SHASTA LITE TARGETS POT; NONE SEEN BY FIRE UNIT

Move over Operation Alesia. Here comes Operation Shasta Lite.

Firefighters may be gathering the most attention as blazes burn
across the north state, but uniformed officers have quietly been
tromping through public lands in fire-free parts of Shasta County.

Sheriff Tom Bosenko said at a news conference Friday that his
deputies have for the past week embarked on a major
marijuana-eradication campaign in the Lakehead area, pulling up and
destroying some 37,705 plants.

Bosenko said this summer's pot eradication efforts were scaled down
after the success of last year's Operation Alesia campaign, a
multiple-agency effort that removed 283,397 pot plants in a few
weeks' time and garnered a visit from the nation's drug czar.

Thus the reason for the "Lite" in the title, he said.

But Bosenko said there's nothing small about this summer's operation
designed to target the growers, which he said are largely illegal
immigrants farming the pot for Mexican drug cartels. Since May, some
86,000 pot plants have been destroyed in various areas around the
county, Bosenko said.

Consistent with years past, the growers tear out large swaths of
forest, create intricate irrigation systems and use dangerous poisons
and pesticides in their work, he said.

"All of these grows present an obvious and real threat to public
safety and to people using public lands," Bosenko said.

No arrests have been reported thus far.

Bosenko said pot-busting deputies in camouflage have been largely
staying away from firefighting efforts, and a good portion of the
U.S. National Guard helicopters used in past pot operations are now
soaking blazes from above.

Only one grow found in the county thus far has been near fires, but
it wasn't discovered as a result of the blazes, Bosenko said.

On July 3, a garden of 4,460 marijuana plants was destroyed near the
end of Zogg Mine Road. Homes have been threatened in that area by the
Moon Complex of fires.

Otherwise, fire crews in Shasta County haven't reported much contact
with illegal grow operations, Bosenko said.

The same goes for firefighters battling blazes in the Shasta-Trinity
National Forest, said spokesman Mike Odle.

But he said it's always a concern.

That's why safety briefings regarding illegal marijuana activities
around the forest are provided to firefighters, he said.

"It is especially important to firefighters not familiar with the
issues facing California's public lands or are from out of the area,"
Odle said in an e-mail.

Firefighters are taught not to enter an illegal grow and to turn
around when they spot a garden on Forest Service land.

If the garden is on private property, it could be legal so
firefighters don't bother with it, Odle said.

"We avoid the plants and continue to do our job, protecting life and
property and mitigating damage to natural resources," Odle said.

Trinity County sheriff's Cpl. Omar Brown said that firefighters in
his county haven't reported any grows to law enforcement either.

However, when the blazes started in the south part of the county,
residents called sheriff's deputies saying they saw large numbers of
people -- presumably Mexican nationals -- fleeing the deep woods as
the flames roared closer, Brown said.

Although firefighters haven't reported any run-ins with illegal
growers, it's only a matter of time before they do, Brown said.

"We're waiting for it to happen," he said. "It's going to happen."