Willits tree-sitters abandon perches

MELODY KARPINSKI
THE PRES DEMOCRAT

The remaining two tree-sitters protesting the construction of a Highway 101 bypass around Willits have descended from their perches.

Fort Bragg resident Jean Weilbach, 23, and an unidentified Oregon woman calling herself "Owl" came down Saturday. Weilbach had previously been forcibly extracted from a tree on April 2, along with four other tree-sitters arrested that day.

The woman went back into the tree briefly Sunday, but is now out of the area, said Sara Grusky, an organizer with anti-bypass group Save Our Little Lake Valley.

Grusky said a delegation of about 25 Willits residents will travel to Sacramento Thursday to meet with politicians.

The group's lawyers also sent a letter to California Fish & Wildlife seeking a stop-work order, alleging violations of state permits, she said.

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