#32 Why We Can't Wait Any Longer

Crow in his tree in Willits; photo Steve Eberhard

"Crow" is sitting in a tree now, the lastest of seven tree sitters who have taken to Willits' tree tops in hopes of stalling CalTrans and the California Highway Patrol in their work to deforest and drain. More information here.

I asked a Willits friend recently if he was following the news on the Bypass. He blasted me, “I’ve been following it for 25 years? Have you? I don’t see why everyone’s so upset and taking action now when we’ve all known the bypass was coming.” I hear reports of this complaint all over town in the newspaper, at information tables in front of stores, by neighbors, in churches.

This criticism of the anti-bypass movement reminds me of the conflict over global warming: Some of us have been alert to the consequences of global warming for three decades now, despite all the nay-sayers, but in another thirty years, the human-made threats to our environment will be obvious even to those who want to blame volcanoes for the extreme weather, the melting of glaciers, the desertification of once green areas, droughts that destroy agriculture and access to drinking water, and the flooding of low-lying islands and coasts, just to name a few effects. I for one will have no satisfaction in saying, “We told you so.”

Global warming deniers typically see any form of regulation that preserves the environment as 1)impinging on their (God-given) right and pleasure to do what they want when they want, and 2) a threat to financial profits derived from activities that negatively impact the environment. Some of us are more oriented toward the benefits for future generations to enjoy this planet with the same relative comforts as we have. (It's the struggle of paradigms: Adam Smith's self-interest vs. altruism.)



Little Lake Valley wetlands, photo by Steve Eberhard

And so it is with the Willits Bypass deniers. Most of us didn’t know what the danger to the local wetlands and other consequences of the Bypass were, much less how eminent they were. “Oh, the fate of the Bypass is being debated in court. The Bypass will never happen.” I heard that just last fall. But others of us have realized the threats and come to our senses. 

 

Ellen and David Drell are two Willits community environmental activists who have been involved in the anti-Bypass movement for nearly 25 years. They were among the original litigants in a court case against the bypass on behalf of the Willits Environmental Center, the Farm Bureau, the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Environmental Information Protection Center. David Drell’s letter in the Ukiah Journal of June 2012 is at this link, for those interested in more of the history of this Bypass conflict from his perspective.

Sometime in the early summer of 2012, the litigants requested to impose a preliminary injunction against CalTrans, an effort that would prevent them from going forward in their construction. The request for injunction was denied in the late summer. The case was immediately appealed, to be decided in June of 2013. But in the meantime, CalTrans decided that they could proceed with construction. And thus they scheduled cutting down trees in January before migratory birds would nest in them.

 

Warbler in her tree, photo from S.F. Gate

Those more alert to the pending doom of the forest and wetlands jumped into action, and a woman calling herself Warbler took to one of the finest trees in January in order to prevent the chainsaws from taking down the regal entryway to Willits. Her action made more of us wake up and think.

 

Other local residents have been raising their voices consistently over decades, the voices now getting louder. Freddie Long, a Willits resident and CPA, wrote a letter in June 2012 pointing out problems with the impending bypass construction (see her attached letter below). Will Parrish wrote an excellent article in January, putting the bypass construction in perspective of other mega-projects that have dominated small communities historically. (Click to connect to Will's letter here.)

Most recently, a young woman from Willits admitted she, like many of us, had been "distracted," but she is making up for her past ignorance with a hunger strike since April 3. She explains why:

         “I am 27 years old and have lived in Mendocino county for 25 of those years. Like many distracted locals, I was uninformed of the bypass plans until early this year, and I am disgusted by what I have seen unfold. The blatant disregard for the land, logic, and the law is a microcosm of the ignorance and destruction ravaging the planet. The Willits bypass isn’t about helpin’ out a little town with traffic issues, it’s about corporate greed and hidden agendas. There are sensible alternatives to these ridiculous plans, such as simply re-striping Main Street, which CalTrans transformed into a chaotic mess 20 years ago. We can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to this madness.”

         (More about her story can be found at this Save Our Little Lake Valley website.)   

Now, three months into the renewed protests, many actions, discussion, and communication have been flying around the valley. Letters in the local Willits News are filling the editorial pages. Crowds of 30 or 50 or 100 show up at board meetings and rallies to learn, speak, and show opposition. A small town so rapidly mobilizing indicates the spirit of the place and the new urgency of the threat.

Mural of the Little Lake Valley Watershed by Rosamond Crowder, located on Main St across from the PO

 And it’s not easy to get informed about all the details involved: the history of the proposed Bypass from the perspective of CalTrans; the history of the local opposition; the science of the wetlands; the impact of the drilling of wickdrains on the wetlands, local wells, and aquifer; the contribution to global warming during construction with the thousands of trucks traveling back and forth through the valley to haul wood, rock, cement—this last item is bitterly ironic in a community where the pro-Bypass folks say we need the Bypass to prevent having traffic pollution coming through town. The letters from David, Freddie, and Will each touch on some of the many details relating to these problems, both historical and current, with this Bypass.

With so much to learn, it’s far easier not to know and to take a simple stance: “The Bypass will make it easier for me to breathe when the traffic goes around the town,” as one person told me. Another said, “The Bypass will make it easier for me to get to the dentist so I don’t have to wait for ten minutes in traffic.”

But one key problem of the traffic is from the Bottleneck (described in Blog #31), where, going into town, 4 lanes become 3. The Bottleneck was created in 1994, seemingly to squeeze more pro-Bypass sentiment into being, but CalTrans is planning to “restripe” that area and reduce the squeeze in 2014. So odd! If that project will take a pittance of the $300 million planned for the whole Bypass traffic conundrum, why not just restripe now and see how much that alleviates the problem. And if I can figure that out, why can’t the brilliant Army Corps of Engineers and the engineers working for CalTrans. Kinda makes you wonder, huh?

Meanwhile, we're spending $300 million for the Bypass in a state that is broke and subject to sequestered funds, which reduces the quality of our public services, so why spend this money on a huge cement structure we don’t need? (And we know, of course, construction will end up being far more than that the projected $300 million, as anyone who’s done any renovation or construction knows.) The alternative routes could be worked out and implemented if the political will existed, which is what those of us in the movement are pressing for, before the valley is irrevocably destroyed.

So some of us just can’t wait around and allow CalTrans to proceed with its plan when we do not trust this huge leviathan to have the best interests of local citizens in mind. We don't want to have to say, "We told you so."

 

In fact, I interviewed CalTrans spokesman, Phil Frisbie, about the Bypass, to get the CalTrans perspective. I asked him why the alternative route, a two-lane truck route along the unused railroad, was not accepted. He said that the federal monies that CalTrans needed would not come if the Bypass were only two lanes. I countered, “But the community only wants and needs two lanes. Are you saying that CalTrans is only building the Bypass in order to get federal money without caring about what Willits wants?”

He replied that this project is NOT about what Willits wants, but about the larger regional needs. In effect, to serve the through traffic of those 8000 cars and trucks a day heading north.

Makes you wonder why those cars and trucks are so important and the people living here are not.

 

Letter from Freddie Long to the Willits Community

Why the “Half-Freeway”?

            I enthusiastically support the lawsuit against Caltrans, et.al. and here is why.  I will borrow a description of Caltrans (paraphrased) that I heard recently.  “There are two Caltrans.  One is the ‘Local’ Caltrans – those hard-working employees we see repairing the roads, cutting the brush, spreading sand on roads when they are icy, etc.  The second is ‘Corporate’ Caltrans.” 

            “Corporate” Caltrans is determined to construct an elevated bypass I call the “Half-Freeway” because it is one half of a 4-lane freeway that will take a long, long time to build and will be nearly useless to Willits residents for local travel needs.  I don’t think that most Willits citizens understand the full extent of what this project will bring about in the short term and in the long term.  Allow me to elaborate:

·         The two-lane bypass is to be built across our valley as if it were a 4-lane freeway, erected on 1,600 piles driven as deep as 100 feet into the ground.  Pile driving is extremely noisy. Each pile will take up to 2,210 strikes with decibel levels of 187 – 220.  The equivalent of a jet taking off is 140 decibels.   See charts: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/TableOfSoundPressureLevels.htm  & http://www.controlnoise.com/decibel-chart/ .  This noisy pile driving will go on for upward of three years from early morning to late evening (7am – 7pm is the CA standard). How will this affect local life? What will happen to our tourism industry?  (Much of the above technical information came from The Environmental Impact Statement.)

·         Because the noise from pile driving will kill the fish in near-by streams, Caltrans is required find the fish and TEMPORARILY relocate them to some area safe from this noise (info from the Biological Opinion from NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service). [We are already seeing how CalTrans does not live up to its mitigation requirements.] 

·         It is estimated that trucks will make 100,000 round trips from Oil Well Hill to deliver close to 1.3 million cubic yards of earth.  Note that the noise created by trucking alone is rated at 70-90 decibels.  With the completion of the 2-lane “Half-Freeway” will take 4-5 years, if not more, that is a long time to endure the noise, dust and other inconveniences.

·         A 2-lane elevated bypass is unsafe.  In early negotiations Caltrans was unwilling to consider a 2-lane, ground level bypass as “unsafe.”  Now they want us to believe that THEIR elevated bypass is just fine.  I, for one, question this assertion by Caltrans.  In the event of an accident where would the collision vehicles go? Off the edge of a raised viaduct the height of a three story building?  How will the emergency vehicles get access to victims of the crash?  If the shoulder area is blocked or traffic is backed up , how will emergency vehicles gain access?

·         The cost will be $300 million for this “Half-Freeway.” Proponents of the Caltrans bypass point out that the state has already allocated the funds. What about cost over-runs – where will the additionally needed funds come from? Already over $33 million has been diverted to Caltrans for the bypass from county coffers that were originally designated for COUNTY roadwork, and Caltrans has recently asked for an additional $2 million from our county discretionary funds.  We will surely continue to be asked to share in cost over-runs when we really need money for county and city road projects.   

·         Of the 14 or more bids received by CalTrans for the “Half-Freeway” all but one bid came from outside Mendocino County.   Granite Construction out of Ukiah does plan to bid on the job but will be competing with mega-contracting companies from all over the country.  The low turnout of local bids defies Caltrans claims about creating lots of local jobs, but is that a surprise?  I’d bet that local contractors are not willing to even try to outbid these big companies? 

·         This project has never really been about local traffic abatement.  CalTrans claims that when the new Half-Freeway is up and in use local traffic will diminish because locals will go to the north or south of town to access the bypass and then get off at the south or north end of town.  Ask yourself how often you are going to go an extra two miles out of your way to do this. 

·         Another BIG disappointment is that the “Half-Freeway” offers no direct connection to highway 20 and no second access road for the large Brooktrails community.  Traffic coming from the north would be expected to travel past Willits to the Walker Road exit and then double back.  Right!

There is another solution.  I hope that the lawsuit will bring about an end to the ELEVATED bypass as currently designed by CalTrans.  Why not a GROUND LEVEL, two-lane highway? 

·      Constructing a ground level highway would cost less than half the amount needed for the “Half-Freeway.”  We could use some of these funds for other much needed road repairs and improvements.  Main Street -- still the responsibility of Caltrans -- could use a lot of improving!

·      The greatest cost of the “Half-Freeway” is from constructing it in a wetland. If the highway were not in the floodway, it would not require a viaduct and no pile driving. If it were not in the wetland, it would not require extensive mitigation.

·      No pile driving would be necessary for a ground level highway and it would be ready for use MUCH sooner and with less disruption, noise, and chaos than building the elevated bypass.

·      A ground level highway could have intersection access where major roads cross it thus making it accessible to local traffic, including emergency vehicles.
 

I do understand that this is an extremely volatile and polarizing issue in our community and sincerely hope we can find some “common ground” moving forward.  I have chosen not to address the many environmental aspects of this issue – others will speak to that complex and important aspect.  I will point out that a year or two ago the city of Willits  was presented with a petition signed by 90% of the local businesses AGAINST the proposed bypass but, strangely, the majority of the city council members continue to support the bypass as currently designed. 
 

Yes, we have a big traffic dilemma here in Willits, but please ask yourself if the currently designed Caltrans “Half-Freeway” is the right way to fix it.
 

Freddie Long, Willits resident

 

 

 

 

#31 Going Against the Flow

Warbler's Tree exposed, trees down around her

Before: Warbler's Ponderosa second big tree from left

After: Warbler's Liberty Ponderosa Gone

           All six tree sitters were forcibly “extracted” from their trees on Tuesday, and Warbler’s beautiful “Liberty Ponderosa” was cut down. These 3 photos show Warbler’s Treesit site, before her tree was cut down, when many trees were cut down around her, and after it was destroyed on Tuesday.
             I have gone to the Treesit site three times and cried each time, not just for a beautiful tree destroyed unnecessarily, but for what seems to be so much nefarious intent accompanying the whole CalTrans+CHP operation.

            Warbler was removed with a cherry picker and no observers were allowed. At another site, many protesters witnessed the intensity of the dozens of police in riot gear making their “attack” on the treesitters.    One of the young men in the tree was shot at with rubber bullets to make him release his grip on the tree. All of the paramilitary presences makes you wonder why this big bureaucracy of CalTrans feels so threatened.          

            Here are some links to a couple of articles about the extraction of the tree sitters; at least the Bypass conflict is getting press attention. Press Democrat article and Sacramento Bee article  and YouTube video of that process:YouTube film of "extraction"

         

Warbler herself is pictured here on Wednesday with one of her big supporters who spent many nights under her tree to be sure she was protected.  (Thanks to Judi Berdis for the photo) She has said that she is processing what has happened over these last three months.

           Friday I went back out to the Treesit Site to continue my protest with a sandwich board and my sign that asks, “Do you understand what is happening?”

            As I think about who is for and against the Bypass, I imagine the irony that many Willits people who support the Bypass are probably the same ones who hate Big Government, yet they are happy that Big Government is going to ram through this cement freeway if it means they will get work. It’s kind o

f like senior citizens receiving Medicare who complain ardently about the government subsidizing healthcare for everyone.

            One police car is permanently stationed at the Treesit Site, with others stopping in frequently. Once I arrived on foot, having walked along the highway for about a quarter of a mile, so did another police car shortly. An officer took a movie of me standing there alone by the road. Soon a third police car pulled up on my side to tell me that I couldn’t just stand there or I would be arrested for loitering.

            So I started walking. Within 20 minutes, yet another police car came up and told me I was in violation of walking by the freeway, where I could create a traffic disturbance with people trying to read my signs.

            Gotta love it! I’m disturbing the peace by walking along the road with a sign where a forest is been cut down, with bulldozers and humongous trucks pulling in and out by the minute. 

            I was asked to leave or I would be arrested. I am not against getting arrested in opposition for breaking laws that promote unethical actions. In his essay “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau said, “If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law”

            I just needed to be sure that my dog Sata would have someone rescuing her from the car, first. So I left.

            I continue to plug away at educating myself, to learn whether CalTrans and their supporters are right, or those opposed to the Bypass are harbingers of a disaster in the making. After all, George W. Bush called those of us who protested the Iraq War a mere “support group.” It turned out that we were right: No Weapons of Mass Destruction existed in Iraq, and the American people were hoodwinked into going to war there, leading many valiant soldiers to give their lives and their limbs. The same was true in Vietnam. Jefferson himself encouraged critical thinking and dissent, so let’s give it a chance.

            What I’m learning about the Bypass conflict just gets weirder and weirder. Here are a couple more reason to hold the Bypass suspect.  

1. Traffic Flow A California Department of Transportation graph  documents traffic volume along Highway 101 in Northern California from 1992-2011, registered via video monitors at the southern and northernmost traffic lights.

            It notes that traffic in Willits has remained fairly steady at around 20,000 cars entering Willits and about 8000 cars as traffic leaves the north side of town.

            Sorry to get technical on you, but isn’t God in the details? At the southern end of town, Highway 20 goes out to the Mendocino coast. When I told people I moved to Willits, lots said, “I know Willits. I go through there to get to the coast.” Actually, they don’t go through Willits because the HW 20 turn off to the coast is south of town. About 30% of traffic leaves 101 there. Part of the problem of the Bypass is that that traffic will still come into town to get to Highway 20, which is over a mile from what is supposed to be the only southern Bypass exit for Willits.

Turn off left to HW 20 to Coast south end of Willits

            If you’re still with me, we’re still doing the numbers on what happens to all that traffic going through Willits. (And it’s all about the numbers—especially the $300 million and rising that CalTrans will get for this job.) Apparently, another huge chunk of traffic exits at the last stoplight in town, Sherwood Road, which leads to Brooktrails, a large development of suburban homes, and to back country homes beyond, like that of yours truly, with over 5000 residents.

            As relates to traffic flow, the large number of Brooktrails residents heading off of Highway 101 at the northern end of town means that the actual flow of through traffic is fairly minimal. That is, most of the 20,000 cars coming into Willits at the south end winds up being around 8000 cars on average still on 101 at the north. Certainly, the traffic is far heavier in the summer with tourists, including those continuing north, but you can count on that traffic at limited times Friday evening and Saturday mornings, and then again on Sunday evenings.

            SO, the question for those studying the Bypass carefully: why did CalTrans push through a plan for a four-lane highway to handle 40,000 cars when it isn’t necessary? Even the two-lanes they’ve planned as a temporary route are designed for 20,000 cars, still unnecessary.

2) Bottlenecks by Design? One of the most disturbing aspects of this whole process that I’ve learned relates to the infamous BOTTLENECK at the Safeway on South Main. Two lanes of traffic come into town, and then the two are forced to merge into one, just before coming to the HW 20 light. This merge is the source of much ire in town. Many pro-Bypass people I’ve spoken to have said that the bottleneck creates unhealthy pollution and that’s why we need the Bypass. Really? A $300 million

cement freeway to resolve a merge.
            The hell of it is that there used to be four lanes there, but long-time Willits resident Judi Berdis informed me that the bottleneck was created in 1994, and she is not alone in thinking that the purpose was to manufacture support for the Bypass.
 

           The community has provided many alternatives to increase the flow right there, including a traffic circle. Those suggestions were overrun.

          As someone who has lived through Bay Area and even Sacramento traffic, Willits traffic problem (see photo left) does not seem worthy of a $300 million bypass!

            I really don’t want to join a league of belittled conspiracy theorists who like to come up with larger schemes to understand why community criticism of a plan continues to get shot down (so to speak), but sometimes you have to really wonder what is in the minds and hearts and plans of those who have power and money. For anyone studying the machinations of big corporate and government interests over time (read Howard Zinn’s The People’s History of the United States, for starters), the drive for profit is a hungry beast. And hungry working people are all too ready to put their chainsaws to the trees if the rich will pay.

Pro-Bypass? Show me why

            If you want reasons to support the Bypass, I encourage you to go to the Environmental Impact Report produced by the US Department of Transportation, the California Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration and start picking out the reasons that make you feel like this is gonna be really good for Willits and good for California. Clearly, CalTrans is winning so far, given their ability to mow down forests and garner paramilitary support to extract tree sitters, and we’ve learned that might makes right. CalTrans Website on Willits Bypass Plan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#30 Do You Understand What's Happening?

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING?


I

Kim standing across Highway 101 from Warbler's treesit

I decided to make that my sign’s message for the day because, as I’ve said before, I’m just learning, and I’m trying. What about everyone who isn’t even trying?

I finally downloaded two parts of the long Environmental Impact Report from 2006. Volume 1 is 112 pages.  It has this useful map (the left side here is south) showing the current route of 101, and the red line is the Bypass route going east through Little Lake Valley. I also downloaded Appendix G “Final Alternatives Analysis” which is 148 pages long. These documents are located at the CalTrans website: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/d1projects/willits/reports.feir.htm

 I have yet to dip into the other 3 volumes and multiple appendices (bet you can’t wait to hear about Appendices A-F!). Like the Bypass, I plan to wade through the swamp of information, but since the Bypass will take 6 years, so might I. Knowing that many of my readers want the facts, ma’am, I share two paragraphs from “Section 1.6 Potential Impacts,” enticing harbingers of what is to come. Please read (more photos to come if you promise to read first):

The primary environmental impacts associated with the proposed bypass project consist of temporary and/or permanent impacts to biological resources (see Sections 3.7 and 3.17). Among the biological resources that would be affected are sensitive plant communities and habitats (including wetlands, riparian woodlands, oak woodlands, and Baker’s meadow foam habitat), as well as federal and state wildlife species that are listed as rare, proposed, threatened, or endangered (including three federally listed salmonid species, the Northern spotted owl, and the Pacific fisher).

The potential for permanent and/or temporary impacts have been investigated for the following areas of concern: Geology and Soils (Section 3.2); Community Cohesion (Sections 3.3 and 3.18.1); Farmland (Section 3.4); Water Quality (Sections 3.5 and 3.18.2); Floodplain (Section 3.6); Cultural Resources (Section 3.8); Hazardous Materials (Sections 3.9 and 3.18.5); Visual Resources (Section 3.10); Noise (Section 3.11 and 3.18.3); Air Quality (Sections 3.12 and 3.18.4); and Growth Inducement (Section 3.16).

Are you still with me? Or did you cheat and skim? If you can’t get through just two paragraphs of this stuff, how do you expect all the residents of Willits to read and understand the messages in hundreds of pages of this environmental analysis?

From just these two paragraphs, I take away the following ideas:

1) The environmental impacts are potentially substantial, including impacts on “sensitive plant communities” and on the salmon we hope to keep running in our creeks; and

2) The list of “areas of concern” to think about are so numerous that most people don’t even want to begin thinking about them, such as the nature of our soils in the valley and what that means when CalTrans will drill their 55,000 holes 85 feet deep to pump the water out of our wetlands, or the impact of hazardous materials in the construction of the Bypass, or what the extraction of gravel for the production of cement for the Bypass at Outlet Creek will do to Outlet Creek and the Eel River, for which Outlet Creek is a tributary.

Men with chain saws just doing their job

Mostly, we don’t want to think about it. We just want to get our paychecks, like all the truly hard working police officers, chain saw operators, and CalTrans engineers, the fence builders and truck drivers, who are happy to reap the benefits of the $300 million dollar project. I get that.

When I encountered these three men who had just been cutting down trees, they told me, “This is private property.”

I said, “I’m just taking pictures of these beautiful trees while we still have them,” including this one that will be gone soon. In my congenial and sincere way, I asked, “Do you live in Willits?”

 

One replied, “Yes, we do.”

“Good!” I called out, and I meant it, adding, “I’m glad some folks in Willits are receiving the benefit of the work.” Because the reality is that many of the folks driving the trucks and doing the other work don’t come from Willits. (In my fantasy life as a reporter on this job I’ll go get stats on who in Willits is benefiting economically from the $300 million CalTrans payouts.)  I always remember the guy who stopped by the tree sit and told me he was in favor of the Bypass because, he said, “My son needs work.” I do understand the press for a paycheck.

Nevertheless, last Friday I held a sign that said, “THE JOBS WILL DISAPPEAR, THE DESTRUCTION WILL STAY.”

So while I’m trying to make sense of the economic and environmental factors here, I’m asking lots of questions. I learned that the reason the alternative railroad route was not accepted is because it was only going to be a two-lane road, and CalTrans requires a four-lane route for the ultimate bypass. However, CalTrans now plans a two-lane route through the valley, aviaduct route raised on stilts above the wetlands. So why is the proposed Bypass allowed to be two lanes, but the already existing, unused railroad route that would be two lanes was not allowed? Well, the two-lane Bypass that CalTrans plans to build is supposed to be expanded “one day” to four, which makes it permissible to build just two now.

Does that make sense to you? I mean, really, this stuff is dizzying.

Meanwhile, at a truly dizzying speed, one oak forest comes down. I have not even had time to look at the mile beyond Warbler’s tree sit that has also been decimated—perhaps for my next post.  I leave you with as much of a photo essay as my little point-and-shoot camera can provide focused just on the land around Warbler’s tree sit where I’ve been hanging out two or three times a week for two months. I go out as much as my work schedule allows. One guy flipped me off from the highway screaming, “Get a job!” I actually do have a job, as do most of the folks I meet out there, who come at the end of the work day or on the weekend to stand witness for the trees and for Warbler who still sits in her tree.

In fact, Warbler is now on a fast, seeking to pressure CalTrans to rescind their onslaught (see the SOLLV website for an update: http://www.savelittlelakevalley.org/2013/04/01/hunger-strike-demands/



Tree sitter called Falcon in his nest, west side of 101

 



5th Tree sitter in tree to left; CalTrans woman on right

Now four other tree sitters have joined her throughout the remaining forest.  

Protestors at tent site on west side of HW 101 Friday

I’m sure it’s hard to imagine all this activity. No image can capture what it feels like to see tree after tree being eaten up for a purpose that appears negligibly rational. I need a video to show that.

But here (left) is an image taken high up the hill across from Warbler’s tree sit on Friday showing the tent allowed the protestors just off Highway 101. We used to be across the street where police officers now prevent us from getting to Warbler’s tree.

 

Trees down around Warbler on Monday

And here (right) is that same hillside today, Monday, three days later, with the trees down around Warbler’s ponderosa pine. This image of Warbler in her platform shows she is much more exposed. 

I like this photo below of my friend Alex standing by the roadside as it represents the loneliness I sometimes feel standing there by myself, holding a sign, getting flipped off for every 5 waves and honks I get, just meditating on the meaning of it all.

 

Today I was joined for a little while by a family of three. Amelia (right) had visited Warbler before and was distressed to see the trees coming down, the bulldozers hauling them away—it is rather like seeing a body dragged off if you actually love trees and might even be thinking about the 300 species that make their homes in an oak forest. Amelia wasn’t thinking about the 300 species, but when she arrived, she said, “I feel sad!” Her parents and I had found some bitter irony in all the police cars guarding a woman in a tree and the sign that pointed out more irony in having an army of police protecting a building project (below). Amelia told us, “It’s not funny!”And she was right.
It’s midnight, and my job requires that I do sleep. I will return to dredging up the history and future of the Bypass anon, as well as return to the forests that graced the entrance to Willits—already I use the past tense.

But still we rise. I begin to engage utter strangers in Willits to ask, “What do you think?” Theresa at the Laundromat said, “Thank you for asking! I’m anguished over the Bypass, but it’s so hard to talk about.” A woman at the toystore launched into a tirade against the Bypass, but admitted she wasn’t doing anything about it. A Channel 3 TV poll registered 70% against the Bypass.

When will the silent majority be heard? When we have enough facts out there floating in what’s left of the wetlands?

 

#29 When the Invaders Arrive

Bulldozer hauling away destroyed oaks by HW 101

            Surely it sounds overly dramatic to say, as I did at the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting this morning, that the chain saws cutting down the oak trees and the bulldozers dragging them away feel like an invasion of the Nazi army.             

 

      And yet it’s true.  I’ve often wondered how Jews and their allies felt watching the goose-stepping invaders, knowing that the clop-clop-clop of their boots, along with the ever tightening restrictions of their laws, and the power of their guns and hatred, could only bode horrendous evil.

            So, too, the onslaught of CalTrans, with the power and money that support the bypass, seem to march over the voices of those people with a more reasoned vision for an alternative.

            The Board of Supervisors meeting was called because two of the Board Members, Dan Hamburg and John Pinches, had prepared a letter of support from the Board to CalTrans for the bypass, insisting that the protesters represent a fringe element of the Willits community.

Kim speaking at the Mendocino Board of Supervisors Meeting

            In fact, the Board meeting was packed with community members, 55 of whom spoke in their allotted 3 minute segments to explain why the bypass is a bad idea. ONLY ONE PERSON spoke in favor of the bypass; he was from the Mendocino County Organization of Governments, which had voted to spend $54 million of their money to support the bypass.

            For over three hours, the rest of us who stood up and spoke represented an amazing array of perspectives. We heard about the environmental problems that will result from the construction of the bypass, including the analysis of one author who researches oak trees and reported that over 300 species intersect with oak environments like this one which was being cut down as we spoke.

            We heard about the psychological impacts of this division on the community. Local business people warned of the negative impact on commerce. A 13-year-old girl spoke to the legal violations of a board of supervisors that is not adequately protecting the interests of the people who have elected them.

            Residents of Willits for over two decades revealed the many ways that the community has offered alternatives to the now-initiated bypass, all of which were consistently disregarded in favor of the current plan. They shed light on the history of this conflict, indicating how many of the arguments—even of our supervisor Pinches—can be reduced to a “he said, she said” battle of misrepresentation and lies.

            Many Willits residents complained that the town has been hoodwinked in various ways throughout this process. For example, I learned that the original plan called for a four-lane bypass, allowing for some safety measures should traffic stall along the four-mile viaduct. That plan, however, was deemed to have too much of a negative environmental impact on the wetlands that would be drained to provide its “footprint.” The community thought that theisviaduct plan was dashed. However, a two-lane alternative replaced the four-lane scheme, and because “someone” deemed it was more viable, then the two-lanes were accepted.

Police blocking access to Warbler in her tree

            Notice my use of the passive voice. As I’ve said before, I’m still trying to figure this all out myself. In fact, the gist of my own 3-minute talk was to speak to why so many Willits people are, ONLY NOW, responding in protest to this bypass, for I’ve talked to those both in favor of the bypass and those who have had no opinion who say, “Why are they complaining now? We knew this was going to happen.” But what did we really know? I certainly had no idea.

            To the assembled supervisors and public, I said, “I’ve had property here for 25 years, and over the years, whenever I asked people about what they thought about the bypass, they said, ‘Oh, it’s so controversial, it’ll never happen.’ So people like me remained ignorant and complacent. But when Warbler went up a tree to protest the bypass, she brought attention to the horrors of this plan that we had not known. And we’ve woken up.”

            I believe, however, that the pro-bypass contingent is counting on the rest of us being ignorant. Once those of us start talking to everyone we know about some of the impacts of the bypass, they, too, express surprise. For example, one of the biggest communities within Willits is the Brooktrails neighborhood, which I go through to get to my own little dirt road community at the north end of town. But there will be only two planned off/on ramps for Willits, one at the very south end where Warbler sits in her tree, and another at the complete opposite end of town, far beyond the turn off for Brooktrails. So that means most Brooktrails residents are likely to go all the way through town to get to their turn off, rather than use the bypass anyhow. So what good is the bypass in that situation?

            Similarly, a good 30% of traffic coming into town is heading for Highway 20 to get to the Mendocino coast. They will still come most of the way into town and contribute to the infamous “bottleneck” at the Safeway just before the Highway 20 turn off.

            It’s complicated. And you see, the bypass as instigated does not resolve many of the problems that the Willits community experiences.

            Many speakers at the meeting mentioned the Old Railroad Route, the alternative that would have little impact on the community because it’s already a four-lane “road” for the no-longer used railroad, and it can be used as an alternative route for cars and trucks that do not want to get caught up in Main Street traffic. The estimates for building this route came in at $30 million, compared to the $300 million for the CalTrans route—and realistically speaking, that plan will cost $400 million before the six years of construction are over.

            Why was this community-proposed and supported “railroad route” alternative ignored? I keep asking and find no good responses. I must find out.

            When I left the Board of Supervisors meeting, I came back through the Highway 101 site where Warbler bravely continues to sit in her tree after CalTrans put in a fence and the police started blocking any access to her tree sit. They are waiting for her to get too thirsty and hungry to stay in her tree any longer.

On right, officer leading away arrestee on right

            While I watched, the police arrested four more protestors who got in the way of the chainsaws and bulldozers.

HW 101 south of Willits with police and tree cutting to right

            The website for Save Our Little Lake Valley also has more photos and information:

http://www.savelittlelakevalley.org/

            These are a few photos of the oak grove that will be cut down to pave the bypass.

Oak grove slated for destruction

        

  

 

One person commenting on my blog suggested that we all enjoy the opportunities that modern transportation have provided us by driving on freeways all the time, and so Willits is going to join modern society and enjoy progress with its own bypass. How interesting that San Francisco decided to destroy its 101 bypass, the Embarcadero Freeway, when the city realized that the freeway was destroying its way of life. Surely we pay a price for progress, but this is not the price that so many Willits residents want—and the more they learn, the less they want it, with now 1800 petitions signed to prevent the bypass in a town of 5000.

            Supervisor John Pinches claimed at the meeting that the bypass is now “a done deal.” The protestors continue to believe that Goliath can be stopped, especially as more and more people begin to understand the implications of what the cement viaduct will impose on the valley. Ignorance is no excuse for injustice and stupidity.

 

 

#28 Making Voices Heard

A month and a half after CalTrans decided to start cutting down trees in preparation for construction of the Willits Bypass, several actions have prevented them from going forward. Of course, as I’ve noted in earlier blogs, the initial interference with the CalTrans offensive on Little Lake Valley was the presence of a woman calling herself Warbler living on a platform in a tree at the southern end of the Bypass and her supporters’ continuous presence under the tree and providing Warbler with sustenance.

But protesters also called in the Fish and Game Department to call CalTrans on their lack of adequate provision for the migratory birds now nesting in the area, including inadequate biological surveys for the protection of flora and fauna living in the path of the proposed Bypass.

I’m attaching below a fact sheet  distributed by the community group Save Our Little Lake Valley or SOLLV. They are the main organizers of the protest. As I’ve said before, this struggle over to bypass or not to bypass has gone on for twenty years and involves a court case with at least three litigants, including the Willits Environmental Center and the local Farm Bureau that are protesting the impact of the proposed by pass on the wetlands and farmlands of the valley.

I recognize that I don’t have a similar fact sheet for those in favor of the Bypass, such as the amount of pollution created by the slowly moving cars and trucks that are the source of grief, or the amount of jobs purported to be created by the Bypass that local people want (including one guy who told me so when he stopped by the tree sit site while I was there holding a sign—I thanked him for letting me know).

One inarguable fact is that the bypass will essentially be a “great wall” 200 feet wide and 20 feet high, almost six miles with a mile-­long bridge passing through the middle of 2,000 acres of valley farmland,  with 400 acres taken out of agricultural production. This is the largest wetland fill of any project in northern California in over 50 years.

Just driving through the north end of the valley on Sunday afternoon, I stopped to snap this picture of tule elk lounging exactly where the bypass will come through. Hence, this sign at the side of 101 at the southern entrance to Willits begs drivers to think about tolerating the slower pace of moving through Willits so that we can save such wildlife and farmland.

Those protesting the bypass hoped to put an injunction on construction, but the court denied the injunction. An appeal is meant to be heard in June, but as a CalTrans engineer told us, since the injunction was denied, CalTrans took that as a sign to forge ahead, regardless of whether there will be an ultimate decision against the bypass upon appeal.
The next tactic of the protesters was to prevent damage to the fragile ecosystem of migrating birds where fencing was being installed last week along part of the Bypass route. The fence company was stopped from proceeding by protestors last week, some of whom sat in front of the huge ground moving equipment. Also, SOLLV asked a Fish and Game department agent to come insure that CalTrans was obeying the law with regards to inspecting for bird and frogs eggs where the excavators were digging in. Apparently, CalTrans was out of compliance, and so work was stopped on that account as well.
I was present last Wednesday at yet another show down with the police. Officer Epperson provided a positive example of an officer of the law trying to work with the protesters. He said that his job entailed defending the law, and that included defending the laws that we as protestors were defending. He indicated that we were all trespassing on state property, so he could arrest us right then and there, but he wanted to hear us out and prevent a lot of misery for everyone. What were we willing to accept? A dedicated protest site, with a porta-potty provided, where we could continue to voice our dissent while watching the construction go up before us?

That offer was, naturally, not accepted—it was actually received with laughter. One of the most vocal and omnipresent leaders of SOLLV, Sara Grusky, whipped out her analysis of how CalTrans is currently violating the law by not following the regulations of the environmental policies set by the state, and suggested that they be arrested for trespassing with their heavy equipment.

Another negotiating chip in favor of the protestors was that our state representative, Noreen Evans, had written a letter of protest on behalf of the many Willits and other constituents who had signed petitions and called her with concerns about the negative impacts of the proposed Bypass. The SOLLV protestors at the fence site said that it would be valuable to hear what our state representative suggests for resolving the impasse.

After two hours of negotiations, the officers convinced the fence company to pack up, and the protestors had a moment of cheer for our efforts. However, we were also sobered by knowing that the fence company is a local organization that has a huge contract with CalTrans, so by preventing them from working, we were costing them their livelihood. These ethical questions are deeply implicated in every aspect of this protest in ways too numerous to describe in this post alone.

In fact, such decisions are always difficult when trying to balance our daily lives against the demands of any protest against a behemoth, as anyone knows who has committed to such an action—whether walking miles to work for over a year to protest a society bent on making you a second-class citizen at the back of the bus; or going to jail in opposition to a war started on implausible criteria; or railing against a corporation whose production creates environmental hazards to which the rest of society is blind—even at the cost of alienating valued neighbors and friends; or living in a tree for weeks, if not months on end, when the wind and rain blows, and hot meals and close contact with loved ones are rare.

 

So when does one decide to throw off job and social connections in favor of a battle in which the few are confronting the mighty? How do we know if we did enough? And how do we know absolutely what is the right thing to do?

 

As I struggle with these questions, I am happy to receive your own comments on dealing with this particular battle of the Bypass or similar battles that pit so many people against one another in harsh ways.

 

Here is some of the information from the SOLLV group below, as well as in an attached PDF:

 

Willits Bypass Fact Sheet compiled by David Partch

Congestion Relief?
*The Bypass will divert only 20-30% of traffic, including trucks. It will not eliminate stop and go traffic for at least 70% of the remaining traffic and will eliminate only a small part of congestion.

*An alternative solution could divert almost all truck traffic off of Main St. and virtually eliminate stop and go traffic entirely.

*The projected future increase in traffic along the 101 corridor (used by Caltrans to justify the Bypass) has not been realized since predicted. Instead there has even been a slight decline. There are also reasons to believe this trend will continue.

* The congestion at the Hwy 20 turn off was introduced ~20 years ago, when Caltrans re-striped the northbound approach to a single lane, eliminating a critical right-turn capability. The backup started the very next day. This has greatly contributed to the perception that we need a Bypass to solve the problem – a problem that was artificially created with poor traffic engineering.

*A proposal at the Willits City Council to resolve our traffic problems with an alternative route through town by connecting Railroad Ave. to Baechtel Ave. was discouraged by MCOG Executive Direct, Phil Dow, with the argument that alleviating the backup would reduce local support for a Bypass.

*All Hwy 20 traffic (including trucks) will continue to use Main St. since there is no central connectivity with the Bypass (and there are no future plans for it either).

*The southern interchange is designed to require Willits traffic coming from the South to exit the freeway on the right, stop at the end of the off-ramp and then turn left to proceed into town. This will inevitably create a new bottleneck and inconvenience for drivers coming into Willits.

*The northern interchange will create similar unnecessary inconveniences for vehicles coming in and out of Willits only to go from one 2-lane road right back to another.

Local Economic Impacts

 

*14-26 (out of 118) Willits businesses will fail due to the Bypass. In addition, any remaining businesses will suffer at least a 10% loss of revenue. This will mean a significant loss of sales tax revenues.

* The southern interchange of the Bypass has been designed to accommodate a freeway-style business section (gas stations, restaurants, motels) outside of the city limits which could further erode business in Willits and the city’s sales tax revenues.

*90% of local business owners/managers on Main St. have signed a petition voicing their opposition to the Bypass in its current design.

*Caltrans has already started to retreat from their assurances to ranchers (some forced to sell their lands into the Mitigation Trust) that they would be able to lease back their lands for grazing. This could have a considerable negative impact on the local production of meat products.

*No funding is allocated (thru relinquishment or otherwise) to make necessary and desirable enhancements to Main St. in conjunction with the Bypass project. The relinquishment offered to the city is only enough to cover the cost of bringing sidewalks into ADA compliance (something that should have happened years ago at Caltrans expense anyway, since they own the road).

*The relinquishment funds include nothing for future maintenance costs that will be incurred by the City of Willits after the relinquishment.

*The Bypass together with its Mitigation Plan requires the purchase of ~2000 acres of farmland. Much of this will be taken out of production. All of it will be removed from the county tax base.

*Through MCOG the entire county has committed >31 million of its own STIP funds (State Transportation Improvement Program) to the Bypass, virtually eliminating years of funding that would have been better spent on other local transportation improvement projects (including, among other things, money for public transportation and bike/pedestrian trails.

Construction Impacts

* Piles must be driven as deep as 100 feet into the ground to build the viaduct section of the bypass (>1 mile in length). 1,600 piles are needed. Each pile will require up to 2,210 strikes at decibel levels of 187 – 220. (For comparison a jet taking off is 140 decibels.) Because the noise from pile driving will kill the fish in near-by streams, Caltrans has been required to hunt down and find the fish and temporarily relocate them. This noisy pile driving will go on for three years from 7am – 7pm. And this is just for half of the proposed 4-lane bypass.

*A conservative estimate of 95,000 tons of CO2 per year of construction will be dumped into the atmosphere. That is a total of at least 380,000 tons over the construction period (probably a lot more). Caltrans claims that the Bypass will reduce CO2 emissions because it will reduce stop and go traffic. However, it will take 70-80 years for their calculated emissions savings to compensate for the construction impact. And that does not take emissions due to future Bypass maintenance into account. It also ignores the fact that alternative solutions could greatly reduce stop and go traffic for

all of the vehicles passing through Willits – not just the 20-30% that would utilize the Bypass.

*The construction of the bypass (Phase 1 only) will require 1,400,000 cubic yds of fill. This will require 140,000 dump truck loads or an average of 22 loads/per hour over the construction period (200 days/yr X 4 yrs X 8 hrs/day). Many of these trucks will inevitably need to pass through town (and Caltrans has repeatedly refused to make any promises to the contrary, claiming they cannot impose rules on the contractors).

*Construction will require the use of haul roads through wetlands that that supposedly will be restored. Caltrans has offered no explanation or plans for how these wetlands will be de-compacted and "restored" after completion of the Bypass (the possible success of which is highly controversial).

*Placing huge amounts of fill dirt on top of wetlands will require that the ground below will need to be drained and collapsed (intentionally compacted) by the insertion of 55,000 wick drains. This will form an underground dam across the flood plane with unpredictable underground hydrological effects.

*The process of placing the fill dirt itself will require the use of huge (and unspecified) amounts of water. Where this water will come from is unclear. Probably it will come from wells on the surrounding Mitigation lands – either existing or new. This excessive extraction of water would have a dramatic impact on the groundwater level and, therefore, all the other wells in the valley.

*No monitoring plan has been set forth for the impact on the water quality of the creeks that the haul roads will have to cross.

Physical Impacts

*Since the Bypass route cuts through the valley bottom, it will all have to be a raised structure (from 10-30 feet above the valley floor). Much of this distance cuts right through a flood plane. The section closest to the city will rise to 30 feet (over the railroad tracks). Part of this will be a viaduct (a bridge-like structure) ~1 mile in length. It will pass over Commercial and East Valley – and our sewer plant. The rest of this section will be a huge dirt wall (2-3 stories in height) that will represent a dam to the flood waters (not to mention a visual abomination).

*This elevated section with greatly increased vehicle speeds will project an intolerable level of noise throughout the valley and up into the surrounding hills (especially from the trucks).

 

Social Considerations

 

*The Bypass has been a deeply divisive issue in our community. There are strong feelings on both sides of the fence. These divisions will continue and possibly even intensify in the coming years, especially as the real consequences of the Bypass become more and more apparent.

* Caltrans has repeatedly and consistently refused to work together with members of our community to resolve disputes – even with people strongly in favor of the Bypass but concerned about certain aspects of the design (like the lack of a Hwy 20 interchange) and much to the exasperation of even those City Council members who favored the bypass. It seems as though very few people in the community are entirely happy with the Bypass as it is being crammed down our throats.