I feel ya on this one GB. Kinda what I meant by white guys being more frightening. I have been on the Feather River. Some of Cali's best wild rainbow fishing on the middle fork where it flows for 30 miles without road access. Some of Ishi's buddies could still be hold up in there. LOL The Clavey River is another very remote location where I believe some mischief occurs up canyon, in addition to the hooligans who party nearer to the roads, with noses full of powder, bellys full of hard liquor, going through more ammo in one night than Ted Nugent will ever use. Bottom line GB, when venturing into a remote river area and you hear pigs squeeling and banjos playing, maybe you should turn around, go find another spot. LOLSome of them folk down on the rivers can be downright scary too and I think I can count at least 3 encounters that gave me the willies
blazaccom Wrote
Yes, a few years ago there was an incident involving a father and son fishing up canyon on the Kings River. I cannot remember the exact details but it was well known and well publicized at that time. They were shot at, shot, or maybe even killed, I cannot remember - but again, everybody knew about that particular event (if we are thinking about the same incident). I never heard of any resulting bust either.I was told a few years ago not to take the trail down to the Kings River in Kings Canyon...because of exactly this problem. SO yes, the rangers have at least some idea
Again, I believe the large scale outdoor growing operations are phasing out. I don't think they will ever completely disappear, but certainly the 'big boys', in particular the Mexican cartel operatives, are all going indoors. A few observed reasons:
-Heat seaking devices are more elaborate these days. Pot plants, particularily those that are fertilized and watered galore, emit considerable more heat than that of the adjacent flora, thus easier to detect. Especially later in the year, like late summer or early fall, when the surrounding flora is parched, arid, and the pot plants are fully watered and at full flower stage. Ganja illuminates like a throbbing sore thumb on infrared devices. The human body too emits a ton of heat and is easily detected.
-Because of air heat seaking surveillance, growers have resorted to several smaller plots rather than one or two large plots. This makes longistics of watering, critter control, and encrochment detection much more difficult.
-Outdoor pot farms have far less of a growing season, that's one reason why you don't find major operations at high elevations. Indoor growing gigs can be accomplished every day of the year, and the farmer controlls the growing season by lengthening/lessening the light hours.
-It is easier to tap into the electrical grid upstream of a structure's meter compared to the daunting task of tapping into a water source somewhere in the remote wilderness. Seasonal springs dry up quickly. Tapping into the electrical system upstream of a meter requires minimal labor, just dig a few feet deep on the side of most houses. Trying to irrigate a remote outdoor plot is both labor intensive and hard to disguise. Also, solar panels have come a long way in the past 10 years.
-Living conditions are far more comfortable for the indoor farmers compared to thier counterparts scratching out a living in the remote canyons.
-Deer (they love to eat pot and get a buzz going) and other critters cannot ruin your indoor farm. And no more spray painting chicken wire fences camoflague.
Anyway, IMHO, there is a lot of truth to the original post but "Taking over our public lands"....nah, but they could be a neighbor moving in near you.