NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, August 15, 2008
===============================================================================================================
INCIDENTS
Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs
Marijuana Plantations Eradicated In Operation LOCCUST
For the past two weeks, the National Park Service has participated in intense field operations with 13 other agencies under Operation LOCCUST (Locating Organized Cannabis Cultivators Using Saturation Tactics). During this operation, nearly half of a million marijuana plants were eradicated from 82 identified grow complexes. Most of these complexes had several plots and camps for the cultivators.
“The cooperation of all of these agencies made Operation LOCCUST the huge success that it was,” said superintendent Craig Axtell. “The National Park Service alone would not have been able to attack this problem with the ferocity and resources that this cooperative effort was able to provide.”
Planning for Operation LOCCUST began almost eight months ago, with the National Park Service working closely with the Tulare County Sheriff's Office (the host of the operation), US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, California National Guard, and many other federal and state agencies. Approximately 80% of the grow complexes were found on federal lands. During the two week field operation, the NPS provided almost 50 people and one K-9 unit. NPS rangers assisted with ten arrests and seized eight guns and twelve pounds of processed marijuana.
“It was a real honor to have the opportunity to work with sheriff Wittman and his staff,” said chief ranger JD Swed. “The professionalism and hard work that went into the planning and implementation of this operation was outstanding. Operation LOCCUST did send a clear message to drug trafficking organizations that Tulare county will not allow our public lands to be ruined or used to grow marijuana.”
Three grow complexes were found early in the season on Sequoia National Park lands, resulting in the seizure of 19,348 plants and seedlings, one arrest, and the identification of several persons of interest. All three grow complexes were cleaned and restored by the end of the operation. Sequoia/Kings Canyon has operated under Operation Weed Free for the past several years, with a mission of early interdiction and denying ground, thereby disrupting marijuana growing operations. The results of that effort are evident in the low number of marijuana complexes now being detected in the parks and the early stages of development of the plants that are being found.
Operation LOCCUST has a multi-tiered approach to marijuana prevention, through education, investigation and prosecution, eradication, and restoration of affected lands. During Operation LOCCUST, an awareness youth fun fair was held in Visalia, California, with information booths, K-9 demonstrations, and a Blackhawk helicopter. A media and VIP tour of a grow complex was conducted while agency staff and the High Sierra volunteer trail group cleaned up and restored the area. They removed a mile-and-a-half of irrigation tubing, along with over a ton of garbage and hazardous waste, including more than 200 pounds of fertilizer and two gallons of pesticides.
On August 5th, John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and United States attorney McGregor W. Scott came to Visalia for a press conference and tour of a grow site to learn more about this multiagency effort.
To date, there have been 42 arrests as part of Operation LOCCUST. Drugs and property seized as a result of this operation include 272 pounds of processed marijuana, eight ounces of cocaine, 42.5 ounces of methamphetamine, $11,900 in cash, 32 weapons, and four vehicles.
About a third of the grow complexes that have been eradicated during this operation have been cleaned and restored. Personnel have also removed 19 dump truck loads of garbage (totaling more than 30,000 pounds) and 63 5,000-pound cargo net loads of waste (including more than 31 miles of irrigation pipe, 2,975 pounds of fertilizer, 22 pounds of pesticides, and 33.5 gallons of liquid chemicals). For each acre of marijuana plants, there is a negative environmental impact on approximately 15 acres of adjacent land.
Operation LOCCUST has a goal of reclaiming at least 40% of grow sites during the current operational phase, with additional reclamation scheduled for the winter months. Though eradication and restoration efforts will continue through out the season, August 9th was the last day a joint command post was maintained for Operation LOCCUST.
[Alexandra Picavet, Public Affairs Officer]
Yosemite NP
Marijuana Cultivation/Distribution Conviction And Sentencing
On July 9, 2005, Tuolumne subdistrict rangers stopped a car travelling east on Highway 120 for speeding. A passenger in the vehicle, R.A., a resident of Fair Oaks, California, was a long-time suspect in multiple marijuana cultivation cases in the Yosemite area. A consent search led to the discovery of a marijuana pipe in the center console of the car. A subsequent search of the car led to the discovery of 226 marijuana starter plants in R.A.'s backpack. During an interview, R.A. admitted that his intent was to grow the marijuana in an isolated location on Forest Service lands to the east of Mammoth Lakes. He further stated that selling marijuana was his means of making a living. After a prolonged series of court proceedings, R.A. pled guilty on August 11th to one count of 21 USC 841(a)(1), possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. He was sentenced to 48 months custody and 12 months supervised probation. [Steve Yu, Special Agent]
Mount Rainier NP
Section Of Park Temporarily Closed Due To Bomb Threat
A 44-year-old Washington man appeared at the Steven's Canyon entrance station with a capped section of PVC pipe, showed it to the employee there, shook it, and asked if it looked like a pipe bomb. He said that he'd found it in a portable toilet located at a roadside construction zone. The employee suspected that it might be a bomb and had it placed on a traffic island away from the station. Rangers responded, evacuated the area, and closed Steven's Canyon Road at its junction with Highway 123. Assistance was requested from the Pierce County bomb squad. In consultation with the bomb squad, it was decided to pierce the object with rifle rounds to detonate/expose its contents. The object turned out to be a container which held the registration for the trailer license plates on which the portable toilet was mounted in the construction zone. The reporting party was held at the Grove of the Patriarchs trailhead for questioning, as alcohol had been smelled on his breath. He said that he wanted to protect people and property, so he picked up the object, placed it in the vehicle he was traveling in, and drove several miles to the Steven's Canyon entrance to report the suspected bomb. A records check on the man revealed that he had a suspended license, that he had previous felony convictions for reporting false bomb threats in Seattle, and that there were numerous other felony counts against him (found on 15 pages of criminal history). He was cited for interfering with agency functions. [Chuck Young, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
Other stories can be read on InsideNPS at one or the other of these two sites:
NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
Please note that both publications carry a combined NIFC/NPS fire report. That is generally posted around 8 a.m. Eastern.
Among the stories in today's edition are the following:
Training Calendar - A listing of upcoming training courses offered by both the National Park Service and its partners across the nation. Added to today's summary is a park planning course in Joshua Tree in February and a change of location for another next month, plus a course on managing the unexpected in wildland fire operations in New York in October.
* * * * *
Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
--- ### ---