Marijuana in your national park
John Driscoll/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/28/2008 01:34:04 AM PDT



It looked something like slash-and-burn agriculture -- in a national park.

Trees hacked, pot-holed ground, bare slopes, and hundreds of yards of black pipe, fertilizer, and a camp with propane stoves, cooking oil and food. In Copper Creek in the Bald Hills between Orick and Hoopa, last week, a Redwood National Park crew went to survey the damage from a major marijuana grow busted earlier this month.

Local, state and federal agents broke up the operation and seized nearly 9,600 plants. Five illegal aliens were detained nearby during the operation, and while suspected of involvement were not arrested.

The work that went into the grow was enormous. About 5 acres was cleared of dense brush -- most of it done by hand -- and large areas were terraced and planted. A trail network connected the five distinct sites and the “hooch,â€