POT PLANTATIONS ON PLATEAU STIR CONCERNS

SANTA ROSA PLATEAU ---- Most people living in the homes sprouting in the
foothills west of Murrieta had no idea that a complex marijuana plantation
was growing in the hills behind their homes.

Hidden under a canopy of chaparral, a multimillion-dollar marijuana
plantation had been growing unknown until it was discovered last month by a
hiker.

The marijuana grove is the second one found this year on the Santa Rosa
Ecological Reserve, according to Kevin Smith, the county parks ranger
assigned to the 8,300-acre reserve west of Murrieta.

Most of the reserve is off-limits to the public, which makes the remote
sections of it secluded ---- perfect for someone looking to grow a
marijuana crop, Smith said.

"I've been thinking of ways to deal with this because it's one of the
biggest problems we have right now," Smith said last week while holding a
black irrigation line leading from a riverbed into a shaded grove where
agents found about 5,000 marijuana plants last month.

Sheriff's officials say the Santa Rosa Plateau is a hot spot for marijuana
cultivation in Riverside County, and workers at the reserve are concerned
about the negative effects the plantations have on the native plants and
animals there.

An Ongoing Problem

Smith said he discovered his first marijuana grove on the reserve in 1992.
That first site contained about 600 plants, he estimated. Since then, the
crops have increased in size, which troubles Smith and other workers at the
reserve.

"I figure we've found about eight (marijuana plantations) since I've worked
here," Smith said. "And there's probably more we never found."

The latest grove, found last month, had an estimated 5,000 plants, which a
helicopter had to airlift out. Some of the plants, which were at the end of
their growing season, were 14 feet tall, Smith said.

The growers usually begin their operations in the spring and then harvest
in the fall. They tap into natural streams and run drip irrigation lines,
sometimes for hundreds of yards, to hidden groves where the marijuana is
grown, Smith said.

Just getting to the most recently discovered grove involves an exhausting
hike over boulders and through poison oak-infested brush. Most groves, like
the one visited Thursday, use containers to grow the plants in until
they're large enough to transplant into the ground.

Hundreds of abandoned plastic potting containers are stashed along the
trails connecting separate growing "rooms" under the branches of thick brush.

Fertilizer packages, gardening tools and countless irrigation lines were
all left behind by the growers. Rolls of chicken wire, used to keep animals
from nibbling the young marijuana plants, are also discarded throughout the
site.

Hidden from the main growing chamber is the living room, where a tent,
sleeping bags, pots and pans and virtually everything someone would need to
live were all abandoned by the growers. A sack of potatoes, some onions and
a package of tortillas were also left at the campsite.

Everything there had to be hand-carried ----- most likely at night,
according to Smith, who said the scale of the project proves the growers'
determination.

"They're definitely ambitious people," he said. And Smith worried that the
growers may be equally determined to protect their crops if ever
discovered, which is why he lets law enforcement officials take over at
that point.

Once he reports a marijuana grove, Smith's work is done and the Riverside
County Sheriff's Department takes over. Members of Special Investigations
Bureau that specialize in marijuana eradication are brought in to remove
the plants.

The team operates countywide, but one investigator says most of the
marijuana is found in the hills west of Murrieta and Temecula.

"That's where we're having a lot of problems," said a special investigator
who asked that his name not be used because of his undercover work. "I
can't say if it's because people are just reporting it more than before or
if there is actually more being planted up there."

This year, Riverside County's marijuana eradication team has confiscated
more than 115,000 plants. Most marijuana plants being grown in Riverside
County produce about a pound of pot, which is selling for roughly $4,000 to
$5,000, according to the sheriff's office.

At a value of $5,000 per plant, the marijuana grove recently found west of
Murrieta could have grossed $25 million with the 5,000 pounds of pot that
was grown there.

Jose Martinez, a spokesman in the Los Angeles office of the Drug
Enforcement Administration, said last week that there is evidence linking
Mexican drug cartels to the marijuana plantations in Southern California.

Special agents have found weapons, mostly rifles, at several of the
marijuana groves in Southwest County, and sheriff's officials advise people
to stay away from any marijuana they might find accidentally.

"It would be like coming upon any other illegal operation," the
investigator said. "Hikers have been shot at in central and northern
California."

So far, there have been no incidents between the marijuana growers and
anyone else, Smith said.

Still, Smith said that in the past few years he began to feel uncomfortable
venturing into remote areas of the reserve without a partner due to the
chance of running into armed marijuana growers.

"Unfortunately, we don't have enough staff to always have a buddy when
we're in the field," Smith said.

Environmental Damage

Besides being illegal and potentially dangerous to the public, growing
marijuana on the Santa Rosa Plateau causes devastating environmental
damage, according to Carole Bell, the natural resource manager of the Santa
Rosa Ecological Reserve.

"The water they're taking for the marijuana serves as a habitat for aquatic
species," Bell said.

The reserve is an arid land throughout most of the year, and most of the
animals there depend on water they can find in the few streams running
through area.

"It's the only source our wildlife has for water, and these people are
using it on marijuana," Smith said.

Fertilizer used by the marijuana growers is also a problem when it enters
waterways.

"It raises the nitrogen levels and actually kills species," Bell said.

Then there are the miles of abandoned irrigation lines that the growers
leave on the reserve, many of which continue to divert water long after the
marijuana is harvested.

Bell said something needs to be done to prevent further damage to the
reserve, and she thinks some type of cooperative effort between reserve
workers and law enforcement officials might help.

"We need to find a way to stay ahead of these people and work together to
coordinate a system," said Smith, who is working to set up a meeting with
Sheriff's Department to discuss the problem.