Property owner Mike Duncan has been cited by Humboldt County and CDFW for unpermitted grading in a stream-side management area at his property on Humboldt Hill. | Google Earth.

PREVIOUSLY

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More than a year before Mike Duncan took ownership of his residential parcel up on Humboldt Hill, he was warned against altering the stream bed that runs across it. 

Duncan was having a house built for himself and his family on this hillside property just south of Eureka, and in an email sent almost exactly two years ago, Kathryn M. Rian, environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW), explicitly mentioned this creek, telling Duncan, “[D]o not alter this stream in any way.”

The unnamed headwater stream runs from Duncan’s property through a Wiyot-managed wildlife preserve on its way to Humboldt Bay.

As the Outpost reported last month, Duncan did subsequently alter that stream bed through unpermitted grading and construction activity. He violated several county codes and state laws in the process and could now be facing criminal charges and hundreds of thousands of dollars in civil penalties.

According to inspection reports, the unpermitted grading and construction has destabilized the hillside, and the stream bed has been polluted with imported rock, concrete and other debris.

To briefly recap the situation, the county issued its first stop-work order in April 2023, citing unpermitted grading in a stream-side management area. In response to the county’s order, Duncan hired a local landscape design company to perform erosion control work, and the stop-work order was lifted. 

But those erosion control measures failed within a matter of months, triggering more scrutiny and regulatory oversight. Emails obtained through a California Public Records Act request show Duncan expressing a desire to cooperate and resolve the issues, but starting late last year, the county started receiving complaints from neighbors saying they’d seen “hundreds” of truckloads of dirt being delivered to his property at 89 Blue Spruce Drive.

In October, the county issued another stop-work order, and earlier this month, CDFW sent Duncan its own Notice of Violation. In a February site visit, department staff documented substantial alterations to the stream bed, channel and bank. They noted that native riparian vegetation had been removed; rock, fill material and debris had been placed along the steam bank; and various types of debris — including asphalt, concrete waste and sediment — were in spots where they could pass into state waters.

Rewinding the timeline a bit, here’s how the property looked in the spring of 2023:

Riparian vegetation along the stream channel. Photo taken July 7, 2023. | CDFW.

And here’s a shot from April of 2024, still prior to much of the unpermitted construction activity on this hillside:

In this shot, looking upstream toward the residence, CDFW staff noted “a clearly defined stream bed and riparian vegetation.” | CDFW.

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Now let’s take a look at some shots taken during a CDFW property inspection on February 27, 2026, after all of the unpermitted activity:

A retaining wall, constructed of concrete landscape pavers and chunks of concrete, slumps as the underlying dirt fill material erodes. | CDFW.

CDFW notes, “Extensive scouring and erosion of exposed fill material along the stream bank, with scattered rock, chunks of asphalt, and concrete debris.” | CDFW.

Chunks of asphalt and concrete debris in the stream bed. | CDFW.

In the Notice of Violation, CDFW staff reminds Duncan that in 2023, the department went easy on him. The Eureka office had received several complaints from the public and a referral from the Humboldt County Planning and Building Department, which had already issued its first stop-work order. Rather than taking punitive action, CDFW offered an advisory.

“Although the Department ultimately decided not to exert its jurisdiction over the drainage feature along the western edge of the property, it explicitly referenced the unnamed stream along the eastern edge of the property, advising against alterations to stream habitat and outlining permitting requirements,” the CDFW notice says.

In all, department staff documented violations of three Fish and Game code sections: 1602(a), 5650(a) and 5652(a). Each violation can be prosecuted civilly and criminally, with a maximum civil penalty of $25,000 per day. The criminal violations are considered misdemeanors.

In an email to the Outpost, CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Supervisor Michael G. van Hattem said the department’s Notice of Violation was referred to the department’s law enforcement branch, which will decide whether or not to file with the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office. The DA’s Office would have discretion over criminal prosecution.

When the Outpost spoke with Humboldt County Planning and Building Director John Ford last month, he said his department hoped to coordinate with CDFW so that the various violations could be resolved through a single compliance agreement. Reached by phone on Friday, Ford said that work is moving forward.

“We’ve met with Mr. Duncan, and he is entering into a compliance agreement to abate the violations,” Ford said. All of the material that was brought in without a permit will need to be removed, and the riparian area that’s been damaged will need to be restored. Duncan and his consultants and contractors are preparing the remediation plan, which the county will circulate to CDFW, the Water Board and the California Coastal Commission for review and comment.

“Once we have something that achieves the goal of compliance, then the property owner would be responsible to implement that plan,” Ford explained.

Duncan, the general manager at Schmidbauer Building Supply, declined to say much when we reached him for last month’s story, and he did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment for this one.