ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE: AREA LAWMAKER LOBBIES FOR FEDERAL HELP IN LETTER

Hoping to sway Democrats' support for his resolution urging the
federal government to step up efforts to remove illegal pot gardens
on public lands, U.S. Rep. Wally Herger has become an
environmentalist of sorts.

In a letter sent to his fellow lawmakers today, the Chico Republican
urges the Democrat-controlled Congress to consider the detrimental
environmental effects marijuana growing has on public lands.

"In addition to posing a severe threat to the public, these
plantations cause severe damage to the environmental health of the
impacted lands," Herger says in the letter. "Illegal marijuana
growers spray considerable quantities of unregulated chemicals,
pesticides and fertilizers; leave behind tons of trash and other
debris; and tap into streams and other waterways in order to
construct fairly complex irrigation systems."

It costs close to $11,000 to clean up and restore a single acre of
marijuana grow on federal lands, Herger said.

A staunch conservative and frequent critic of environmentalist
groups, Herger drafted House Resolution 1540 in July.

Sponsored by six House Republicans from California, Texas and Utah,
the resolution calls for Congress to come up with a plan that would
create a long-term solution to permanently dismantle the Mexican drug
traffickers' pot growing operations on federal lands.

Saying that local law enforcement agencies haven't received enough
manpower or funding from the federal government, whose land the
growers are exploiting, Herger urges the Office of National Drug
Control Policy to "develop a comprehensive and coordinated strategy"
to fight drug trafficking.

The resolution must be introduced and approved by the House Judiciary
Committee before moving on for a full congressional vote.

The biggest hurdle for Herger's bill may be whether it gets introduced.

"That's a question for (House) Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi," said Herger's
spokesman Matt Lavoie. "When you're in the minority, you don't get to
choose what goes on the floor."

This summer, dangling in a harness below a helicopter, Herger was
flown into a pot-growing operation in northern Shasta County to get a
sense of what the "boots on the ground" were seeing, Lavoie said.

Herger's letter and his efforts to bring public awareness to the
problem are part of his push to sway fellow lawmakers into bringing
the resolution to a vote, Lavoie said.

"There are a lot of ways to go about this, but at the end of the day
the Democratic majority has the gavel," Lavoie said.

In an interview this summer, Herger said he decided to draft the
resolution after meeting in January with leaders of six federal
agencies who manage public lands.

Herger said they offered little in the way of solutions to stop
growers on public lands and they didn't "indicate they needed more
money" to fight marijuana growers.

In his letter, Herger said that Mexican drug cartels will be
dismantled only "through the development of a long-term strategy and
a coordinated and unrelenting response led by the federal government."

Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko applauded Herger's efforts and he
said the letter points to the widespread environmental havoc growers cause.

He said that his drug agents have become used to finding enough
garbage at grows to fill 50 to 60 30-gallon trash bags. Human waste
and illegal fertilizes, pesticides and herbicides are commonplace.
Bosenko said the growers also terrace forest hillsides, divert
streams, clear-cut trees and illegally kill wild game.

Many people, particularly those living urban areas, have no idea how
bad the problem is, he said.

"The environmental side can't be overlooked," Bosenko said. "It's a
huge impact on the environment."