Editorials

Everyone should know if drinking water is safe

Fred Obee, Editor, The Daily Triplicate June 13, 2002
Fred Obee, editor of the Del Norte County Daily Triplicate, wrote, "When it comes to drinking water, the case is clear: it should be free from toxic contaminants. Residents of the area should take advantage of the free tests. Everyone should know whether the water they are drinking is safe." Click here to read the full editorial

Editorial Reply to "Lily Farmers See Looming Fight"

Crescent City - The Daily Triplicate June 13, 2002
Jennifer Grimes' normally fine reporting suffered a lapse in her story, "Lily Farmers See Looming Fight," about the Smith River Project's efforts to protect residents and wildlife from agricultural chemicals used near the river's mouth. Two items in particular deserve immediate correction.
Grimes claims that the Smith River Project seeks "to convert as much private land as possible into protected park land along the Smith." Nothing could be further from the truth. Although we would certainly like to see greater protection for lands surrounding the estuary of California's healthiest coastal river, we think that such protection can coexist with lily farming and private property rights. That's why we've spent so much time and money researching alternative lily farming techniques, seeking solutions that may include payment of premium prices to lily farmers for organic bulbs. We have passed along our findings to lily growers, and they seemed interested.

The other glaring inaccuracy claims that if we find groundwater contamination the Smith River Project "will launch lawsuits against Del Norte County, the chemical users and the chemical manufacturers." This error really hurts, because I actually emphasized to Grimes that the Smith River Project is not interested in litigation. It's a divisive, last-resort tactic that we will not pursue.

Nonetheless, the state and Del Norte County have been negligent in their handling of one of the worst cases of groundwater contamination in the United States. Grimes' article gave the impression that the state has been testing water consistently in the area. Yet since 1994 the California Northcoast Regional Water Quality Control Board has tested well water in Smith River just a few times, usually at the request of residents worried about their water. There was no testing done between 1996 and 2001. Water Quality's August, 2001 testing of three wells came at our request. We followed this action by testing three more wells, all of which were contaminated with 1,2-D, a chemical known to the state and federal governments to cause cancer. The state and county have not conducted an adequate water monitoring program, as officials at the California Department of Pesticide Regulation told us last year and as Water Quality officials themselves admit. These officials, in fact, have requested the results of our testing to make up for their inadequate budget.
Grimes quotes Jim Waldvogel as being "uncomfortable" with our conversation of last week. Perhaps it was because I was uncomfortable with Waldvogel's recent "Smith River Anadromous Fish Action Plan" that devotes just two paragraphs to the Smith's most significant environmental issue, chemicals in the estuary. The "Action Plan" sums up its brief "Chemical Use" section of the report by quoting Lee Riddle - an employee of the bulb growers - as saying that the Water Quality Board discontinued water testing "in the early 1990s because no detectable chemicals were found at any of the sites." Actually, the state discontinued testing because the money ran out. Ten years ago 1,2-D contamination remained quite high in Smith River. As an employee of the state, Waldvogel has no business defending the bulb growers but should be investigating the obvious threats to human and aquatic health posed by pesticide use in the Smith River Plain.
For his part, Riddle's appearance in Grimes' article is set to Hollywood war drums and Indians "gathering on the hill [for] a battle." I'm not sure which century Riddle lives in, but this is a formal request that he join the twenty-first.

We are not out to hurt the Del Norte County economy, shut down lily farming or seek some "pre-Columbian" existence that exists only in a few paranoid minds. Our goal is to provide a service to the people and wildlife of the Smith River basin. As such we have produced volumes of information reflecting historical and current water testing data, maps, wildlife status, land ownership, organic bulb growing and the like. This information is free to the public - including lily growers - upon request, just as our water testing program this Saturday is a free service. Grimes reports that the Smith River Project enjoys the support of "several large corporations" (actually, just two). Unlike the state and Del Norte County, we're putting that money to good use.

                    Greg King, Executive Director, Smith River Project
                    Published, June 13, 2002

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Other Relevant Articles

Del Norte land purchase touts rare plants

Botanist Dave Imper calls it a world class reservoir of biodiversity.

John Driscoll
October 1, 2005, Arcata, CA – Times-Standard
An 80-acre property in Del Norte County holds plants found exclusively in the mineral-poor soils that course the Siskiyou Mountains. The plot is now protected after a deal begun in 2001 was finally sealed between its former owner and the Siskiyou Land Conservancy.

"It's just one of those really unique places where everything comes together," said Imper, rare plant chair of the California Native Plant Society.

The plot is on the North Fork Smith River at the confluence with Stoney Creek. Well known already to plant lovers, the parcel is nestled among state and federal forest lands and the North Fork Smith River Botanical Area about a mile from Gasquet.

San Francisco resident Nan Croley inherited the property in 1994 from longtime Del Norte County resident Chet Ward. He'd held onto the property despite his family's attempts to sell it for logging, said Greg King of the Siskiyou Land Conservancy.

Funding for the $100,000 purchase came through the Jerome H. Cherin and Sylvia Cherin Trusts out of San Francisco.

King said the conservancy first approached Croley in 2001, and Croley held onto the land while funding was put together.

There are no buildings on the property, but there is a 1/2-mile trail that has been used by the public for years. The rare plants on the plot have drawn people from all over, King said.

"It's just an exceptinal piece," King said.

The Stoney Creek property is host to cobra lily, the rare western bog violet and another dozen or so rare plants. Once a candidate for the federal endangered species list, the bog violet is the subject of a conservation strategy being developed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.

Some 40 acres of old-growth Douglas fir and another 6 acres of Port Orford cedar -- stands not plagued by an increasingly common root rot disease -- also grace the property.

While small, King and Imper described the purchase as a major conservation milestone.

It's the latest of several purchases by the conservancy, which now has another half-dozen projects it's working on, King said.

"We're filling a niche, it turns out," he said.

Judge: EPA Illegally Approved Pesticides

July 4, 2002, GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Associated Press: A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the government violated the Endangered Species Act by not setting guidelines for pesticides that could harm threatened and endangered salmon.
Judge John Coughenour said the Environmental Protection Agency had failed to consult the National Marine Fisheries Service since 1989 over the potential harm to fish from 55 commonly used pesticides.The Fisheries Service oversees salmon recovery and "such consultation is mandatory," the judge wrote.
The ruling could force the EPA to eventually withdraw approval of some pesticides or require stricter rules for their use near water. It follows a lawsuit by anti-pesticide and commercial fishing groups...more.

Tribe and Anglers Fight Over Smith River Salmon

May 7, 2002, Crescent City - The Daily Triplicate:  Sport anglers rally to protect Smith
...At the center of debate is a proposed ordinance by the tribal council to allow traditional modes of fishing, gathering and hunting within its 180 acres near the mouth of the Smith River... " We are especially concerned regarding those sections of the ordinance that would permit the use of gill nets and drift nets," said John Beuttler, of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, in a letter to the rancheria council. more

May 8, 2002, Crescent City - The Daily Triplicate:  Tribe calls outcry unwarranted
Tolowa Tribe members today find themselves embroiled in a fishing controversy they say they never intended to ignite...The controversy began when, in an attempt to regulate and protect clam beds near the mouth of the Smith River, the Smith River Rancheria Council drafted a hunting and fishing ordinance. That draft law seemed to indicate an interest in netting salmon in the river, a practice that currently is not allowed. more

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Salmon Fishing Season Open for July 4th in Del Norte County

May 3, 2002, Crescent City - The Daily Triplicate
It will be legal to fish the ocean for salmon this July 3 and 4, thanks to the efforts of local squeaky wheels...when the preliminary plan to close the Del Norte section of ocean for July [to protect endangered coho salmon] came, local councils got busy lobbying for a change.. Fourth of July week [is] perhaps the busiest part of visitor season for Del Norte County. more

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Smith River still the best bet for local anglers

January 03, 2002, The Times-Standard

Baby New Year 2002 arrived on the North Coast with boots and an umbrella. Now if he'll just make himself more comfortable with sunglasses and slippers for the next few days maybe sport fishermen can enjoy doing what they do best.

North Coast rivers for the most part are blown out for an indeterminate period. One major exception is the Smith and it is still producing big time.

"Even though the river is up it is loaded and fishing is great," reported Eureka guide John Klar on Tuesday night. "Every day has been consistent with a mix of hatchery and native steelhead." He went on to say that the steelies are averaging 7 to 10 pounds with a 17 pounder landed Monday. He has been side drifting roe with puffballs. ...more

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Boxer bill seeks big money for salmon

December 17, 2001, The Times-Standard

Hundreds of millions of dollars would be given to western states every year for the next six years if a salmon recovery bill introduced this week by Sen. Barbara Boxer makes it through Congress.

The California Democrat has found bipartisan support for the bill that would divide $350 million to California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho each year. The money would go toward habitat restoration in coastal and upland areas. In Humboldt County the money could be used for a project to replace culverts that block salmon from streams that run under county roads, among other things....more

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About this Page

This space features news items that mention the Smith River Project and issues that pertain to our work. We're expecting coverage of our Estuary Enhancement Program when we release information this summer, as well as coverage of our attempts to protect inholdings (previous coverage of which has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Eureka Times-Standard).

If you are a journalist or media representative who wants to report on the Smith River Project, please visit our Press Room for press releases, photos, and other resources.

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We're always interested in news coverage of our work, the Smith River or watershed protection efforts that may pertain to our efforts. If you see coverage of this nature, please mail us clippings or e-mail the URL. Thank You!