Local, state and federal authorities this week are removing by helicopter hundreds of pounds of trash and debris from recently eradicated marijuana gardens on public lands in northern Mendocino County.
The cleanup, which began today and continues Wednesday, will likely result in helicopter traffic over the communities of Garberville and Redway in southern Humboldt County, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
The landing zone for the operation is in Leggett, just inside northern Mendocino County.
BLM officials said the materials being removed include irrigation lines, camping gear and trash that has been collected over the past six months from four illegal marijuana cultivation sites in the South Fork Eel River and Elkhorn Ridge wilderness areas and the Little Dann Management Area.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, Eel River Recovery Project and the California National Guard participated in the removal effort, BLM officials said.
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