COUNTY CONSIDERING DECLARING STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER MARIJUANA IN FOREST

Responding to citizens who wanted to bring in the National Guard to
rid the Mendocino National Forest of marijuana cartels, the Mendocino
County Board of Supervisors has asked its legal counsel to look into
declaring a state of emergency.

The board held an off-site meeting Tuesday in Covelo, where ranchers,
hikers, hunters and other citizens concerned for their safety because
of illegal growing in the forest spoke during an update on the issue.

"There were three people there that testified that they'd been shot at
by growers in the forest," 3rd District Supervisor John Pinches said.

Pinches had asked for the discussion and a plan to "take our national
forest back" after U.S. Forest Supervisor Tom Contreras reported in
July that law enforcement had found 166 illegal marijuana gardens in
the forest.

Contreras said his office has $250,000 of federal funding to clean up
the damage, which he estimated would cover only 16 of the grow sites.

The supervisors directed County Counsel Jeanine Nadel to bring back
information to the board about what it would take to declare a state
of emergency, which could bring more money to the issue.

"We're turning up the pressure on the feds to do something," Pinches
said.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said it won't take a state of
emergency to bring the National Guard, but the prospect isn't likely
regardless.

"Right now nobody is getting the National Guard because their
resources are tapped because of the wars (in Afghanistan and Iraq),"
Allman said, noting there are a few exceptions, but that domestic
response isn't what it once was.

Pinches referred to a Monday letter from Congressman Mike Thompson's
office, which states, "It's more than time to take our forests back.."

"That's admitting that we've lost our forest to the drug cartels,"
Pinches said.

Thompson's letter notes the illegal gardens mean violence associated
with the grows, use of toxic chemicals and fertilizers, and stream
diversion, and that the $250,000 awarded for cleanup "will only begin
to address the damage to our local forest."

The board's standing criminal justice committee, which includes 5th
District Supervisor J. David Colfax and 2nd District Supervisor John
McCowen, are also asking five other counties to join in bringing money
and attention to the issue.

"I don't think we can rely on hoping for more money without muscle
behind it," Colfax said. "The response has not been adequate."

The five other counties which have portions of the Mendocino National
Forest in their boundaries include Lake, Trinity, Tehama, Glenn and
Colusa.

"When you get this many counties involved, you get other congressional
districts involved, so we get other federal representatives involved,"
Pinches said. "Wouldn't it be better to have six sheriff departments
working on it than one? We're going to take care of the problem."

Allman said he's talking to the sheriffs in those counties to work out
a regional solution.

Nadel couldn't be reached by press time for comment on what is
involved in declaring a state of emergency.