Drug gangs taking over US public lands

[Bad Man From Bodie]

Ever watch the movie Homegrown with ole Billy Bob Thornton?? Pretty much sums it up if you ask me. The structure and complexity of these rings are far beyond what any of us can understand. Poor kids get stuck with the dirty work and risk. Folks will try to grow pot anywhere they can minimize the risk of getting busted including elevations over 7000ft, (it’s called weed for a reason). I however am WAY more concerned about stumbling upon a meth lab vs a pot farm though (now that would be way sketchy)!

[giantbrookie]

As a veteran field geologist and researcher and a supervisor of graduate students, this has been a major concern of mine. My first graduate students field season ended (fortunately without him getting hurt or even shot at) when he ran into an armed guard while off trail N of Hwy 70 in the Feather River canyon near Caribou Jct. This led to a mammoth bust in that area. The problem with a "map" is that where they are at any given time is not going to be a good predictor for where they'll be the next season (presuming that known locations were busted and cleaned out). With my student we thought the coast was clear owing to a very large bust in the general vicinity the fall before he began work.

The cartels have made things more difficult for folks such as geologists because the growers and guards aren't local. In what seems like the distant past, the rules of engagement (for geologists) were that one spent some time at local bars getting to know the locals who would tell you where you shouldn't go. Now this no longer works. I tend to do a lot of advance planning in terms of cover (one area worked well as a field area because of a recent burn--no place to hide a plantation from surveillance), elevation, location of water, potential access roads, etc., in trying to ascertain how likely an area is to have plantations in it. I also have my students contact the local USFS folks to get any recent info on growing patterns. Back in the 80's and 90's, I ended up having two encounters with armed folks who were no doubt guarding some sort of (local) growing operations (both times in places that were close enough to 'civilization' that I didn't think to use the protocol noted above). Of course there are other hazards, too. Some 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.

[Ozark Flip]

GB Wrote

Some 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

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. LOL

blazaccom Wrote

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

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.

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.

[packmule]

Yeah, we can't be afraid or they will win. I though this was the very reason they are letting firearms back into the Parks I know from Sacramento to the Bay area where 50 plus grow houses were connected the Chinese. Two Real Estate agents working for the Mob was the connection. The NP fields are a relatively new way of doing business where the grow houses have been around a while. And we all know by the time the good guys find it the problem is probably out of control. Plus, risk one season for 70,000 plants and a few thousand feet of water line as compared to buying a house where there is a name attached, where people come and go only at night. Don’t hate me Flip but IMO these fields are a safer and cheaper bet. But that is not the point, and like I said from the start, we cannot be affraid or they will win

Oh yeah, if you didn’t know Flip and saw him on the trail you may think he was one of the crazy white guys he reffers too want to turn around too!

[Ozark Flip]

BoD Wrote:

Oh yeah, if you didn’t know Flip and saw him on the trail you may think he was one of the crazy white guys he reffers too want to turn around too!

Hey Aaron, I resemble that remark! Or wait, it is resemble or resent? :retard: Anyway, just because I'm a long haired country hillbilly who plays a mean banjo doesn't give you the right to trash on me like that. I don't own a pig either. And if I scare folks off the trail then so be it, I like solitude.

[ERIC]

BoD Wrote:

Oh yeah, if you didn’t know Flip and saw him on the trail you may think he was one of the crazy white guys he reffers too want to turn around too!

Hey Aaron, I resemble that remark! Or wait, it is resemble or resent? :retard: Anyway, just because I'm a long haired country hillbilly who plays a mean banjo doesn't give you the right to trash on me like that. I don't own a pig either. And if I scare folks off the trail then so be it, I like solitude.

Classic.

[rlown]

Maybe not for this group, but hunters have it worse. Well, not road hunters, but people who go off trail at lower elevations (for me near the Eel river near Covelo) can stumble into almost anything.

At least in the NF, we're armed and move slow. I'm still looking for a way to spot potential hot-spots to avoid using Google Earth, but as it turns out, most of the best areas i might choose for deer are also great potential grow plot areas.