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Humboldt Baykeeper was launched in October 2004 to safeguard our coastal resources for the health, enjoyment, and economic strength of the Humboldt Bay community through education, scientific research, and enforcement of laws to fight pollution.

Our Staff:

Jennifer Kalt, Director

Humboldt Baykeeper is a program of the Northcoast Environmental Center, a non-profit organization devoted to conserving, protecting, and celebrating terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems of northern California and southern Oregon.

Our Tax ID# is 23-7122386. Please specify that your donation is intended for Humboldt Baykeeper.

Board of Directors:

Humboldt Baykeeper Advisory Committee:

What are Coastal Resources?

Humboldt Bay is the second largest estuary in California. The Bay and the adjacent Pacific Ocean coastline give our community its unique character. The health of our waters both in the bay and along our coastline depend greatly on the functioning of the intertidal mudflats, salt marshes, and freshwater wetlands of Humboldt Bay which act as a natural pollution filter and flood plain. Clean water supports healthier fisheries, which in turn support bird and wildlife populations.

For the human community around the bay and coast this means more lucrative fisheries, better bird hunting, bird watching, and cleaner water for recreating, including boating, surfing, diving, and swimming.    

Humboldt Baykeeper's programs involve scientists, boaters, fishermen, birdwatchers, students, and other concerned citizens in the important work of protecting Humboldt Bay, its tributaries, and the near-shore waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The geographical reach of Humboldt Baykeeper's programs includes Humboldt Bay, its tributaries, and the Pacific Coast between Trinidad Harbor to the north and the Eel River estuary to the south. Baykeeper maintains an on-the-water presence throughout the area, patrolling by motorboat, kayak, and airplane, with upland areas patrolled by car and by foot.

A conflicted California Coastal Commission voted 6-3 yesterday to object to the Trinidad Rancheria’s proposed 100-room hotel project on Scenic Drive, finding it inconsistent with state coastal protections.

Commissioners made clear during the nearly two-hour hearing in San Diego that the main consistency issue lies with water, and namely whether the city of Trinidad has the capacity to supply water to the project. The city currently has several studies underway but can’t commit to providing water to the proposed five-story hotel adjacent to Cher-Ae Heights Casino until they are complete, which is expected to happen before August.

Multiple commissioners lamented that the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which has jurisdictional oversight of the project because it is on sovereign tribal land, repeatedly declined staff requests to postpone Wednesday’s hearing until the commission’s meeting in August, which would have allowed for more local input and — potentially — completion of the water studies. Before the vote, several commissioners indicated they intended to vote to object to the project at this time but urged the Rancheria to resubmit its application so it can be heard at the August meeting.

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The controversial Trinidad hotel project failed to receive Coastal Commission approval at the commission’s meeting today in San Diego.

In a 3-6 vote, commissioners decided against signing off on the hotel’s consistency with state coastal policies. The Trinidad Rancheria tribe’s lack of a clear-cut plan for the hotel’s water supply remains a major issue, commissioners agreed.

Even with the rejection, multiple commissioners asked the tribe to reapply for approval as soon as it figures out the issues with water supply and the project’s visual details. Commissioner Donne Brownsey urged the tribe in the “strongest possible terms” to try again.

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Coastal Commission to discuss project at meeting in San Diego this week

As controversy over a proposed hotel in Trinidad comes to a head this week at the state Coastal Commission meeting, more than 1,300 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for more public input on the project.

The petition calls for a delay to the Coastal Commission’s public hearing for the project. At its meeting this week in San Diego, the commission is set to discuss the hotel’s consistency with California’s coastal policies.

The commission’s August meeting is set to take place at the Wharfinger Building in Eureka. And more than 1,300 people, at press time, have signed a petition asking the commission to hold off until then so that local residents can speak their mind about the project.

“What we’ve tried to do is provide a forum for people to learn about the issue and voice their concerns,” said Ted Pease of the Humboldt Alliance for Responsible Planning, the group that started the petition.

As it has in the past, the commission’s staff ahead of this week’s meeting has recommended an objection to the project’s consistency with state law. While most of the staff’s previous objections have been cleared up, staff members still report issues with the hotel’s height and water supply.

The Coastal Commission has lacked North Coast representation since the departure earlier this year of former 1st District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg, who is also a member of the Rancheria. With no local representation on the commission until a representative is appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Coastal Commission will now have to choose its stance on a project that has divided Trinidad.

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