Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2009
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2009 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Author: Dylan Darling
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

WHISKEY TOWN GATE AN ATTEMPT TO BLOCK POT GROWERS

WHISKEYTOWN NATIONAL RECREATION AREA - Tom Benfer Sr.  thinks the 
gate on the road up Whiskeytown's South Fork  Mountain needs to go.

"I think it should be open," Benfer said. "I don't  think there 
should be any gate on it."

In December, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area  officials locked 
the gate in an effort to curb  marijuana growing on the mountain, 
park Superintendent  Jim Milestone said.

He said growers were using the 7-mile-long dirt road  throughout the 
year to haul in hoses, fertilizer and  other necessities for pot plantations.

"These guys are out there laying pipe in wintertime,"  Milestone 
said. "We are just trying to make it  difficult for them to drive up 
there with their  supplies."

The public can still drive the road, but visitors first  must stop by 
the park's headquarters and obtain  permits. The permits are free, he 
said, and driver's  license numbers and vehicle descriptions must be 
given  in exchange.

The office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to  4:30 p.m.

"We just want to know who is going up," Milestone said.

Along with the permit, those hoping to drive the road  receive a 
combination for the gate's lock, he said.  Officials change the 
combination often, but send out  e-mails to update permit holders.

Benfer, who lives in Happy Valley, said the process is  a needless hassle.

"Why should we have to ask his permission?" he said.  "That's our park."

Milestone said the gate limits only those wishing to  drive up the 
road. Hikers, bikers and horseback riders  can steer around it.

Once an avid hiker, Benfer said he now has multiple  sclerosis and 
that prevents him from walking much  anymore. He said he likes to 
drive the road for the  view of Redding from the 3,447-foot mountaintop.

The park started the permit system for the road last  June, when it 
first locked the gate at the height of  the marijuana-growing season.

During last summer's historic wildfires, Milestone said  he had the 
gate reopened and it remained open through  hunting season.

Although marijuana growers don't plant their crops  until spring, 
they'll be scouting for grow spots as  well as moving supplies this 
time of year, said Jim  Richardson, Whiskeytown's chief ranger.

"We do know that they do that in seasons other than  just the growing 
season," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom