POT HARVEST HITS MID-SEASON

The middle of the growing season for Tulare County's leading cash crop is here.

In 2010, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department seized nearly $1.67
billion worth of marijuana, slightly outdoing $1.6 billion in revenue
fetched the same year by the dairy industry, the county's top commodity.

And although the late rain and snow season have delayed this year's
harvest, local officials are bracing for what they foresee will be a
larger marijuana crop than in years prior.

According to Lt. Tom Sigley with the Sheriff's Tactical Enforcement
Personnel (STEP) unit -- the primary team for pursuing illegal
marijuana traffickers in the county -- so far this year authorities
have already eradicated 39,737 plants and seized 18 weapons.

Approximately 36,000 of those plants, Sigley said, were eradicated
from a mountain grow on Bureau of Land Management land in the
Springville area on June 29.

The outdoor marijuana growing season used to run from April through
September, but with new varieties of the plant, the season has
expanded from February through November, Sigley said.

In a final report issued July 2 by the Tulare County grand jury,
jurors found that seeds for some crops grown locally in illegal
marijuana gardens come from Afghanistan and are bred to "bud" as many
as three or four times per year, with a growing cycle of as little as
three months.

To prepare for the marijuana trade season, the STEP unit utilizes
other narcotics units and a newly formed team of deputies from the
Detention Division to assist with plant eradication.

The teams also conduct regular flights to locate sites, which are
commonly found on public lands.

"There are thousands and thousands of acres of public lands available
for these grows," Sigley said. "They are usually very remote in
location and the climate and water for these types of illicit
activities are prime."

Growers, he added, choose Tulare County because of its generous water
supply and the area's Mediterranean climate.

Hikers, hunters, ranchers and farmers who stumble upon the lush
gardens and the garbage they breed are usually the first to contact
authorities.

Sites typically have miles of black plastic hose stretched across the
grounds for water supply and heaps of trash scattered in forested areas.

People may encounter "stash" areas where plants are cut and stored
away from the grow sites, rerouted natural water resources, tarps,
isolated tents or camping trailers in the forest where no
recreational activity is present, garden tools and fertilization bags
among a list of other things.

These grow sites may pose risks to the general public, as they are
commonly tended to by members of various Mexican drug cartels and are
often protected by armed guards, Sigley said.

"If people should come across any of these signs, they should mark it
on their GPS, if available, and immediately leave the area and
contact the Sheriff's Department," he noted.

According to Sigley, in 2010 the Sheriff's Department eradicated 78
different mountain grow sites, made 32 arrests for the plant's
illegal cultivation on public lands, and seized 417,687 plants and 23 weapons.

On average, growers caught for cultivation face 30 to 60 days of
local jail time, and six months to one year for mountain cultivation.
When charged federally, offenders face "significantly longer
sentences," Sigley said.

Additionally, in 2010 authorities also contacted 237 grow sites on
the Valley floor, all claiming medical necessity.

He said there are teams who try and keep up with compliance checks on
"hundreds of backyard medical marijuana grows and are aggressively
trying to bring them into compliance."

To do this, the teams use code enforcement, zoning and other local
departments to assist with any other violations, he said.