Emerald Creek Committee (ECC) Collection

The Emerald Creek Committee (ECC) Collection documents the grassroots campaign (1972–1983) to expand Redwood National Park and to safeguard old growth watersheds like the Emerald Creek watershed and to follow through on old-growth forest protection and rehabilitation measures within Redwood National Park. Student and community activists, among them Steve Madrone, Randy Stemler, John Amodio, Suzanne Guerra, Christie Lee Fairchild, and Dan Sealy and mentor professor Dr. Rudy Becking, were a big part of the Emerald Creek Committee effort.

Access

Unprocessed, contact Special Collections Librarian.

Copyright

Copyright has not been assigned to Cal Poly Humboldt. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce in any format, please contact the Special Collections Librarian.

Acquisition Information

Biographical Information

Beginning in 1972 as a broadly based student group, the Emerald Creeek Committee (ECC) mounted a rural, citizen-driven battle against logging along Emerald Creek, a salmon-bearing tributary of Redwood Creek. In the process, they advocated for improved forest practices and new approaches to watershed restoration and rehabilitation with the potential for long term sustainable forestry. This grassroots campaign lasted until 1983.

Scope and Content

The ECC collection features a wealth of materials — flyers, maps, memos, and correspondence — detailing how ECC's fusion of community organizing and environmental science secured the 1978 congressional expansion of RNP. Rich in material evidence of multi-agency collaboration, this archive offers a trove of insights into a decentralized organization with flexible leadership supported by a grassroots network of highly engaged local and national members. Mimeographed flyers, hand-annotated USGS maps, internal memos, PSAs, hand-painted posters, and correspondence with Congress, the Department of the Interior, and Jimmy Carter reveal how the ECC mobilized community stakeholders through storytelling and science. Their case against extractive logging was grounded in data: stream morphology diagrams, salmonid ecology reports, erosion studies, and more. John Amodio played a central role in helping to translate local concerns into the final push for federal policy change; his eloquent appeals to local stakeholders and “Creek Freaks” are preserved in this archive.

Researchers will find richly documented cross-agency collaboration with the Sierra Club and Save the Redwoods League. Also included is evidence of anti-environmental propaganda from local lumber companies, countered by meticulously crafted ECC talking points and internal notes. Other materials include annotated Timber Harvesting Plans, local media coverage of the “timber wars,” and records of collaboration among citizens, students, and conservation groups. The Emerald Creek Committee Collection is especially compelling for those interested in how local knowledge and tactical alliances reshaped both the physical and political contours of Redwood National Park.

Arrangement of Collection

Collection is currently unprocessed.

Bibliography

Forces of Nature: Environmental Elders Speak. Video by John Amodio.

Humboldt County Pamphlet Collection- Redwood National Park-Redwood Creek Water, "Emerald Creek: Redwood National Park's Last Chance for a Virgin Watershed."

Northcoast Environmental Center, "Expanding Redwood National Park in 1978: A Critical Act to Save the Park from Virtual Obliteration." Dave Van de Mark. March 24, 2021.

Subject Headings

Environmentalism--California, Northern
Forest reserves- California
Humboldt County (Calif.)-- History
Klamath River (Or. and Calif.)
Logging--California--Humboldt County
Old growth forest conservation
Redwoods--California--Humboldt County

Library Special Collections & Archives

You are here

Collection Number

Contact Information

Processed by

Date Collection Processed

Language

Collection Creator

Dates Covered by Collection

Size of Collection

Abstract