Arcata, referred to fondly by some and not so fondly by others as “Hippie Haven,” was a college town twenty miles north of the Headwaters Forest. Unlike many Western towns, it had a central square with a statue of President William McKinley in the center, standing rigidly with one hand out as if offering instead of taking. This statue was the source of some controversy, with most of the liberals demanding its removal because of McKinley’s racist and imperialist policies. The rest of the town was a hodgepodge of gabled houses, one and two-story flat-roofed retail and business offices, and a few official buildings. The office of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) was located in a former corner grocery store downtown, not far from Beanheads, the coffee shop that was the ce
