Somebody dumped sulphuric acid barrels in Jackson Forest Who wants to help us to catch some forest polluters? CalFire closed main road (500) past Caspar Scales because of all the trash dumping, if we want a dirt track, we must stop this

Calfire’s scientists, fire prevention workers, interns and even some top brass have gotten a new job lately- garbage collectors.

A ton of trash, literally was been thrown out in the forest. We have taken 3-4 trips out there in the last week or so, taking photos and getting really, really mad.

Cal Fire announced on Christmas that Road 500 was closed effective immediately. For several reasons, it actually took till New Years Eve to get the gates locked, but we are all now blocked from going up Road 500 from the Caspar Scales to where it joins road 408 near State Route 20.

Recently, there has been a push for a dirt track in Fort Bragg as part of the reservoir project. But this idea will never sell, nor should it, unless there is a citizens community effort to curtail the massive amount of trashing of the Highway 20 area. We love the idea of a dirt track, but it comes responsibility. And we can do this. A very small number of people are responsible for most of the pollution. We know who most of them are.

And here is more news from this week…

The slobs of Hwy 20 have done it again!!!!. Some jerks tore up Camp 1. We got photos on Feb, 10 from Calfire of this new mess, rhodies run over by the dozen, trees knocked down the parking lot torn up. If we want to put in a dirt bike track it will never happen when everybody knows it’s going to be slob and jerk heaven. Most of the bike enthusiasts don’t tear up the environment, steal wood or throw out huge house trailers and dozens of cubic yards of trash. But unless the 99 percent does something about the 1 percent, the dirt track idea will flop. Want something to happen? You have to take responsibility and strong action.

We need a strong group to arise. Signing a petition is great, we did, but can you imagine the board of supervisors and city counicil signing off on a dirt track without a serious crackdown and cleanup.

We wanted to help catch these jerks who threw out the barrels and have taken steps to do that. Two full barrels marked sulphuric acid were dumped off a hillside on what appears to be County Road 408 and they rolled to the bottom of a steep ravine. At least two other sets of possibly toxic barrels have been thrown out along the roads there, although we couldn’t establish when.

Mushroom hunters Jacqueline and Chris Cisper found one set and told Calfire about them. Calfire, dealing with a tight budget due to lack of logging since 2020, has spent a tremendous amount of staff time dealing with what just a few slobs and thieves do.

Sofas, recliners, mattresses and all manner of shop and household trash have been dumped. Volunteers from horseback riding clubs, shooting clubs and mushroom clubs have helped Cal Fire workers clean up, but still the trash piles up. Trailers have been put in the forest and people have lived in them for months and even years. Trailers are ditched along the highway.

Let’s be clear. Everybody knows its a very small number of people doing this. We even know some of their names. Some of these jerks both throw trash out and steal stuff from the publicly owned forest. One of the most distinctive features of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest is the 10-15 foot tall ancient stumps. The old Caspar Lumber Company practiced logging a bit more sustainaby than others, sparing vast areas from bulldozer logging. The stumps were retained all over and used for storage while Caspar Lumber Company owned the forest. Back in the day, they were called “goose pens” as some were used to keep livestock. One of the most famous of these is the “bike through tree” that we rode our bikes through a couple years ago.

But some woods pirate is cutting the distinctive old growth stumps that belong to all of us for a quick profit, leaving a mangled and sad remnant behind.

Let’s catch them and stop buying those tables!

In several places we saw where a huge slice was taken out of the old growth stumps, likely for tabletops. This quality of wood is no longer available. Someone, or several different theives repeatedly slice tabletops off old-growth stumps along the Cal Fire Road 500. This verticial cutting of large flat slices requires precision and skill and is theft of valuable public resources. We have investigated and the authorities have investigated. There are suspects.

In the past, some vandals and thieves have been arrested and charges filed, such as a case where a boat was dumped. A squatter’s trailer was towed for lack of registration.

We plan to try and go interview some of the people who have done this, so stay tuned.

We wanted to do something about the barrels as well.

This most recent set of barrels dumped had all their markings left on, so Frank Hartzell filed a complaint with both the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the Cal-EPA (the state part of the federal Enviornmental Protection Agency) . At the time Frank did that, Cal Fire didn’t know what was in the barrells and thought it might be sulfuric acid, at least some. But then the barrels were tested and it turns out, one was full of mud and the other water. So they have scheduled a cleanup and the pursuit of the perps might be moot now, even with all the identifying information. We have not gotten support from Cal Fire so we are unlikely to make progress on any of this.

When we started our drive in two vehicles out road 408 and then down 500 to see the regular piles of trash, Douglas warned we might see about anything out there. Sure enough as we approached one trash pile, a naked man in a pickup went by smiling broadly. Frank did take a picture of his license plate after a laugh at the ludicrous situation. Could be scary for others. Its hard to know why this stretch of road has been chosen for people to make a mess and act like jerks.

As we went along County Road 408 and Logging Road 500, Douglas and I stopped several times as he got out to pick up a newly thrown out fast food bag, or soda bottle or beer can. Slobs.

4x4ers had turned one curve on Road 500 into a monster mudder playoff area, leaving deep ruts and the need for ongoing road maintenance.

The ??? Redwood Practical Shooters have been the best friend of the forest, we need bikers, horse back riders and those who want off road fun to be possible to join them and us!! At another site, people have been firing weapons across road 500 into a hillside on the other side. A reputable local shooting club has been helping Cal Fire try to stop this dangerous practice. Just as we approached this spot a Bay Area family in an SUV came up road 500, mom, dad and three kids. Frank talked to them for a minute. Mom had mapped out a trip deep into a real redwood forest and they were enthralled and a bit worried if they were lost. We helped them along their way. Had they rounded that curve at a different time, armed men might have been firing across the road into the hillside on the otherside. (or maybe the naked guy would be driving by) Douglas found a whole bunch of new 12 guage shotgun shells. (Who fires a shotgun into a hillside for fun?) For more astute gun lovers, there are legitimate, safe and better run ranges in the forest. Call ?????

Geez. We at Mendocinocoast.news wanted to make something happen, let’s get some tickets issued and get the slobs to serve their sentence by cleaning up these messes for a few months so Cal Fire can go back to work!

We started as crusader rabbits with great enthusiasm and hoped for quick results, but the saga of the barrels and the mountains of trash has become lengthy. This most recent set of barrels dumped had all their markings left on, so Frank Hartzell filed a complaint with both the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the Cal-EPA (the state part of the federal Enviornmental Protection Agency) . At the time Frank did that, Cal Fire didn’t know what was in the barrells and thought it might be sulfuric acid, at least some. But then the barrels were tested by CalFire and it turns out, one was full of mud and the other water. So they have scheduled a cleanup and the pursuit of the perps might be moot now, even with all the identifying information. Still, our complaint is on file for dumping the barells and there is enough information on them to at least rattle somebody’s cage and get the message out that when you have an old shop to clean up or a trailer to dump, don’t do it in the public forest (or any forest for that matter).

Cal Fire has now hired a professional to remove the barrels, which should have been sent to a waste processing facility. As we looked into it, we discovered Cal Fire had discovered them last summer and then, from our reports that they may have been sitting in somebody’s shop for a decade before being dumped, so maybe we won’t catch these.

But with your help, we want to call attention to this issue. We believe a small number of people, some of whom have been arrested and charged in the past with doing this are very likely responsible for the continuous slobbery. They are giving their peaceful and land-loving neighbors who live all around Jackson Demonstration State Forest a bad name

Sulphuric acid is used in meth labs, although also in metal work, like cleaning metal in preparation for rechroming and in making batteries. We are betting some meth lab did this and we want to find out who. We always photograph and turn in any polluters we see. We will follow and confront polluters on video. Don’t YOU READERS do this. If you see this, take photos and call the sheriff’s department. You can also call us. We will put the news out. And one more thing, when you go out, carry a trash bag. Pick up some stuff and take it home and throw it away. Do this at the beach also! We can make a difference!

Just look at this garbage!! Someone threw out their living room sofa. Somebody else threw out a an old pickup bed. We want your help in reporting any pollution like this and you can call us too. If you get photos, don’t post them on social media right off, let’s verify first, but do give them to the authorities ASAP while we or you look into it. We ask if you get some photos of a pollluters, send them first to the sheriff’s office, then to us. We hate this behavior and we will attempt to confirm who did this and contact them safely and ask them to clean it up. If not, we can even bring a civil court case against someone who is doing this.

This is particularly a shame because we have seen the huge effort that Roads and Recreation Manager Erik Wahl has been making to form partnerships with recreational groups to make the forest more accessible and usable, as well as getting people to be more responsible for their usage. Just this month, his group had a meeting and a tour showing the ways they are trying to increase accessibility for all users, including disabled people. At the same time they are battling the jerks who ruin everything for all of us. If you have anything to tell us about this, we are all ears. There have been special horse only trails created as Wahl works more closely with them to both enjoy and take responsiblity for the forest. There are cycling clubs involved and gun clubs, all of which are helping. But then this spate of awful pollution got totally out of hand and now the main road through Jackson is closed until further notice to cars, and motorized cycles. For me, its not all bad, as I can ride my bike without worrying about traffic.

The following is the Christmas Eve press release from Cal Fire giving the bad news:

CAL FIRE’s Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) has closed Road 500, between County Road 408 and JDSF Road 600, effective immediately.

The closure is due to an increase in illegal trash dumping along Road 500, County Road 408, and other forest roads. Closing the road will also help prevent damage during wet weather and protect the forest’s infrastructure.

During the closure, motorized vehicles are not allowed, including motorcycles and ATVs, in accordance with California regulations. However, the road remains open for non-motorized use, such as walking, biking, and horseback riding.

JDSF staff will continue cleanup efforts and evaluate long-term solutions. Road 500 will reopen once conditions improve and the dumping issue is addressed. This can be fixed folks. We drove down to the Egg Take Station the next day and there was none of this along the road there. There are a few offenders who need to get the message to stop doing this in Jackson. You the readers can help get that message out. If someone wants to contact me to help push this story, please do so.

For additional information, including a map of JDSF, please contact our office at (707) 964-5674 or visit the website:
https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/natural-resource-management/demonstration-state-forests/jackson-demonstration-state-forest