Marijuana farms, N. California

[diane9247]

Near Lake Shastina, California. The county forbids "large-scale" marijuana farms, so small lots have been bought in what was intended to be a residential development. Put up a shack, plant an acre or two of marijuana, and you're in business. Local authorities raid them, attempt to close them down, but they are failing to control the situation. The operation is owned by a Mexican drug cartel. The farms are managed by Hmong and Chinese immigrant families, but guarded (with copious firepower) by Hmong men. They aren't afraid of anything and don't want you passing through as a tourist. 

The area marked is just a small portion of the illegal marijuana trade's territory in N. California and S. Oregon. Some farms are legal, the ones in the area I marked are not (unlicensed, therefore untaxed). The Lake Shastina area was in the news tonight because an armed Hmong pulled his gun on a police officer who was ordering residents to evacuate. There is a fast-growing fire on the hillside called the Lava Fire, and the man with the gun was trying to re-enter the marijuana growing area. Perhaps to rescue his equipment, weapons, or guard his crop. Who knows. 

This is why it's fun to go to GE to find places you see in the news. There's usually something interesting there. It isn't until you zoom in close that you see how many discrete little gardens there are. 


Source 
Marijuana Legality Map - all 50 states

Marijuana farms.kmz (1.71 KB)

[syzygy]

Amazing!
What a change in a few years...! And not only in state law. 
I have checked SV on webGE on my phone, and well, I could not see any SV dates displayed, but there was nothing except natural shrublands as SV Cab was been there.*

Interesting coincidence(?), your placemark set is only a few miles NE of Weed...! ( :

Many thanks for You to keep us informed about most interesting recent happenings around!

diane9247 - global moderator, master news hawk

( :

*Edit:

Checking GE TimeSlider we see that nothing really happened between 1985-2014. Then "pot-age" has started... 

For comparsion check this screeine pair of 2014 and 2016 imageries on a random location:

[slide]sw|840px;https://res.cloudinary.com/syzygy/image/upload/v1625045987/NC.pot.2014_xknatx.jpg,2014;https://res.cloudinary.com/syzygy/image/upload/v1625045987/NC.pot.2016_nyyglr.jpg,2016[/slide]

[diane9247]

Since I posted this there has been a large fire that destroyed most of the area I have shown. The Lava Fire currently covers over 26,000 acres and is 77% contained. Source

The Lava Fire started on 6/24/21 by lightning and is burning northeast of the community of Weed. Below average winter snowpack and very hot, dry windy conditions created burning conditions similar to those normally experienced in August. Diurnal winds and drought conditions are contributed to the northeast and eastern fire spread. Challenges to firefighters included steep, rocky terrain, limited road access to the fire, and limited water sources near the fire. 

My son, who works for the US Forest Service, told me something that was both weird and funny about fires in marijuana territory. When the farms catch fire, the crews are told to disengage. It wouldn't do to have them "fighting high!" So, if you own a pot farm and it's burning, you'll have to deal with it yourself. 

[syzygy]

Seems 2021 will not be the Year of Ganja... fires in N.California, volcano eruption in St Vincent and the Grenadines, huge police catches in my town, ... oh, oh, ...