The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Crescent City Times.com By Jaime Yarbrough – September 15, 2025 Dear Mr. Hilton, I’ve lived long enough in Del Norte County to remember when our economy was vibrant and locally sustained. We had a thriving timber industry—until environmental regulations decimated it. Our fishing economy was world-famous, yet it collapsed under the weight of unenforced maritime boundaries and foreign factory ships that took our salmon before they reached our rivers. We had a dairy industry that supported our own creamery, and neighborhood markets that kept money circulating locally. Now, we’re left with three mega grocery stores, fast food outlets, and chains like Home Depot—all siphoning money out of our community. Pelican Bay State Prison has injected state funding into the local economy for over 40 years, but it’s a closed-loop system—one that inflates our numbers without building true economic resilience. And now, with parts of the prison beginning to deactivate, we face the loss of even that artificial anchor—leaving our economy exposed and our future uncertain. Add to that federal land ownership and tribal sovereign businesses operating tax-exempt, and it’s local residents who shoulder the burden of funding public services. California’s policies seem to reward land transfers and exemptions without regard for the fiscal impact on counties like ours. The result is a fractured system—where “one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all” feels more like a slogan than a reality. Sovereign nations operate within our borders, benefiting from our infrastructure and economy, yet contributing little to the communities that sustain them. We wouldn’t let the fox guard the henhouse, yet our state, county, and local governments are expected to manage this imbalance without the tools or authority to restore fairness. And frankly, the local leaders you might be advised to meet are the very people forced to manage decline. If you’re serious about reform, come speak with those of us who are still building—who haven’t given up, who steward infrastructure, who adapt and invent despite the odds. As governor, how would you restore balance and ensure that all who benefit from our land and economy contribute fairly to the communities that sustain them? Would you support legislation requiring sovereign entities and federally exempt lands to contribute to local infrastructure through negotiated compacts or service fees? Would you commit to engaging directly with community stewards—not just officials—who are actively working to preserve and reinvent what’s left of our local economy? Sincerely, Jaime Yarbrough Crescent City, CA "A civilization becomes spacefaring or extinct" – Carl Sagan