Can salmon and weed co-exist? The ERRP is working to make it so.

WILLITS, CA., 1/16/2017 — The Eel River Recovery Project (ERRP), which has been a 501c3 non-profit since March, met most of the day Saturday, January 14, for an event that started out with a board meeting, segued into an action plan meeting and an awards ceremony, and ended with beer and a potluck. Among the honorees were a Wailaki tribal elder, an advocate for parks, and two cannabis farmers. Though the organization takes no political position on cannabis, its members worked closely with the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District on a handbook for cannabis growers in the Eel River watersheds. Pat Higgins, the ERRP’s managing director, hopes to create detailed parcel maps for growers who want to cultivate cannabis in watersheds without harming the environment.

The ERRP is a non-advocacy group, largely reliant on volunteer citizen scientists, dedicated to monitoring the Eel River, educating the public about watersheds, and strategizing on how to restore the river and its tributaries. The group takes no position on contentious issues like the asphalt plant at Outlet Creek or the legalization of cannabis, preferring to focus on non-controversial issues like data and cyanobacteria. At the meeting, about two dozen people, including board members, volunteers, and a few new arrivals from the Bay Area and Portland, convened to discuss recent accomplishments and plans for future projects.