Plans for Big Valley Wetlands Complex

Plans are being made and projects are underway for two of the wetland preserves that make up the Lake County Land Trust's Big Valley Wetlands complex of almost 300 acres in Lakeport. Two viewing-educational platforms are underway at the Wright Wetland Preserve. One platform has been installed and the materials to construct the other one have been ordered. The benches have arrived and installation will be done after water recedes.

Educational signs are being created by knowledgeable local volunteers.

The Land Trust looks forward to welcoming visitors to the Wright Wetland Preserve in the near future.

Right next door at the recently purchased Keithly Wetland Preserve, the prospect of restoring Manning Creek in order to facilitate Hitch migration is being studied. The Land Trust has engaged FlowWest, a company that will help in the planning, permitting and execution of the Manning Creek Restoration project. There was a site visit with FlowWest cofounder and hydrologist, Anthony Falzone, in early January with the The Manning Creek Restoration Working Group. The Working Group consists of Lake County Land Trust board members, volunteer Rick Macedo (a retired fish biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife), County Water Resources official Angela DePalma-Dow, and Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians representatives Jeanine Pfeiffer and Ron Montez.

The restoration plan will be to optimize fish passage, according to Merry Jo Velasquez, Lake County Land Trust board member and chairperson of the Working Group. The Land Trust is also working with the Big Valley Band on a co-management plan for the preserves. It is through the efforts of many in our community that are making conservation of this important natural resource possible.