DRUG CZAR OUTLINES THREAT OF FOOTHILL POT FARMS

Valley Officials Worried About Farms In Sierra

Local law enforcement officials joined their federal counterparts
Wednesday to deliver a unified message: Marijuana farming operations
in the foothills and mountains of the Sierra Nevada are dangerous to
citizens and the environment.

Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House's Office of National Drug
Control Policy, and Benjamin Wagner, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern
District of California, joined local sheriffs Margaret Mims of Fresno
County, John Anderson of Madera County and Bill Wittman of Tulare
County at a town hall in Clovis to discuss their concerns over
marijuana-growing operations on public lands.

"This is industrial scale, and it is happening on property that
belongs to you," Wagner told the audience.

A year ago, Kerlikowske came to the central San Joaquin Valley on a
similar mission -- to highlight marijuana-eradication efforts.

Today, the five are expected to announce the results of a similar
effort.

As part of that, several people have been charged recently in U.S.
District Court in Fresno on marijuana-growing charges.

Unfortunately, the panelists said, the problem is getting worse, not
better.

All five panelists stressed that the focus is not mom-and-pop
marijuana grows, but large-scale operations in the mountains. They
said those tending the fields are mostly armed, which is a
public-safety concern. Many aren't U.S. citizens, which involves
federal immigration enforcement.

Beyond that, they said the grows are using pesticides and fertilizers
not approved for use in the U.S.

They are poaching local wildlife, including deer and, possibly, bears.
They are fouling water supplies with such things as rat poison. They
clear-cut trees and leave behind large amounts of garbage.

Last year, Mims said, officials pulled out 56 miles of irrigation drip
lines.

Wagner said the spread of marijuana being grown locally by Mexican
drug cartels is probably because the drug is bulky and has a strong
odor. Thus, it is hard to smuggle across the border -- especially one
that is harder to cross since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Because of limited resources, the panelists said, the only way to
fight back is to work together -- not just counties, but state and
federal law enforcement, too.