News

Fate of Elk River billboard returns to Board of Supervisors

The owner of a billboard along U.S. Highway 101 is seeking to keep the sign in place, despite a permit requiring it be torn down by September 2025. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will hear the request at their Tuesday.

Current regulation prevents new billboards from being constructed on coastal wetlands off U.S. Highway 101. The billboard in question predated these regulations and has been in place since at least 1955, making it legal but nonconforming, according to a staff report.

But this changed after it was blown down in 2019, according to county planning staff.

In 2020, the Supervisors narrowly signed off on a permit for the billboard to be rebuilt after being knocked over, on the condition it would only last five years. It was rebuilt in 2021.

In 2020, environmental advocates at public comment pushed the supervisors to reject the structure’s rebuilding. Billboards are often a hot-button issue at public meetings, with some pushing for the viewshed of Humboldt Bay and the Elk River to be cleared of advertisements.

Jennifer Kalt, executive director of Humboldt Waterkeeper, an organization that’s waged a 15 year campaign to rid Humboldt County’s coastal wetlands of billboards, said, “It is long past time for this billboard to removed, because it was given five years, and it’s expired — get it out of there.”

She said a petition to get the billboard removed in 2020 garnered 328 signatures.

“A lot of people really despise billboards, especially in scenic areas. And, this billboard is in a coastal wetland. It’s along a riparian area. There’s all kinds of reasons why that billboard would never be allowed today,” she said, pointing to coastal regulations, national regulations and local regulations.

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Is tyre pollution causing mass deaths in vulnerable salmon populations?

A US judge will decide if, as research suggests, a chemical tyre additive is harming endangered fish species

Last week, a district judge in San Francisco, California, presided over a three-day trial brought by west coast fishers and conservationists against US tyre companies. The fishers allege that a chemical additive used in tyres is polluting rivers and waterways, killing coho salmon and other fish. If successful, the case could have implications far beyond the United States.

How did the case come about?

The case was initiated after the apparent solving of a decades-old mystery: what was causing mass deaths of endangered coho salmon in the Pacific north-west as they returned to streams to spawn. The deaths happened after heavy rain. Before dying, the fish would exhibit unusual behaviour, swimming in circles, their mouths gaping, as if gasping for air. Scientists, suspecting storm runoff, described the phenomenon as “urban runoff mortality syndrome”.

It took years for scientists from Washington State University to pinpoint what they now allege is the chemical culprit. In 2020, they published a study in Science that claimed to solve the mystery: they found a toxic substance in leachate from car tyres that killed the fish. Known as 6PPD-quinone or 6PPD-q, it is an oxidation product from 6PPD, a chemical added to car tyres to prevent them breaking down. This transformed chemical, 6PPD-q, leaches into rivers and creeks with, scientists say, devastating results for the protected and endangered species.

Who brought the case and why?

The case was brought by the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR) and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) represented by environmental group, Earthjustice, after a slew of scientific studies linking mass deaths of coho salmon and harms to other salmon with a chemical tyre additive, 6PPD. The fishers say they depend on the health of salmon populations for their livelihood.

Glen Spain, general legal counsel and northwest regional director of the IFR and the PCFFA, said: “The use of 6PPD in tyres has been shown to harm vulnerable salmon populations. Whether or not this should continue will be up to the court.”
What is the central question to be answered?

The judge will determine whether the tyre manufacturers are violating the Endangered Species Act by harming fish species, including coho salmon, protected under the legislation. The fisher’s case is that the tyre companies are violating the act by harming 24 populations of fish species protected under it.

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King Salmon recovery continues as county and partners consider long-term plan

The Humboldt Bay community of King Salmon continues to recover from historical tidal flooding that inundated dozens of homes, reportedly damaged at least two houses beyond repair and displaced a number of community members earlier this month.

This week, in an online meeting organized by the Humboldt Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD), participants gathered to discuss the ongoing recovery efforts and long-term work to keep King Salmon and neighboring communities literally and figuratively above water as sea-level rise, extreme weather events associated with climate change and tectonic forces bear down on a community already accustomed to living with floodwater.

First weekend of January

Whereas King Salmon residents and their neighbors in Fields Landing have dealt with nuisance flooding for decades, the events of Jan. 2-4 were unprecedented in modern record.

According to NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist Ryan Aylward, water levels in the Humboldt Bay area on Jan. 2 and 3 “far exceeded” previous records for high tides, reaching over 10 feet above Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) level both days. Levels of 10.01 and 10.37 above MLLW far exceeded the previous record set 20 years ago of 9.98 (adjusted from a previously stated 9.88).

Humboldt COAD executive director Nick Bown-Crawford, who hosted this week’s meeting, noted that 42 homes experienced “major impacts” by FEMA standards, 18 inches of water inundating the property, noting that “just one inch of water in your home can cause tens of thousands (of dollars) worth of damage.”

Immediate needs of the community

Bown-Crawford told the Times-Standard by phone last weekend that Humboldt COAD had initially been contacted by Cal Poly Humboldt personnel working with the county on long-term resiliency plans for the flood-prone southern Humboldt Bay communities of King Salmon and Fields Landing. He said that the organization, which is not a first-responder organization but rather a coalition that works on disaster recovery, has benefited greatly from the university’s students, faculty and staff on the ground and their work as liaisons in the community.

Within a week of the initial flooding, Bown-Crawford said, “we activated on the ground. We immediately connected with the community liaisons and started meeting community members to start establishing an immediate set of unmet needs, with the effort to restore any health/safety issues that might be in the home.”

COAD staff joined the American Red Cross and others in providing relief during the initial flooding. COAD’s efforts included distributing cleaning supplies to prevent mold and working with the county’s Department of Public Works to bring in dumpsters to dispose of waterlogged and mold-susceptible carpets, textiles and other materials, Bown-Crawford said. COAD has distributed food provided by its member organization Food for People and is working to help residents replace damaged and destroyed necessities like water heaters, washing machines, clothing, temporary housing for displaced persons and other needs.

Community members can donate to COAD’s efforts and learn more about the situation in King Salmon at https://www.humboldtcoad.org. The organization is currently looking to provide a number of resources that have been requested by King Salmon residents, including plywood, dehumidifiers and fans, extension cords, towels and bedding, laundry supplies, refrigerators, laundry machines, water heaters, gift cards and transportation assistance.

Bown-Crawford said that the flood will certainly not meet the federal government’s extraordinarily high threshold for an emergency declaration through FEMA and will likely not qualify for many state-administered disaster relief funds, and COAD is working to “start utilizing our full network of NGOs … to try and see where we can fill some of the gaps where people aren’t able to file insurance claims.”

Recovery benefits from researchers’ relationships in the community

Laurie Richmond, a professor with Cal Poly Humboldt’s Department of Environmental Science & Management, co-chair of the university’s Sea Level Rise Institute and active member of the Humboldt County-led FLKS Living With Water project, has been researching life in King Salmon and neighboring communities for a number of years.

In her capacity with FLKS Living with Water, Richmond said, she and her team — graduate students Kailin Sepp and Clara Riggio and community liaisons Niki Sutterfield, Jenica Feite, Maurice Viand and Kathy Moley with the Humboldt Grange and Athena Doyle, an undergraduate student — help to “lead the community engagement piece” of the project.

Their work has included community workshops in Fields Landing and King Salmon, as well as a door-to-door survey of King Salmon’s 207 residences that has provided key information to assess the significance of this year’s flood events.

“We did interviews; we gathered photos; we had participatory mapping exercises where people could, on maps, draw like these are the at-risk areas, and all of that data goes into the vulnerability assessment and thinking about adaptation planning,” Richmond said.

She said that the recent survey effort reached roughly a third of King Salmon households. It recorded that only five respondents reported ever having had water enter their homes in the flood-prone area. More than 40 homes have been confirmed to be significantly flooded this month.

After the Flooding: Charting the course of King Salmon’s recovery

Under sunny skies punctuated by a stiff wind, representatives from a network of community organizations gathered Sunday to help residents impacted by the New Year’s flooding in King Salmon.

Volunteers, many wearing bright orange vests, warmly greeted those walking up to the meeting spot on Buhne Avenue, learning about their situations, listening to their experiences and providing them with information on support services.

Along the seawall separating the town from the dunes that run to Humboldt Bay were bottles of bleach and other cleaning supplies. Nearby a crate of bright green apples and cartons of food sat by a line of water bottles and boxes of pizza for anyone needing a snack or something to take home to eat.

The latest in a series of outreach efforts to take place since the flooding, the Community Support Day organizers say these events and supports will continue as long as needed, including a focus this week on assessing what kind of appliance needs residents are facing and how to meet them.

While the waters have receded after a combination of heavy rain, storm surge and King Tides — which reached a record-setting peak of 10.37 feet on Jan. 3 — inundated the small hamlet over the course of three days, signs of the deluge that flooded some streets waist-high remain evident.

In the absence of a proclamation of a local disaster, Humboldt Community Organizations Active in Disaster is working with a diverse range of partners as a relief bridge for impacted residents, providing support with necessities in the short-term and helping them navigate different channels to access the resources they need to move forward.

Those include, among others, Pay It Forward Humboldt, the Red Cross, the Pine Hill/South Bay Family Resource Center, Humboldt Grange and the county of Humboldt-Cal Poly Humboldt project called Fields Landing and King Salmon Living with Water, or FLKS, along with county agencies.

Where to Donate, Pitch In, and Get Help:

To Learn More: Fields Landing and King Salmon — Living with Water (FLKS)
or check out the FLKS Facebook page.

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Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery to Open in Humboldt County

The Director has declared(opens in new tab) that the last closed area of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Humboldt County [southern boundary of the Reading Rock State Marine Protected Areas (41o 17.6' N. latitude) to Cape Mendocino (40° 10.0’ N. latitude)] will open at 12:01 a.m., Jan. 30 to be preceded by a 64-hour gear setting period beginning at 8:01 a.m. on Jan. 27 under a 15% gear reduction(opens in new tab). State health agencies determined that Dungeness crab no longer poses a significant human health risk due to domoic acid and recommended(opens in new tab) lifting the delay in the area. With this announcement, all areas of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery are open.

The Fair Start Provision(opens in new tab) is triggered when there are commercial season delays along the West Coast for Dungeness crab. This provision prohibits vessels that fished in another area prior to the opening of a delayed area from fishing, landing and transiting in the newly opened area for a period of 30 days. This will apply to the fishing area that is scheduled to open Jan. 30 and vessels subject to Fair Start may not begin fishing in this area until Mar. 1.

For more information, please see the Frequently Asked Questions for the current 2025-26 commercial Dungeness crab season.