On May 14, Great Redwood Trail Agency Executive Director Elaine Hogan hosted a webinar to kick off the Project Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) and CEQA process for the 231-mile trail from Mendocino to Humboldt. The 30-day public comment period began on May 1 and ends on May 31. The PEIR aims to streamline environmental review for the entire trail, but concerns about its ability to cover such a large area remain. A draft PEIR is expected later this year, with final adoption planned for summer 2025.
On May 14, Great Redwood Trail Agency Executive Director Elaine Hogan hosted a webinar to discuss the Project Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process and timeline. The 30-day scoping period began on May 1, and the public comment deadline is May 31. A Project EIR covers a large project such as the GRT that passes through many sites. This is more efficient than having separate EIRs for each section of the trail but leaves open the question of how one EIR can cover such a vast area.
A draft PEIR is expected to be ready later this year, with another public comment period following that. In the Summer of 2025, planners hope that the Great Redwood Trail Agency will adopt the Master Plan and the PEIR.
The PEIR covers the 231-mile Mendocino to Humboldt section of the trail. Some of the project goals are to provide a world-class recreational experience, vegetation management for firefighting access, protect tribal cultural sites, restore aquatic, plant, and animal habitats, create economic development, and clean up hazardous waste left by the railroad.
The PEIR will examine proposed trail amenities, such as trailheads, campgrounds, restrooms, river access, public art, and fencing. Existing trail barriers, such as landslides, failed bridges and tunnels, culturally sensitive areas, and ecologically sensitive habitats will be examined. The next step is to research options to mitigate or re-route the trail in those sections. Development of the trail creates an opportunity to remove existing railroad debris and hazardous waste and to restore the environment.
Lily Bostrom, Senior Environmental Planner with Ascent, the agency managing the PEIR process, said the PEIR will evaluate alternatives. It will evaluate what may happen if the GRT is not completed, along with possible alternatives for the Project. “We don’t have all the answers right now,” said Bostrom.
Hogan opened up the meeting to public comments but stated that the purpose was only to gather comments, not to respond to them during the webinar.
Patty Clary, Executive Director of Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, said she wanted to remind everyone that many of the toxic substances along the abandoned rail line are invisible. “We aren’t completely satisfied that we know what we’re dealing with along the trail,” including dioxin. She stated the importance of identifying every known toxic and potentially toxic site and including them in the PEIR. The clean-up efforts may inadvertently release toxins into the water. She would like a three-month comment period for the PEIR, instead of 30 days.
Nikcole Whipple, Round Valley Indian Tribe member, would like the planners to incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) into the hazard mitigation process, along with tribal inclusion, monitoring of sacred sites of cultural significance, and protection of indigenous plants and food sources. The GRTA needs to include the tribes along the trail on a government-to-government status, the same way the agency would conduct meetings with other federal agencies.
Commenter Paula Fugman pointed out that the Draft Master Plan predicts over six million visitors to the trail annually. “How do you expect to bring that many people into the backcountry?” She would like a separate EIR for the Eel River Canyon because of the biological diversity and significant cultural resources and suggested routing the trail along existing logging roads instead of along the river.
We note that not all six million anticipated visitors will be expected to visit the backcountry.
Scott Greacen, Director of Friends of the Eel River, said “There is a significant amount of metal and other debris on the banks and in the river itself which . . . are often a hazard to navigation, to life and limb, and are going to be a significant challenge, obviously in terms of figuring out where they are, and how to remove them. . . . That whole aspect of the railroad aftermath and the need for mitigation was part of the 99 Consent Decree that is part of the history of the NCRA and thus part of the GRTA’s ambit and responsibility, ultimately. So I think it’s important that be included in the scope of the project.”
The North Coast Railroad Authority was a state agency. The GRTA is a state agency that succeeded the NCRA, so ultimately California taxpayers are on the hook for the environmental cleanup, no matter which agency is involved. A brief summary of the lawsuit is found on the Friends of the Eel River website.
Michelle Merrifield, RVIT member, said the proposed trail in the Eel River canyon goes through the site of an ancestral village. The GRTA has not addressed how they plan to clean up the abandoned railroad equipment, including railroad ties that are leaching creosote into the river. “Unless the garbage is cleaned up, we don’t want to see it,” and “more people means more trash.” She has not received adequate responses from the GRTA to her emails.
Launa Wyrd, a licensed civil engineer in Arcata, acknowledged the views of the other commenters. “I would love to see this trail manifested, but only if it’s done in an ethical way, taking into account the voices we heard today.”
These comments differed from those heard in prior workshops, where the comments were mainly from the ag and vineyard interests, expressing concern about trail users potentially trespassing and damaging private property along the trail. This time, the comments were mostly from tribal members and NGO representatives, on the subjects of preventing the trail from going through sacred cultural sites and calling for clean-up of environmentally sensitive habitat along the Eel River.
In a follow-up phone call with Whipple, we pointed to the Draft Master Plan statement that 83.5% of tribal members supported the trail, touting the meetings and workshops on tribal lands. She questioned the methodology to get that number, because the trail has been in the planning stages for years, yet consultation with the tribes has been lacking. “Just because you show up for a Q & A, it’s not a government-to-government consultation.” She is concerned with protecting tribal water rights in Round Valley, saying “Tribal water rights are senior water rights.” Whipple would like to see more GRTA representatives assigned to work with the numerous tribes all along the trail.
In a follow up post on the GRTA PEIR page, seeming to address comments made by Whipple and others, Hogan posted “Under AB 52, the GRTA will offer government-to-government consultations to California Native American tribes on the Native American Heritage Commission notice list. Additional public comment will be solicited when a draft PEIR is ready for public review “
AB 52 addresses past “accidental” discoveries of native cultural sites during construction projects. It calls for government-to-government consultation with tribal representatives to survey for possible cultural sites prior to construction commencing, thus avoiding disturbance during construction.
Comments may be submitted to: PEIR@greatredwoodtrailplan.org
Or mailed to: Elaine Hogan, Executive Director, Great Redwood Trail Agency, 410 Talmage, Suite M, Ukiah, CA 95482
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Unless private land owners allow public right of way, encroachment or easement onto their land, this trail will never happen. Sections of the rail corridor are washed out and unstable or just gone. My guess would be 30 YEARS to complete this project from what I’ve seen paddling down the Eel River.
Pursuing a paved trail from Mckinleyville to Scotia along with something similar in Mendocino County would be realistic.
The land is owned by the state, it’s not privately owned.
The defunct rail corridor is a right of way in two counties going through mostly private land.