On Wednesday a 5 acre marijuana farm located in Redwood National Park was raided by over 60 park rangers and other cooperating law enforcement officials. The farm was located less than six miles away from the world’s tallest tree. It is the first major marijuana growing operation to have been found in the well-known park.
The marijuana farm was located near an area known as Redwood Creek and contained an estimated 9,564 plants. They were immediately chopped down and removed by helicopter. A drug operation such as this one can be very hazardous to the environment as chemicals and fertilizers can significantly pollute park habitats. In a press release the National Park Service explained that “a graphic information system specialist went in with the raid teams for the first time in NPS history to perform an immediate evaluation of the impacts to natural resources during the raid. This documentation will be very beneficial for the restoration process.”
The plants growing on the illegal drug farm were estimated to be worth about $35 million dollars. The operation was first seen by an airplane flying above several weeks ago, and consequently the park’s staff was notified promptly. It is unclear for how long the farm had been operating.
Several Mexican citizens, 4 men and a woman, have been detained by law enforcement officials for questioning and are possibly connected to the operation. On the same day as the raid in the park, law enforcement officials also carried out several additional raids on growing operations nearby. Illegal drug operations are becoming increasingly more common in the U.S. inside and near national parks and forests. Raids are becoming a necessity.
An article published several days ago in USA Today quoted the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy as saying that 75%-80% of marijuana grown outdoors is on state or federal land. Mexican drug cartels are thought to be increasingly responsible for these illegal operations in national parks and on other protected lands. Smuggling drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border has become more challenging for them.
Other national parks where large marijuana farms have also recently been found and shut-down include North Cascades National Park in Washington and Sequoia National Park in California.
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Photo Credit: Michael Schweppe on Flickr under a Creative Commons license
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Levi Novey
Levi Novey is a conservation professional who has received a bachelor's degree in History from Tufts University and a master's degree in Conservation Social Sciences from the University of Idaho. He worked for the U.S. National Park Service for 10 years, as a park ranger in 6 national parks, as a social science researcher in 5 parks, and as the science communicator for a Natural Resource Inventory and Monitoring Network that serves 9 parks. He has authored several scholarly papers as well as several guidebooks to U.S. national parks. Levi also has taught an undergraduate Environmental Communication Skills course at the University of Idaho, won several photography contests, and regularly enjoys visits to parks, protected areas, historical sites, museums-- and just about anywhere where he can learn something new about the world. He currently lives in Peru, with his wife Alicia, and their daughter Coral.
79 Responses to 5 Acre Marijuana Farm Found and Destroyed in Redwood National Park
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Not too long ago I heard about an underground tunnel from so Cal to mexico being raided for some tons of marijuana. That was a good supply all destroyed!
Ouch, this just hurts to read!
why not just buy books on growing marijuana and be totally happy…
legalize weed! (:
Seems that some folks who posted got sidetracked from the park topic, to the drug topic.
But on that tangent – been there, done that. And if anything, leave it confined to a home, with stiff penalties for using it on the job or while driving. Actually, with the harms of smoke inhalation known, I’m surprised that medical cards for Cannibis are not limited to other than burning and inhaling.
Back to the park misuse …
Seems that the growers did not do much homework for locations. One of the redwood parks is probably the worst possible selection for an illegal growing operation, considering all the monitoring and study going on for ongoing restoration.
These marijuana groves do significant damage. I was at 3 of them up in Oregon, and saw how the growers cut down trees and vegetation, and make hillsides unstable.
MDV
Oregon
All of you are dumb. You read all the BS that marijuana is good for you. You should huff paint thinner its cheaper and you get higher. Who cares if you become retards you are already half way there. I all ready see the increase of alcohol and marijuana together with vehicle accidents. They should also legalize cocaine and meth. Its bad for you but who cares everything should be legal,right. Thats right marijuana is good for you and has 100% of your daily vitamins. Read the facts before you post.. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks to everyone here for jumping on this AKA douche bag. Screw everyone in this country that thinks like that, I’m very glad to see the mentality gradually changing; and these comments exhibit that. Maintain hope, enlightened ones!!! Our day will come…
haha, I’m also glad to see that everyone else is calling AKA on his bullshit post.
I’d like to hear where your facts came from because they are total BS. Pot is much safer than any legal drug out there right now.
Deaths caused by marijuana a year = 0
Deaths caused by aspirin = 500
Any kid can buy aspirin. Learn your facts. Then try to post something intelligent.
Hmmmm. Impact on the environment?
Sounds like to me the only thing that impacted the forest park was the fact that 10k plants were forcefully removed. Common, really? A plant destroying a forest? That’s the greenest picture I think I’ve ever seen, there’s no dying trees there.
Not to mention Marijuana is a seasonal plant, meaning when it dies, the nutrients go RIGHT BACK INTO THE SOIL.
Just another waste of time, energy, and resources. Congratulations on accomplishing nothing.
AKA, you need to do your research and stop believing the government. There have been studies proving marijuana is not bad for your brain (http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20030701/heavy-marijuana-use-doesnt-damage-brain)or your lungs (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.html)These are legitimate articles from web-md and the Washington Post. Also, there is proof that marijuana can help fight cancer (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14451-marijuana-takes-on-colon-cancer.html?feedId=online-news_rss20) and can help cancer patients (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Support/marijuana). Your conclusions are invalid because you cannot back them up with sources. Please do not try to pass off your misguided opinions as fact.
Marijuana is a weed. It grows everywhere. We all should see that it does
it’s a shame the feds have declared war on plants, especially cannabis, the world’s most prolific plant.
The ‘war on (some) drugs’ was declared after the north won the civil war and outlawed slavery, so the feds outlawed the *naturally growing substances* that minorities were using instead of the white man’s alcohol, so they could stuff their prisons with nonviolent minority offenders. To replace the lost slave labor with prison labor.
Read tinyurl.com/1mn and tinyurl.com/potconviction to see the history of nonmedicinal drug use in the US.
Your an artard
get your facts straight because you need to learn to think before you speak, or even research. For every fact you can find, I can find one proving it wrong by a lagitimate study
their is nothin wrong with smokin the bud i can drive 100 times better after smoking a blunt than i can after a couple of shots fuck the government i am not giving up pot for anything.
Marihuana is only allowed in Holland.. And even the rules/laws created for this aren’t really usefull because the coffeeshop owners still cant buy it legally.
hey dan R,
do you like TV? music? why? because it’s entertaining? yeah? no shit. thats why we like pot.
Ok. Marijuna does have side effects. Hate to tell you guys. But as an avid pothead I am happy to say they are mild compared to that of ciggarettes, alcohol, and other rightfully legal and dangerous drugs. Before you go and fight on either side, please, please, know the facts and stop looking like an asshole.
Great Gazoo, I love you.
All that weed… what a shame.
One question for all you pot-heads out there, why do it? It has become the most laughable question I have ever heard answered by a drug addict. I say the same question to alcoholics and all other forms of “disorders of society” that you can come up with from your withering minds. It is illegal in the United States, get over it. Move out if you don’t like it. Not a single one of you people has a right to even begin to complain or even hold a half-hearted arguement. But then again, I guess the pot you smoke is saving you from cancer, or whatever bullshit you cook up while you’re high. I make it a point in my life to look down at the pitifulness that is your addiction. I’d rather give money to a bum so he can get alcohol then give it to some punk-ass who can’t seem to understand his own place in the world. I’m pretty sure every retard here was taught what “No” means. That’s why you don’t see an alcoholic saying anything on these forums. He knows he’s doing something wrong. Maybe your moralities will kick back in 20 years from now, if you haven’t imploded from such ignorance. Good day children and adults who will never grow up. May you find substance in yourselves someday.
PS:
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I think you all can answer this for yourself. That and because I feel I’ve wasted enough of my time on this ethical cleansing of retardation.
Leave that pot alone!
2 obvious lessons here:
1) Illegal aliens are a much bigger menace than the open-borders lobby wants us to believe, and we need to get serious stopping unsustainable immigration, which is no longer just a theoretical threat to the redwoods.
2) Marijuana is not entirely “harmless” but its prohibition is stupid.
I for one don’t want to waste my tax dollars funding a drug war that does not exist.
What a waste.
N6MIW said “I agree with all of the replies to AKA. We need to legalize marijuana. I like the fact that my teenage daughter (now 18) hangs out with her friends and listens to records or MP3s…they could be doing much worse things. They stay out of trouble. She is an honor role student and a great speaker to the public.”
And you would be willing to have it legalized and convey the message that it’s “okay” for your daughter to smoke it?
Almost Speechless, don’t cite tobacco and alcohol related deaths. Marijuana may or may not be less dangerous than tabacco or alcohol but tobacco and alcohol doesn’t cause people to loose control of their motor skills or induce psychoactive affects, when used in moderation at least. But then again you can get high simply by breathing too fast.
ITT: potheads pissing & moaning
I say impose the dead penalty on those caught in these raids. That’ll teach em’. Unless there are serious repercussions for this type of illegal activity then the fuckers will continue to do it. What pisses me off is some of these people defend these areas they plant on with firearms. As if they have dominion over them, as if they have sovereignty. That’s clear grounds to fire at will in my book. Shipping their asses back over the border clearly isn’t working, and imprisonment is only a bigger drag on the economy.
To the dumbass that said it wouldn’t be a problem if it were legal. It’s illegal for a reason, it’s extremely addictive and destroys peoples lives and the lives of those around them. The government could give a shit less about what you do on your time, but when it has a chain reaction that affects the entire nation, it becomes their problem. It is a poison of the mind and a poison of the nation that puts a burden on everyone. I shouldn’t have to pay your fucking welfare because you chose to get shit faced and smoke pot instead of going to school. And I’m working on my degree, so don’t anyone dare call me a hypocrite.
Furthermore, since these cartels seem hell bent on desecrating our national forests and sanctuarys, intimidating the residents of small towns, and selling pot to our children. We should suspend all trade and immigration with Mexico until they have dealt with the problem, indefinitely.
“Raids are becoming a necessity” assumes that it is necessary to bust the sale and distribution of marijuana. It’s a harmless drug–rethink “necessity.”
I do, however, commiserate with the notion that farming one-crop marijuana in this national park may have reduced the natural biodiversity in the park or threatened species…
Horrible.. I could have smoked that pot
Wether we agree that MJ should or shouldnt be leagalized is beside the point of the article. I have seen the damage first hand, that illegal growing operations do to MY (and your) forests. The trash, fertilizers, erosion, and…Oh yeah guys carrying guns! But Im sure it for self protection.
Granted, legalization would solve this problem. But in the mean time, I’d rather not have to worry about encounters with these folks when I want to take a hike.