Court documents outline alleged embezzlement from Yurok Tribe

[PufPuf23]

5. WOW CJ Ralph went way overboard in support of the accused in the T-S

Last edited Sun Feb 26, 2012, 09:45 PM - Edit history (1)

When news spread Thursday that a pair of respected Eureka biologists were arrested for their alleged roles in an elaborate embezzlement scheme, the reaction was stunned disbelief.

Many in the biology community contacted on Friday -- before information contained in the search warrant affidavits outlining the investigation was reported in the Times-Standard -- declined to comment for this story, saying they didn't want to get involved and preferred to let the legal process run its course.

All, however, said the two men's reputations are beyond reproach.

”With all the work they have done over many years -- and Mad River Biologists has set a very high standard for intellectual and financial integrity -- I have no doubt that when this finishes up, they will be found not to have done anything wrong,” said C.J. Ralph, a research scientist with the U.S. Forest Service

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_20048801

CJ Ralph of Redwood Science Lab is the best avian biologist and most published I have ever met.

For the birders at DU:

I was a cooperator in providing two land bird monitoring sites with the RWSL and CJ between 1991 and 2002. There was a series of plots in the California and Oregon Klamath Basin from 1992 to 2003 when defunded under GWB. I believe they were the most intensely studied sites in the USA. There use to be a web site link at Redwood Science Lab but it seems to be gone. There was one other small private land owner and the rest of sites were either Federal or timber industry. Kim Hollinger was project manager. Mad River Biology may have done some of the sampling under contract but I am not certain. I lived in Corvallis, OR and Redding, CA during this period.

They used constant-effort mist netting, point count, and area search censusing. In the breeding season (May 1 - Aug 15) the stations were sampled every 10 days and during the migration season (Aug 16-Oct 31) every week.

Each plot was essentially a system of trails and 10 small clearing sampling stations marked by rebar in the riparian and adjacent forest habitat. Aside: Several times folks thought the plots were old pot grows and moved in in early Spring before the birders. lol If anyone is familiar with this project, I am referring to the CAMP and LADY plots (this is the edit).

Conclusion: These two stations are among the most productive sites in northwestern California. The juxtaposition of the river riparian forest with agriculture lands seems to provide an optimum mix of habitat for many species of birds. It is likely to be essential for maintaining this diversity of birds, that the present mix of habitats be maintained and or enhanced. If at all possible, an increase in the area of riparian forest would the most positive impact overall, especially the the endangered listed species, the Willow Flycatcher's exceptionally high use.

Note: the 4 paragraphs about are a distillation from a private Ralph and Hollinger report that are public record as part of CA Timber Harvest Plan I filed and logged in 2001.

In 2002 a fire set in the area Karuk World Renewal Ceremony / pichi 'avich dance area jumped the creek and burned black the most avian diverse plot of any of the system of plots established under the project in the Klamath Basin in CA and OR. I had just made a leisurely trip from Redding and down the Salmon River with a gf only to see a mass of USFS, Karuk, and Humboldt Sheriff's vehicles on my property plus a bunch of smoke. They let me drive through (because they knew me) only to meet up with a Karuk DNR employee watching the fire that said it was a "good thing" and then kicked me off my own property after I told him essentially he was an idiot. I went to the Humboldt Deputy and asked the young man be removed. About an hour later the Karuk DNR manager brought the man back and introduced us and had him apologize to me.

Since the end of the Jessie short case and division of the Hoopa Reservation into a Hupa and Yurok Reservations and recognition of the Karuk Tribe there has been amazing improvement in the housing, health, education, employment for the Indian People' s. Alas, there is much croneyism, ugly politics, and I am certain other crimes have been committed with the Tribes even if this crime is dis-proved. TMI.