Pubdate: Sun, 16 Dec 2012
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2012 The Arizona Republic
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Judy Keen, USA Today

WIS. WOODS SITE FOR POT GROWING

LAKEWOOD, Wis. - The silence of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National
Forest is broken only by the sound of Jeff Seefeldt's boots as he
walks toward a clearing in the deep woods.

Seefeldt, a district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, points out
the trees and brushes that were cut down to make room for an illicit
crop and piled into a makeshift fence meant to keep animals and human
intruders out. He gestures toward the creek from which water was
hauled to keep thousands of marijuana plants growing.

This spot is a reminder of a new danger in Wisconsin's north woods:
large marijuana-growing operations tended by armed illegal immigrants
from Mexico. The first such site was discovered in the 1.5-million
acre national forest in 2008. Similar operations have been discovered
every year since then.

"I'm very concerned about it," Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van
Hollen. The problem in his state, he says, is "as bad as anywhere in
the country." Most people arrested have been illegal immigrants from
Mexico with connections in California, he says, and their operations
are "consistent with drug-trafficking organizations out of Mexico."

In the most recent Chequamegon-Nicolet bust in August, federal
prosecutors charged seven people with manufacturing marijuana with the
intent to distribute it. More than 8,000 plants worth $8 million were
seized. Their cases are pending.

Earlier this year, four Mexican citizens were sentenced to federal
prison for their involvement in a conspiracy to manufacture marijuana
in the national forest. They were arrested in an August 2011 raid
after hunters discovered their grow site the previous fall.

To Seefeldt, it is more than a crime. "It gives me a disgust in my
stomach that people come here with no respect for the land, no respect
for the people that use it, no respect for the resources," he says.

The environmental damage left behind can be dramatic. Garbage, poisons
used to keep animals from harming the crop, pesticides and fertilizers
make a mess and can harm the soil and streams. It can take years for
trees hacked down to make room for the plants to be replaced.
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