A small crowd walks a scenic loop — which was renamed and dedicated to Melvin “Cappy” McKinney on Thursday — along the Hikshari Trail in Eureka. McKinney, who passed away in June of last year, worked for 10 years to help get the trail developed along the Elk River estuary. Friends said he was an ardent environmentalist who fished there and patrolled the area.
9/1/14
After nearly four years of work between state, timber and local officials, Humboldt County has the title to nearly 1,000 acres of community forest southeast of Eureka after closing escrow with Green Diamond Resource Company.
“Having it actually close escrow, that means this is the community’s forest now,” 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace said. “It’s not the county of Humboldt that owns it, it’s the people of the county of Humboldt that own it. As a community forest, the management and the trail planning will be guided by public input.”
The county was able to purchase a portion of Green Diamond Resource Company’s 7,600-acre McKay Tract using $6.8 million in funds received from three state agencies: the Wildlife Conservation Board, the California Natural Resources Agency and the California State Coastal Conservancy.
Having received the full funding in May, Public Works Department Deputy Director Hank Seemann said closing escrow with Green Diamond on Aug. 21 was a hurdle that required several months to jump.
“There is a lot going into closing escrow,” Seemann said. “That was a big accomplishment.”
Next Monday, Seemann said, the county will make a formal announcement on the purchase and future plans at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Proposed to generate revenue for the county through sustainable timber harvesting practices while providing outdoor community access and educational opportunities, the McKay Tract Community Forest has been an eagerly awaited addition for the county.
As the land has only hosted timber harvesting owners for several generations, Seemann said the current infrastructure and trail system needs improvement to make the county’s vision come to fruition.
“We want to the public to see this new public land, but we need to get it ready first,” Seemann said. “We do have a goal of trying to set up a good access point and at least a short trail loop as soon as possible. It’s hard to pinpoint a month. With a project of this magnitude, things need to come together before we open it up.”
As part of the county’s agreement with the funding state agencies, the county must develop a management plan to lay out how it will balance the forest’s intended uses. A state environmental review will also have to be performed before any projects can move forward. On the forefront of this effort is designing access points to the forest and developing a trail system.
“That’s going to take some time because there are really important issues such as being compatible with adjacent properties and having access trail points that avoid user conflicts,” Seemann said. “The community forest will be used by people who are walking, running, equestrians, riding bikes. So it’s really important that different speeds, different sizes, different capabilities are accounted for. And, they have to be tied to appropriate access points.”
While the property has existing roads and trails made by trespassers over the years, Seemann said more trails will have to be built or altered so that users are no longer trespassing on private land. Another issue that has to be addressed is parking.
“There are no perfect, ready-to-go access points,” Seemann said. “We have some top candidates, but they all need work before they can be opened up.”
There will be no lack of volunteer help to build and maintain the trails as the Humboldt Volunteer Trail Stewards have been recruiting for the project since last year.
“They already have over 100 people signed up who want to do work in this forest,” Lovelace said. “I’ve been out there on trail days where there has been 50 volunteers and seen them cut 600 feet of new trail from nothing. ... It’s pretty phenomenal what a group of volunteers can accomplish in four hours.”
Rees Hughes, one of the trail coordinators, said the group began outreach efforts last year in order to show how supportive the community would be should the board vote to purchase the land. Now that the focus has shifted from purchasing the forest to preparing it for public use, Hughes said he, his fellow volunteers and the county all have their work cut out for them.
“Based on what I see, it will take a while,” he said. “This has been a parcel of land that has been used for industrial timber for many generations. It will probably take longer than we all want to get it ready for general public use.”
More information on volunteering to build and maintain McKay Tract trails can be found at www.humtrails.org/mckay.html.
At the August 5th Eureka City Council meeting, council unanimously voted to approve this request, to make it official. See the council video clip of this agenda item here.
A few life facts about Melvin -
After retiring Melvin was a passionate environmental advocate in the Eureka/Humboldt Bay region. His primary passion was the Elk River area, which was the driving force to honor this trail in his name. Melvin was a strong advocate behind the Elk River wildlife area , being upgraded to a sanctuary in 2003. Melvin was very active in speaking at Eureka City Council meetings, educating citizens and government entities alike.
At the Aug 5th council meeting, many citizens and environmental groups spoke publicly in favor to approve this request. One example of this was Larry Glass, President of the Northcoast Environmental Center – sharing support on behalf of the NEC for this request. Larry said “I miss Mel, he was a good friend of mine, great guy, and worked tirelessly to protect this area”. In Aug of 2013, after Mel’s passing the NEC contributed an article to highlight the wonderful legacy of Mel on the North Coast.
Where is the memorial trail located?
The Melvin “Cappy” McKinney Memorial loop trail in located mid-way on the Hikshari trail in Eureka, CA. You can find more general info about the Hikshari trail on TrailLink.com, which includes a map, access points, etc. The Hikshari trail is paved, and the Melvin Mckinney trail is a gravel surface. The memorial trail is a semi loop with two access points along the Hikshari trail. A beautiful segment of trail that is a wonderful place to reflect on Mel as you move about the Elk River area. Parking is an option for both automobiles, and secure bicycle parking at the mid-way right by the memorial trail. As seen in the TrailLink map, the dotted line on the map highlights the memorial loop.
Officials with the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) are warning recreational users of all fresh water bodies to avoid contact with algae this summer and early fall.
Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, are found naturally in water and wet environments, but prefer warm, stagnant, nutrient-rich water and are found most often in ponds, lakes, and slow moving rivers.
Photo: Algae in the South Fork Eel River, 7/17/14
7/21/2014
The story of the Golden Rule reads like a modern retelling of "David and Goliath": In 1958, the 30-foot sailboat crewed by five peace activists faced off against the massive nuclear might of the United States military — and won. The group's goal was to stop the U.S. from testing nuclear weapons in atmosphere above the Marshall Islands — and more broadly to do away with nukes entirely — and though they were arrested twice and jailed in Hawaii before they could sail into the testing zone, their efforts helped to galvanize the public and eventually led to the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.
Since then, many other protest vessels have been inspired by the example set by Captain Albert S. Bigelow, Orion W. Sherwood, William R. Huntington, George Willoughby and James Peck, and their legacy lives on today in the work of organizations like Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd. It also survives in the form of the Golden Rule itself, which was sold in Hawaii in 1958, then rediscovered in Humboldt Bay in 2010, albeit somewhat the worse for wear. Though no one seems to know exactly how it got there, the "battered, neglected and storm-damaged" ketch was pulled from the bottom of the bay by shipyard owner Leroy Zerlang after it sank in a storm, and it's currently being restored by a coalition led by Veterans For Peace (http://vfpgoldenruleproject.org).
Once the project is finished — the latest estimate for completion is the spring of 2015, depending on fundraising and how much time volunteers can put into it — the group intends to use the vessel as "an educational podium, floating from port to port" spreading a message of peace, said Chuck DeWitt, the restoration coordinator for the project.
"Our purpose is to educate the public about the dangers, not just of nuclear weapons, but of militarism in today's world. Why it is what it is, and about the discrepancies between what the government tells us and reality," DeWitt said. "I mean, the government tells us that the military is protecting us from terrorists, but in fact they're nothing but a security force for the oil companies and other big multinational corporations."
A pamphlet published by the group declares that, "Our ultimate aim is nothing less than to abolish war as an instrument of national policy. With your help, we intend to restore the Golden Rule with the goal of a 10-year voyage in opposition to war and militarism."
Describing the restoration team as "an eclectic mix of sailors, shipwrights, historic boat lovers and peaceniks," Arnold Oliver, professor emeritus of political science at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, said the goal is to have the project completed in time for the Golden Rule to sail to San Diego next year for the National Veterans for Peace Conference in August. From there, the plan is to transport it by truck to Texas and continue up the Mississippi, and then on to the East Coast and the Great Lakes, promoting the idea that the U.S. can go "from being militaristic to being more of a good neighbor internationally."
Oliver became involved in the project in 2012 after reading about the boat in an article by Lawrence Wittner, and has made the four-day drive out to California three times since then to help.
Once the boat is sea-worthy again, the educational voyage is expected to take at least 10 years and possibly longer. Oliver said the change in consciousness — and conscience — that supporters hope to achieve won't happen overnight, but that already a lot of progress has been made in that direction.
"It takes time, and it takes a whole lot of work by a whole lot of people," he said. "When I went to Vietnam in 1967, very few people were questioning the U.S. military, or military spending and what it was doing. There were a few Quakers and people like Albert Bigelow and the crew of the Golden Rule, but I didn't hear about it back in Ohio. There were very few people questioning our bloated — and even more bloated now — military."
Saying that the number of peace advocates has risen significantly in recent years, Oliver estimated that between 35 and 45 percent of people "now have big reservations about what we're doing in the world militarily, especially after disasters such as the Iraq War and the war in Afghanistan."
'A WORK OF ART'
With DeWitt working on the boat seven days a week — he's already put in more than 1,000 hours since the start of the year, all pro bono — the group is making steady progress, but like most volunteer projects, it's a constant struggle to keep funds coming in. They've already raised about $85,000 — enough to pay for most of the restoration, as well as the boat's electronics, a new engine, fuel tank and much more — but DeWitt said that until they can afford to hire professional boatwrights to help with the remaining labor, progress will be slow.
"If we had another $25,000 or $30,000, we could afford to hire people to do a lot of what has to be done yet. Mike (Gonzalez, one of DeWitt's helpers) and I are both competent fine woodworkers and we do good work, but everything we do is for the first time, so we have to feel our way through it. Professional boatwrights have already done it a dozen times or more, so they know how to do it and they can come in and get it done — bang bang bang — and we're moving on."
He said the other major expenses still left to cope with are a new set of sails with the Veterans for Peace logo on them — "That will be several thousand dollars right there" — and finishing the interior woodwork. The Golden Rule Committee is seeking help from other organizations, including Greenpeace, to raise funds to finish the project, and they also welcome donations from anyone who wishes to support their mission. (Details about where to send donations are included at the end of the story.)
The ketch is full of hand-crafted detail work made from exotic hardwoods like African mahogany and ipé (pronouced "e-pay"), as well as cast bronze belaying pins, a handmade butterfly hatch skylight and custom-made masts.
"It's just amazing, it's already really a work of art," said Oliver.
A great many people have helped with different aspects of the project, including Fredy and Sherry Champagne, Leroy and Dalene Zerlang, Mike Gonzalez, Nate Lomba, Dennis Thompson, Breckin Van Veldhuizen, David Peterson, Chris Berry, Richard Betournay, Lawrence Wittner, Arnold Oliver, Ann Wright and many more too numerous to list.
MORE THAN 'WOOD AND METAL'
No matter how intricate and beautiful the Golden Rule is, the ideas it embodies transcend its physical form.
"The boat is cool, it's a neat project, but the project is not really about the boat. It's just a bunch of wood and metal," said Oliver. "The project is really about recognizing the example and the legacy set by the original crew. They stood up for social justice in a major way, and they did so using entirely nonviolent means."
Oliver said that while many people might think it's impossible to turn the country around, he sees countries like Sweden that were once warlike but have grown increasingly peaceful with democratization as examples of how fast change can come about.
"I think it is the case that if the U.S. had more influence by the public, there would be less inclination to go to war. The fact that we can't build schools, or take care of children, or have decent health care, or have people with a living wage, at the same time that we have an incredibly bloated military, is grotesque. It's just flat out wrong," Oliver said. "The Military Industrial Complex wants to modernize nuclear missiles and rebuild the infrastructure of mass death. They want to produce nuclear weapons, but they don't want to build schools, they don't want to build roads, and that's grotesque. That's not the sign of a healthy society," Oliver said.
Those who would like to support the project can donate online at http://vfpgoldenruleproject.org or by mail to Golden Rule Project, P.O. Box 87, Samoa, CA 95564. For more information, visit the website listed above, email
