BOARD SETS POT MISSION RULES

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources last week approved
procedures for helicopter marijuana eradication missions carried out
by state enforcement officers.

The rules setting standards for aircraft identification and operation
- - including stand - off distances from homes while flying as well as
hovering and spraying herbicide - were submitted by the state
Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The recommendations were prepared by the DLNR's Division of
Conservation and Resource Enforcement, which is charged with enforcing
environmental and other laws on state lands.

Establishing the rules, as well as a public hearing held in Hilo in
December on the state's eradication efforts, were required under
conditions attached to a $300,000 federal appropriation to the DLNR
for eradication efforts.

The unique condition requiring DLNR officials to listen to complaints
frequently made by community members about noise and other problems
associated with the marijuana missions was attached to the funding by
former state Sen. Andy Levin.

Land board members who came to Hilo in December heard a host of gripes
about marijuana eradication programs, although in many cases it wasn't
clear whether the missions being referred to involved state or county
Police Department's efforts. The latter can also include personnel and
equipment from other island's police departments as well as the Hawaii
National Guard and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

The complaints covered noise created by helicopter flights as well as
concern about herbicide spray drifting into residential areas, gardens
and water catchment systems.

Mayor Harry Kim was among those who expressed concern about noise
impacts and herbicide spray drifting onto vegetable gardens and onto
roofs used to collect rainwater.

Last Friday the land board approved the following five conditions for
DLNR marijuana missions:

l Pilots shall have a commercial helicopter license and medical
certificate and shall "fly in compliance with all FAA minimum flight
standards for safe helicopter operations."

l Commercial aircraft used by DLNR for marijuana eradication shall
have identifying numbers at least 10 inches tall "conspicuously
affixed" to the tail boom or side of the aircraft. The markings should
be painted in a color that contrasts with the aircraft's color.

l Aircraft on DLNR missions shall have both a working radar altimeter
as well as a working standard pressure altimeter.

l Choppers engaged in DLNR operations "shall maintain a minimum
distance of 1,000 feet from all resident structures while hovering and
spraying herbicide."

l Helicopters used for DLNR marijuana eradication missions shall avoid
flying over residential structures below 500 feet above ground level
"whenever possible."

Gary Moniz, statewide head of the Division of Conservation and
Resource Enforcement, said the "whenever possible" means all the time
except when helicopters are forced down by a low cloud ceiling.

Moniz told the Tribune - Herald that DOCARE teams on eradication
missions have already been following the five conditions for at least
several years.

During Friday's meeting Dr. Fred Holschuh, the land board's Big Island
member, expressed concern about a lack of uniformity between the
state, county and federal law enforcement agencies on marijuana
eradication effort.

"I've always been concerned about these multiple approaches," Holschuh
said this week.

He noted that while the state sprays herbicide on plants, a recent
County Council action declares that method off - limits for county
operations. In addition, he said, there is the dichotomy of the state
allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes while the federal
government still considers marijuana illegal.

Moniz said there will be four additional rules added, at Holschuh's
request, reflecting concerns previously expressed by Levin. They
include notification of the public during spraying activities and
making sure that spraying does not take place near any catchment tanks
or other water sources including streams. The other two deal with
obtaining permission from private landowners before spraying on their
land - such spraying is done rarely, Moniz said - and with maximum
wind speed allowed during spraying operations.

In a 1999 letter responding to Levin's concerns, DLNR officials said
the wind speed does on occasion exceed the 8 mph limit - which was
listed in a 1986 environmental impact statement for state eradication
operations as the maximum allowed - which is why they have set the
1,000 - foot buffer from homes to provide "protection against drift."

Holschuh stressed that while he has concerns about how the eradication
of marijuana is handled, he is not advocating its legalization and
firmly believes that illicit plants need to be cleared from public
lands.

Although Holschuh raised the issue, the rules do not address the
medical marijuana issue, primarily because nearly all DLNR missions
are on state land.

However, marijuana advocate Jonathan Adler said that means that the
rules are incomplete because, he claims, DLNR personnel participate in
joint eradication missions in private subdivisions where medical
marijuana might be growing.

"At the very least (the rules) need to address the status of legal
cultivation," Adler said.

Roger Christie, another longtime advocate, said spraying of herbicide
threatens the health and safety of the public in general.

"If they are supposed to protect the environment, how can they be
killing anything out there?" he said.

Authorities say the spraying ball that dangles 120 feet below the
chopper delivers an accurate spray of heavy droplets that are not
likely to drift. They also say that marijuana growers can bring with
them alien species of plants that can harm the native environment.