Massive Raids Help Yurok Tribe Take Back Their Land

Discussion in 'Marijuana News' started by Green Wizard, Jul 21, 2014.

  1. Massive raid to help Yurok tribe combat illegal pot grows.
     
    <span><span>By Lee Romney</span> </span> contact the reporter

    Laws and LegislationDanceGovernmentPolitics

     
    The National Guard assists California's largest tribe in a push to eradicate marijuana grows
    Marijuana cultivation in and near the Yurok Reservation has threatened the water supply for 200 households
     
    Illegal pot grows in Yurok country have harmed salmon, poisoned mammals and hampered cultural ceremonies

     
    The California National Guard on Monday joined more than a dozen other agencies to help the Yurok tribe combat rampant marijuana grows that have threatened the reservation's water supply, harmed its salmon and interfered with cultural ceremonies.
     
    Law enforcement officers began serving search warrants at about 9 a.m. in the operation, which came at the request of Yurok officials and targeted properties in and near the reservation along the Klamath River.
     
    The Humboldt County Sheriff's Drug Enforcement Unit coordinated the raid and was joined by, among others, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Justice' North State Marijuana Investigation Team, and Yurok police.
     
    State environmental scientists were standing by to enter the properties and survey for damage once the sites were secured.
     
    Yurok Tribal Chairman Thomas O'Rourke joined officers as they staged at a hillside fire station Monday morning and thanked them for assisting in what was dubbed "Operation Yurok."
     
    "They're stealing millions and millions of gallons of water and and it's impacting our ecosystem," he told the officers. "We can't no longer make it into our dance places, our women and children can't leave the road to gather. We can't hunt. We can't live the life we've lived for thousands of years."
    Yurok Interim Public Safety Chief Leonard Masten said tens of thousands of plants are likely to be eradicated over the next week and a half. They will be chipped on-site.
     
    Though growers in the region once "brought their fertilizer in in batches in the dark," O'Rourke said dump trucks now enter reservation land with impunity in broad daylight and use heavy equipment to carve roads on tribal land. 
     
    Bald Hills Road, a remote and winding route that connects the upper reservation to tribal headquarters in Klamath, used to be traveled almost exclusively by tribal members, O'Rourke said. Now, "it's one in 10 that I recognize and every fifth car is an out-of-state plate."
     
    California's largest tribe has sought help combating marijuana grows in the past but until now  never received such a vigorous response. Then the drought hit.
     
    We are coming close to being prisoners in our own land. Our whole lifestyle, everything we stand for, everything we do is impacted. - Thomas O'Rourke, Yurok Tribal Chairman
     
    The strains on dual water systems that serve 200 households and rely entirely on surface water became apparent last summer, when residents began complaining of  plummeting pressure.
    Tanks that were full on a Friday, Masten said, would be nearly empty by Monday.
     
    When tribal staff surveyed the land from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, they were startled at the number of grows. By this summer they had tripled, Masten estimated. And when the marijuana crop was planted in late spring, community water gauges once again swung low.
    This time, creeks ran dry. 
     
    "Streams I've seen in prior years with more severe droughts where water ran, there's no water now," said O'Rourke.
     
    To strengthen its enforcement abilities, the tribal council last fall approved a new controlled substance ordinance that allow for civil forfeiture in circumstances where cultivation has harmed the environment.
     
    (All growing on the reservation is illegal, as the Yurok tribe does not honor state medical marijuana law.)

     
    The breakthrough came in April when governor's office staff was discussing the drought with tribal officials. Gov. Jerry Brown, tribal officials were told, had pressed for California National Guard assistance with marijuana eradication and specifically urged the Office of the Adjutant General to assist in the Yurok operation, said Captain Pat Bagley, operations officer in charge at the scene.
    He was expecting to haul out two miles of irrigation hose at one grow alone.
     
    For the Yurok, the damage is broad. Sediment and chemical runoff have suffocated juvenile fish, and warmer, shallower water has triggered an increase in the parasite Ceratomyxa shasta, which targets salmon.
     
    Rodentide has poisoned the Humboldt marten and weasel-like fisher, which the Yurok consider sacred. The danger of encroaching on a guarded grow site has made it unwise to gather medicine, acorns and materials for baskets, or to prepare sites for ceremonial dances.
     
    The White Deerskin Dance – a biannual ceremony that was banned for decades along with other cultural practices -- takes place this September, but Masten said access to the site for preparations is currently blocked by a grow.
     
    “We are coming close to being prisoners in our own land,” O'Rourke said. “Everything we stand for, everything we do is impacted.”
     
    On Saturday night, as the raid loomed, he and Masten were participating in a Brush Dance -- a dance for the health and vibrancy of a child. At a village site near the mouth of the river, tribal members entered the dance pit in groups throughout the night as a medicine woman and two helpers tended to a young mother and her infant boy.
     
    After the sunrise Sunday morning, they appeared elaborate regalia passed down for generations and imbued with the spirits of ancestors. Otter skin arrow quivers intricately adorned with woodpecker scalps. Dresses of abalone and dentillium shells. Intricately woven basket hats.
     
    The Brush Dance is hosted by family groups and the frequency of the ceremonies has increased in recent years as the tribe reconnects with its culture, and more youth participate. 
     
    "I think this is not only a strong opportunity to take back our land but to set an example that the tribe has got a zero tolerance policy" toward cultivation, Masten said. "Whether you're an Indian or a non-Indian, you've got to go."
     
     
     

     
  2. Get those low life's out of my state.
    Gives us all a bad name.
     
  3. #3 Green Wizard, Jul 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 22, 2014
     
    Well, perhaps california should legalize and regulate cannabis. This kind of thing would disappear.
     
  4. #4 Sgtstadanko707, Jul 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 22, 2014
    That won't do anything. They will still grow it here and export it to non legal states like they already do. Nice try though.
    As long as these wonderful cbd/ oil only medical bills keep getting passed demand will always be high for this garbage.
     
  5. #5 Galaxy420, Jul 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 22, 2014
    let the people grow on their own land and the desire to go grow on another persons land vanishes. what kind of profit point will be there for gorilla growers if anyone can grow your own on there own land.
     
  6.  
    Wut? High CBD bills passed in other states have nothing to do with clandestine growing in Norcal.  The erosion of the black market, disruption in drug cartel operations, increased support for legalization, and increased demand for marijuana are the causes. Legalization is the cure. But, like a prohibitionist, you'll deny that fact and spout off more ridiculous claims supporting your prohibitionist agenda. We know.
     
  7. And we know. You really are clueless how things work. Just worry about fl.
     
  8. We can grow on our own land. All the cartel grows are just down in ca because we have the best growing climates in the us. There is no market for that crap in ca. So where does it go. To all the non legal state where people can't grow their own.
    So yeah. Legalizing in ca will not stop cartels from
    Growing and shipping across to non legal states.
     
  9. There are thousands of these grows every year in ca and they can't stop them now but legalizing it will eliminate the market
    And make it harder for the to grow. You guys are trurly lost
     
  10.  
    You're all about divison. That's a prohibitionist tactic.
     
    I'm all about coming together...
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG-gpR2gef8
     
  11. Maybe you could consider "getting it together" before coming together?  The major division I see is that states like FL still have laws that can land you in jail for a joint, whereas people are living the life in places like CA, growing and smoking it legally.  You poor bastards are about 30 years behind - the lost generation.  How about you all come together and see if you can actually get that changed - if not, your "coming together" doesn't mean much.
     
  12.  
    [​IMG]
     
  13. Please enlighten us on what exactly it is he is hating on.
     
  14.  
    Ohh. I'm sorry. I'm not very good with helping people with their reading comprehension.
     
    But this might help you:
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsaz-H4zZzw
     
  15. Is everyone angry at each other for some reason?

    The cbd only bills are not a step forward IMO. I think legalization is key though. We can't expect everywhere to be legalized overnight but there has been tremendous progress in this front in the last several years and it looks like more and more states are giving into this cash cow.

    Sent from my Nexus 5 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  16.  
    Nah. I ain't mad. I just got really good narc radar.
     
    Yeah, you're right. CBD only bills are a fail attempt to twart progress of medicinal and recreactional cannabis use. The prohibitionists last hope.
     
    You know how we do.
     
  17. It isn't true legalization unless the sacred cash cow is sacrificed.  Take the money out of it and a lot of problems disappear. 
     
  18. CBD only pills and other private interests, mostly pharmaceutical, ensure proliferation of the black market.

    The rule has not changed, ever:

    If the people are denied rightful access, denied the ability to cultivate, to utilize the ENTIRE plant freely, they will exercise their God given natural right to grow their own. We are collectively gifted collective ownership over seed bearing plants and fruits.

    The demand of course then increases the opportunity for black market sales.

    It doesn't have to be made complicated or become derailed in semantics.

    Those CBD only nonsense bills are strong ploys for furthering prohibition by control/access. The legislation is changing but the dangers are still present.

    So, yes, people who rah rah rah over every new cannabis bill without being discerning and investigative, should receive free thoughts from others asking them to look at the big picture. Indirectly they are supporting the same prohibitionists that we've all been working against for ages.
     
  19.  
    Dude, you're preaching to the choir. I think it's safe to say no one is cheering for these CBD only bills. It's obvious bullshit. But it has nothing to do with growing illegally on tribal lands. Legalization would solve that problem.
     

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