Pubdate: Sat, 20 Sep 2008 Source: Sierra Star, The (CA) Copyright: 2008 The Sierra Star Contact: http://www.sierrastar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3477 Author: Jill Brackett Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?208 (Environmental Issues) RUIN, DEGREDATION LEFT BY POT GROWERS An Ecological Disaster in the Making Considered among area law enforcement agencies to be the most violent crime against local ecology, the far-reaching effects of marijuana growth on national public lands are largely unknown and unmitigated. "For the most part people don't realize. They haven't seen, firsthand, the resource damage, the poaching and litter, the chemicals and homicide," said Fish and Game Capt. Nathaniel Arnold. "People may hear of numbers of plants eradicated, but they don't understand what that means in relation to wildlife and their habitat. "This is a crime where the victim has no voice; the environment, the animals don't have a voice. We have to speak for them." Enter a grow site and the scene is routinely the same time and again: a large garden, coils of irrigation hose, chemicals and toxins, a campsite strewn with garbage, poached animal carcasses, and a burning candle of the patron saint of drug dealers. This patterned ecological footprint growers leave creates a multifaceted environmental catastrophe that agents say reflects a stone thrown into a pool. The stone, or center point, is the garden and the rings spreading from that center, countless ripple effects on the fragile ecological balance. "The environmental impact these growers wreak on our ecosystem is outrageous" said Erica Stuart, public information officer for the Madera County Sheriff's Department. Stuart has participated in dozens of raids, but the job became personal when one took her through a favorite hiking spot of hers and her father. "For me personally, it's like, 'you've got to be kidding; this is my playground.' I was absolutely livid," she said. "This is about a drug cartel moving into your backyard and destroying anything that is going to interfere with their business. The lives of every living species in this region are in danger." The Ripples Typically the growing season for cannabis begins after snowmelt, around April or May. Growers will then move onto a plot to set up camp and plant. Tending the garden, they remain to guard the marijuana until harvest time, September through October. During the roughly five-month period it takes to successfully plant, grow and harvest millions of dollars in marijuana, human waste and garbage accumulates. When the crop is processed and the garden abandoned until another planting season, the waste remains. Left to a multiagency and volunteer effort, waste is either "humped out" (packed out on someone's back) or hauled out by helicopter if the area is too remote. "What these growers take months to hike in, we have to remove in a day," said Arnold. The constraints to reclaim the land -- which simply refers to the removal of the garden's infrastructure -- include the high cost of helicopter support, lack of manpower and seasonal weather. The Forest Service estimates the cost to clean a garden is upwards of $11,000 per acre. Consequently, out of the approximately 50 percent of the known gardens eradicated, only 10 percent of those are reclaimed, said Kevin Mayer, Forest Service drug agent and investigator. Despite the high cost, the Fish and Game Department is committed to their mission. "With the budget problems, it's tough," said Forest Service Chief, John Baker. "But, for the security of the forest and sustainable habitat for wildlife, this is incumbent to us." In Sequoia and Sierra National Forests 621,250 plants have been eradicated this year alone -- that's nearly $2.5 billion in street value. Mayer said that approximately 2,000 acres of California forest has been essentially bulldozed for marijuana planting this year -- an area roughly the size of the city of Fresno. Part of the "bulldozing" effect is created by the hundreds of feet of hose brought in for an intricate irrigation system. Gardens are always planted near a water source from which growers siphon. Natural mountains streams are common choice. The water is dammed and for convenience, fertilizer (high in nitrate) and other chemicals are dumped directly into the source, which is then distributed to the garden. These contaminated mountain waters not only become a danger to wildlife, they feed into national forest headwaters that eventually flow into residential faucets and seep into the subsurface water table. The hose is also left behind. "It's the nature of these chemicals to percolate into the water and soil very quickly, so time is of the essence," said Baker of eradication. With the small percentage of gardens reclaimed, restoration -- primarily the reintroduction of native plant life (water takes years to restore) -- is another story. "We could dedicate 50 agents from our department to this full time and it wouldn't be enough," said Arnold. Water and Waste Are Not All Antifreeze, an attractant to wildlife, but deadly when consumed, is typically spread along the ground bordering the gardens. Accomplishing its purpose, it poisons and kills small animals like squirrels that encroach upon lush gardens and places predators like owls, lynx or bobcats, at risk also. A common Mexican rat poison, Ratone, with toxins not approved in the U.S., is also used. Spread in the dirt, these toxins eventually seep into the soil. Growers, living in the remoteness of the forest which provides ideal soil, water access and protection, cook with propane camp stoves. Their typical season's stay equates to roughly 4,500 meals, which necessitates several 20-pound tanks of propane. Poaching often subsidizes the diet. "This is where we see a direct effect on our constituents," Arnold said of the assault on animals. "We have hunters come in here who are doing things the right way by getting permits, who ask us where all the deer are." The story does not end there. Virtually all growers are armed to protect their cash crop. Dozens of incidents between armed growers and hikers, law enforcement personnel, hunters or land owners have been reported in the past year. Mostly tucked into hollowed trees, shrines with candles dedicated to the Mexican folklore figure Malverde are almost always burning at the campsite. Malverde -- widely considered the patron saint of drug deals -- can be equated to a Mexican Robin Hood. A legend from the early 1900s, Malverde reportedly stole from the rich and gave to the poor, but was captured by police in 1909. He is not recognized by the Catholic Church as a saint, but that may reinforce his image as a criminal of the people. His image is generally a tip-off to law enforcement to illegal activity. An Explosive Combination The close proximity of the candles, firearms, nitrous fertilizer, propane and tinder makes for an explosive hazard that is not only a potential source for wildfire, but also what firefighters risk stumbling upon every time they fight forest fires. Both Mayer and Cal Fire information officer Karen Guillemin said their departments brief firefighters on the hazards of marijuana gardens, but amid heavy smoke, they can be difficult to spot. Standing at the base of the recent Cascadel Fire, which ran through a garden, Mayer waited to enter for investigation. He said the danger to his department's firefighters is both frustrating and stressful. "It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when," he said of incidents related to fire spreading in marijuana gardens. According to Stuart, narcotic agents were sent in as the fires were contained to eradicate as many as four plots strewn with dangerous chemicals. While Stuart said the reports received from the public have been instrumental in finding and eradicating gardens, she questioned the lack of anger from community members. "This is happening in places where people go for recreation. What is it going to take for the community to get it? Where is the outrage?" she said. "If the community's involved and diligent we can get these guys out of here. "As people pick a new place for recreation because of the danger or loss of land, I hope they stop and think of the wildlife that has no clue and or nowhere else to go." Arnold, thankful for what he said is a recent shift toward environmental awareness, reiterated Stuart's call to active land stewardship. "The beauty, if there is any, is that everyone agrees this is a big issue," he said. "The environment belongs to us all. "This is it. We have one shot. When this land is gone, it's gone. I don't know about you, but someday when I have kids I want them to be able to enjoy this land." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake