined to comment for this story, saying they didn't want to get involved and preferred to let the legal process run its course.

All, however, said the two men's reputations are beyond reproach....

Announcements:

2012-01-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

◼ Backcountry Horsemen of California Members Only Pack Clinic

When: Sat, January 28, 10am – 11am
Where: Polasek's Place
Description: Pot luck lunch! Hamburgers will be provided, bring an appetizer, side or dessert!
There will be a packing and dutch oven demo.
This event is members only!
You may join at the event.
Contact the Polasek's to RSVP.

Northern California Horsemen's Association (NCHA) Ride
When: Sun, January 29, 11am – 12pm
Where: South Jetty
Description: January 29th, Sunday South Jetty. Meet at 11:00 a.m.
For more information, visit: http://nchahumboldt.org/

Lots more: (details at Backcountry Horsemen of California Calendar)

Wednesday, February 1
7:00pm BCHC Redwood Unit Monthly Meeting
Thursday, February 2

Thursday, February 9-12
BCHC Pack Clinic Humboldt County Fairgrounds in Ferndale

Thursday, February 9 6:00pm
Humboldt Trails Council Meeting

Friday, February 10
BCHC Pack Clinic

Saturday, February 11
BCHC Pack Clinic

Sunday, February 12
BCHC Pack Clinic

Wednesday, February 15
6:00pm Barrels by the Bay

Saturday, February 18
Gymkhana

If you have an event to add, put it in the comments.

Text from the Little River CDP Coastal Development Permit for the Little River Project

2012-01-19T16:43:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested this is the text from the Little River CDP Coastal Development Permit for the Little River Project that pertains to our trails.

Note that the proposed trail does not even connect to the county backdune trail to the south or even to the beach.

It is important that they have recognized the historic use of horses on these trails. That makes it hard to kick us off.

This comes from a rather large document but if anyone wants it I'll send it.

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION
CDP Application No. 1-10-004
pg 16

Third, the Department proposes to designate and partially construct a new 1.34-milelong
equestrian trail extending from the existing parking lot to the Little River, in part
through the backdune environment (Exhibit Nos. 4 and 5). LRSB is a popular riding area for local equestrians, who currently park at the existing southern parking lot and ride out to the beach to ride either north to the mouth of the Little River or south to the mouth of the Mad River. Currently horses are permitted only along the waveslope below the mean high tide at LRSB. Approximately 4,113 feet of the proposed new equestrian trail would follow existing developed way trails currently used by both equestrians and hikers, and approximately 3,000 feet of the trail would require new construction. The proposed new section of trail to be constructed would occur immediately adjacent to the frontage road from the existing parking lot at the southern end of LRSB to approximately across from proposed Parking Lot B. This proposed new trail section would be constructed on the paved western shoulder of the frontage road by removing a 3-foot-wide section of existing pavement along the road shoulder from the existing southern parking lot to proposed Parking Lot A and placing a crushed rock and soil mix trail surface in its place. The portion of the proposed new equestrian trail extending from across the frontage road from Parking Lot A to across the frontage road from Parking Lot B would run along the base of the (road) fill slope parallel and adjacent to the frontage road shoulder (atop existing flat terrain dominated mostly by herbaceous invasive weeds) and would have a 4-footwide native surface

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION
CDP Application No. 1-10-004
pg 20

The proposed trail improvements within ESHA areas are limited to nature study use and improvements that are designed to restore the ESHA for various reasons. First, none of the trails except for the boardwalk will require new trail construction within the dune ESHA. The portions of the trails to be designated within the ESHA are limited to locations where there are existing way trails currently used by public access users where no new construction is proposed and where designation of the trail will help channel and direct public access use away from other way trails and from undisturbed portions of the dunes, thereby helping to maintain and restore the dune ESHA. Second, the 3,000 feet of new equestrian trail construction is confined to the edge of the existing frontage road in areas that are either currently part of the road shoulder or immediately adjacent flat areas of ruderal vegetation that is not environmentally sensitive. The portions of the equestrian trail to be designated within the ESHA are limited to existing way trails that have previously been used by horses, and the surrounding ESHA is not likely to be adversely affected by additional equestrian use. The existing equestrian trails to be utilized are wide enough to accommodate horse use without danger that the trails will be widened out by increased use. Third, the proposed California Coastal Trail improvements will consist...

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION
CDP Application No. 1-10-004
Page 21

only of striping a bike lane within the paved areas of the existing frontage road and its shoulder outside of any ESHA and designating portions of the trail system as part of the Coastal Trail. Fourth, the proposed boardwalk construction will be located within the dune ESHA, but it will be located within existing way trails and limited in width to the minimum width necessary to meet ADA requirements. Fifth, the two proposed bridges will completely span the dune wetland areas they cross without any fill in the wetlands. Finally, the proposed loop interpretive trail will include interpretive signs to educate users about the natural dune environment they are passing through.

Malibu Lagoon: Coastal Commission met with protest

2012-01-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

◼ The powerful California Coastal Commission visited Malibu last Thursday, touring several beach properties that have caused controversy over public access and dominate the statewide perception of the commission's relationship with Malibu. But it was a stop at the site of the issue most talked about locally, the Malibu Lagoon restoration project, that generated the most heat when commissioners were met at the lagoon by about 30 indignant protesters, who carried signs and pointedly questioned the logic behind the project. - Malibu Times

The commission, touring by bus, was scheduled to spend 45 minutes at the lagoon but arrived late and left after only 20 minutes for lunch with Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy head Joe Edmiston at Ramirez Canyon Park. Whether the presence of the protesters affected that timetable is unclear, but it was a tense atmosphere as Suzanne Goode, senior resource ecologist for California State Parks, gave a talk recounting the history of the lagoon and the proposed restoration efforts while surrounded by protesters.

Goode, one of the designers of the restoration project, described the current lagoon as “essentially a dead zone,” with low levels of oxygen in the water that were harmful to birds and fish. She called the present configuration of the lagoon, which was restored in 1983, unnatural, and said the reshaped lagoon would have better water circulation, which would scour out excess mud in the back of the lagoon and raise the low levels of oxygen in the water.

Goode drew boos from the protestors when she defended the use of bulldozers to reshape the lagoon channels....

Vaill said that Assembly candidate Torie Osborn had said she would stand with him in front of the bulldozers on June 1, when the project is set to begin. Osborn is running for election in the new state Assembly district that includes Malibu.

David Jacobson, a representative of Osborn, confirmed on Monday that if a “time-out” is not taken to review the science used in the original Environmental Impact Report for the project, Osborn would stand in front of the bulldozers on June 1.

Neighhhhhh, they say

2012-01-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

◼ About 80 equestrian trail advocates “flash mobbed at Clam Beach today,” reports Uri Driscoll. They parked about 35 horse trailers alongside the frontage road between U.S. 101 and Clam Beach/Little River State Beach, and then assembled on foot in front of them with sign boards and a petition. They demanded that Redwood State Park listen to their concerns about a trail project about to get underway along the state’s Little River stretch of the long beach.

“This is the area that State Parks intends to narrow by nearly half and install a two-foot wide bike lane and a horse trail alongside the remaining asphalt,” said Driscoll in an email following the action.

According to the equestrians, there’s a perfectly good horse trail they’ve already been using, and would like to keep using; they don’t want the new trail the state proposes to build — so why spend scarce state money on it?

Driscoll says they invited State Parks officials to come to the action and accept their petition with about 200 signatures, but received no response.
...............Heidi Walters/North Coast Journal Blogthing

ACTION ITEM: Please come to Clam Beach Saturday Jan. 14th at 1 pm

2012-01-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

We plan to have a gathering of the horse clan at Clam Beach tomorrow Saturday the 14th at 1 pm to deliver the petition to State Parks personnel and have invited the press. The press seems pretty interested in this and hopefully State Parks will show up.

What we would like to do is have any of you that can bring your horse trailers (and horses if you wish) and park along the west side of the frontage road from the north County Parking Lot (the middle one). This will be easier if you get off at the Crannell exit and come south.

It is mainly for the photo and we would love to show up in force. We will present State Parks with the petition and then we can all go riding. Should be a nice day.

Keep in mind this will carry a lot of weight into the future so please do what you can to show up. We should be done within a half hour or so.

Call your friends and you don’t need a horse trailer.

Uri Driscoll

Update: AWESOME TURNOUT! THANK YOU ALL!

We Want Trails not Trouble

2012-01-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

We as horsemen and women have a long history of building, maintaining and riding our local trails. So why then would so many of us have objections to the equestrian trail project slated for Little River State Beach?

The reason is simply that there is a perfectly fine existing trail that ties into county trails to the south. The new isolated trail would put horses right next to the road with obvious and unaddressed safety concerns. We are also not in favor of tearing up undisturbed habitat when it is completely unnecessary.

In an effort to gain local equestrian support for this project we were told by State Park personnel several years ago at the onset of this project two important things that turned out to be not exactly true. One was that we were “not allowed” to ride where we have been for decades. The fact is State Parks had a no restrictions policy that did not prohibit us from enjoying our horses on long established trails. Second was that we were also led to believe that State Coastal Commission representatives had stated that they would not allow horses on the existing trail slated for pedestrians only. So far State Parks although asked several times, has not provided the identities of those representatives. The two Coastal Commission personnel recently contacted indicated there would not be any problem with shared use. This shared and existing use would not require any new construction.

These two misleading presentations led us to believe the only way we would be able to use our horses on this public land was to support this project.. Admittedly we were caught of guard as we had for decades enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with State Parks.

We would much rather see monies and efforts directed toward restoring and replanting the area at Little River that was bulldozed a few years ago. State Parks has said funding was limiting their permit obligations to replant.

Another disturbing element of the trail part of this project is that while perfectly good, safe trails have been and are being used in this area the new trails would involve using heavy equipment to tear up undisturbed habitat. We have communicated this to the State Parks project manager and acting District Supervisor this past year with no response that addresses this.

Removing a significant part of the County frontage road is also a inexplicable part of this project.
State Parks could better direct their limited energies to keeping more of our campgrounds open that benefit local economies and give families inexpensive summer camping opportunities.

While horsemen and women will continue to support much needed multi use trails in our community this project has become an example of what does not meet our needs. With such limited resources we can do better for our environment and our valued recreational systems.

Uri Driscoll

ACTION ITEM: Please come to Clam Beach Saturday 1 pm

We plan to have a gathering of the horse clan at Clam Beach tomorrow Saturday the 14th at 1 pm to deliver the petition to State Parks personnel and have invited the press. The press seems pretty interested in this and hopefully State Parks will show up.

What we would like to do is have any of you that can bring your horse trailers (and horses if you wish) and park along the west side of the frontage road from the north County Parking Lot (the middle one). This will be easier if you get off at the Crannell exit and come south.

It is mainly for the photo and we would love to show up in force. We will present SP with the petition and then we can all go riding. Should be a nice day.

Keep in mind this will carry a lot of weight into the future so please do what you can to show up. We should be done within a half hour or so.

Call your friends and you don’t need a horse trailer.

Ridge Trail Gains Key Northern Link

2011-12-30T13:44:00.000-08:00

◼ The Arcata Eye reports: The City of Arcata and Green Diamond Resource Company issued a press release today (see below) announcing closure of escrow on a key link in the Arcata Ridge Trail – the northernmost piece, which connects the Arcata Community Forest to West End Road....

That leaves just two parcels to be acquired until the 4.3 mile Ridge Trail is fully owned by the citizens of Arcata.... Read the rest.

Those wishing to contribute to the Forest Fund for creation of the Ridge Trail may find information for doing so on the trails Facebook page. ◼ Arcata Ridge Trail

Lets keep our Dune trails

2011-12-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

We as horsemen and women have a long history of building, maintaining and riding our local trails. So why then would many of us have objections to the equestrian trail project slated for Little River State Beach? No the earth hasn’t flip its axis and Hades although getting chilly hasn’t frozen over yet.

The reason is simply that there is a perfectly fine existing trail.

In an effort to gain local equestrian support for this project we were told by State Park personnel several years ago at the onset of this project two important things that turned out to be not exactly true. One was that we were “not allowed” to ride where we have been for decades. The fact is State Parks had a no restrictions policy that did not prohibit us from enjoying our horses on long established trails. Second was that we were also led to believe that State Coastal Commission representatives stated that they would not allow horses on the existing trail slated for pedestrians only. These two misleading presentations led us to believe the only way we would be able to use our horses on this public land was to support this project. So far State Parks although asked several times, has not provided the identities of those representatives nor have the two Coastal Commission personnel recently contacted indicated there would be any problem with shared use. It would not require any new construction..

We would rather see monies directed to either replanting the area bulldozed a few years ago. Without adequate vegetation there seems to be negative effects on the breeding behavior and success of the snowy plover and has increased raven activity in the cleared area. It also has created considerable both tidal effects and wind blown sand movement that is compromising the function and size of the freshwater wetland to the east.

While this project has been billed as a restoration project it is having obvious problems living up to its permit obligations. That is something the Coastal Commission who issued the Coastal Development permit has been made aware of. Hopefully they will have enough gumption to address these serious issues.

What is disturbing about the trail part of this project is that while perfectly good, safe trails have been and are being used in this area the new trails would involve using heavy equipment to tear up undisturbed habitat. We have communicated this to the State Parks project manager and acting District Supervisor this past year with no response that addresses this. There also has been no data provided that suggests there are significant impacts from our historic trail use.

State Parks could also better direct their limited energies to keeping more of our campgrounds open that benefit local economies and give families inexpensive summer camping opportunities.

While we will support much needed horse trails in our community this project has become an example of what we don’t need with preferred trails nearby. With such limited resources we can do better for our environment and our valued recreational systems.

Equestrian Trail Access

2011-12-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

◼ Happy Trails: - Lost Coast Outpost

Cliff and Emily talk with Ruth Hoke, member of the board of directors of the Redwood Empire Endurance Riders about Equestrian Trail Access and how bike commuters, pedestrians and horse riders can all work together for a mutual benefit: A regional multi-use trail system. (Audio at the link)

Off-road enthusiasts ask Jerry Brown to rethink dismissal

2011-12-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

◼ A week after Gov. Jerry Brown dismissed Daphne Greene, deputy director of the state's off-road vehicle recreation program, the chairman of the California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission today criticized the decision and urged Brown to reconsider. - Sacramento Bee

Eric Lueder told Brown in a letter that it was with "great shock and sadness" that he learned of Greene's dismissal, effective at the end of the month. Lueder said accusations that Greene catered to off-road enthusiasts at the expense of environmental concerns were unfounded.

"Ms. Greene exemplifies what is right in state government and should be held up as a model employee/manager for all others to aspire to," Lueder wrote.

Greene, a Democrat, was appointed by Brown's predecessor, former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. She was praised by off-road enthusiasts but sometimes criticized by environmentalists.

Fred Kelly Grant - Friends of Shasta Trinity National Forest - Shasta National Forest Speech

2011-12-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

FEDS eye wild ponies of Chincoteague...Town fears drastic new erosion rules will destroy island town, economy...

2011-11-28T13:31:00.001-08:00

◼ FEDS eye wild ponies of Chincoteague...
- Washington Post ◼ image source: AP

In a new plan to deal with beach erosion and prepare for sea-level rise, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed changes that the mayor, the chamber of commerce and homeowners say would eventually drive away summer tourism and drive down the economy that depends on it. Some of those changes would involve closing the beach and its parking lot, then opening a beach with parking farther away and shuttling tourists.

Town leaders say vacationers won’t board shuttles with all their beach stuff — umbrellas, chairs and food. They’ll bypass Chincoteague for Ocean City, where hotels sit near the water....

Chincoteague doesn’t control its beach. It’s part of the Assateague Island National Seashore, run by the federal National Park Service, and sits within the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, controlled by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Charged with protecting endangered animals and managing the refuge on a shrinking budget, the Fish and Wildlife Service argued in a 15-year comprehensive refuge plan that it can’t save the beach and its parking lot from the unrelenting forces of nature.

More than 100 yards of shoreline has been lost to the Atlantic Ocean since the mid-1960s, said Louis Hinds, the refuge manager. A federal visitors center has been moved twice from rising waters. And if cars didn’t occupy the 8.5-acre parking lot, piping plovers, an endangered shorebird the refuge protects, would nest there.

The changes facing Chincoteague are coming to coastal communities across the nation. In Hampton Roads, planning commissions are preparing for the day, 30 to 50 years from now, when sea-level rise reshapes the coast, and a few landowners are resisting.

At the core of the debate in Chincoteague are questions of fairness....

OREGON SHERIFF GIL GILBERTSON CONTINUES STAND AGAINST U.S. FOREST SERVICE

2011-11-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

◼ Oregon Sheriff Gil Gilbertson Continues Stand Against U.S. Forest Service - Sarah Foster, News With Views

Josephine County, Ore. -- Two months ago Gil Gilbertson, the sheriff of this rural county in southern Oregon, drafted a 10-page report exploring the origins and extent of federal power within a state and emailed his findings to various parties, asking for comment.

Since the report was in rough-draft form he was somewhatsurprised that it went viral, but it shows there are a lot of people hungry for information about how much power (particularly law-enforcement power) the federal government actually wields within a state, where that power comes from, and the limits to that power.

Gilbertson continued his research and recently completed a 13-page revised and updated version, retitled: Unraveling Federal Jurisdiction within a State. It is highly footnoted with references to statutes and court decisions.

This a “must read” for anyone concerned about infringements against the 10th Amendment and federal encroachments in general – like road closures, Wild Lands and Monument designations, mining and other resource uses. In other words, this is for anyone and everybody with an interest – no matter how casual -- in accessing the public lands, either as a “resource user” (a rancher or miner) or simply a casual vacationer who enjoys weekend camping. Read The Rest...

2011-08-19T09:12:00.001-07:00

Dispersed use of dune trails

2011-08-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

◼ Dispersed use of dune trails a viable option - Uri Driscoll/My Word

Local government agencies and land managers are currently involved in developing recommendations for managing our coastal dunes and beaches. The publication of their white paper, due out this summer, is to reflect these recommendations. Representatives of these agencies have put out to the public the desire for dialog, but so far it has been difficult for some of us to get meaningful (if any) responses from them. There is growing concern over the massive expense, negative effects, and even effectiveness of the European beach grass removal. However, also at stake is the traditional enjoyment of these special environments, because beach grass removal seems to precede trail removal.

What we had been enjoying up until the last several years is what could be called a dispersed use of the dunes and beaches. More recently, there has been a concerted effort to concentrate use and eliminate many favorite trails by State Parks, BLM, and now Friends of the Dunes on property purchased largely with California Coastal Conservancy monies. (The county essentially utilizes the dispersed use management strategy.) Eliminating trails is blatantly out of touch with the obvious community desire for more trails.

First, most of these trails slated for closure are natural pathways following contours that make sense from a pedestrian or horseman's point of view. Second, there has been no real account of what actual problems were associated with the dispersed use. If there were problems, we were not given a chance to rectify them. Third, there are obviously enforcement problems. Deputies and rangers cannot be staffed to the point that they can go after and ticket someone walking or riding on a non-designated dune trail.

If we ever develop the problems that honestly require the type of restrictions we are starting to encounter, we can work that out. However, we, as recreational users and fishermen, have been left out of the working groups determining policies that directly affect us. Let us be real here; even on a sunny summer Sunday, we all have plenty of room, and our impacts are relatively minimal.

These pathways are already in existence. They are premium year-round trails that have not required the maintenance and expense of so many other locations. In other words, they are practically free.

There is no determined border between sensitive and non-sensitive areas. How, then, can carving a parking lot or running bulldozers in the dunes be permitted whereas enjoying a familiar path in the same area is not? These dunes are not pristine wilderness areas. They should not be attempted to be managed as such.

Trails are a premium recreational resource we should not be losing.

Hopefully the Dune Co-op will not insult the wisdom of those who already use and care about these dunes. We go to these special places to explore, to sit in a sheltered dune and to witness the subtle and not-so-subtle changes since our last visit. The very limited trails that end up on the official maps often exclude these places. The increasing signage is a visual blight on a splendid landscape. Complications of linking trails that continue onto another land manager's property are fraught with red tape issues. Dispersed use would eliminate those problems also.

Let's have these land managers consider the historic and a responsible dispersed use option for managing our dunes. We do not want nor do we deserve to feel like sheep or criminals being herded from the parking lot to the wave slope and back.

The legitimacy of this upcoming white paper will only be had by including the people who use and enjoy the dunes as well.

Uri Driscoll resides in Arcata.

Opinions expressed in My Word pieces do not necessarily reflect the editorial viewpoint of the Times-Standard.

2011-07-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

. . . Angela Burgess

Humboldt Beacon: Railbanking poll

2011-07-11T13:29:00.001-07:00

The Humboldt Beacon invites readers to send in their comments on the entire railbanking issue as it concerns the Eel River Valley. Write to --- Email: news@humboldtbeacon.com to express your views in a Letter to the Editor. For background information on the subject, contact:
◼ North Coast Rail Authority: www.northcoastrailroad.org
◼ Federal Railroad Administration: www.fra.dot.gov/pages/32.shtml
◼ National Trails System: www.nps.gov/nts/
◼ Eel River Trails Association: --- Email: chriswestonsr@yahoo.com

Clam and Moonstone Beach County Parks Access Management Master Plan)

2011-07-11T13:17:00.001-07:00

◼ Clam and Moonstone Beach County Parks Access Management Master Plan

State: CA OHV Commission Sends Letter to Congress on Clear Creek

2011-07-11T13:10:00.001-07:00

◼ CA OHV Commission Sends Letter to Congress on Clear Creek GR HQ

Restoration equals Restrictions

2011-07-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt we have out our backdoor some of the most spectacular coastline in the world. Still the dunes and the beaches are rarely very crowded. Of course there are the days when it seems that we are all on them at the same time and still there is space between us. Or as Daniel Boone liked to say “elbow room.”

Lanphere Dunes offers permit-only access and otherwise is closed to the public. The area just south of that -- called North Ma-le'l Dunes -- is also open only for guided walks on Sundays at 2 p.m.. No dogs, no horses need apply. Coming south next is South Ma-le'l Dunes which has a small system of trails including a short direct trail to the beach for equestrians. In between the two BLM Ma-le'l parcels is the Gun Club. South from there is the newly acquired Friends of the Dunes property many may know as the Stamps property. This was purchased in large part with funds from the Coastal Conservancy, a government agency devoted to providing access along the California coast. They were also a major factor in providing the public with many of the fantastic facilities at the Manila Community Center.

The Friends of the Dunes are in the process of determining how best to use the existing trails many of which horses have always been allowed on. The Stamps loved having riders show up at their house and had spoken of putting in a hitching rail for visitors. That is one of the proposals that has already been offered to the new owners.

And those that just like to see horses out enjoying the fresh air with them of course hope the Friends of the Dunes will have the foresight to keep the majority of the horse trails available. We should be concerned however because NO HORSE signs have been put up already.

The owner of Wildberries and a major donor to Friends of the Dunes, Phil Ricord has a bright, beautiful daughter who just loves horses and rode with my late wife and I many, many times. When I spoke with Phil he was not aware there were these issues concerning equestrian use. It would be a shame if his own daughter may not even be able to ride on the trail named after her dad's business. This is a trail that has been in use by both horseman and hikers for a long, long time.

According to the Friends of the Dunes, there have been no stated conflicts to date. We tend to stay on the trails, are generally pretty darn courteous and can be a real asset in an emergency.

The Friends of the Dunes is seeking public input involving issues for the various user groups. They have said there will be meetings in the near future for the general public as they have already invited their Manila neighbors to one last week. I encourage all of you to make your voices heard at and/or at the upcoming public meetings. I can be reached at .
_________________________
◼ Restoration equals Restrictions - 3/19/2009
Uri Driscoll is a lifetime horseman and a resident of Arcata.

FRED KELLY GRANT and the 10th Amendment - Part 1

2011-03-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Symbolic fence or fiasco

2011-03-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

The recent reluctance of the Board of Supervisors to re-install the symbolic fence at Clam Beach is fortunately starting to shed light on the unnecessary hazard this represents.

The story of the young boy getting chased through the fence while riding is but one reason this fence should not even be considered. Fortunately, he was just a little roughed up. Little cowboys are pretty tough. Add the fact that this fence has been proven ineffective for the last four years -- along with the Fish and Wildlife Service reluctantly demanding its reinstallment -- one can't help but start scratching one's head in wonder. Professor Colwell himself recommended against it this year.

Having a recent tsunami event, and no doubt a next one on its way perhaps with far less warning and unpredictable intensity, one would have to think “what are we thinking.” Putting a rope hurdle between a tsunami and high ground on the most popular beach we have goes against any logic I have ever come across. Let's hope that doesn't lead to a lawsuit or worse.

Accidental harm to plover nests by local beach lovers have accounted for essentially 2 percent of the overall nest failures in the past decade. The last one occurred over two years ago by a little girl's curiosity. In other words, we are clearly not the problem. The Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for predator control but has said they are too busy to do anything about it and that the symbolic fence is somehow supposed to protect them from symbolic lawsuits.

I applaud the Board of Supervisors, not for authorizing the fence again this year but for making sure that there is a broader range of community members involved in managing the plover and beach issues. The supervisors still seem a little intimidated by Fish and Wildlife Service but that is waning.

The fence remains a bad idea for a lot of reasons but at least there is now some new light being shed on the myriad problems with the current plover, beach and dune management.

◼ Symbolic fence or fiasco - Uri Driscoll/For the Times-Standard 3/22/2011 - Uri Driscoll is a trail advocate living in Arcata.

Response: ◼ Clam Beach symbolic fencing column was misleading, frivolous - Diane Fairchild Beck

Eel River Trails Association

2011-03-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

◼ Eel River Trails Association - To organize missing link? - The Journal

Response: The real plight of the Snowy Plover

2010-12-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

In a recent “My Word” piece, Mr. Uri Driscoll expressed a wide range of opinions and observations regarding the current management practices directed at recovering the threatened Snowy Plover. In his essay, he focused especially on dune restoration because he sees it as unnecessarily costly, damaging to wetland habitats, and altering the coastal dunes that protect the county's infrastructure. His rambling essay was filled with phantom opinions attributed to experts, disarticulated bits of information, and poorly explained “facts” derived from a cursory understanding of the ecology of coastal dunes and plovers in particular. We wish to clarify and explain the real situation involving the status of the plover. In doing so, we'll rely on scientific evidence collected and published in peer-reviewed scientific journals rather than presenting anecdotes derived from hearsay.

The snowy plover is widely distributed in North America, where an estimated total population of 1,747 breeds along the West Coast. It is this population, breeding within 50 miles of the Pacific, that was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1993. The listed population continues to be protected because numbers remain below that necessary for recovery under the ESA. Over the past 10 years, plover numbers in Northern California have varied between 19 and 71, which is well below the number (150 locally and 3,000 along that Pacific coast) that the USFWS determined necessary for the population to be recovered.

Ecologists understand that two important things influence annual variation in the size of animal populations: adult survival and reproduction. Simply put, a population must reproduce enough young to replace those adults that die each year for the population to remain stable. When reproduction exceeds mortality, the population grows; when it does not, numbers decline. Recent evidence shows conclusively that the population of plovers in our region routinely has such poor reproduction that numbers have declined to a low of 19 adults in 2009; the number increased to 31 this past summer. The only thing that sustains the local population is immigration of plovers from elsewhere along the Pacific coast.

In the species' recovery plan, finalized by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2007, biologists identified three main factors that contribute to poor reproductive success of plovers. They are: 1) predation of eggs and young by mammals and birds, especially the common raven; 2) human-caused mortality of eggs and chicks stemming from encounters with people, dogs and vehicles, as well as the subtle effects of disturbance to breeding birds; and 3) degradation and loss of breeding habitat, in large part due to the spread of introduced plant species, principally European beach grass.

In our area, predators are the leading cause of poor reproduction, based on direct and indirect evidence. For example, we have shown that plover eggs do not survive long on Clam Beach and Mad River Beach where ravens are particularly abundant (probably because garbage left by humans attracts scavenging ravens). Recently, we used video cameras to monitor 25 plover nests on Clam Beach because we wanted to know the cause of nest failure with greater certainty. Our recordings showed that ravens were the culprits at 70 percent of the 20 nests where eggs disappeared. We also showed that humans caused some failures because they took eggs from nests, their dogs trampled eggs, or vehicles ran over them. So, humans have played a direct and indirect role (via garbage) in contributing to reproductive failure of plovers on Clam Beach. Early on, we attempted to increase plover reproduction by building cages around nests to keep ravens from eating plover eggs. But ravens and other predators learned what was inside and ate newly hatched chicks and adults as they left the cages, which caused us to end this practice. We currently do very little to manage predators, which pose a serious challenge to the species' recovery.

Each year, humans cause some nest failures, as shown by cameras. We have tried to ameliorate these negative effects. For instance, our survey data suggested that plovers favored the area between the two parking lots on Clam Beach, an area where human activity is also often high. Accordingly, in each of the past six years we have worked with Humboldt County staff to erect a temporary fence in this area to create a refuge for breeding plovers in an effort to limit direct mortality of eggs and chicks and minimize disturbance from humans during the sensitive period when plovers breed. This approach has been successful elsewhere along the Pacific coast. When we compared the first three years without the fence with the subsequent four years with protection, we found that plover chicks hatched inside the fenced area often restricted their movements to that area, and young reared inside the fence were more likely to reach maturity. This last point is debatable because the number of young reared on the south end of Clam Beach, where there was no fence, also increased. But the south stretch of beach also has less human activity than the north end of the beach. Unfortunately, over the past several years ravens have eaten nearly all plover eggs on Clam Beach so that few young hatch. This limits our ability to evaluate the fenced area for reducing direct impacts from humans, and it underscores the overarching importance of raven predation on reproduction for this species.

Habitat loss was a third factor identified as contributing to the plover's decline. In Humboldt County, a main cause of habitat loss is a reduction in open, sparsely vegetated beaches favored by breeding plovers. European beach grass is an invasive species that has spread rapidly to cover dunes in dense stands. Efforts to restore habitats have removed beach grass (and a few other species) with the aim of restoring the native dune biota, of which plovers are one species. Plovers preferentially nest in the open and rely on early detection of ravens (and humans) to evade predation of eggs. Thus, it is not uncommon to observe plovers nesting in newly restored areas. This happened on Clam Beach in 2008, after Caltrans removed beach grass from a large area below the Vista Point. In response, plovers initiated almost half of the 25 nests on Clam Beach that year in this restored area. This past summer, a similar pattern unfolded within the newly restored habitats managed by California State Parks on Little River State Beach. Unfortunately, predators readily consumed eggs in all but one of these nests. So restoration does attract breeding plovers, but these restored habitats will require additional management of predators and people to ensure that nests and chicks survive well.

In his recent essay, Driscoll attempts to surprise the reader with an ironic suggestion that removing invasive non-native beach grass won't help the plover recover. What he failed to recognize is that we are way ahead of him. We already know that removing beach grass -- by itself -- will not safeguard the threatened snowy plover. That's only a third of the story. Biological research and the USFWS's recovery plan, published more than three years ago, clearly identified three inter-related factors: predators such as ravens, human-caused egg and chick losses, and the loss of breeding habitat from invasive non-native beach grass and other causes. Those factors operate together, so plover conservation must address all three. Enjoying coastal habitats, dunes, and the species that have lived amongst them for millennia will require that people recognize our role as simply one piece of this dynamic ecosystem. We urge everyone to behave in ways that honor the other pieces. Even if one of those pieces is as small, and as beautiful, as a plover.

Mark Colwell and Matt Johnson are professors in the Wildlife Department at Humboldt State University.