Northcoast Environmental Center

The Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC) is Arcata's oldest environmental nonprofit, founded in June 1971 shortly after the first Earth Day by a coalition of six local conservation groups. Its mission is to promote understanding of the relations between people and the biosphere and to conserve, protect and celebrate terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems of northern California and southern Oregon. Based at 415 I St. in downtown Arcata, it serves as a hub for local environmental groups, publishes the monthly EcoNews and weekly EcoNews Report radio show, and coordinates major community programs including Coastal Cleanup Month (pioneered in Humboldt County in 1979), Birdathon, Adopt-A-Beach/Adopt-A-Block, citizen-science Trash Trackers, waste-reduction initiatives, and advocacy for forests, watersheds and public lands.