With what appears to be the imminent demise of the Freshwater Pulp Company on the Samoa peninsula, the current owners have been unable to secure funding to retrofit the facility into a pulp and tissue factory, or locate enough raw source material (chips) to run the mill for more than a few months.

And to make matters worse, a recent fire at the Trinity River Lumber Company in Weaverville robbed the Samoa mill of a significant amount of pulp material. Without a steady source of raw materials and funding, their proverbial goose is about cooked, and according to recent figures, the cost of running Freshwater Pulp approaches $100,000 a month just for basic maintenance.

By way of illustrating changing times, the Humboldt Beacon carried a front page article on Sept. 24, 1959, announcing how plans had been formulated to spend $60,000,000 to build a complete pulp and paper plant in Samoa and the Ruth Dam for $10,000,000.

Back then, the county envisioned an industrial renaissance as revealed in old newspaper articles and wasn't obviously short on funds, natural resources or optimism; there was simply more of everything back then, and shortages were undreamed of. When I landed in Humboldt County in the mid-80s, I was worried about the county's lack of economic diversity, and today, the lack is more graphic as resources have dried up, homelessness is up, and social services have risen to the level of a major employer.

As things move in cycles, I assume that Humboldt County will prosper again. While I doubt the new wave of prosperity will occur anytime soon, the blossoming will occur this time around as the result of broadening the economic base. While this may include moving more into the technology sector, let's not forget that our area holds great promise agriculturally, and that can be demonstrated historically.