Breaking News: Cops Move in on Willits Treesit; Cutting and Construction to Follow

21 March 2013
If you are any­where near Men­do­ci­no Coun­ty, get out there and help!Warbler_treesit_9045_1000p_WEB

21 March 2013
If you are any­where near Men­do­ci­no Coun­ty, get out there and help!Warbler_treesit_9045_1000p_WEB
Willits, CA-Oppo­nents of the Cal­trans Will­lits Bypass through endan­gered wet­lands are con­verg­ing on the site to pro­tect a tree-sit­ter as dozens of Cal­i­for­nia High­way Patrol vehi­cles arrived at the Bypass protest area in Willits in Men­do­ci­no Coun­ty at 7 a.m. this morn­ing. CHP offi­cers began cor­don­ing off the access roads to the area, keep­ing a gath­er­ing num­ber of pro­test­ers and wit­ness­es away from the tree-sit and Cal­trans’ pro­posed con­struc­tion area. The 24-year old local farmer in the tree who calls her­self “the War­bler” has been aloft next to High­way 101 since Jan­u­ary 28.
 
Four arrests have been made of Willits res­i­dents, and the sit­u­a­tion is still active­ly unfold­ing. Anoth­er Bypass pro­test­er has been stand­ing in front of the brush crush­ing machine that is in the juris­dic­tion­al wet­lands and has repeat­ed­ly blocked it after hav­ing been removed sev­er­al times with­out arrest. Cal­trans’ per­mit process is not com­plete with regard to the Migra­to­ry Bird Act, in effect until Sep­tem­ber 15 for the nest­ing sea­son.
 
Updates will be released as the sit­u­a­tion unfolds.