Mendocino public land at center of pot war

Mendocino County officials say they're determined to take back public lands from armed marijuana growers, with or without declaring a state of emergency requested by concerned citizens earlier this week. “I've had it. We're going to get the illegal growers out of the national forest,” said Mendocino County Supervisor John Pinches. Sheriff Tom Allman said he's already working on a plan for a large-scale attack on the illegal growers in the Mendocino National Forest. Armed pot growers are keeping hikers, hunters, fishermen, equestrians and cattle ranchers from utilizing land that belongs to the public, county residents said. People who live near and use the forest land are demanding that something be done. On Tuesday, they called on supervisors to declare a state of emergency and bring in the National Guard to help clear the forest of dangerous intruders. “It's an armed invasion of American soil,” said Ann Marie Bauer, a fifth generation rancher in Round Valley. Suspected pot growers have fired over her head to scare her away while she was moving cattle on forest land the family leases. She said she is afraid to retrieve a group of cattle that is grazing down a trail where she knows marijuana has been growing. The gun-toting invaders, many of them Mexican nationals, are cultivating massive amounts of marijuana on public land for Mexican cartels, law authorities contend...more

There's an easy way to stop this. Make these guys do a NEPA analysis of their operation and they will give up and go away.