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Environment

Environmentalists Lament Pot Farming’s Impact on Local Land, Water and Animals

Dec. 24, 2012 2:35pm Liz Klimas

From using an obscene amount of water to poisoning local wildlife to hampering a fish rehabilitation project, the practice of farming marijuana is taking its toll on the environment. And environmentalists are not pleased.

According the Los Angeles Times, a study conducted by state scientists evaluating a 37-square-mile area yielded in 281 outdoor pot farms and 286 greenhouses with an estimated total of 20,000 plants. To grow this many plants, the scientists estimate that it takes 18 million gallons of water each year from the local watershed. The study area was off of a tributary of the Eel River near Eureka, Calif., where scientists are trying to rehabilitate coho salmon and other threatened fish species.

Studies Find California Marijuana Farming Adds Up to Negative Environmental Effects

(Photo: RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

“That is just one small watershed,” Scott Bauer, a scientist leading the coho recovery on the North Coast with the state’s Department of Fish and Game, said according to the L.A. Times. “You extrapolate that for all the other tributaries, just of the Eel, and you get a lot of marijuana sucking up a lot of water.… This threatens species we are spending millions of dollars to recover.”

It’s not just these species that are suffering, though. The L.A. Times reported that a University of California-Davis study found 46 out of 58 carcasses of a rare forest animal called a fisher, which it describes as a carnivore and weasel-like, in the study area had rat poison in their system. The study authors said they believe the pesticide is being mixed with some fish products to kill bears and other animals who enter the marijuana farms.

Other chemicals and herbicides have been found leaking into the local watershed allegedly from marijuana farms as well. Excess fertilizers in the past decade have also contributed to toxic algal blooms.

(Photo: RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Bauer with the state DFG said the growers don’t really understand how they’re influencing the environment.

“I started talking to this guy, and he says he used to be an Earth First! tree-sitter, saving the trees,” Bauer said, according to the L.A. Times. “I told him everything he was doing here negates everything he did as an environmentalist.”

Some growers, the L.A. Times reported, cultivate the plants legally and safely in the state with the proper procedures and permits, but not all. The Times stated that much of problem comes from marijuana growing being unregulated in California.

Read more details of the destruction some marijuana growers are unleashing on the environment in the L.A. Times report here.

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Comments (71)

Jedrin
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 9:33pm
Most if not all the growers that pollute the National Forests are Illegal Aliens working for the Mexican Narcos who work for Holder/Obama. Just look at the trash on the streets of Canoga Park then compare the streets in Glendale and you will see the difference between how Illegal Aliens take care of their nests (Canoga Park) and the beautifully cared for city of US citizens (Glendale). Proof Obama is an Illegal Alien; how he proudly describes how he put out his cigarette on the carpet at Harvard.

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Female
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 8:27pm
Considering LA gets its water from the Colorado mountains and Eureka gets its water from the sky….just jealous.

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- poorrichard09
  Posted on December 25, 2012 at 9:28am
  But, but growing weed is a GREEN industry, right??
  There is no pleasing these damn enviro-nazis!
  
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- love the kids
  Posted on December 26, 2012 at 11:06am
  Then how much Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide will be put into the atmosphere when it is smoked??? And how much energy will be used to produce all of the “Munchies” that will be needed. That’s the problem, people are thinking about today and tomorrow, not 10 to 20 years from now.
  
  Report this comment
- Kaoscontrol
  Posted on December 26, 2012 at 3:31pm
  Hopefully all the enviro-hypocrites will get so stoned, they’ll shut up about climate-change. Go smoke a bowl with the “choom gang”, mr. Al Gore.
  
  Report this comment
ep8568
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 7:56pm
“Bauer with the state DFG said the growers don’t really understand how they’re influencing the environment”:

If Bauer would just light up, he wouldn’t understand, either !

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jungle J
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 7:04pm
pot ruined a free country. The sane understand. Pot is the same as eating feces.

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- Kupo
  Posted on December 25, 2012 at 8:42am
  lol
  
  Report this comment
tckid17
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 6:00pm
Does this mean the whole place is going to “Pot”?

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wordsofwisdom
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 5:43pm
Screw the environmentalist if they had their way we would be back to the stone age. It’s all political B.S. to help Mexico’s illegal pot smugglers. I get so tired of politicians. Not one of them care about you or me. They make deals that line their own pockets. Ever hear of a poor retiring politician? No! Then all become millionaires after they are in office a few years. How do you think that happens? By making deals with groups like the environmentalist lobby. This song was written for them called “What’s Wrong With This Song” http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_9134749 It explains a little about how they screw us.

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- Do Not Panic All is Well
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 8:39pm
  So the people pushing legalized pot have not been making big bucks and are planning to make millions more? Whose buying all the land and pushing for government regulation? Big pot interests who will make a ton of money. They could care less about the average guy.
  
  Report this comment
michaelmoron
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 4:52pm
Food is Scarce because of Bureaucrats (Gov’t farm subsidies). Water is scare because of Geo-engineering and weather manipulation by the bureaucrats.

These con artists claim the people are bad for the environment.
The Vehicles are bad for the environment.
The Marijuana is bad for the environment.
Plastic bags are bad for the environment. (we used recycled plastic bags to save trees)

These people are whack.

As far as the EPA goes they are a PRIVATE COMPANY That will be soon facing a class action lawsuit for not stopping Geo-Engineering.
The Governmnet is assaulting you by forcing you and your loved ones to breathe in Aluminum, Barium and Strontium in Mass quanties, thousands of times what is considered safe.
They claim that it is to keep the planet cool by blocking sunlight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEfJO0-cTis

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kickagrandma
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 4:11pm
How would they know?

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Chromo200
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:51pm
What is the White House going to say about this .. I know, the pot is being grown by old white angry men.

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- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 4:02pm
  Obama I’m sure didn’t care where his pot came from as long as he didn’t have to pay for it…
  
  Report this comment
- NOT A CRAZY
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 4:57pm
  The White House is going to say it is Bush’s fault.
  
  Report this comment
- SATX 19
  Posted on December 26, 2012 at 2:38am
  If Obama had a son, he would smoke pot just like this with him…then on to the cocaine
  
  Report this comment
mrmikejohnson
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:49pm
A lot of these drug legalization advocates really don’t understand the consequences of legalization. The most ironic part is that they think the people are gaining more freedom. If marijuana is flat out legalized nationally, then all the money is going to go to big business.

It’s going to be the Wal-mart, Shell Oil Company, Microsoft, etc that makes all the money. It’s going to be the companies that have millions of dollars to invest. All the small time growers and dealers will be put out of business and forced into other illegal activities.

Pot makes people lose their motivation and will. It makes people easier to control. That’s what Obama’s not cracking down on it. Give people drugs and food stamps, and they’ll vote for you. They don’t care about anything else.

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- Advection
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 10:13pm
  1. Pot doesn’t sap your initiative. Google “famous pot smokers” sometime.
  
  2. Obama set new records in his first term, cracking down on pot users. He even broke new ground, threatening banks, gun store owners, civil servants and state politicians over the issue. The only thing easy about Obama’s pot policies have been his rhetoric.
  
  And regarding the environmental damage, it’s all due to marijuana Prohibition. When gangsters grow marijiana, they destroy the land because it doesn’t belong to them. However, the cannabis family of plants are actually far more ecologically friendly than other plants when grown legally by actual farmers.
  
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athiest-infedel
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:42pm
Not mentioned in the article was that it’s the illeagl grows in the forrests by the cartels, make it legal like we did in area420 (colorado). The money I spend on pot stays in colorado and not sent to mexico.

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Maxim Crux
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:35pm
considering it is a weed, it grows practically all by itself

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John 1776
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:28pm
Oh wait, I get it! It will have to be State run farms with Union Workers! Can’t wait for the acronym on that union!

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- garylee123
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:45pm
  Been saying it for years….if you think drugs are expensive now, wait until the gov’t controls it.
  
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- jcldwl
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 4:22pm
  Not only the price that will go up with the added taxes if that is what people want to do. Wait until they control your beloved THC content. It will happen so the old addage of be careful what you wish for will come up to bite the pot smokers in the arse. LOL Once they legalize something the next step is government control of it. Have fun.
  
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Ricolip
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:23pm
Having lived in Eureka, Ca for years, the average rainfall is about 40 inches per year and it rains 120 per year. The problem is the chemicals used.

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GotMullet
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:18pm
One greenie reporter to the other, “Isn’t the evironmental impact of this pot growning just awful?”

The other says, “Yeah. Pinch a twig off that plant over there that’s already dried from lack of water, and let’s toke about it awhile.”

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The-Monk
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:17pm
Sounds like they want to smoke their pot and have green too…..

When asked what their plan was one environmentalist just said, “Pass the Doritos…”

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 5:15pm
  Hi MONK, LoL!
  
  Report this comment
- burnteye86
  Posted on December 25, 2012 at 7:32am
  What a dilemma. Do I worship Mother Earth? Or do I worship myself?
  
  Report this comment
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:16pm
And, by the way, the criminals thank you for publishing where pot is being grown. Now they know where to raid and take the free pot.

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John 1776
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:05pm
Fantastic! Left wacko pot farmer vs left wacko environmentalist!
But seriously, “uses 18 million gallons of water”? What do they think, the water disappears? No, it returns to the ground or atmosphere. Fishies just have to swim elsewhere!

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- NOT A CRAZY
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:48pm
  Most tree huggers I have met ARE potheads. You can’t have your brownies and eat them too.
  
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- BODYBAG
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 4:31pm
  Yes!!!!!!
  
  Leftist whacko cat-fight.
  
  I love it. Kill each other.
  
  Report this comment
- NOT A CRAZY
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 4:56pm
  I would pay to see that fight. A naked environmentalist beeotch slapping a vegtable sitting in a Lazy Boy.
  
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mellowlady
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:03pm
What? Each plant sucks up 1,000 gallons of water? I doubt it. These environmental nuts are the biggest liers on earth.

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Serenabit
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:02pm
What’s great is that now the pot smoking leftists are in conflict with the tree hugging leftists. Personally I love the idea of them fighting amongst themselves.

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- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:32pm
  Don’t forget the pot smoking and pushing right “fringers” for liberty and freedom. They’re fighting everyone to get a piece of that action (like a Mexican cartel).
  
  They are clear thinkers (so they mumble), love children (with a hearty chuckle), sound money and the Constitution (as a tasty carrot dangling out front of the mules), lol.
  
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- Cavallo
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:37pm
  Can’t wait for the sabotage and the death threats.
  
  Report this comment
ResistSocialism
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 2:59pm
yea screw the EPA

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Ricolip
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 2:59pm
Not that marijuana is a drug but that growing it is an environmental hazard. So where are we going with this narative; state run marijuana farms?

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- AbrahamsSheepdog
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:50pm
  ChaChing. Revenues the game.
  
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- KidCharlemagne
  Posted on December 25, 2012 at 8:44am
  “So where are we going with this narative; state run marijuana farms?”
  ===============
  
  The federal government doesn’t want any competition though, so you’re not going to see them give up their monopoly any time soon:
  
  —————–
  Government runs nation’s only legal pot garden
  May 18, 2009
  By Mike Ahlers and Jeanne Meserve CNN
  
  We are in the Coy W. Waller Laboratory Complex on the campus of the University of Mississippi, getting a look at the only legal marijuana farm and production facility in the United States. This is the government’s “cannabis drug repository.”
  http://articles.cnn.com/2009-05-18/justice/government.marijuana.garden_1_marijuana-drug-abuse-cameras?_s=PM:CRIME
  
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Mudd
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 2:55pm
What don’t environmentalists lament?
Fools.

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- garylee123
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:51pm
  F.O.O.L.S.
  
  Full
  Of
  Old
  Liberal
  S#*T
  
  Report this comment
progressiveslayer
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 2:46pm
Yes let’s all bow down to the all powerful ‘environmentalists’ and EPA,clearly whats needed is more regulations thousands of new regulations to save us from ourselves.

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Detroit paperboy
Posted on December 24, 2012 at 2:44pm
Great………now we need to give control of our weed to the lefty tree huggers……

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- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 24, 2012 at 3:59pm
  Now I know why you call yourself the PAPERBOY….
  
  “We” and “our”….??… You must have a mouse in “your” pocket along with a few boxes of Detroit made rolling papers.
  
  No wonder Detriot ranks right up there among the most stoned cities in America. You must get around BOY…..
  
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