Behind the redwood curtain: The Prohibition Oral History Project
Our stories are secrets. Most strangers around here can't risk talking about what they do for a living. That means our local history is being written by outsiders. By reality TV spectacles like Pot Cops and Weed Country.
The Lost Coast Oral History Project's goal is to empower local voices to speak for themselves. By building an archive of recordings for use in academic research and public journalism, we hope to reclaim our narrative. To tell our own stories, before history tells them for us.
Contributors are free to remain anonymous or may also choose identify themselves -- but please avoid self-incrimination on anything not yet past the statute of limitations.
Not so sure participating in this project is a good idea? Read this first.
The Lost Coast Oral History Project's goal is to empower local voices to speak for themselves. By building an archive of recordings for use in academic research and public journalism, we hope to reclaim our narrative. To tell our own stories, before history tells them for us.
Contributors are free to remain anonymous or may also choose identify themselves -- but please avoid self-incrimination on anything not yet past the statute of limitations.
Not so sure participating in this project is a good idea? Read this first.
Features:
Code Enforcement In Shelter Cove: Cultures clashing on The Lost Coast
Tommy York’s home in Shelter Cove burned down in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve of 2009.
Everyone made it out of the fire safely, but the house itself was a total loss. Before the flames consumed his home York was able to save two chainsaws, a leafblower, and a stack of art he had made. But that was all.
"Everything else is still there," York said.
That is how the site of the York family’s former home, 606 Redwood Road, ended up on a list of nuisance properties submitted to Humboldt County’s code enforcement unit by the Shelter Cove Resort Improvement District (RID). Four years later, what is left of his home is considered solid waste, and county code limits homeowners to 200 square feet of outdoor storage per property.
Everyone made it out of the fire safely, but the house itself was a total loss. Before the flames consumed his home York was able to save two chainsaws, a leafblower, and a stack of art he had made. But that was all.
"Everything else is still there," York said.
That is how the site of the York family’s former home, 606 Redwood Road, ended up on a list of nuisance properties submitted to Humboldt County’s code enforcement unit by the Shelter Cove Resort Improvement District (RID). Four years later, what is left of his home is considered solid waste, and county code limits homeowners to 200 square feet of outdoor storage per property.
No. 51: Activists work to build conservative new state in Northern california
Jefferson Statehood activists are courting Humboldt County for potential use of our deep-water port and four-year university -- and Mendocino hasn't even been invited. But as the only patch of blue within the proposed boundaries of what would otherwise be a very red state -- what's in it for Humboldt?
Humboldt County was not originally a part of the 1941 push for a new state of Jefferson. Neither was Mendocino. Maps at the time included only four counties in California (Del Norte, Siskiyou, Lassen and Modoc) and Curry county on Oregon's south coast, but more recent iterations have spread out to encompass a total of 19 counties, including Humboldt.
The movement toward independent statehood for parts of Northern California and Southern Oregon dates back to the 1850s, almost immediately after California was granted statehood...
Humboldt County was not originally a part of the 1941 push for a new state of Jefferson. Neither was Mendocino. Maps at the time included only four counties in California (Del Norte, Siskiyou, Lassen and Modoc) and Curry county on Oregon's south coast, but more recent iterations have spread out to encompass a total of 19 counties, including Humboldt.
The movement toward independent statehood for parts of Northern California and Southern Oregon dates back to the 1850s, almost immediately after California was granted statehood...
Mattole Canyon Creek: Large scale marijuana grows bring new threats to endangered species in clearcut watershed after 30 years of restoration
It might be fair to argue that the secret ingredient in the Mattole Canyon Creek's restoration has been Gil Greggori and his family. More than 30 years ago, Gil bought acreage in the Mattole Canyon Creek watershed, and since then his family has built a homestead near the mouth of the creek where it runs into the main stem of the Mattole River.
The before and after pictures speak for themselves. The Mattole Canyon Creek's delta used to be a moonscape of sediment and rock. Today, the flood plain is a well vegetated riparian zone with trees, shrubberies, and lush grass.
But after all that time, money and hard work -- large scale marijuana gardens up-stream are bringing sediment, perlite, fertilizer run-off and illegal water pumps to a documented steelhead, coho and king salmon habitat.
The before and after pictures speak for themselves. The Mattole Canyon Creek's delta used to be a moonscape of sediment and rock. Today, the flood plain is a well vegetated riparian zone with trees, shrubberies, and lush grass.
But after all that time, money and hard work -- large scale marijuana gardens up-stream are bringing sediment, perlite, fertilizer run-off and illegal water pumps to a documented steelhead, coho and king salmon habitat.
Farwest.FM Surveys
At present time, there's very little data on the business and labor side of the marijuana industry. Most of what shows up in verifiable public record comes from law enforcement encounters and criminal investigations -- and that only represents a small portion of what's happening in the rest of the underground industry.
As full-scale recreational legalization becomes a reality in one state after another, we'll be able to track the players and market forces shaping those markets. But until California legalizes marijuana, or the federal government changes it's position on the controlled substance, growers and marijuana workers in the Emerald Triangle will continue to be difficult subjects to study.
Below, we've prepared a few surveys designed to gather information about how working in the marijuana industry affects your health, and what the job market looks like to former marijuana workers re-entering the workforce.
As full-scale recreational legalization becomes a reality in one state after another, we'll be able to track the players and market forces shaping those markets. But until California legalizes marijuana, or the federal government changes it's position on the controlled substance, growers and marijuana workers in the Emerald Triangle will continue to be difficult subjects to study.
Below, we've prepared a few surveys designed to gather information about how working in the marijuana industry affects your health, and what the job market looks like to former marijuana workers re-entering the workforce.