PacOut Green Team rids the Samoa Peninsula of trash! Courtesy Aaron Ostrom/PacOut Green Team.
Most anyone who has gone anywhere in Humboldt County has noted that illegal dumping and litter are significant issues. From the sloughs to the forest to the dunes, the amount of trash carelessly left behind or deliberately dumped not only looks terrible, but can harm local wildlife and, once it makes its way into the ocean, becomes part of an even larger problem. Humboldt Surfrider and the Northcoast Environmental Center have been focusing on the Samoa peninsula in particular as a place to implement change through beach cleanups, the Adopt-A-Beach program and by supporting the dedication of the PacOut Green Team.
- The PacOut Green Team (sponsored by Pacific Outfitters) spends one hour every Saturday cleaning up the beach, highway, bay and surrounding areas (with the occasional foray into Eureka). We’d like to help ensure they have supplies and a way to dispose of the trash without incurring fees.
- We’d also like to address the larger issues of people dumping on the spit by working with the proper agencies on notification, enforcement and cleanup.
- We’re hoping to involve businesses/agencies/other organizations in stewardship of the peninsula through the Adopt-A-Beach program and/or sponsored cleanups.
To those ends, a forum takes place today at 1:30 p.m. in the Woodley Island Meeting Room to address the following questions:
- Who wants to help take care of the beaches?
- How can we best coordinate existing cleanups and/or new ones?
- What should a person do when witnessing or discovering illegal dumping?
- What businesses would want to sponsor the PacOut team and/or other beach cleanups (through Adopt-A-Beach, etc.)?
- Are any business, landowners, etc., interested in supporting an educational campaign?
- What other ideas do people have as far as preventing dumping, littering, etc.?
The timing is meant to make it easier for local agency representatives to attend, but the public is welcome, too. And, of course, you can also leave questions, observations, etc., in the comment section below.
More resources:
CLICK TO MANAGE