7,000 POT PLANTS SEIZED.Byline: Grace Lee Staff Writer More than $22 million in marijuana - at least 7,000 plants - were seized and being set afire Verb 1. set afire - set fire to; cause to start burning; "Lightening set fire to the forest" set ablaze, set aflame, set on fire combust, burn - cause to burn or combust; "The sun burned off the fog"; "We combust coal and other fossil fuels" Tuesday in a raid on a three-mile-long stretch of Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a forest located in southern and central California, which includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Monterey, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to 8,831 feet. . No arrests had been made by Tuesday afternoon by the federal and local task force conducting the raid, but investigators said the eradication effort was Ventura County's largest this year. ``There were plants growing everywhere ... hidden up and down the hills,'' said Ventura County sheriff's spokesman Eric Nishimoto. ``Plants were stuck in every nook and cranny Noun 1. nook and cranny - something remote; "he explored every nook and cranny of science" nooks and crannies detail, item, point - an isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole; "several of the details are similar"; "a point of information" .'' Task force members brought in by helicopters swung machetes through dense growths of marijuana plants standing almost seven feet high in the same rugged Rose Valley area raided last year. That raid netted about 7,000 plants. Tuesday's raid appeared to take the growers off guard, judging from items they left behind, including a skillet of still-cooking chicken and a pair of boots, Nishimoto said. Helicopters roared over the site of the raid, hauling off clusters of pot plants headed for bonfires. Ventura County sheriff's Sgt. Harold Hanley said growers return to the Los Padres National Forest because ``it is the perfect spot for its remoteness. ... It's a vast, steep canyon.'' Growers may have returned to the same area authorities scoured last year, officials said, because they thought it unlikely that the area would be searched a second year. Another possible reason could be that last year's plots, despite the raids, may have turned a profit. In the past 10 years, marijuana gardens in national forests have gotten bigger, more profitable and more dangerous. The Forest Service seized 421,000 plants on federal lands in California last year, a tenfold increase from a decade ago, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. reporting from the San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. Tribune. Much of the crop is concentrated in southern forests, closer to the Mexican border. Last year, officials seized more than 11,000 plants in Ventura County. Tuesday's raid pushed this year's seizures to 17,190. SWAT team members who jumped out of helicopters in Tuesday's raid were prepared to meet gunfire, authorities said. On Saturday, a hunter in the same area reported he was fired upon by five men believed to be growers. In a separate raid Tuesday in the Los Padres National Forest in San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (săn l  `ĭs ōbĭs`pō), city (1990 pop. 41,958), seat of San Luis Obispo co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; inc. 1856. , one grower was killed and another wounded, said Ventura County sheriff's Sgt. Harold Hanley. John Bridgwater, a manager of the Los Padres National Forest, said six officers monitor 2 million acres of land. In Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los , seven sworn Forest Service officers patrol the forest - half as many officers as a decade ago. Nishimoto acknowledged that despite the resources committed by agencies from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD) provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, USA, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that VCSD serves are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks. , ``we're still barely scratching the surface.'' Grace Lee, (805) 662-6757 grace.lee(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Ventura County firefighters burn some of the 7,000 marijuana plants found growing in the Rose Valley area of the Los Padres National Forest above Ojai on Tuesday. (2) A helicopter hauls a bundle of marijuana plants cut down by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department in a raid on a farming operation in the Los Padres National Forest. Michael Owen
I just came back from vacationing all along the west coast where my eyes could finally take in the magnitude of the natural forest fires that I'd noticed catching onto media's attention this summer. It was disheartening to see the life that's been lost. But the park rangers seemed to be at full alert for such an event to be sprung on them. They equip the park with signs informing passers to be cautious of any ember. So why are they trying to switch the roles of firefighters. They are so worried about their trees when they just destroyed 7,000 healthy vessels for making paper. To learn and discuss more about stories like this one you can check out this web page @ www.outgrowbigbro.org.
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