AFTER THE SYMPOSIUM: KEEPING THE MOMENTUM, FINDING THE MONEY

Everyone seems to agree that the Mendocino National Forest is riddled
with illicit marijuana gardens and not safe for hikers anymore.

The question for Mendocino County and five other counties bordering
the forest seems to be how to afford the solution, and it was
discussed at length in a recent symposium to hammer out solutions.

"A number of people expressed concern about what the cost may be to
the county," said Mendocino County Board Chairwoman Carre Brown, also
1st District supervisor. "We have no money to put into this."

Nor does cash-strapped Mendocino County seem to be alone in its
inability to contribute much to the estimated $1.5 million price tag
of a combined law enforcement effort to reclaim the Mendocino
National Forest for hikers and outdoors enthusiasts, according to Brown.

That's an estimate offered at the symposium of what it would cost to
launch a large, six-county law enforcement operation next year,
according to Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.

"A vast majority of the money would be supplied by federal agencies,"
Allman said.

Allman spearheaded the two-day meeting to draw together the political
and law enforcement heads of those six counties, including Mendocino,
Lake, Tehama, Glenn, Colusa and Trinity counties, along with
representatives of state and federal agencies, to talk about
solutions to a mounting problem.

He said he won't know his specific personnel requirements and costs
until a January meeting with the law enforcement leaders in the six
counties bordering the Mendocino National Forest, because they are
tied up in the specific stratigies and logistics for the operation
the group will address at that time.

Allman says the major costs will be personnel expenses for the
officers, helicopters to access the sites and logistical issues
including feeding and sheltering officers long-term for the operation.

In the meantime, the forest is polluted with the infrastructure that
comes with the illicit marijuana gardens, including fertilizers,
herbicides, traps and miles of black, plastic pipe, carrying
illegally diverted water, laid by the armed men who guard the gardens
for drug cartells.

The final day of the symposium addressed what is being tauted as a
less expensive approach.

"There's a lot we can do for not a lot of cost, like having better
scrutiny about legally accessing the forest; there may be ways we can
keep (out) certain products used to grow marijuana," Brown said.

Specifically, 3rd District Supervisor John Pinches suggested setting
up checkpoints at the access points to the forest to check vehicles
for black, plastic pipe.

Two of the seven major access roads into the forest are in Mendocino
County, he said, but who would man the stations and what to do about
the smaller access points isn't yet known.

Pinches said state Department of Fish and Game money could be used to
fund the effort, along with Regional Advisory Council (RAC) money. In
addition, he said, the U.S. Forest Service committed to using some of
its budget for the effort.

"Our committment is we're going to take back our national forest,"
Pinches said. "We're not going to be satisfied until nobody is
growing marijuana in our national forest."

Pinches said he was pleased that the U.S. Forest Service named the
reclamation of the forest as a top priority, a change from earlier
this year, when the problem was named in passing during a routing
report to the Board of Supervisors on forest activities.

"The Mendocino National Forest, from this day forward, is not going
to be a good place to grow marijuana," he said.

Allman said the push to take back the forest will revolve not just
around eradication, but around removing the infrastructure such as
pipes, mixing ponds and roughly constructed living quarters, that
allow the growers to come back year after year.

"We're also going to focus on reclamation and recycling of everything
removed from the gardens," he said.

The Bureau of Land Management estimates reclamation could cost about
$5,000 per acre. The effort will be patterned after Fresno County's
Save Our Sierras and Operation Trident, Allman said, and the High
Sierra Volunteer Trail Club is leading the effort to build a plan,
along with the Willits Environmental Center.

Reclamation, he notes, would need to be coordinated with law
enforcement to ensure the safety of the workers.

Allman faces budget cuts in his own departments, but wouldn't talk
yet about how those cuts might affect this effort. The board recently
directed him to proceed with identifying seven layoffs in his department.

"If we move forward with the layoffs that were directed, it will make
it harder for the sheriff to perform all of his functions, and it
would be challenging to take on this program," 2nd District
Supervisor John McCowen said. "But I believe he is committed to making it work."