WHISKEY TOWN GATE AN ATTEMPT TO BLOCK POT GROWERS

WHISKEYTOWN NATIONAL RECREATION AREA - Tom Benfer Sr. thinks the
gate on the road up Whiskeytown's South Fork Mountain needs to go.

"I think it should be open," Benfer said. "I don't think there
should be any gate on it."

In December, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area officials locked
the gate in an effort to curb marijuana growing on the mountain,
park Superintendent Jim Milestone said.

He said growers were using the 7-mile-long dirt road throughout the
year to haul in hoses, fertilizer and other necessities for pot plantations.

"These guys are out there laying pipe in wintertime," Milestone
said. "We are just trying to make it difficult for them to drive up
there with their supplies."

The public can still drive the road, but visitors first must stop by
the park's headquarters and obtain permits. The permits are free, he
said, and driver's license numbers and vehicle descriptions must be
given in exchange.

The office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

"We just want to know who is going up," Milestone said.

Along with the permit, those hoping to drive the road receive a
combination for the gate's lock, he said. Officials change the
combination often, but send out e-mails to update permit holders.

Benfer, who lives in Happy Valley, said the process is a needless hassle.

"Why should we have to ask his permission?" he said. "That's our park."

Milestone said the gate limits only those wishing to drive up the
road. Hikers, bikers and horseback riders can steer around it.

Once an avid hiker, Benfer said he now has multiple sclerosis and
that prevents him from walking much anymore. He said he likes to
drive the road for the view of Redding from the 3,447-foot mountaintop.

The park started the permit system for the road last June, when it
first locked the gate at the height of the marijuana-growing season.

During last summer's historic wildfires, Milestone said he had the
gate reopened and it remained open through hunting season.

Although marijuana growers don't plant their crops until spring,
they'll be scouting for grow spots as well as moving supplies this
time of year, said Jim Richardson, Whiskeytown's chief ranger.

"We do know that they do that in seasons other than just the growing
season," he said.