A POT GROWER? NO, A 'DISPLACED FOREIGN TRAVELER'

Just a typical foreign tourist visiting California, Gauldry
Almonte-Hernandez must have spent a day at the San Diego Zoo and
taken in the Venice Boardwalk, then driven up foggy, twisty and
beautiful Highway 1 to take in the sights of San Francisco. After
shopping in Chinatown, dining in North Beach and admiring the street
theater around Pier 39, he headed north to see the world-famous
coastal redwoods.

But something went horribly wrong.

On the road to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove, he must have taken a
wrong turn on Highway 36. Once up in the rugged mountains of Trinity
County, anyone can get lost. Cell coverage is spotty. Gas stations
and supplies are scarce. The poor gentleman's vacation went terrible
wrong, and the next thing you know, he found himself camped out at a
remote marijuana plantation south of Hayfork.

At least, that's the impression a reader might get from a U.S. Forest
Service news release, sent out to the media Tuesday morning, about a
marijuana raid earlier this month. It describes Almonte-Hernandez as
a "displaced foreign traveler from Michoacan, Mexico."

Strangely, though, this poor displaced traveler -- far from welcoming
his rescue by the Forest Service, Trinity County Sheriff's Department
and Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement -- instead reportedly tried to
flee and hide as those agency's officers arrived at the marijuana
"garden," which contained more than 7,000 plants.

A Forest Service law-enforcement dog team ran down Almonte-Hernandez,
who, the Forest Service says, faces a federal charge of manufacturing
a controlled substance that, if he is convicted, could carry a
10-year prison sentence.

Is that any way to treat a displaced foreign traveler? Good grief,
our tourism-dependent economy is bad enough. How much further would
it sink if the north state won a reputation for this kind of
hospitality? Will Interstate 5 motorists dare even stop for a stroll
on the Sundial Bridge? Will recreationists shun the struggling former
timber towns in the north state mountains?

Look, there's no doubt the Forest Service needs to clean up the woods
and try to keep a lid on marijuana growing, but messing with
travelers is asking for trouble.

We hate to encourage political correctness, but maybe the Forest
Service could come up with a polite euphemism for "displaced foreign
traveler" so as not to spook the tourist trade. Non-NEPA-compliant
agriculturalist, perhaps?