Posted on 10/11/2008 2:31:25 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
Mexican marijuana cartels use pesticides, herbicides that pollute US parks, forests
National forests and parks — long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels — have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said.
The grow sites have taken hold from the West Coast's Cascade Mountains, as well as on federal lands in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Seven hundred grow sites were discovered on U.S. Forest Service land in California alone in 2007 and 2008 — and authorities say the 1,800-square-mile Sequoia National Forest is the hardest hit.
Weed and bug sprays, some long banned in the U.S., have been smuggled to the marijuana farms. Plant growth hormones have been dumped into streams, and the water has then been diverted for miles in PVC pipes.
Rat poison has been sprinkled over the landscape to keep animals away from tender plants. And many sites are strewn with the carcasses of deer and bears poached by workers
-Snip-
As of Sept. 2, more than 2.2 million plants had been uprooted statewide. The largest single bust in the nation this year netted 482,000 plants in the remote Sierra of Tulare County, the forest service said.
Some popular parks also have suffered damage. In 2007, rangers found more than 20,000 plants in Yosemite National Park and 43,000 plants in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, where 159 grow sites have been discovered over the past 10 years.
Agent Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Game estimated that 1.5 pounds of fertilizers and pesticides is used for every 11.5 plants.
"I've seen the pesticide residue on the plants," Foy said. "You ain't just smoking pot, bud. You're smoking some heavy-duty pesticides from Mexico."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
So let me get this straight. If any of US used these chemicals, we’d be in deep do-do. We are paying millions in tax dollars to take care of our national parks.
Meanwhile, illegals are pouring over the border into the U.S. and even though they are benefiting from our health care system, our education system, and our legal system, they’re also forming gangs, committing murders, and poisoning our land.
The government (which is to supposed to protect our borders) says: “Problem? What problem?”
Better McCain than Obama!
Our law enforcement officers have taken at least 200,000 marijuana plants from the National Forest so far.
_________________________________________________
Nope...
2.2 MILLION...
You forgot to thank Jorge.
Ah yes, Jorge Boosh.
A couple of years ago MJ was the #8 cash crop in Washington, with a significant portion of it raised in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Border Patrol Agent Poisoned
(with pesticide)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103438/posts
Imagine 50,000 of our finest not dying half the world away.
Obama could not answer this because his party's platform and he himself is for mass legalization of these invaders.
There you have it. This is how McCain get swoop up massive segments of the Undecideds.
Do YOU want him to do this?
Do YOU want him to win the election?
Does HE want to win the election?
Thanks for the pings, ladies. Well, finally someone besides Lou Dobbs noticed! He’s the only major outlet we’ve been able to get to see this problem...where are the envirofreaks on this?????
Lots of interesting photos of these drug cartel camps here:
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/search?q=invasion+800+miles
The Mexican border has moved 800 miles north-
Personally, I think it's time to regulate this entirely unregulated industry and take all those billions and billions of dollars in profits away from organized crime. Then tax paying law abiding farmers would be growing it on their farms and non one would be growing it in our national forests.
” Thank God the water got diverted in those PVC pipes.
That keeps the the chemicals out of the regular streams.
Kick ass environmentalism from the dope growers. “
To be clear, what they do is run water pipes from the water source to the plants, downhill. The chemicals are put on the plants. The chemicals then wash down the entire watershed.
These people destroy the area they’re using. The scrape the trees and make canopies to cut the view and cut more for shelter. The dig huge pits for garbage and to hide things and whatever. More damage to the watershed.
There is NOTHING environmentally sound out of this bunch. They use chemicals long ago banned here.
“Some job our Federal Government is doing stopping this. Not”
Our local sheriffs get some help from forest service and DEA, but Homeland Security says it’s NOT their problem. It’s all they can do to keep up with the Mexican Drug cartels.
Lori, our sheriff caught one of these growers who had a USA issued agricultural green card. He was family of one of the biggest known drug cartels in Mexico, but he got in legally anyway.
“. It’s easier for them to get away with growing it in Mexico,”
Not really. Down there they have to split the take with law enforcement. Up here they pretty much have free reign over hundreds of thousands of ‘protected’ uninhabited land where no one goes. They’re nearly impossible to spot by plane, though that’s how they find some.
Given that we have to choose between the two, what is your choice?
As CIC, Obama would throw us to the wolves. McCain would NOT.
I have a story too, but I can’t tell it.
Well your NO VOTE helps to get the greater of the 2 evils elected. Sleep well.
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