Why You Should be Armed in National Parks

[308Mike]

I sure wish they'd hurry up and give the okay to follow state laws regarding firearms in the National Parks and Monuments. What I'm not seeing much anymore is reports of the booby-traps, trip-wires, noisemakers, and signaling devices frequently found around these plots. This is from the NPS Morning Report for Friday, August 15, 2008:

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (CA)
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.
[Submitted by Alexandra Picavet, Public Affairs Specialist]
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Yosemite National Park (CA)
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, Roland Arsons, 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 Arsons’ backpack. During an interview, Arsons 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, Arsons 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. [Submitted by Steve Yu, Special Agent]

EDIT:

And of course, if you believe the Brady Retards, our parks are completely safe so no one needs to have guns or need to be able to defend themselves from people like this (also from the NPS Morning Report, but for Thursday, August 14, 2008):

Gateway National Recreation Area
Wanted Armed Robber Arrested In Park

Rangers came upon a man urinating next to his vehicle in the Gunnison Beach parking lot in the Sandy Hook Unit on the afternoon of August 3rd. The man was shirtless, displaying tattoos and markings that identified him as a member of the Bloods street gang. Visitation was high that day and there were numerous visitors in the lot. The rangers contacted him and found that his resident alien identification was falsified. They also discovered that he was wanted for armed robbery in Jersey City. He was arrested and locked up in the Monmouth County Jail. The driver was found to be intoxicated and arrested for DWI. A juvenile who was in the vehicle was released to guardians. [Submitted by Robert Louden, Supervisory Park Ranger]

[308Mike]

And bears NEVER attack people in our parks, especially CHILDREN:

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Bear Destroyed After Attacking Child

On the evening of Monday, August 11th, eight-year-old Evan Pala, of Boca Raton, Florida, was playing along LeConte Creek about 300 yards up Rainbow Falls Trail from the trailhead when he was reportedly attacked twice by an 86-pound bear. The boy suffered non-life-threatening cuts, scratches and puncture wounds. His father, John Pala, was able to drive off the animal with sticks and rocks, but sustained some minor injuries himself.

The Palas were treated at Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Facility in Sevierville and released later in the evening. Rangers arrived on scene within minutes of the incident and came upon a bear that matched the size given by John Pala. The bear was shot and killed, then taken to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for a necropsy which will help to determine if it was carrying rabies or if there were any other health abnormalities that may have prompted the attack. Rabies, however, is extremely rare in wild bears and has never been documented in a park bear.

Park wildlife biologists advise that there’s been no bear activity reported at this location recently, though bears are active throughout the park, as they typically are during this time of the year. While several backcountry campsites are currently closed and bear warning signs posted because of known bear activity, park wildlife personnel have had fewer human-bear conflicts than usual reported so far this year. The bear that was shot did not have an ear tag or tattoo, indicating that it had not been previously captured. This was the first serious bear-human incident since a 2000 attack which resulted in the tragic death of a local woman who was attacked by a 113-pound female bear and a yearling cub.

Visitor injuries by bears are uncommon in the Smokies, and, when they have occurred, have typically been minor bites or scratches resulting from a bear trying to obtain human food. Park biologists have documented seven minor human injuries over the past ten years, mainly involving bears trying to get at human food and injuring a visitor in the process. The Rainbow Falls Trail remained closed overnight to allow rangers to investigate and document the incident in the daylight. [Submitted by Nancy Gray, Public Affairs Officer]