Hezekiah Allen, Chair & Executive Director
Emerald Growers Association
Hezekiah was born and raised in Humboldt County
and studied Politics and Government at Pacific
University. He returned to the North Coast to work as
a consultant helping local residents increase water
storage, implement conservation irrigation practices,
and assisting local organizations with fundraising and
strategic planning. In 2010 he was hired as the
Executive Director of the Mattole Restoration Council.
While with the MRC Allen was one of the first
community leaders to call attention to the increasingly
severe environmental impacts associated with illegal
and unregulated marijuana cultivation.
In 2013 he stepped down as ED of the MRC to work
as a public affairs consultant. In this capacity one of
his main areas of focus has been advancing
regulation to help stem the tide of environmental and
violent crimes associated with cultivation. He has
presented at dozens of best management workshops,
helped to author the widely distributed Best
Management Practices guide, and has done on-site
consultation with dozens of farmers throughout the
region and the state.
All his life he has been a fierce guardian of and
advocate for the heritage of small scale farms
and sustainable cannabis cultivation in CA. He has a
deep understanding of the impacts prohibition has
had on families, communities, and patients
throughout the state. It is Allen's underlying belief that
--just as cannabis can heal people--the cannabis
advocacy community can heal politics through a
collaborative and inclusive approach, cannab is
businesses can heal our economy through
decentralization and opportunity for all, and cannabis
farms can heal the natural treasures of the state
by integrating best management practices and a
stewardship ethic on to the farm.
provisions that would locate
cannabis farmers in the
Department of Agriculture and
establish tiered licensing that
would protect craft and small
farms, which were priorities for us
in the first round of negotiations.
There are a number of
amendments we will offer to this
bill, including altering the plant
count because it is not an effective
means of regulating farms. We will
8
continue to work with the author
to craft workable legislation that
takes a sensible route to
regulation.
SB 643 by Senator Mike McGuire
passed out of the Senate
containing the provisions for
Appellations that small cannabis
farmers must have in order to
compete with large scale
operations. SB 643 offers
comprehensive regulation that we
will continue to work to craft the
language in ways that support
and sustain the heritage of the
estimated 53,000 cannabis farms
in California.
My name is Casey O'Neill, I am the
Acting Chair of the Emerald
Growers Association. I was raised
and now farm in Northern
Mendocino County on the parcel