Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2009 San Jose Mercury News Contact: http://www.mercurynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390 Author: Gordon Laird POT GROWERS DESTROY NATIONAL RESERVES The cultivation of marijuana in our national reserves is absolutely devastating the local ecology. The harvesters have no regard for the terrain. They strip the land bare of native vegetation, introduce nonnative species, disrupt the ecosystem and scar the land irreparably. They poison the watershed with sloppy and excessive use of high potency fertilizers. On top of that, their presence becomes a lethal threat to everyday visitors, who desire to enjoy these last few places where our ecological heritage is supposed to be preserved. Why do I not see streets blocked by ecological protesters? Why do I not see editorials from ecologically friendly media, such as this paper, calling for eradication of this plague? Why do I not see and hear calls for law enforcement to deal with this doubly threatening issue? Could it be that when it gets down to base priorities, it becomes the ecology and the world we live in be damned, people would rather just get illegally high? That says a lot about our society and our hope for a future. Gordon Laird San Jose - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake