There will not be a women’s march in Eureka in 2019, organizers of the event announced Friday in a news release.

The main reason cited in the release for canceling the event, which would have been in its third year, was the lack of diversity.

“Up to this point, the participants have been overwhelmingly white, lacking representation from several perspectives in our community,” the email release from Allison Edrington stated. “Instead of pushing forward with crucial voices absent, the organizing team will take time for more outreach.”

The statement was also posted on the group’s Facebook page, where it received a mixed reaction with some commenters offering to help increase diversity and others applauding the decision to cancel.

Calls and emails to the event’s organizers were not returned Friday.

According to the statement, the group made the decision “after many conversations between local social-change organizers and supporters of the march.”

Organizers are considering holding an event in March to coincide with International Women’s Day, but nothing is set in stone as yet. The release encouraged supporters to attend the Martin Luther King Jr. event in Eureka planned for Jan. 21.

Demographically, Humboldt County is by and large also “overwhelmingly white” with U.S. Census data putting the county at more than 74 percent “white alone, not Hispanic or Latino.”

Organizers in Del Norte County are also not holding a march this year.

“There is not one planned,” said Denise Doyle-Schnacker, one of the organizers of the 2018 Crescent City event.

She said that there was considerable momentum built up by the previous marches and was encouraged that she saw more women in Del Norte County seeking elected office.

“We’re focusing our efforts on actionable plans coming off of last year’s (march),” she said. “The march is great and got people excited. But you can’t just go off the excitement. There has to be a plan.”

To the south, in Santa Rosa, organizers are welcoming Humboldt County residents who are interested in participating in the #womenswave.

“(We’re) glad to have folks come and join us in Santa Rosa,” said event organizer Leslie Graves.

She said the marches in 2017 and 2018 were welcoming of everyone.

“Here, it’s really well received,” she said. “It’s a really safe and positive event; it is extremely diverse. That’s been true for each year we have done the march.”

Graves also said it has spurred more women to run for public office and that is something that is being highlighted in 2019. She added that local organizations that table at the event often gain added members as part of the increased enthusiasm.

“There’s definitely organizations like Indivisible Sonoma County that was organized and started right around the 2017 women’s march in Santa Rosa and around the nation,” she said. “They are very active. I think they have gained a lot of participation from folks by being at events like this.”

She said while last year’s march did not actually have a marching portion — primarily because the area was recovering from recent wildfires — that is something that will be part of this year’s event. She also said a 30-minute documentary will be screened Jan. 10 in Santa Rosa that will look at the history and the impact of the women’s march.

For more information about the Santa Rosa event, go to https://www.facebook.com/srwomensmarch.

Other events are scheduled across the nation including in Northern California in Ukiah and Redding. For more locations, go to https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/third-annual-womens-march-womenswave.

Ruth Schneider can be reached at 707-441-0520.