Colorado

AGENCY RETRACTS LATINO WARNING

An advocate for Latino rights says she was appalled to learn that the
U.S. Forest Service is warning the public that campers who eat
tortillas, drink Tecate beer and play Spanish music could be armed
marijuana growers.

Polly Baca, co-chairwoman of the Colorado Latino Forum, said the
warning is profiling and discriminatory, and could put Latino campers
in danger.

The agency quickly retracted the warning, issued Wednesday amid an
investigation into how much marijuana was being cultivated in
Colorado's national forests.

"It is inexcusable and we regret that this insensitivity distracted
attention from the real problem of illegal marijuana cultivation on
federal land and the threats to human safety and environmental
degradation it poses," said Hank Kashdan, associate chief of the U.S.
Forest Service.