This last Saturday, September 28, 2024, community members converged on multiple Mendocino County waterways targeting areas inundated by refuse. Volunteers did not just find simple trash to pick up but entire makeshift communities built by the Ukiah Valley’s unhoused population directly in vulnerable waterways. In the end, thousands of pounds of waste were pulled from local riparian habitats.
Volunteers met at Low Gap Park at 8:30 am to sign in for the Ukiah Valley Russian River Cleanup. Coffee and pastries from Black Oak Coffee Roasters provided energy for a morning of hauling trash. The Mendocino County Resource Conservation District (MCRCD) organized the event, along with Redwood Waste Solutions, the County of Mendocino, and the City of Ukiah.
Jessica Reid of the MCRCD told the volunteers that picking up trash in the tributaries of the Upper Russian River Watershed is important in keeping the river clean on its long journey to meet the sea. She named some of the wildlife that live in the watershed: salmon, bird species, and river otters. The MCRCD selected several areas to clean, and the groups split off to cover Ackerman Creek, Doolin Creek, Gibson Creek, Orr Creek, and the Russian River.
Volunteers went to work with the group at Ackerman Creek, having been told that there is a very large homeless camp along the banks. The volunteer instruction sheet said not to disturb any people or their belongings. But, Ackerman Creek is such a problem area that the cleanup was handled differently. The creek runs alongside Dunnewood Vineyards’ (Constellation Brands) property on the north end of Ukiah, outside of the city limits.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies and County social workers had combed through the large encampment in the days before the cleanup, rousting the squatters, and offering help from county social agencies.
When the volunteers arrived, a few groups of unhoused people sat unhappily on the edge of the cleanup area with their piles of belongings, waiting until noon, when the cleaning crews would leave.
Adam Gaska has been working with officials and posting on social media to bring attention to cleaning up the encampments at several locations around Ukiah. He led the volunteer group at Ackerman Creek. Members of the Pinoleville Pomo Nation worked on the cleanup, and the tribe provided a truck and trailer to haul away loads of trash. The MCAVHN harm reduction group also assisted at Ackerman Creek.
Paul Trouette, CEO of Lear Asset Management, donated security services for the event. Lear has a contract with the Great Redwood Trail Agency to provide security along the trail. Ackerman Creek runs under the railroad tracks and trail. Lear provides security guards to patrol the trail, on call at the request of GRTA management. Lear does not patrol every day, but is called when management receives complaints about conditions on the trail.
Though inland Mendocino County’s homeless might be visible on the streets, the health hazard represented by encampments is most clearly seen within these creekside encampments. Volunteers pulled out dozens of shopping carts, bicycles, an electric bike, two Segways, alcohol bottles, disintegrating plastics, car batteries, batteries of all sizes, tools, mattresses, furniture, mail, cigarette butts, needles, old clothes, and shoes.
A Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputy who came by to check on the cleanup said, as he gazed at a giant pile of broken bikes and bike parts, that he wished he could return all the bikes to the kids they were stolen from.
There were several wooden shacks constructed from plywood, old pallets, cinderblocks, and tarps. Some areas were landscaped, fenced, and terraced. There were makeshift stoves and cooking utensils, concerning to see during this tinder-dry weather. Some of the shacks contained beds and furniture. There was a basketball court in a flat area where the dirt had been tamped down. Next to that was an outdoor gym of sorts, with a full-size punching bag suspended from a tree branch.
While the cleanup was in progress, a young man ignored the security guards’ warnings to stay out, and marched up and grabbed his basketball and basketball hoop, then stomped off down the creekbed.
The volunteers found gang graffiti tags and evidence of drugs and drug dealing. One of the shacks contained a pound-size bag of trimmed buds. There was also a tiny digital scale to weigh narcotic bout the size of a playing card.
The group began cleaning at the railroad track overpass and worked its way along the creek toward State Street. The cleanup ended at noon with still an enormous amount of trash to be removed.*
County Supervisor Mo Mulheren led a child-friendly volunteer group at Orr Creek, while children were not permitted at the Ackerman site due to safety concerns. Mulheren, who regularly organizes creek cleanups, reflected on the day’s efforts.
“Today, I had ten volunteers with me, and we cleaned the portion of Orr Creek between Hwy 101 and Ford Street,” she explained. Despite the ongoing efforts of local agencies, the volunteers made a significant impact. “I’m grateful for the work that the City of Ukiah Streets and Parks teams have done to keep this section cleaned up. Even with all the work that they do, our volunteers were able to completely load a dumpster and get the top of a treadmill out of the waterway.”
Mulheren emphasized the importance of community involvement, saying, “We must always remember that streets lead to creeks, and everyone can do their part by picking up any litter they see and making sure it’s properly disposed of.”
She also highlighted a recurring issue the community faces: “We continue to have a problem with abandoned clothing, and I plan to host a meeting with service providers in the area to discuss alternative ways to offer support that don’t lead to large piles of clothing being left in our waterways.”
Supervisor-elect Madeline Cline volunteered with a group mostly comprised of South Ukiah Rotarians. Cline said, “It’s great to see the community come together to clean up our waterways, but most importantly it underscores the need for better solutions.”
*Note: Mendocino County Resource Conservation District’s Seth Myrick asked us to clarify that the organization “did not use any funding from our contract to have Lear present at Ackerman Creek.” He said, “It is unclear to us who contacted Lear.”
He went on to say that his organization does not condone the “more aggressive approach taken at the Ackerman Creek site.” He added, “10 of the 11 other sites that day encountered no encampments, so on the whole, the vast majority of volunteers did not find encampments.”
P HEY CHECK IT OUT THERE’S ONE OF THOSE MEGA GAY POWER BOTTOM LEAR MEMBERS WHO RAIDED PEOPLE IN LAYTONVILLE DURING A BIG ASS FIRE 10 YEARS AGO AND CHOPPED ALL THE WATER TANKS ON THE ROAD UP TO THE PLACE THEY WERE RAIDING PREVENTING FIREFIGHTERS FROM ACCESSING WATERS FOR FIREFIGHTING
I honestly cannot believe our taxpayer dollars are still going to this stupid fucking militant group
?
It is sort of troubling that this private security force is being employed to patrol what has been named the great redwood trail. I imagine they mostly do nothing but ride around armed to the teeth, ready for the taliban to show up at any moment. At least it’s a good opportunity to show off all that off-limits-to-civilians tacticool gear. I’m sure the great redwood trail agency offers a generous employment contract to the LEAR crew.
Hopefully these guys aren’t allowed to detain citizens. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the LEAR roster was stacked with guys like Kevin Murray. How would we know? Is there any Law enforcement oversight or supervision of LEAR asset management to make sure they aren’t hiring unsavory characters or engaging in misconduct?
I agree who is this LEAR organization?Has anyone done a background check on them? I thought this county was funded millions of dollars to get most of the homeless housed?Looks like that money got spent on city counsel vacations and Holiday’s.There needs to be a better job making sure our people have available housing or this will just keep on repeating.Insanity
Note to editor: The Mendocino Country Resource Conservation District, who hosted this event, did NOT coordinate or contract with Lear Security and were not made aware that they were removing people from encampments at Ackerman Creek. Instruction from MCRCD clearly stated that there are significant stretches of Ackerman Creek to clean without active encampments.
Retired to Ukiah from SF three yrs ago. Noticed homeless were few in number here, but did see characters ’round the River at the Talmage bridge camping and leaving trash. So this article was unsurprising and the response herein is confusing. What? Do you really expect that polluting garbage is okay for the River? I didn’t hear anything about those campers making an effort to do the job of cleanup, nor should I. Cuidado, better nip it now ’cause it only gets worse. Just check out SF …
Retired to Ukiah from SF three yrs ago. Noticed homeless were few in number here, but did see characters ’round the River at the Talmage bridge camping and leaving trash. So this article was unsurprising and the response herein is confusing. What? Do you really expect that polluting garbage is okay for the River? I didn’t hear anything about those campers making an effort to do the job of cleanup, nor should I. Cuidado, better nip it now ’cause it only gets worse. Just check out SF …
I know of a couple campers in the Russian River area that do bag up and haul off their trash to the appropriate places.
They can’t find work that will hire ex-felons that want to work. Catch-22 so they do what they can while still keeping their heads up.
No help from these local posing politicians to what is the underlying reasons why people can’t get or afford housing.
Here in this county we will continue to see more and more families living rough. But hey we the redwood trail.
Well what do you expect when rents are through the roof and there is little to no help. It will only get worse with current leadership. It makes no sense in the world a little town with next to no industry, ran down and dilapidated has these big city rents.
Amen to that, Silver!
The rents here are ridiculous. The average folk here can’t afford to pay pot grower prices. And when you are someone who has not taken of the illegal black market pot industry or any other illegal black market industry here, you can’t afford housing.. So much for the American dream… It’s the American nightmare now. 🙁
Welcome to California. You guys must be new around here.
They’ve got you right where they want you – impotently whining about rent prices when you should be fighting against wage stagnation, private equity speculation on housing, and the third-world illegal migrant invasion.
Also, since you’re apparently unaware, most of the black market pot production left the area years ago. This county only imports fentanyl and meth, and exports wine nowadays. If your children choose to stay here the best they can hope for is a future of serving dinner and drinks to wealthy tourists.
Have fun playing whack-a-mole on these disgusting encampments. Meanwhile you have created an environment where only hispanic drug gangs and other foreign invaders can thrive.
LEAR Assett Management
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2014/9/24/1332190/-New-Marijuana-Policy-in-California-Private-Security-Firm-Raiding-Pot-Farms-in-Mendocino-County
https://theava.com/archives/34675
Thanks for posting those links. Very interesting. It sounds like these guys are indeed playing cowboy out there, possibly stealing marijuana and assets to pad their wallets along the way. Where does all the weed, cash, and other assets go when LEAR does a raid? Any sheriff oversight on that? Federal oversight seems more appropriate. Even if they’re doing a legit trespass grow eradication on timberland, where does the all the weed go?
It is telling that these men go through such lengths to conceal their faces and hide their identities. Criminals have always loved masks…
What would be the result if a landowner defended his or herself against an intrusion by these anonymous masked men with guns?
I am usually a supporter of sworn law enforcement, but this unchecked LEAR outfit smells real fishy. I hope someone is holding this outfit accountable, otherwise the implications of heavily-armed rogue military-styled contractors cruising the county are rather ominous.
There it is!
Thank you for this.
LEAR out there playing Call of Duty at the homeless encampment. give me a break. meanwhile Matt lafever and Monica huettl are licking boots like a dog eating peanut butter. at least use this platform in a positive way by pointing people in the right direction. those who need help and those who want to help. simply quoting somebody who says that there is a need for better solutions is akin to saying “heat is hot”
What if Matt actually used his new SF Gate platform to investigate and report on LEAR? Dig into Paul Trouette and his self described Pinkertons.
The biggest problem I see with the homeless, there is no reprocussions for their actions so they refuse any kind of help. It’s easier to steal from stores and hard working people for the things they want with no fear of being arrested or any legal reprocussions. So therefore they will continue doing what they do. Until there are strict laws set in place we will continue to see this defacement of properties.
I agree with you to an extent. The homeless need to play by the rules and laws of their communities or else face consequences. The community base in Ukiah, like many areas throughout Ca, have made this situation way more destitute. Not to mention high inflation (heavily related to the lack of housing nationally). Housing and/or opportunities to buy housing or have a way of life in the community has eroded for many folks (many of them are locals). Many have either left the area to places where they can have a life or else go the ways of mad max and live off grid and abide by no law and order. Mendo (and Ukiah) local zoning has made it damn near impossible to develop really anything over the last 20 plus years. There was already a housing shortage before Covid so this shouldn’t surprise people on the outcome of having mad max communities scattered all over the country, including Mendo, after a few years of bursting inflation. Quite a Tragedy.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out to help clean our creeks and rivers. That Ackerman creek is the same one where a woman overdosed a few months back and a recent shooting around the same time. We need to have consequences for these people ruining our creeks. I want to go down and clean but, don’t want to get stabbed doing it.
That’s why I asked for the support of MCSO and accepted Paul’s offer of security.
You will,never get money from the rich. Because the rich nly want money to become wealther.
I was asked by Sheriff Matt Kendall to help clean up Ackerman creek a few weeks after writing an op-ed about it being unacceptable to allow our creeks/tributaries to be damaged by transients and people abusing drugs. I told our sheriff in order to clean the creek, the people living there needed to be evicted as they are the source of the damage and garbage.
Paul Trouette of Lear Asset Management heard about the plan to clean up the creek and told me of the cabins, terracing of the stream bank and likely drug trafficking. He offered his company’s services to provide security and clean up labor with a priority on taking down the cabins. His companies services were entirely donated and he paid out of pocket for the labor. His company does security for the Great Redwood Trail and other business owners. Through his work on the GRT and surrounding businesses, he became aware of the cabins and the impact to the surrounding area hence his desire in dismantling the embedded encampments.
Of the volunteers that helped, two came via MCRCD’s Street to Creek Clean up campaign. Former 2nd District Supervisor John McCowen and a relative came out of their own interest. Lear Asset Management provided two clean up workers and 4 security officers. Pinoleville Pomo Nation had three tribal members and Terri McCartney who works for the tribe present. Add myself and Monica Huettl. In total we had 10 people working to demolish the cabins and clean up garbage. MCSO deputies came by during the clean up multiple times and made one arrest for outstanding warrants.
I spent part of today coordinating resources for a follow up clean up for this coming Saturday, September 30th as there is still tens of yards of trash and debris to remove. I am lining up dumpsters to be delivered to the site. I reached out to people who work in Social Services to send outreach/social workers out to the site again to make contact with anyone attempting to reestablish the encampment to notify them that the over all goal is to finish the clean up and evict everyone before the rainy season. I have been told that many in the encampment have repeatedly rejected offers of assistance and are recalcitrant toward the programs that are available.
The amount of damage to the stream bank is appalling. There has been massive soil movement to build terraces and staircases, devegetation, clearing of trees and underbrush, holes dug into the stream bank and stream bed to defecate into, dozens of large batteries with broken cases, along with trash and debris. It is going to take a lot of work to restore the damage done much less improve the riparian area to a point to where it could become prime habitat supporting salmonid species or keystone species such as river otters.
I will be putting out posts via social media looking for volunteers to help me with the ongoing effort. I reached out to people at Pinoleville to get their help again as well.
Edit.
October 5th for the follow up clean up.
Thank you volunteers!
Needless to say…I’m overwhelmed knowing that encampment has been eradicated. Unfortunately, it has taken over a year to do this, and from what I’m reading in this article, it is much larger than the one that was there last year. What’s frustrating to me, is knowing the California fish and game and the Mendocino sheriff department were fully aware of the encampment that existed in that very same creek last year in June 2023. They did check on the creek from what I’m told, but they didn’t take care of it in its entirety and left it to fester into what it has became to be this year in 2024! I will never forget that date ,June 30, 2023…nor will I forget finding my beloved little dog killed internally within the encampment , left deceased on a trail for the flying overhead vultures. For me and my little dog…it was too little too late.
The encampment are unfortunate, but thanks for stepping up and cleaning the waterways, so deeply appreciated,