Richardson's Grove Issue Revisited.

I have wanted to chime in on the Richardsons Grove issue since I saw Kym posting about it, but have been otherwise occupied, as busy people are often known to be.

This issue is the same age old dilemma. It is similar to the question, “Would you kill a man to save thousands”. Many people would not, nor would they be able to, but they would suffer greatly as thousands died. Their consciences would be clear, because they were really not involved. That would be very little satisfaction to my way of thinking.

People want to “Save the Grove” because they have an emotional attachment to Redwood trees. If they really thought about it. Straightening the Grove would stop the thought of doing a bypass, which I can assure you would kill millions of trees. The east side of the river, where the road was originally planned, also has very unstable soil. You could look that fact up if you would take the time. It would take years to stabilize the soil, after much erosion.

Trucks already refuse to take loads to California because of our confusing rules. Many cities ban trucks, and many roads are not legal to take over length trucks. If you were a truck driver and hired on to take a load from Chicago to Eureka, and you wanted to see the Redwoods. You would take highway 101 north from San Francisco. You would get as far as Laytonville before you would see a sign that tells you that your over-length truck would have to turn around in approximately 30miles. Some trucks chance it and try to sneak through, because they have a commitment and a responsibility to deliver. Unfortunately most of the over-length trucks get caught by our more-than-adequate C.H.P. They then have to pay a fine and hire a special short-coupled truck to haul their trailer back south. No wonder a lot of truckers simply refuse California job loads.

In the near future trucks will all have to meet new standards. Most of the old beater trucks, that we have now, will be outlawed and abandoned. Most trucks won’t be able to come into the north coast. Think about it, if you were to purchase a new truck to haul freight, wouldn’t you buy one that could give you the most bang-for-the-buck. You would buy the truck that would be able to haul the most payload.

Back to redwood trees, my family goes back to 1857 in logging redwood trees, and making redwood lumber. I’ve learned a great deal about redwood from my family and my own experience. Dave Kirby is a very wise man for a newcomer. Somewhere along the way he educated himself. The knowledge is out there to those who will pay attention.

Two things will kill redwood trees, wet roots from the change of a creek-bed, or anything that will cause a swampy condition. And, root suffocation from dirt or gravel being placed over them. I have never seen a redwood tree be killed by cutting through the roots on a small portion of one side, as long as at least ¾ of the roots stayed unaffected. I challenge you to show me one that has.

Talk to some of the old families that settled in the south Ferndale Valley and find out how many years it took to kill the old redwood stumps. It is almost impossible to kill a redwood.

The reason the cost of the straightening project is so high is because the engineers are spending most of the time and money trying to deal with uneducated peoples emotions rather that the real project.

My suggestion would be to see how much that could be got from the project in other forms. As I’ve said, I’m very little concerned about the trees being damaged. It isn’t going to happen. What I think, is that a person should get something for the privilege of them fixing the road. Get thousands of new trees planted, in a like area, or some research done on why the trees died at Jordan creek. Would you read it if they did?

Like Kym Kemp, I am sincerely sorry if I sound evil, I don’t mean to be, but from a knowledgeable standpoint it sounds a lot like there is gobs of emotion about what is happening at the Grove and not enough reality. Get real! Get something good for the environment. Don’t try to force the project over budget. Don’t force the State to take ridiculous precautions. Get mitigation, like a person truly trying to benefit the environment. You only have to make a small sacrafice, and you can have most anything that you ask for.

When they straighten it anyway, you are going to kick yourself for not getting something good out of it. I would!