News

Keeper of the Bay: “An Individual can make a difference”

Humboldt Baykeeper’s Jen Kalt is one of nine women featured in the Times-Standard's Monday Magazine, a new publication celebrating local women in business.

Kalt says that the lack of enforcement of many environmental laws in Humboldt County is “severe” and criticized decision makers who she said have “enabled” businesses to operate outside of those laws.

“I think that’s an injustice to the people who believe in running their business in ways that follow the laws and protect the environment and community,” she said.

“Industries come and go, but the bay and rivers, if we destroy them, they’re gone forever.”

‘Changing tides’: Humboldt Bay Symposium discusses state of the ocean, coastal progress

10/22/16

The Humboldt Bay Symposium at the Wharfinger Building in Eureka presented two days of updates, development and changes that have happened within the region over the last two years.

Locals eyeing governor's coastal commission appointment process

8/25/16

It's a seat at one of the state's most powerful tables. With 12 members handpicked by Sacramento's top officials, the California Coastal Commission determines the future of projects proposed on some of the nation's most scenic and valuable real estate.

Reviled by some as an agency that mires development in a tangle of regulatory red tape, the commission is revered by others as a last protective stand for the state's 1,100-mile-long stretch of shoreline.

In the upcoming months, the North Coast's seat will be coming up for appointment after voters handed the current representative, Del Norte County Supervisor Martha McClure, a resounding defeat in June.

That means the door is swinging open for supervisors, mayors and city council members from the counties of Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte to throw their hats into the ring.

Dune Buggies to Dunes — LA Times Gets Stunned by Ma-le’l

7/22/16

Esteemed LA Times columnist and award-winning author Steve Lopez left his footprints in Humboldt County sand last weekend, the first of many stops on his road trip across the California coast. Ever since February, when the Coastal Commission fired executive director Dr. Charles Lester, articles have been flying off of Lopez’s keyboard in attempt to shine a light on the happenings of the powerful agency.

Now he is road-tripping the California coast from Oregon to Mexico to show, through personal experiences, the importance of the Coastal Act, and why we should all care about what is going on with the commission. Along the way he is talking with coastal stewards and visiting the Coastal Act and Coastal Commissions successes, failures and ongoing battlegrounds.

Jennifer Kalt, Director of Humboldt Baykeeper, was Lopez’s tour guide for the Humboldt leg of his journey. Kalt had the difficult task of deciding which stretch of Humboldt coast to take Lopez to, and decided on a hike through the Ma-le’l North Dunes. “I chose the area for its uniqueness and coastal preservation victory with Buggy Club,” stated Kalt.

McKinleyville Ace Hardware Illegally Fills, Drains Seasonal Wetland

During the summer of 2015, owners of the new McKinleyville Ace Hardware on Central Avenue illegally filled wetlands with gravel for a parking lot in violation of the Clean Water Act and Humboldt County ordinance. After winter rains turned much of the area into a seasonal duck pond, insult was added to injury when the wetlands were illegally drained into a ditch that discharges into Widow White Creek, a tributary to the Mad River that once supported coho salmon.