<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><head><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><o:OfficeDocumentSettings><o:AllowPNG/><o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch></o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--></head><body><div class="ydpc2f870bayahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family: garamond, new york, times, serif;"><div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-08-28/cannabis-california-national-forests-environment" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-08-28/cannabis-california-national-forests-environment</a></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif; letter-spacing: -0.5px; text-align: center; font-size: 18px;"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif; letter-spacing: -0.5px; text-align: center;"><font size="5" style="background-color: inherit;">Illegal cannabis farms still scarring public lands, two years after Prop. 64</font></span></div></div><div style="font-size: 16px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-lead" style="margin: 0px; position: relative; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Oxygen, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji; font-size: 18px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-lead-media"><img src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/dceb4fd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5760x3600+0+120/resize/2000x1250!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2Fb4%2F7e%2F303fa12343dc9f5a0c26a76eecea%2F462821-me-cartel-marijuana-farms-kkn-58009-jpg.jpg" alt="Illegal marijuana cultivation site" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; width: 100%;" class="" draggable="false"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-content" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.17; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-caption" style="display: inline;">Mourad Gabriel, co-director of the Integral Ecology Research Center, visits an illegal marijuana cultivation site in the Sierra National Forest.</div><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px;">(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)</div></div></div></div><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-sticky-wrapper" style="padding-left: 0px; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Oxygen, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji; font-size: 18px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-actionsSticky" style="z-index: 1;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-actionsSticky-content"><ul class="ydpcb19d49dActionBar-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="ydpcb19d49dActionBar-items-item" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><a class="ydpcb19d49dActionLink enhancr_card_7172194067" href="https://www.facebook.com/dialog/share?app_id=119932621434123&display=popup&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fenvironment%2Fstory%2F2019-08-28%2Fcannabis-california-national-forests-environment" data-social-service="facebook" style="background-color: transparent; color: inherit; display: block; border: 0px;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="border: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 1px; min-height: 1px;">Facebook</span></a></li><div><br></div><div><br></div></ul></div></div><h2 class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-subHeadline" style="margin: 0px auto 20px; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.17; letter-spacing: -0.2px; max-width: 680px; text-align: center;">Nearly two years after California voters approved Prop. 64, illegal marijuana grows are continuing in the state’s national forests, predominantly the work of Mexican drug traffickers.</h2><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-byline" style="margin: 0px auto 40px; max-width: 680px; text-align: center;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-authors" style="width: auto; margin: 0px 0px 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-authorName" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; display: inline;"><span class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-authorBy" style="text-transform: none;">By </span><a href="https://www.latimes.com/people/piper-mcdaniel" style="background-color: transparent; color: inherit;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="enhancr_card_8015303590">PIPER MCDANIEL</a></div><div><br></div><div id="ydp42f25bd8enhancr_card_8015303590" class="ydp42f25bd8yahoo-link-enhancr-card ydp42f25bd8ymail-preserve-class ydp42f25bd8ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://www.latimes.com/people/piper-mcdaniel" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/people/piper-mcdaniel" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydp42f25bd8yahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydp42f25bd8card-wrapper ydp42f25bd8yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydp42f25bd8card ydp42f25bd8yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp42f25bd8card-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/xWxVqlXH4Lns3iQeI__2qg--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/833d264/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x630+0+0/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2F5b%2F78%2F7c3e41e74e4b986d23923ee121b2%2Flat-logo-dark-full.jpg.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); 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line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Piper McDaniel - Los Angeles Times</h2><p class="ydp42f25bd8card-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">Piper McDaniel is a 2019 intern with the Los Angeles Times' Metro desk.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-datePublished" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.2px; line-height: 1.2; text-transform: uppercase;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-datePublished-day" style="display: inline; white-space: nowrap;">AUG. 29, 2019</div> <div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-datePublished-time" style="display: inline; white-space: nowrap; margin-left: 5px;">5 AM</div></div></div><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-articleBody"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-dateline-wrapper"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-articleBody-item" style="margin: 0px auto;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dRichTextArticleBody" style="margin: 40px auto 80px; max-width: 680px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dRichTextArticleBody-body ydpcb19d49dRichTextBody" style="line-height: 1.67;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px;">When California voters legalized cannabis in 2016, supporters of Proposition 64 hoped it would significantly reduce the scourge of black market weed cultivation, particularly on public lands.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Yet nearly two years later, illegal marijuana grows are still rampant across wide swaths of the national forests in California, leaving behind a trail of garbage, human waste, dead animals and caustic chemicals. Nearly all of these farms are the work of Mexican drug trafficking organizations, posing dangers not just for the environment, but to hikers and others who might encounter them.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">In 2018, law enforcement in California removed 1,396,824 marijuana plants and eradicated 889 outdoor cultivation sites, most of which were operated by Mexican drug traffickers on federal lands, according to the <a class="ydpcb19d49dLink enhancr_card_7944113738" href="https://cvchidta.org/(X(1)S(5afyjn25byv2gnclehtkedfx))/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1" style="background-color: transparent;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Central Valley California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.</a></p><div><br></div><div id="ydpe1ba3409enhancr_card_7944113738" class="ydpe1ba3409yahoo-link-enhancr-card ydpe1ba3409ymail-preserve-class ydpe1ba3409ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://cvchidta.org/(X(1)S(5afyjn25byv2gnclehtkedfx))/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://cvchidta.org/(X(1)S(5afyjn25byv2gnclehtkedfx))/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydpe1ba3409yahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydpe1ba3409card-wrapper ydpe1ba3409yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydpe1ba3409card ydpe1ba3409yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpe1ba3409card-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/R5OlJsizpFatEgk8L31iXw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://cvchidta.org/html/CVCHIDTASiteLogo-1.png.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-size: cover; position: relative; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;"><v:fill type="frame" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/R5OlJsizpFatEgk8L31iXw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://cvchidta.org/html/CVCHIDTASiteLogo-1.png.cf.jpg"/></v:rect><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydpe1ba3409card-overlay-container-table ydpe1ba3409yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpe1ba3409card-overlay-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png" bgcolor="transparent" valign="top" style="background-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:-18px;left:0;"><v:fill type="pattern" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png"/><v:textbox inset="0,0,20px,0"><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydpe1ba3409yahoo-ignore-table" height="175" style="width: 100%; min-height: 175px;"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpe1ba3409card-richInfo2" style="text-align:left;padding:15px 0 0 15px;vertical-align:top"></td><td class="ydpe1ba3409card-actions" style="text-align:right;padding:15px 15px 0 0;vertical-align:top"><div class="ydpe1ba3409card-share-container"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if gte mso 9]></v:textbox></v:rect><![endif]--></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td><table border="0" align="center" class="ydpe1ba3409card-info ydpe1ba3409yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:#fff;position:relative;z-index:2;width:100%;max-width:400px;border-radius:0 0 2px 2px;border-top:1px solid rgb(224, 228, 233)"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;padding:16px 0 16px 12px;vertical-align:top;border-radius:0 0 0 2px"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;padding:12px 24px 16px 12px;width:99%;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;border-radius:0 0 2px 0"><h2 class="ydpe1ba3409card-title" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Central California HIDTA</h2><p class="ydpe1ba3409card-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);"></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div class="ydpcb19d49dEnhancement" data-align-center="" style="clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; width: 680px; max-width: 680px;"><img src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5269575/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5760x3840+0+0/resize/1080x720!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2Fac%2Fa6%2Fa5b389b043b6bcb1b531f44b88ff%2Fla-photos-1staff-462821-me-cartel-marijuana-farms-kkn-49625.JPG" alt="Marijuana plant" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 100%;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class="" draggable="false"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-content" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.17; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-caption" style="display: inline;">A marijuana plant at an illegal cultivation site in the Sierra National Forest is shown.</div><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px;">(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)</div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">“It’s a huge problem,” said William Ruzzamenti, executive director of the Central Valley HIDTA program, which includes federal, state and local agencies. “They’re growing tens of millions of plants every year on public lands in California, and they leave a huge mess when they finish.”</p><div class="ydpcb19d49dEnhancement" data-align-center="" style="clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; width: 680px; max-width: 680px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dGoogleDfpAd-wrapper" style="text-align: center;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dGoogleDfpAd-adCaption" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 5px;">ADVERTISEMENT</div><div id="ydpcb19d49dgoogleAd91ffaa9e-39a6-4ffa-95ef-4d944b12930f" class="ydpcb19d49dGoogleDfpAd ydpcb19d49dinjected" data-slot-name="/21787098806/web.latimes/climate-environment" data-slot-sizes="[[320, 50]]" data-ad-type="leaderboard" data-slot-adsizemap="[[[1024, 0], [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90]], [[0, 0], [320, 50]]]" data-pos="1" data-google-query-id="CO6v1IKmqOQCFYV_YgodmbMEqQ" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><div style="border: 0pt none;"></div></div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">One of these messes <a class="ydpcb19d49dLink enhancr_card_7349504828" href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-08-21/mexican-marijuana-traffickers-banned-pesticide-carbofuran-california-forests" style="background-color: transparent;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">was visited last week by dozens of national and state officials,</a>who arrived in the Sierra National Forest in a Black Hawk helicopter. There, in a stretch of forest in Madera County, they toured an illegal cultivation site — believed to be run by Mexican drug trafficking organizations that authorities had raided the day before.</p><div><br></div><div id="ydpb4b2d24cenhancr_card_7349504828" class="ydpb4b2d24cyahoo-link-enhancr-card ydpb4b2d24cymail-preserve-class ydpb4b2d24cymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-08-21/mexican-marijuana-traffickers-banned-pesticide-carbofuran-california-forests" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-08-21/mexican-marijuana-traffickers-banned-pesticide-carbofuran-california-forests" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydpb4b2d24cyahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-wrapper ydpb4b2d24cyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydpb4b2d24ccard ydpb4b2d24cyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/2mFoivTqqBVhhFWYbYa46A--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e3f44ce/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5760x3024+0+408/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2Ff3%2Faa%2F82e0804f449896e2eb4a0e52a19d%2Fla-photos-1staff-462821-me-cartel-marijuana-farms-kkn-58299.JPG.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-size: cover; position: relative; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;"><v:fill type="frame" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/2mFoivTqqBVhhFWYbYa46A--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e3f44ce/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5760x3024+0+408/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2Ff3%2Faa%2F82e0804f449896e2eb4a0e52a19d%2Fla-photos-1staff-462821-me-cartel-marijuana-farms-kkn-58299.JPG.cf.jpg"/></v:rect><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-overlay-container-table ydpb4b2d24cyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-overlay-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png" bgcolor="transparent" valign="top" style="background-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:-18px;left:0;"><v:fill type="pattern" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png"/><v:textbox inset="0,0,20px,0"><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydpb4b2d24cyahoo-ignore-table" height="175" style="width: 100%; min-height: 175px;"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-richInfo2" style="text-align:left;padding:15px 0 0 15px;vertical-align:top"></td><td class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-actions" style="text-align:right;padding:15px 15px 0 0;vertical-align:top"><div class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-share-container"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if gte mso 9]></v:textbox></v:rect><![endif]--></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td><table border="0" align="center" class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-info ydpb4b2d24cyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:#fff;position:relative;z-index:2;width:100%;max-width:400px;border-radius:0 0 2px 2px;border-top:1px solid rgb(224, 228, 233)"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;padding:16px 0 16px 12px;vertical-align:top;border-radius:0 0 0 2px"><img class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-object-1 ydpb4b2d24cyahoo-ignore-inline-image ydpb4b2d24cymail-preserve-class" src="https://s.yimg.com/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV2/23/logos/latimes.png" height="36" style="min-width:36px;margin-top:3px"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;padding:12px 24px 16px 12px;width:99%;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;border-radius:0 0 2px 0"><h2 class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-title" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Mexican marijuana traffickers are poisoning California forests with a ba...</h2><p class="ydpb4b2d24ccard-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">Law enforcement officials are targeting pot-growing sites in the Sierra where they say Mexican drug traffickers ...</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">The site was just as the growers had left it: Sleeping bags and ragged clothing. Garbage littering the ground. Miles of plastic pipes diverting water. A stockpile of fertilizers, soil and hazardous chemicals.</p><div class="ydpcb19d49dEnhancement" data-align-center-expanded="" style="clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; width: 680px;"><img src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/be98332/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5760x3840+0+0/resize/1080x720!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2F05%2Fef%2F10a1b3204960a3aa1b38bb186013%2Fla-photos-1staff-462821-me-cartel-marijuana-farms-kkn-58224.JPG" alt="Illegal marijuana cultivation site" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 100%;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class="" draggable="false"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-content" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.17; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-caption" style="display: inline;">Drug traffickers created a makeshift kitchen at an illegal marijuana cultivation site in the Sierra National Forest near Whiskey Falls.</div><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px;">(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)</div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Nearby were roughly 6,000 springy, vibrantly green marijuana plants winding through the arid forest, oddly out of place, and doused with toxic chemicals.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Mexican cartels have been operating illegal grows on California’s public lands for decades, their numbers slowly increasing. Advocates for legal marijuana thought a legal market would stem the illicit production, but the number of illegal grows has stayed steady in California. In other states, their numbers are on the rise.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Traffickers have become more adept at evading law enforcement, and are expanding into new territories nationwide, said Mike McKinney, assistant special agent in charge for the U.S. Forest Service Intermountain region.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">“They’re getting deeper, darker and harder to find,” said McKinney. “They’re going into areas that haven’t seen human foot traffic in forever.”</p><div class="ydpcb19d49dEnhancement" data-align-center="" style="clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; width: 680px; max-width: 680px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dGoogleDfpAd-wrapper" style="text-align: center;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dGoogleDfpAd-adCaption" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 5px;">ADVERTISEMENT</div><div id="ydpcb19d49dgoogleAdd73f6655-d9f3-486b-a8c5-2984ea8d99a2" class="ydpcb19d49dGoogleDfpAd ydpcb19d49dinjected" data-slot-name="/21787098806/web.latimes/climate-environment" data-slot-sizes="[[320, 50]]" data-ad-type="leaderboard" data-slot-adsizemap="[[[1024, 0], [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90]], [[0, 0], [320, 50]]]" data-pos="2" data-google-query-id="CO-v1IKmqOQCFYV_YgodmbMEqQ" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><div style="border: 0pt none;"></div></div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;"></p><div class="ydpcb19d49dEnhancement" data-align-center="" style="clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; width: 680px; max-width: 680px;"><img src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3fb9620/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3840x5760+0+0/resize/1080x1620!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2F13%2Fc3%2Faa02e86a45e887bb43746d695c38%2Fla-photos-1staff-462821-me-cartel-marijuana-farms-kkn-57679.JPG" alt="Sierra National Forest" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 100%;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class="" draggable="false"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-content" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.17; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-caption" style="display: inline;">State officials hike up a hillside in the Sierra National Forest to the site of an illegal marijuana grow operation.</div><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px;">(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)</div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Grow sites run by Mexican traffickers have been found in states across the country, including Oregon, Washington, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Texas. In 2018, law enforcement raided 3,847 outdoor grows nationwide, predominantly operated by organized drug traffickers on federal lands, according to HIDTA figures.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Those raided sites are estimated to be just a quarter of the illegal public land grows in existence.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Mourad Gabriel, co-director of the Integral Ecology Research Center, a conservation nonprofit that has led the efforts to clean up the sites and assess their impact, estimates there are more than 1,700 known sites in California alone.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">“Illegal poaching, illegal cutting of trees, the application of illegal pesticides, the diverting of millions of gallons of water for just one site,” said Gabriel. “Extrapolating that to thousands of sites in California is a significant environmental threat.”</p><div class="ydpcb19d49dEnhancement" data-align-center="" style="clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; width: 680px; max-width: 680px;"><img src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a3189ff/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5760x3840+0+0/resize/1080x720!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2F73%2Fc6%2F2743bae14dffa9e697db14a321d7%2Fla-photos-1staff-462821-me-cartel-marijuana-farms-kkn-58172.JPG" alt=" U.S. Atty. McGregor W. Scott" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 100%;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class="" draggable="false"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-content" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.17; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-caption" style="display: inline;">U.S. Atty. McGregor W. Scott tours an illegal marijuana cultivation site in the Sierra National Forest.</div><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px;">(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)</div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;"><a class="ydpcb19d49dLink enhancr_card_7502970010" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbofuran" style="background-color: transparent;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carbofuran</a> is a signature of illegal Mexican grows, a pesticide so hazardous that a teaspoon can kill a fully grown bear, according to Gabriel. Effectively banned in the United States, carbofuran is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border and used by growers to protect the cannabis plants from wildlife. Growers mix carbofuran into the water feeding the plants, and also spray it directly on the ground and foliage that border them.</p><div><br></div><div id="ydpd91c175denhancr_card_7502970010" class="ydpd91c175dyahoo-link-enhancr-card ydpd91c175dymail-preserve-class ydpd91c175dymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbofuran" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbofuran" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydpd91c175dyahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydpd91c175dcard-wrapper ydpd91c175dyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydpd91c175dcard ydpd91c175dyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpd91c175dcard-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/G3fpWQcRHSm7OJmISOqlpw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Carbofuran-from-xtal-2D-skeletal.svg/1200px-Carbofuran-from-xtal-2D-skeletal.svg.png.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-size: cover; position: relative; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;"><v:fill type="frame" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/G3fpWQcRHSm7OJmISOqlpw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Carbofuran-from-xtal-2D-skeletal.svg/1200px-Carbofuran-from-xtal-2D-skeletal.svg.png.cf.jpg"/></v:rect><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydpd91c175dcard-overlay-container-table ydpd91c175dyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpd91c175dcard-overlay-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png" bgcolor="transparent" valign="top" style="background-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:-18px;left:0;"><v:fill type="pattern" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png"/><v:textbox inset="0,0,20px,0"><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydpd91c175dyahoo-ignore-table" height="175" style="width: 100%; min-height: 175px;"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpd91c175dcard-richInfo2" style="text-align:left;padding:15px 0 0 15px;vertical-align:top"></td><td class="ydpd91c175dcard-actions" style="text-align:right;padding:15px 15px 0 0;vertical-align:top"><div class="ydpd91c175dcard-share-container"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if gte mso 9]></v:textbox></v:rect><![endif]--></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td><table border="0" align="center" class="ydpd91c175dcard-info ydpd91c175dyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:#fff;position:relative;z-index:2;width:100%;max-width:400px;border-radius:0 0 2px 2px;border-top:1px solid rgb(224, 228, 233)"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;padding:16px 0 16px 12px;vertical-align:top;border-radius:0 0 0 2px"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;padding:12px 24px 16px 12px;width:99%;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;border-radius:0 0 2px 0"><h2 class="ydpd91c175dcard-title" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Carbofuran</h2><p class="ydpd91c175dcard-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">Carbofuran usage has increased in recent years because it is one of the few insecticides effective on soybean ap...</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Research conducted by the <a class="ydpcb19d49dLink" href="http://www.iercecology.org/" style="background-color: transparent;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Integral Ecology Research Center</a> has found traces of carbofuran in streams and rivers, and also in animals — living and dead — including at-risk species such as the Pacific fisher.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">The damage doesn’t stop there. Growers leave behind tons of garbage, such as car batteries, propane tanks and food along with other caustic pesticides, herbicides and rodent killers.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Grow sites on public lands also compromise California’s water supply, poisoning watersheds and diverting flows from springs and streams.</p><div class="ydpcb19d49dEnhancement" data-align-center-expanded="" style="clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; width: 680px;"><img src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bc515ab/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5760x3840+0+0/resize/1080x720!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2F55%2F37%2F500480594c05b97aa0b81be4f4a0%2F462821-me-cartel-marijuana-farms-kkn-57754-jpg.jpg" alt="Sierra National Forest" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 100%;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class="" draggable="false"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-content" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.17; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-caption" style="display: inline;">Law enforcement officials wait near an illegal marijuana cultivation site in the Sierra National Forest.</div><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px;">(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)</div></div></div><div class="ydpcb19d49dEnhancement" data-align-center="" style="clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; width: 680px; max-width: 680px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dGoogleDfpAd-wrapper" style="text-align: center;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dGoogleDfpAd-adCaption" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 5px;">ADVERTISEMENT</div><div id="ydpcb19d49dgoogleAd183ebc2a-6cc5-4856-9475-acd1075072bf" class="ydpcb19d49dGoogleDfpAd ydpcb19d49dinjected" data-slot-name="/21787098806/web.latimes/climate-environment" data-slot-sizes="[[320, 50]]" data-ad-type="leaderboard" data-slot-adsizemap="[[[1024, 0], [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90]], [[0, 0], [320, 50]]]" data-pos="3" data-google-query-id="CPCv1IKmqOQCFYV_YgodmbMEqQ" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><div style="border: 0pt none;"></div></div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Experts estimate that each plant uses nine to 12 gallons of water per day. A grow site with 6,000 plants, such as the recently raided site in the Sierra National Forest, poaches a minimum of 5.4 million gallons of water a year.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Multiply this by the thousands and illegal grow sites in California are sucking up millions, potentially billions, of gallons of water a year.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">“Seeing this just makes me sick,” said Dean Gould, forest supervisor for the Sierra National Forest, while visiting the illegal grow site last week. “We have the most selfish possible example of the most destructive use of land to benefit a very select few.”</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Even after the sites are busted and the plants removed, they are expensive to clean up, requiring crews to hike, often for miles to reach them. The locations are typically so rugged and remote that garbage must be bundled up and flown out via helicopter.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Since October of 2018, Forest Service agencies in California spent $1.5 million just on equipment and disposal for cleanups last year, a number that doesn’t include the cost of personnel.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Nationally, the Forest Service spends roughly $12 million annually on enforcement alone, a number that doesn’t include the cost of cleanups, which typically have a price tag of $15,000 or more per site.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">Dealing with grow sites also absorbs funds from other agencies, such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and local law enforcement.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">“It’s like a sinking ship. As fast as we’re plugging the holes, we’ve got people siphoning all that water off,” said Gould. “This is having a direct impact on the bottom line.”</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">While supporters hoped Proposition 64 would reduce the profitability of illicit weed farms, legal marijuana in California — taxed and regulated — remains more expensive than the black market stuff, giving the latter a competitive edge. Outside the state is an even bigger market for black market cannabis.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">“What nobody factored in when they were selling this big myth ... is that 75-80% of the marijuana cultivated is shipped out of California because the profit margin is bigger,” said Ruzzamenti.</p><div class="ydpcb19d49dEnhancement" data-align-center="" style="clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; width: 680px; max-width: 680px;"><img src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5d4e5e1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5760x3840+0+0/resize/1080x720!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2F75%2F60%2Fd965b61f4f69843e287ef5c86477%2Fla-photos-1staff-462821-me-cartel-marijuana-farms-kkn-58879.JPG" alt="Sierra National Forest" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 100%;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class="" draggable="false"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-content" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.17; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-caption" style="display: inline;">National and state officials depart the Sierra National Forest in a Black Hawk helicopter after touring an illegal cultivation site — believed to be run by Mexican drug trafficking organizations — that authorities had raided the day before.</div><div class="ydpcb19d49dFigure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px;">(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)</div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">In February, Gov. Gavin Newsom vented about the continuing illegal cannabis farms, saying he would deploy the National Guard to assist with efforts. “They are getting worse, not better,” <a class="ydpcb19d49dLink enhancr_card_8032362142" href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-gavin-newsom-crackdown-pot-black-market-20190219-story.html" style="background-color: transparent;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newsom said at the time.</a></p><div><br></div><div id="ydpd9111b19enhancr_card_8032362142" class="ydpd9111b19yahoo-link-enhancr-card ydpd9111b19ymail-preserve-class ydpd9111b19ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-gavin-newsom-crackdown-pot-black-market-20190219-story.html" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-gavin-newsom-crackdown-pot-black-market-20190219-story.html" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydpd9111b19yahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydpd9111b19card-wrapper ydpd9111b19yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydpd9111b19card ydpd9111b19yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpd9111b19card-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/R5.PcN5YezLkxVH3EkAr5Q--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5593059/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x1075+0+38/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fca-times.brightspotcdn.com%2F4e%2Fee%2Fbc72ac11508172e24b1686df16ba%2Fla-1548956239-s8rxfw2t2l-snap-image.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); 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line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">California’s black market for pot is stifling legal sales. Now the gover...</h2><p class="ydpd9111b19card-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">Before he was elected governor, Gavin Newsom was instrumental in legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Ca...</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">A year earlier, U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) introduced <a class="ydpcb19d49dLink" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/7018" style="background-color: transparent;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">H.R. 7018, the Protecting Lands Against Narcotics Trafficking Act,</a> which would demand stricter fines and penalties for environmental crimes caused by illegal grow sites and would also allocate additional resources for enforcement and eradication. So far, the legislation hasn’t moved forward.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px;">In the meantime, illegal grow sites continue to flourish.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px 0px;">“They’re business people,” said Gould of the drug trafficking organizations. “They are going to go where they can to make the most money with the least pain. They are going to continue to test and test and test to see if the forest is one of those places.”</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-contentWrap" style="margin: 0px auto; max-width: 680px;"><hr style="background: var(--secondaryColor2); margin: 40px 0px; border: 0px; width: 70px; min-height: 1px;"></div><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-contentWrap" style="margin: 0px auto; max-width: 680px;"><div class="ydpcb19d49dLongFormPage-tags" style="margin-bottom: 40px;"><a class="ydpcb19d49dLink" href="https://www.latimes.com/environment" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; border: 1px solid var(--tagButtonBgColor); line-height: 18px; padding: 0px 5px; text-transform: uppercase; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT</a><a class="ydpcb19d49dLink" href="https://www.latimes.com/california" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; 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