Thousands of illegal marijuana plants removed from California national park | California
The park rangers have removed an illegal marijuana culture site in Sequoia National Park in California covering around 13 acres (5 hectares).
In a press release Thursday, the National Park Service said that it had removed a total of 2,377 adult marijuana plants and around 2,000 pounds of waste and infrastructure last week and helicopter load operations.
The site, which was initially detected and attacked by the law enforcement rangers in 2024, also contained a semi-automatic pistol and several dangerous chemicals. Among the chemicals included a gallon of methamidophos, a highly toxic insecticide prohibited in the United States since 2009, the NPS said.
According to the NPS, the site was only rehabilitated this year due to the presence of dangerous chemicals. No arrest has been made and the survey is underway.
The NPS then identified various damage caused on the site, including the diversion of the natural flow of water, a neighboring stream and the installation of irrigation lines, the construction of several large pits to store the diverted water of a neighboring stream, a significant cleaning of natural vegetation, as well as digging terraces in the hills for the planting of marijuana.
Other damage include the development of campsites, cooking areas and cultivation sites in a wild area, evidence of poaching activity, as well as illegally maintained trails covering approximately 2 miles (3 km).
The NPs underlined the environmental impacts of the major marijuana culture sites in the Central California valley, because a single Marjuana plant uses six to eight gallons of water per day which would otherwise be used for other wild and plant animals. He also underlined the water runoff from sites that can be tainted by various pesticides used to cultivate marijuana.
Over the past two decades, drug trafficking operations have directed what NP has described as “large -scale operations” in and around the national parks of Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Since then, nearly 300,000 factories worth almost $ 850 million has been eradicated from national parks.
Although marijuana is legalized in California in 2016, strict production restrictions have led to a flourishing black market which has caused generalized environmental damage across the State in recent years.
In the county of Siskiyou, more than 15,000 acres (6,070 hectares) of illegal marijuana sites led to a significant drop in fauna, as well as the unregulated use of pesticides and chemicals.
“We went there on the field and there is really no fauna. You have the chance to find a lizard,” said Rick Dean, the director of community development of the Siskiyou environmental health division, at the Guardian in an interview last year.
