Funding for Drug Enforcement on Federal Lands (July 2009) PDF Print

Knowing of your interest in land management, I wanted to inform you that the House of Representatives took a positive step to deal with a serious ongoing problem in our national forests. Marijuana cultivation on federal lands by heavily armed Mexican drug traffickers represents a real and growing threat to the people of Northern California. I joined Texas Congressman Lamar Smith in support of an amendment to dedicate $25 million in the FY2010 Interior Appropriations bill for the Forest Service to combat drug production on federal lands. I’m pleased this change to the bill was adopted.

In addition to the illegal cultivation of marijuana, those responsible are willing to harm or kill to protect their enterprise. Last week, two men fired automatic weapons on law enforcement officials during a raid on a marijuana garden in Shasta County that was located just a few hundred yards from a popular fishing and recreation area. Furthermore, just recently, two officers with the Lassen County Sheriff's Department were shot when they came across another marijuana garden on public land. Thankfully, these officers survived their injuries, but it is simply a matter of time before innocent lives are lost. I will continue working with the proper authorities and organizations to ensure the federal government does its part to address this real and growing problem.

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