Pubdate: Wed, 29 Sep 2010
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2010 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Author: Ryan Sabalow
Note: Herger's lettter -
http://media.redding.com/media/static/Herger_Dear_Colleague_-_Marijuana_Resolution_-_Environment.pdf

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE: AREA LAWMAKER LOBBIES FOR FEDERAL HELP IN LETTER

Hoping to sway Democrats' support for his resolution urging the 
federal government to step up efforts to remove illegal pot gardens 
on public lands, U.S. Rep. Wally Herger has become an 
environmentalist of sorts.

In a letter sent to his fellow lawmakers today, the Chico Republican 
urges the Democrat-controlled Congress to consider the detrimental 
environmental effects marijuana growing has on public lands.

"In addition to posing a severe threat to the public, these 
plantations cause severe damage to the environmental health of the 
impacted lands," Herger says in the letter. "Illegal marijuana 
growers spray considerable quantities of unregulated chemicals, 
pesticides and fertilizers; leave behind tons of trash and other 
debris; and tap into streams and other waterways in order to 
construct fairly complex irrigation systems."

It costs close to $11,000 to clean up and restore a single acre of 
marijuana grow on federal lands, Herger said.

A staunch conservative and frequent critic of environmentalist 
groups, Herger drafted House Resolution 1540 in July.

Sponsored by six House Republicans from California, Texas and Utah, 
the resolution calls for Congress to come up with a plan that would 
create a long-term solution to permanently dismantle the Mexican drug 
traffickers' pot growing operations on federal lands.

Saying that local law enforcement agencies haven't received enough 
manpower or funding from the federal government, whose land the 
growers are exploiting, Herger urges the Office of National Drug 
Control Policy to "develop a comprehensive and coordinated strategy" 
to fight drug trafficking.

The resolution must be introduced and approved by the House Judiciary 
Committee before moving on for a full congressional vote.

The biggest hurdle for Herger's bill may be whether it gets introduced.

"That's a question for (House) Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi," said Herger's 
spokesman Matt Lavoie. "When you're in the minority, you don't get to 
choose what goes on the floor."

This summer, dangling in a harness below a helicopter, Herger was 
flown into a pot-growing operation in northern Shasta County to get a 
sense of what the "boots on the ground" were seeing, Lavoie said.

Herger's letter and his efforts to bring public awareness to the 
problem are part of his push to sway fellow lawmakers into bringing 
the resolution to a vote, Lavoie said.

"There are a lot of ways to go about this, but at the end of the day 
the Democratic majority has the gavel," Lavoie said.

In an interview this summer, Herger said he decided to draft the 
resolution after meeting in January with leaders of six federal 
agencies who manage public lands.

Herger said they offered little in the way of solutions to stop 
growers on public lands and they didn't "indicate they needed more 
money" to fight marijuana growers.

In his letter, Herger said that Mexican drug cartels will be 
dismantled only "through the development of a long-term strategy and 
a coordinated and unrelenting response led by the federal government."

Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko applauded Herger's efforts and he 
said the letter points to the widespread environmental havoc growers cause.

He said that his drug agents have become used to finding enough 
garbage at grows to fill 50 to 60 30-gallon trash bags. Human waste 
and illegal fertilizes, pesticides and herbicides are commonplace. 
Bosenko said the growers also terrace forest hillsides, divert 
streams, clear-cut trees and illegally kill wild game.

Many people, particularly those living urban areas, have no idea how 
bad the problem is, he said.

"The environmental side can't be overlooked," Bosenko said. "It's a 
huge impact on the environment."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart