Comment EI-31288
Received or sent (printed as 9/14/2021)
September 13, 2021 NCRA Railbanking Support Letter Dear Surface Transportation Board Members, As a resident of Humboldt County, I enthusiastically support railbanking for the proposed Great Redwood Trail, and I am adamantly opposed to rebuilding the rail line between Willits and Humboldt Bay to haul freight, the proposed coal from the Powder Basin in Montana and Wyoming. Now that we are already experiencing drought, enormous fast-moving wildfires and resulting air pollution hazardous to our health, as well as sea level rise [I live near Humboldt Bay and SLR threatens our infrastructure and agricultural lands], we cannot afford to add more GHG emissions that will lock us into more disastrous climate changes. The entire process – mining coal in the Powder Basin, transporting it by diesel trains to Humboldt Bay and shipping it to Japan using dirty fuel – will pour enormous amounts of GHGs into our atmosphere. Considering our current climate crisis, the highest and best use for the Willits to Humboldt Bay rail line is railbanking for a trail that will: 1) keep the line intact for future use if needed; 2) keep more vegetation and soil intact for carbon sequestration; 3) provide all people opportunities for recreation necessary for our physical and mental wellbeing; 4) create more economic opportunities for all communities located near the rail line. Please set a timeline to complete the railbanking process. Please do not pause the larger railbanking process to confirm the legal status of the north and south end segments of the rail line; this is not necessary. Thank you. Diane Ryerson 1659 I Street Arcata, CA 95521
Submitted by: Diane Ryerson · Arcata, CA
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/AB-1305-X/comment/EI-31288 · back to the docket sheet