Coho Salmon in Downtown Arcata?

Klamath River dam removal is underway, with drawdown of the three largest reservoirs occurring now and physical removal of these dam structures scheduled for this summer. The dams have impacted the river for over a hundred years and dam removal has its own environmental impacts. While fish biologists and water quality scientists are confident that the long-term benefits will outweigh the short-term impacts, a loud group of dam removal antagonists have glommed onto the ‘messy’ part of this massive ecosystem restoration project — temporary increases in suspended sediment and associated impacts to water quality and the recent mortality event of hatchery juvenile salmon— to continue their fight against dam removal.

Luckily, Toz Soto, Senior Fisheries Biologist with the Karuk Tribe, and Dr. Maia Singer, Senior Scientist at Stillwater Sciences, join the show to help sort fact from fiction.

For more information about Klamath Dam removal, check out:

Lower Klamath Project – Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) | California State Water Resources Control Board

Klamath Dam Removal Overview Report for the Secretary of the Interior an Assessment of Science and Technical Information, Version 1.1, March 2013 | FWS.gov

Klamath Dam Removal Studies | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)

Klamath River Renewal (klamathrenewal.org)

Klamath Basin Monitoring Program

Mass transit along California's North Coast is difficult. The long distances between rural communities are trouble for ordinary battery-powered electric buses, which don't have the range to make there-and-back trips. Hydrogen buses, however, are able to make the long journey. And thanks to a $38.7 million grant, Humboldt Transit Authority is purchasing 11 state-of-the-art buses and building a hydrogen fueling station. Guests Peter Lehman of the Schatz Energy Research Center and Jerome Qiriazi join the show to discuss Humboldt's forthcoming fleet of hydrogen buses. 

Join us for the first in a special series on communities at risk from sea level rise featuring local residents who share their thoughts on the challenges and potential solutions facing our region. 

Many thanks to Marnie Atkins, Jerry Rohde, Nate Faith, Troy Nicolini, Adam Canter, and to Jessie Eden, who produced this episode with funding provided by the California Coastal Commission Whale Tail Grant Program.  

For more info: 

• Cal Poly Humboldt Sea Level Rise Institute
• Communities at Risk: King Salmon, Fields Landing, Fairhaven and Finntown - Aldaron Laird
• Humboldt Bay Shoreline, North Eureka to South Arcata: A History of Cultural Influences - Jerry Rohde
• Humboldt Bay King Tide Photo Project - Humboldt Waterkeeper

The Humboldt Bay Harbor District has been in the news a lot this year. The Harbor District has committed to a "green terminal" strategy that commits the District to a goal of a zero emission terminal capable of building offshore wind turbines. And Congressman Huffman helped to deliver $426m in federal funding for the construction of this new green terminal.

What does building a green terminal look like? Maddy Hunt and Ysabelle Yrad, fellows at the Blue Lake Rancheria, have produced a new white paper on the state of port electrification that offers insights into what a green terminal in Humboldt might look like. 

Humboldt County's transmission infrastructure is old. Connections to the larger grid are weak and undersized, forcing Humboldt to be reliant on the fracked gas-burning Humboldt Bay Generating Station because we cannot pull enough power from our grid connections to keep the lights on. And, conversely, those same undersized powerlines mean we cannot export the power that would be generated from offshore wind. Until new grid infrastructure is operational, offshore wind can't be operational.

While offshore wind is driving grid improvements, grid improvements can also benefit Humboldt. With improved grid connections, we can shut down our greenhouse gas-spewing power plant. And improvements to the grid can improve energy resiliency for communities like Hoopa that frequently experience outages. 

Arne Jacobson of the Schatz Energy Research Lab joins the EcoNews to discuss recent research produced by Schatz on transmission infrastructure planning. 

Required reading:

Northern California and Southern Oregon Offshore Wind Transmission Study

On this week’s episode of the EcoNews Report, host Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River is joined by long-time Eureka resident and fisherman Steve Rosenberg and Humboldt Trails Council’s Advisory Chair Karen Underwood. Alicia and her guests reflect on the history of losing public access to rivers and wild spaces, and discuss modern efforts underway to protect what remains. Featured is the recent issue of attempts to limit access to one of the few remaining fishing access points along the Van Duzen River at Fisher Road.

To learn more about this issue, please visit this link.

Have you ever wondered what exactly the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District does, who runs it, and how on earth did they manage to get a $426 million federal grant for a Heavy Lift Terminal for building offshore wind turbines? Tune in for a conversation with Chris Mikkelsen, the District's new Executive Director.

For more info: 

• Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project
• The Biggest Federal Grant in Humboldt History?

In politically progressive circles, a strange phenomenon can occur. Supply skepticism, the belief that housing prices are divorced from impacts to housing supply, abounds. On this week's EcoNews Report, Professor Vicki Been from the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, joins to discuss her metaanalysis of research into the relationship between housing supply and cost. (Hint: More housing moderates housing costs, generally.)

Required Reading: 

Supply Skepticism (2018)

Supply Skepticism Revisited (2023)

Are there Coho salmon in small urban streams like Jolly Giant and Janes Creek? If so, how often, and how far upstream do they go? Our guests, fisheries biologists Colton Dixon and Darrren Ward, are studying these streams and have some answers that might come as a surprise. Tune in to learn more about these streams and the fish that call them home for a fairly brief but critical time in their life cycle.

For more fascinating info on the fish in our local streams and rivers and the people who study them, you can follow Colton Dixon on Instagram and TikTok @colt.j.dixon.

Also check out Humboldt Outdoor's Tour of Jolly Giant Creek - Part 2, which follows the part of Arcata's ~4 mile long Jolly Giant Creek as it flows through Arcata's urban downtown area. A tour of the upper half of the Creek can be seen in Jolly Giant Creek - Part 1. 

Start your new year on a poetic note. Poets Jerry Martien and Katy Gurin join the EcoNews for our annual new year's poetry reading. 

Do you have an environmental-themed poem that you want read on air? Email tom@wildcalifornia.org and you might hear your poetry read on the EcoNews.