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Transportation Mitigation: Aitken Ranch Preserve

In fast-growing Placer County, California, a new highway bypass is needed to relieve bottlenecks along the overburdened State Route 65. Development of this project, called the Lincoln Bypass, will cause impacts to vernal pools, Valley elderberries, and oak and riparian forest. The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) needed a custom mitigation solution.

Wildlands worked with Placer County to protect the 317-acre Aitken Ranch, an agricultural property with regionally important habitat. The ranch became a turnkey project, providing CalTrans with mitigation credits before construction began on the bypass. This arrangement streamlined CalTrans approval process and according to CalTrans, saved four million dollars compared to other mitigation options.


In addition to providing mitigation for CalTrans, Aitken Ranch is the pilot project of Placer Legacy, a county program for preservation of agriculture and open space. (See artist's rendering)

Click to view Artist's Rendering