Yesterday was amazing: I witnessed the bust of a major trespass marijuana growing operation on federal wilderness lands in a remote part of Trinity County. Here are some of the photos, showing the environmental damage from this relatively small (about 2,000 plants) trespass grow. Two springs were tapped and completely diverted -- dewatering small creeks -- for an elaborate irrigation system. Lots of fertilizer and rodenticide spread all over the place. Many trees were felled, lots of soil disturbance, and the camp was essentially a garbage dump that looked like well over a dozen people had lived there at one point, though only 3 were seen running away when the bust when down early yesterday. I arrived a couple hours after the initial raid, as evidence was being gathered and an environmental assessment was getting underway. There were several arrests and cell phones and other incriminating evidence was found, so there will be more. It was a long day, including a Blackhawk ride from Moffett field to Trinity, a 2-mile hike down rugged, steep terrain without any trail, and a ride out of the grow site in a screamer suit -- where a helicopter lifts you up and out of the forest on a long tether clipped to a harness and then tows you to a drop site! My thanks to the CA National Guard, federal, state, and local agencies, and scientists from UC Davis and Hoopa Tribe, who all played critical roles in this joint operation. While shutting down this grow site was important, there are no funds to fully clean up and remediate it and dozens of others like it, meaning that our wilderness areas continue to be fouled by this widespread scourge on our public lands.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 17:18:50 +0000
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