Willits Wilderness Weekend starts with Bypass Mitigation presentation tonight, more events through Sunday

WILLITS, CA., 3/30/17 — The month-long series of events taking place to support the development of a new “Willits Hub” continues this weekend, beginning with a presentation from the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District (MCRCD) on the management plans for the Willits Bypass mitigation project. The project is the largest mitigation project undertaken by Caltrans, covering more than two thousand acres in the Little Lake Valley to replace wetlands damaged by Bypass construction, and several years of work are planned to restore the area and complete the required mitigation work.

The presentation will be given by Patricia Hickey, Director of Mendocino County Resource Conservation District and Chris Bartow, Project Manager for the Willits Bypass Offsite Mitigation Lands Project, at 7pm at the Willits Hub at 630 S. Main Street. MCRCD will be managing the projects in the long-term, and is currently responsible for some project lands, although Caltrans currently maintains responsibility for some of the wetland mitigation projects that could take up to a decade, according to the press release.