MARIJUANA GROWERS POSE THREAT ON FOREST SERVICE LAND

The U.S. Forest Service said growing and harvesting illegal marijuana
gardens on national forest lands continue to increase and these
operations present a safety hazard to forest visitors and employees.

"We want to remind forest visitors that this is occurring and what
they should do if they encounter a growing site when they are in the
woods," said Six Rivers National Forest Supervisor Jeff Walter.

National forests have vast and uninhabited lands, with areas of rich,
fertile soil and a climate that provides suitable conditions for
growing marijuana, he said.

The Forest Service said most illegal gardens are located in these
remote locations. The plants are put in the ground during the spring
and harvested in the fall.

"The isolation and limited access to remote areas of the forest
lessens the likelihood of detection," said Six Rivers National Forest
Patrol Capt. Diane Welton, "but there is potential for forest visitors
to accidentally come upon an active illegal marijuana garden,
especially at this time of the year."

Officers have come across camps with exercise facilities, tree houses,
barbed wire fences, booby traps and firearms. These camps often
contain cooking and sleeping areas that are within the cultivation
site, according to the Forest Service. According to Welton, indicators
that marijuana is being grown in an area include:

Isolated tents in the forest where no other recreational activity is present

The utilization of trailers with no evidence of recreational activities

A pattern of vehicular traffic or a particular vehicle seen in the same
isolated area on a regular basis

Unusual structures located in remote forested areas, with buckets, garden
tools, fertilizer bags and large amounts of garbage

Signs of cultivation, such as black piping and or soil disturbance in remote
areas

"If a private citizen comes upon something suspicious, don't enter the
area, leave immediately and notify local law enforcement authorities,"
Welton said.

Phone (707) 441-3623 for additional information or to notify
law-enforcement authorities of a suspected garden on national forest
lands.