The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Green Rush

  • The Eel River and cannabis

    The Eel River and cannabis

    The Green Rush took a toll on the Eel River’s health

    Cannabis farms have been polluting the Eel River since the Green Rush began. There is sediment eroding and fertilizer running off into the river and the attached streams. Water is also being siphoned off from the streams and river to use on large grow operations.

    There are some sections of the Eel River that are at high, medium, and low risk of being polluted by illegal cannabis farms. This map lays out sections that are at those different levels of risk. All of the grows shown are within three miles of the Eel river.

    The sediment that is eroding due to the grow operations building roads that they do not maintain. They are also clear cutting a lot of the redwoods which held the sediment in place. This sediment falling into and settling in the river is causing it to flatten out and become shallow.

    This takes away the salmon’s favored habitat of deep, cold water. The fertilizer is causing algae bloom to occur that is very toxic for the salmon. It causes them to become diseased and die off. The grows are also siphoning off too much water, to the point of the river running dry in some seasons. This makes it hard for salmon to migrate from the ocean, up the Eel River, and to the streams where they lay their eggs.

    Cannabis becoming legal will allow the government to regulate the fertilizer used, maintain roads and minimize the impact of clear cutting, and regulate the amount of water being siphoned out. These regulations will keep the Eel River beautiful and protected.

  • A joint opinion: put it out

    A joint opinion: put it out

    Before the Gold Rush there was a Green Rush, with some gold in there. Settlers came from the East in the 19th century looking for gold and found some big trees to cut down and sell. It was a prosperous time for white people who made money from lumber sales, but it sucked for every person of color who worked low wages in the industry or barred from work. Now, it’s time for a new area of selling green stuff for money once again.

    There are many parallels from the Gold Rush to the Green Rush as legalization came about. Marijuana legalization is just as racist and elitist as the lumber industry. 81 percent of cannabis business owners are white. Three-quarters of the industry are owned by men.

    However, this is more than the environment, it’s about its medicinal value. Sure, there are some studies that tell of marijuana’s healing abilities and some Facebook memes that exaggerate those claims and say weed cures cancer. But those studies seem to be used to justify lazy people to smoke all day and do nothing.

    Just because something is supposedly healthy for you, doesn’t mean you should consume it to excess if it’s unnecessary. Apples are healthy, but eating a whole bushel won’t keep the doctor away and nor would smoking a pound a day, or whatever amount people actually smoke.

    There are a lot more things to do in Humboldt than smoke. Cannabis can be a part of Humboldt, but it shouldn’t be exclusive to its identity. Not everyone smokes weed. There are quite a bit of people who look down on weed due to its culture. No one should be forced to smoke, but cannabis shouldn’t be looked down upon either. The cannabis industry needs to be improved.