AUTHORITIES NAB MARIJUANA CROP

BAKER CITY, Ore. -- Authorities in Baker County are harvesting at
least 4,000 marijuana plants found by a backwoods hunter over the weekend.

Officials said if the crop had made it to the market, it could have
been worth between $10.5 and $22.5 million.

The plants were found in steep, remote terrain on Bureau of Land
Management property, near Lookout Mountain, according to Oregon State
Police Lt. Ray Duman.

No arrests have been made in the investigation.

Duman said the marijuana was watered by a spring-fed gravity drip
system with hoses leading to each plant. There were signs that the
growers had been living at the site, he said.

The system is similar to other large marijuana grows found recently on
public lands near Pendleton and Hood River, he said.

Officers will be collecting items from the site to check for
fingerprints as the investigation continues. Police will keep some of
the marijuana as evidence and take the rest of it to an area where it
will be burned, Duman said.