CalTrans Approves Highway Widening Through Ancient Redwood Grove

GARBERVILLE, California, May 19, 2010 (ENS) - Two conservation groups today pledged a legal battle to stop a highway-widening project they say threatens the ancient redwoods of Richardson Grove State Park and could change the rural character of Humboldt County.

The California Department of Transportation, CalTrans, filed official notice today that the project was approved, but the agency has not yet issued its final Environmental Impact Report for the project.

The Environmental Protection Information Center and the Center for Biological Diversity say they will fight the road project that would bring larger commercial trucks through the sensitive area.

The highway project also is opposed by local residents, business owners, conservation and Native American groups, and economists as unnecessary and damaging to the state park, the venerable old-growth grove and its wildlife, tourism, and the coastal communities of Humboldt County.

A large diesel cattle truck rolls through Richardson Grove State Park. (Photo courtesy Save Richardson Grove)

"Anyone who cares about California's redwoods and the rural charm of Humboldt County should weigh in to stop this disastrous project," said Kerul Dyer Richardson Grove campaign coordinator for the Environmental Protection Information Center. "The old-growth redwood grove within the state park is supposed to be fully protected and not vulnerable to destructive projects like this one."

"The project as proposed by Caltrans threatens to destroy old-growth redwood root systems and harm critical habitat for the endangered marbled murrelet," said Peter Galvin, conservation director of the Center for Biological Diversity. "We're prepared to fight this and call on elected officials to pressure Caltrans to rescind its approval."

Caltrans and certain business interests have attempted for decades to provide access for larger commercial trucks through the area, and in the past few years have pushed for widening the narrow, meandering section of Highway 101 through the ancient redwood grove in Richardson Grove State Park.

This park at the southern entrance to Humboldt County is considered to be the "redwood curtain" protecting the small communities of the north coast from blight and urban development. Public outcry has so far protected the grove from development.

"Since time immemorial, the grove has held, and still holds, great cultural and spiritual significance for local indigenous tribal peoples, some of whom trace their ancestry to this place," said Priscilla Hunter, chair of the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, a coalition of 10 federally recognized Native American tribes that oppose the project.

Advocates for the grove forced CalTrans to complete a full Environmental Impact Report, rather than the Categorical Exemption and minimal environmental analysis the state agency originally tried to employ.

While the final Caltrans' Environmental Impact Report has not been released, the conservation groups say the preferred project appears to be a predetermined decision taken in advance of the environmental analysis.

The widening would provide an incentive for big-box retailers like Walmart and Home Depot to move into Humboldt County, to the detriment of local businesses, the conservationists maintain.

Caltrans claims the "realignment" project is needed to safely accommodate large-truck travel, remove the restriction of larger vehicles on this section of highway, and improve movement of commercial goods.

The project will open Humboldt County to large diesel trucks transporting goods, and servicing large franchise stores, along routes to Redding, the Santa Rosa/San Francisco Bay Area and the Medford/Portland area in Oregon, "transforming our rural county into a bustling transit hub," says the nonprofit group Save Richardson Grove Coalition.

However, the conservationists argue, it appears from Caltrans' own statements and signage that the portion of road for which this project is contemplated is already designated for larger trucks and that Caltrans has exaggerated potential safety problems.

Federal law prohibits transportation projects on public park lands except in cases where there is no feasible alternative. The conservationists argue that since smaller-sized commercial trucks already travel through the grove to deliver goods to Humboldt County, one feasible alternative would be to leave the highway as it is and retain the integrity of Richardson Grove.

The project is opposed by the Environmental Protection Information Center, Save Richardson Grove Coalition, North Coast Environmental Center, InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, Friends of the Eel River, Center for Biological Diversity, Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters, and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, among others.

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