POT PLANTS ARE SEIZED AT FAST PACE MARIJUANA BEING CULTIVATED IN FOREST.Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer Only halfway through the growing season growing season, period during which plant growth takes place. In temperate climates the growing season is limited by seasonal changes in temperature and is defined as the period between the last killing frost of spring and the first killing frost of autumn, at which , investigators have seized as many marijuana plants in the 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. as they did during all of last year, authorities said. More than 17,000 plants have been seized in the Ventura County segment of the Los Padres
Not to be confused with San Diego Padres. since July 30, with another 3,000 plants found in Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. County, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Joe Pasinato said. About 20,000 plants were seized in the forest last year, with investigators searching into early October. ``We're on a record pace,'' Ventura County Undersheriff Un´der`sher`iff n. 1. A sheriff's deputy. Craig Husband said. ``These are not 1960s hippies hippies 1960s “dropouts of American culture” usually identified with very long hair adorned with flowers. [Popular Culture: Misc.] See : Hair . These are major drug trafficking organizations generating millions of dollars. They're heavily armed, and they're becoming more aggressive.'' The growers present a risk to visitors and rangers, Pasinato said. Growers in other parts of the state have been known to construct elaborate booby traps meant to deter thieves. But unsuspecting hikers could just as easily stumble into the illegal plantations, which often are located near roads or hiking trails so that growers can easily truck in water and supplies, Pasinato said. ``If you walk into something like that, I recommend you turn right around and walk back out,'' he said. ``They're pretty brazen. Often we find that they're not very far from the trail at all.'' This past week, at Lion Canyon, about eight miles northeast of Ojai, federal and local authorities uprooted 1,622 pot plants worth an estimated $5.6 million, but weren't able to capture the growers. The number of plants seized each year fluctuates, Pasinato said. More than 50,000 plants were discovered in the Los Padres in 2000, he said. Marijuana growers are drawn to the remote canyons of the Los Padres National Forest, hoping the rugged terrain will mask their illegal activity. Officials are concerned about the hazards posed by illicit gardens to the environment. Growers have been known to chop down Verb 1. chop down - cut down; "George chopped down the cherry tree" fell, strike down, cut down, drop - cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow; "strike down a tree"; "Lightning struck down the hikers" trees, divert creeks and dump trash, pesticides and fertilizers, Pasinato said. Butane butane (by  `tān), C4H10, gaseous alkane, a hydrocarbon that is obtained from natural gas or by refining petroleum. tanks used for cooking and heat increase the risk of fire, he said. Some growers who may have had plants seized in previous years are going to great lengths to conceal their crops, Pasinato said. ``They're getting a little bit more sophisticated - a little harder to detect,'' he said. Andrea Cavanaugh, (805) 583-7602 andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com |
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