Drug Warriors–Former Outlaw Cannabis Cultivators and CDFW Eradicators–in an Uneasy Truce
Cultivator and eradicator [Images by Kym Kemp and CDFW]
Beyond the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s core mission of managing wildlife and its habitat, it now also deals with marijuana issues on several levels. Joshua Grover, CDFW Cannabis Program Director, said in an interview with us Thursday, “Generally speaking, [the department] deals with the activities that are related to cannabis…impacts associated with cultivation,…unauthorized stream diversions, habitat destruction, impact on the landscape.”
In addition, for cultivators attempting to get permits from the State of California, the Department provides Lake and Streambed Alteration (LSA) Agreements or written verification that one is not needed. In practice, almost any rural property entering the cannabis permit process will have to submit to the LSA process which can be and often is, costly, according to those in the process.
“Environmental Scientist Michael Van Hattem evaluates sediment erosion from steep slope grading and land terracing, while Wildlife Officer Brian Gallaher maintains a secure site” at an illegal grow in September of 2013. [Photo and caption by Department of Fish and Wildlife]
“CDFW is ruthless,” one consultant told me on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the agency. “I have been out on site visits with them and my clients….The farm is immaculate….but they go out in the woods and find Legacy issues with old unused logging roads and such…[O]ne beautiful farm had over a dozen CDFW violations and not one of them due to cannabis but they link the violations to cannabis somehow.”
In an opinion piece posted Wednesday on this website, Joshua Grover, CDFW Cannabis Program Director, said, “In California, there are an estimated 50,000 cannabis cultivators. Of that number, only a small percentage are seeking to become legal or are in full compliance with state and county laws.”
But Janice Mackey, a CDFW information officer, speaking during the same interview Thursday with Grover, explained that the department is committed to assisting cultivators who are trying to become legal. She told us, “We do as much as we can to work with cultivators…putting out that viewpoint article was one way to extend a helping hand.”
Grover and Mackey said that the department is committed to putting on outreach events and workshops throughout the state to help growers understand what they need to do to be compliant. “Our goal is to get folks permitted…that’s what we want,” said Grover.
Mackey explained that employees of the department are willing to spend “a lot of one on one time with cultivators…Those on the legal side have expressed gratitude for our outreach efforts,” she said.
Privately though a number of cultivators tell us they feel forced altogether out of the business or at least away from legality and back onto the traditional black market by the expenses piled on them by the CDFW and other government agencies.
Grover, however, questioned whether his department should be held responsible for all the financial issues that cultivators are experiencing. “Is it our permitting costs or is it the totality [of expenses?]” he asked rhetorically.
Multiple growers told us stories of unexpected, costly fixes that CDFW imposed that they found difficult or impossible to meet—many of which they alleged were not needed environmentally or were unfair to ask them to fix as they had purchased the land with the issues on it.
And, they complained, these fees and fines are imposed by the same department that is also a part charging and arresting those whom they deem illegal which adds a level of fear, whether based in reality or not, to the relationship.
Confiscated cannabis from a raid earlier this year shown in a photo provided by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Fish and Game Wardens serve warrants in raids on properties located in neighborhoods where legal and illegal growers live side by side, participate in community activities together, and are often close friends. In addition, cultivators in the permit process now were outlaws once and are only a few years away from having faced similar raids so they are often unsympathetic to law enforcement presence.
“These guys have badges and guns and think people like me are the problems,” one legal grower told us.
Last summer, another legal cultivator described what he called “guilt by association.” He was driving along his neighborhood’s private road when Fish and Wildlife wardens “jumped in the road with guns pointed at us.” He and his passenger were both handcuffed until they were cleared of being associated with the property being raided.
For their part, Fish and Wildlife employees have through the years been on the sites of some of the most egregious environmental damages caused by illegal marijuana growers. In some cases, employees literally scooped up trash, banned pesticides, and even feces left behind by growers in formerly beautiful wilderness areas. Along with this, they found evidence of serious criminal activity.
Thus, each side may perceive the other as the enemy.
Some cultivators and their consultants tell us that longtime employees of the department appear to hold onto old adversarial standards and that entire new units of employees brought on to deal with increased areas of responsibility for cannabis issues can be what one grower called “true believers” that are “inexperienced and incapable of differentiating at what is really an important environmental issue and what is trivial.”
Cannabis cultivators also complained that ranchers and farmers of other agricultural products don’t face the same scrutiny and costs that they do.
Grover denied this. He said, “Our fees are the same for the cultivator as they are for others with the exception of a remediation fee.”
However, if violations are linked to cannabis cultivation, then a remediation fee can be applied in addition to the cost of the project and the permits. This, cultivators charge, often means for example that legacy logging roads now being used to access cannabis sites not only must be fixed to stringent standards they believe other land-owners are not held to, but then the cultivator also must pay a remediation fee for a road that predated the cultivation of cannabis and their purchase of the property.
From the cultivators’ perspective, that feels like a harsh punishment for sins that aren’t even theirs.
But, employees at the Department of Fish and Wildlife feel they have a duty to protect wildlife habitat. “From our perspective, we just want folks to do practices that are less damaging to the environment,” Grover said.
That, Grover said, aligns his agency with the newly legal cultivators. Traditional black market growers don’t have oversight to see that they are meeting environmental standards. So, his agency is trying to persuade those not yet in the permitting process to get aboard. His opinion piece on Wednesday urged “those in the shadows” to “obtain the required permits and licenses.”
He argued, “In many cases, small fixes on a property can make a substantial difference to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife resources…Making the choice to become a licensed grow will no doubt make a difference to the environment…The people of California have entrusted CDFW with the conservation of fish and wildlife for their use and enjoyment by all. But the CDFW cannot succeed alone and needs your participation to help solidify the legal cannabis industry.”
He then urged licensed growers to “encourage their unlicensed colleagues to come forward. Remember, your neighbor’s grow may not be licensed or environmentally friendly and it may be dipping into your profits.”
But, with years of conflict behind them, can former outlaw cultivators and former marijuana eradicators learn to work together without either side feeling they are betraying their core beliefs?
Janice Mackey of the CDFW reiterates, “Our concern has been for the environment and helping folks get licenses.”
NOTE: This reporter is part owner in her son’s cannabis cultivation farm that is going through the permitting process.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
“They say the department exacts harsh penalties and holds growers to higher standards than other industries.” Cannabis is held to a higher environmental standard, it’s written into Prop 64.
And what wrong there is that the environmental standard for the other crops should be raised.
You can grow a pound of AAA weed for $40 with natural amendments and TLC. People shouldn’t be losing their life savings or livelyhood to grow a crop in this county.
It’s almost like we should elect a small group of people to oversee and supervise the things that go in this community to make sure that the citizens aren’t taken advantage of.
Oh for sure more regulation and supervisors and maybe the National Guard. Great idea how socialist of you.
~smiles.
Liberty & Property — True, society cannot realize the illusory concept of the individual’s absolute independence. Freedom is to be found only in the sphere in which Government does not interfere. Liberty is always freedom from the Government.
It’s worth mentioning that a lot of these legacy issues that are considered violations for cannabis activity by DFW were originally permitted by DFW for logging.
The majority of legacy logging issues are pre forest practice act. DFW did not permit them, but they’ve also done little to fix them.
I want to see a public records request to see where the “remediation fees” are spent
A LSAA cannot take more then 60 days after CDFW has all the information that is needed. This is state law. CDFW has been taking much longer telling cultivators they just need to wait if they want to get one.
CDFW cant follow their own rules but expect everyone else too
“CDFW cant follow their own rules but expect everyone else to”
Corporate policy. I have this in my backyard – easy to spot.
When did policy out-rank law?
It must feel awful to become slaves of the corrupt democrat govt sending their goons to destroy your way of life, and force you into economic slavery. This has to stop. Another thing that must stop is this call from the democrats to make reparations to the decendents of slaves. It is a cheap way for democrats to hustle votes, but it is based on so many lies. Like they say America was a slave country for 400 years. A lie. Before 1776, there was no US. We were colonies of the British empire, England. The US did not have slaves for 400 years, but for only 90 years. 90 years of slavery, only in the south, is one of the shortest periods of time any country in the world has had them. By 1865, the slaves were free from their slave owners, democrats in the south. The south was a total democrat confederate group of slave owners. The republican north, with the republican president Lincoln, sent hundreds of thousands of white folks to bring slavery to an end, and so many died doing so. If anyone deserves reparations for the sacrifices made to stop the evil democrat slave owners, the northern white families do. The northern white republicans freed the slaves from their democrat owners, the northern whites deserve reparations. If black folks want reparations, they should get them from the southern democrats who fought so hard to keep their gentrified way of life. And from the African states who supplied them, and the slave dealers over there, who were blacks. White people did not go into Africa, only the black slave traders could. Hmmm. They should try to get reparations from Maxine Waters, Al Sharpton, Cory Booker, and so many other democrats who have held them in social and financial slavery. Ferguson Missouri is a perfect example of the democrat slave system, keeping blacks poor and unemployed. It hasn’t been good for them until another northern white republican president, Trump, has made the economy so much better for all people, and blacks are now enjoying the best economic opportunities in decades. Another northern republican saves the day. We teach the children in our freedom schools these truths, they are not impressed by the former slave owners, or the people who lie to them. Cultivation of marijuana is real hard fucking work. Hard work. And to have to give tens of thousands of their dollars to the new democrat slave owners is awful. The slave owners here do not deserve the money they steal from them, it is not theirs, they did not earn it. We can put an end to this plantation mentality by voting republican, as they freed the slaves, and oust the democrats, who kept slaves.
Wow you live in made up fantasy land. Try to stay on topic bud. Nobody here is a fan of DFW … read the comments. No one but you is overexplaining slavery and reparations…. watch FOX news much?
History books are not fantasy land, the truth is not fantasy land. People losing everything is not fantasy land. Having our rights taken with the barrel of a gun is not fantasy land. Merchants all over the county having to cut back employees, and losing so much business is not fantasy land. Growers, who are such hard working people, being threatened and hustled, and made to pay so much in unfair fees, permits, and other made up crap, is not fantasy land. Being forced to clean up or made to be compliant old skid trails which the growers did not put in, nor use, but unfairly fined for is not fantasy land. Support the grower, harass DFW. Merchants should deny DFW personnel access to food, gas, hardware, anything. Merchants who deny services to DFW could display a black badge symbol on their door, letting us all know they are with the grower. We would support them. No fantasy, just truth.
Ok I’m with you on that^^ I’ve been through years of dealing with these pencil pushers trying to get on my land, and I very much despise them. It gives us common cause if we can stay on topic, I think. I get that ‘liberals’ tend to be in favor of ‘big govt’ .. it’s not always the case. I think a somewhat progressive but also free thinking person like me can be in favor of government as a whole but not like certain elements which are not doing their job correctly. Like this agency.
Can we please get past the political* divisions?
Without justice, there’s just us.
*poly – many
ticks – blood suckers
No I’m a believer in politics… no getting around it. At the dinner table with family, yes. In the real world no.it is interesting though that these types of issues really show how much we can agree on, no matter what are politics. I know there are smart trumpers out there and smart antifa and every shade between.. it makes life interesting.
Agreed. WE THE PEOPLE, have the power if we stand up against tyranny.
He who wins the war writes the story that becomes history, it’s “his-story.” In that, not all history books are factual accounts of what happened.
Well said!!
You reaaally need to get out and talk to someone. Seriously. You need help.
DFW is indeed the enemy – and not just of cultivators. They are the enemy of every single farmer, rancher, grape growers, homesteader and rural resident. What they are doing is nothing short of a full out assault on our rural communities. DFW is the epitome of government over-reach and corruption.
Their policies do absolutely nothing to protect the environment and in many cases cause considerable environmental destruction. If you have witnessed first hand how they operate is is extremely obvious that ‘environmental protection’ is nothing but a smoke screen. They only thing they care about is MONEY which they collect through threats and violence at the end of a gun. The entire agency needs to be defunded and shut down, they are nothing more than thugs and crooks with a badge. We need a new agency – one that ACTUALLY cares about the environment and the people who live here.
Just wait til CDFW inspectors Monty Larson and Sue Snaido show up on your property. Those two gems know everything about everything, and are more than happy to let you know it. CDFW has always been the lead agency most hostile to private property rights. And they always know what is best for you. After all….. they went to college!
Sue Sniado?! Who lived at Four Corners( Whitethorn area) years ago?!! I knew her from Grateful Dead scene many years ago. Is she really doing this now?! That would be a sad conversion…She was good people.
If we’re naming names then let’s have it from the consultants’ side too. Oh right, they will not speak on the record. Must be too busy counting the cash they’re making faciltating an environmental catastrophe, getting rich in the process of fleecing real people, with real families.
Does anyone really care about the “environment” at all?
Bears maybe, when they eat all your chickens and spread the trash around, in an innocent act of rebellion and opposition to human oppression. They are telling us to f’ off!
CDFW just caved on a lawsuit over killing whales and sea turtles from entanglement in fishing/crabbing gear. Does the agency’s bias toward timber/logging and big agriculture and harmful grazing impacts really come through in this hit piece? Not really. Could use some development and comparison. This could get interesting, maybe Kelley should help Kym on this one.
Grover sounds like a moron, absolutely no tact or strategy, he knows nothing about the community. Bureaucrat, plain and simpleton. He’ll be gone soon enough; idiot.
The community of people will still be here, some in coexistence with nature, and some in absolute defiance and hatred of nature. Remember PalCo? The Maxxam takeover? ‘Nuff said, to hell with the greedy profiteering pricks.
You all know who will be here for the longer term; peacefully making a living amongst the trees, creeks and salmon, with mutual respect for all.
Those two make ridiculous recommendations in the timber industry also
You said it Homesteader! It is all about enforcement and money. They don’t have a clue about the environment. They require a huge budget and they are going to get it from the citizens. Thank God the black market is alive and well!
🕯Boo.
Permitted pot and unpermitted pot are not competing in the same market… Why do people keep reiterating this propaganda?!
That might be true if all dispensaries were legal but they aren’t. https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/government/county-cant-enforce-pot-dispensary-ban/
I would also say it’s not necessarily just farmers up in the triangle supplying most of those black door clubs and delivery services. There are more than a few big grows all over Riverside county. Not only that, who’s market is flooding who? I do not blame the small legal growers trying to make it, but many many big legal growers are also backdooring product… so It’s not necessarily the fault of the smaller growers here… California dropped the Cap, and now is throwing around blame on small original farmers, and that is not exactly the case either.
A person can buy $200 mold free, green, fresh, machine trimmed pounds from Asian guys in Palm Springs right now. Not kidding. Pay someone $80 per to clean them up, then out they go to clubs for $600. Wait until fall…
$300 in trinity county and eastern Humboldt, mold-free, fullsun, organic , high quality , and trimmed, with no shortage in sight. Riverside county clubs still buying it at $350lb.
$600? That was blackbox right at first harvest. Even ins are under a grand for most. Still hear of some folks getting up to $1200 for ins for something really special , but that is rare.
Out of state only if you need more than that, and not Washington, Oregon, they are even cheaper and more overstocked, if that is even possible.
300 you say I call bullshit. I will take 5 boxes right now and I am serious and doubt you are. Where ya wanna meet up?
cool story bro! try more like 900 for outs and 1600 for ins. and there’s a shortage. and the “white market” players are the ones fueling a, dare i say, rebounding free market. and they’d like to blame small players! Ha! Prove me wrong!
You guys are high. Last years OG is going for 1200. Good luck finding anything local.
You are out of touch my friend. Have you talked to your buyer lately?
Last years OG is 1200 if in great shape. Who is out of touch?
As Kym points out, they very much DO compete in the same market. Currently there are FAR more illegal retail outlets selling unpermitted product to the public than legal retail outlets. Absolute competition.
Good! People should be allowed to purchase what they want. I believe it’s called….freedom?
I do not like any of Grovers comments. He is obviously on the enforcement side and is shirking all the blame. The war is obviously not over and facts are WE (Mendo, Humboldt, and Trinity) should be dictating to him but not in his mind.
Bluntly put I can grow acre upon acre and just dump on the market. I have well over 35 years experience against enforcement in my industry. He should talk nicer cause WE have the ability to crush the corporate weed industry. No tax dollars for you is why he is barking and WE can make it much worse. MedMan, CannaFlow, Altiris we will make you waste away your investors money as I laugh at your current losses you keep filing to your investors. Bankruptcy is in your future on this current path. So please keep being threatening I miss the good ole days. I will always be a grower your actions will dictate whether I do it legally or illegally. So let the true competition begin.
I’m with you. Except my property never had a chance to go “legal” due to being zoned out of possibility. It was a blessing. I’m old now and fought hard for this herb since the late 70’s. I’m not rich but okay. I pledge my remaining years to fighting the same government tyranny and greed that I have fought my entire life. I still have guerrilla patches on logging land that are capable of producing a few hundred pounds. As we used to say…Overgrow The Government! I’m sorry so many people sold out…for fear and greed are what I saw. Old story. People are weak…But the herb will be free. Even east coast people are seeing the treachery and shitshow of CA. they are being offered “legalization” with the freedom to grow ZERO plants. Think they’ll bend over for that? These next years will be very interesting! And the government collaborators will be shown for who they really are…deceitful, misleading, selfish, greedy and cowardly (various combinations of those qualities).
~me too, old and tired of this sh!t-for-brains corporate gubbernut.
****ALERT!!! ALERT!!! ALERT!!!****
Your country needs you NOW!!!
Please go to – http://www.national-assembly.net to learn how to join your state assembly, & get involved!
There are many issues that need immediate attention & our “service providers” have dropped the ball WAY too many times, we MUST stand up & unite as one people under GOD for the benefit of ALL men, women, & children.
We have the right to peaceably assemble & redress greivences.
The national group meets every Thursday @9 EST
Go to- FreeConferenceCallHD & download the app so you can attend for free
The number is 1 712-770-4160 —– 226823#
~in the civil war there were more than 130 foreign generals in the U.S. Federal Army.
What you’re not supposed to know about America’s founding
While I do not agree with every single word in the following link, in the whole, it is useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=364cxeR5EAg 57 mins.
Unfortumately your wrong
I want to agree with yoi but the investmemts are turning around for the big boys who actually are bizness men. Sink or swin. Either way the cops suck. And fish and game wkth assault rifles tells the tale.
They are basically using a ponzi scheme in getting new investors with gobs of money to cover losses. Not really good business men but it will kick off the merging of these corporate startups again to cover losses until they fold or are bought out by Canadian firms. The positive is that 280e will get abolished and removed from the schedule 1 listing. It may take a while but necessary to begin the merger process.
Is it our permitting costs or is it the totality [of expenses?]”
Kym this quote pasted 2x
Great article
Thanks, fixed now.
Kym,
” a lot of one of one time..”
Thanks for a good read.
Fixed. Thank you.
In the interest of fixing errors, the term “moron” used below by “flatman” (in capital letters) is an unacceptable able-ist term which deserves deleting as much as any other name-calling insult.
Thanks for your consideration, Kym.
“Moron” was coined in 1910 by psychologist Henry H. Goddard[4] from the Ancient Greek word μωρός (moros), which meant “dull”[5] and used to describe a person with a mental age in adulthood of between 8 and 12 on the Binet scale.[6] It was once applied to people with an IQ of 51–70, being superior in one degree to “imbecile” (IQ of 26–50) and superior in two degrees to “idiot” (IQ of 0–25). The word moron, along with others including, “idiotic”, “imbecilic”, “stupid”, and “feeble-minded”, was formerly considered a valid descriptor in the psychological community, but it is now deprecated in use by psychologists.[7]
-Wikipedia
I somehow missed that insult. Deleted now.
I have been absolutely fascinated watching the changes due to legalization of cannabis in Southern Humboldt and the start of a new legal industry in the 8 years I have lived here. It is a young industry with many aspects to take into consideration. Personally I am all for legalization. BUT from what I can tell a lot of $ is needed to turn an illegal grow into a legal one which leaves many families unable to do so and caught in the middle. Its my understanding it was the small family farms who built the community here with their generosity. Today I see huge cannabis plantations (they have the $ needed for a start-up) replacing these small discrete farms. This has created large areas filled with greenhouses and the destruction and clearing of trees, whole mountain tops have been leveled. This I have seen with my own eyes. I am not seeing the legal grows supporting the community at this point. I am seeing so many businesses in town having to close and that hurts my heart. It seems to me legalizing cannabis has been good for large corporate businesses and not the small farmer or our environment. Why did Humboldt Co. allow this to happen??? How can we get our vibrant community back??
You are speaking in contradictions.
You state you are for legalization.
We now have legalization. This is what it looks like. Not what you expected? Don’t be naive, this is the best legalization can offer – and it’s going to get a LOT worse.
Anyone who voted for legalization should have realized that this would be the result. Why do you think so many cultivators were against it? Economic collapse was clearly going to be the unavoidable result.
You got what you wanted. It’s legal. And as a result, your home is being transformed into a wasteland of corporate greed. Sorry, but that’s what you voted for.
TY Denise, Personally, I appreciate your sentiment. Well said. I too, actually support legalization.. but, I do not think what is going on is it. It’s more like a big power grab by corporations and the already wealthy. And it’s crushing the economy here. Big Ag is definitely dirty business.. Even legitimate Ag these days are suffering at the hands of big Corporations. Take the Dairy industry for example, many small dairies went under, and many dairy families had to take on other jobs just to keep the family farms afloat. It should be enough to work hard, and make ends meet. But, now a days, for many farmers, it’s not enough.. Personally, I knew that there would be a struggle for the livelihood of the industry, what I personally didn’t anticipate is having to struggle so hard against the County regulations. I did not anticipate they would be so extremely unreasonable, aggressive and rush to strangle the industry helping it to thrive.
I know there are environmental problems, that need to be addressed, and there are bad players on both sides.. Honestly, Legalization could have been something Amazing, and it could have been set up from the beginning to thrive.. Humboldt could have chosen to support it’s diverse and well meaning small farmers, …. but that is not the path the County or the state has taken us down…
REALLY ?!?
you NAIVE POC are personally responsible.
YOU CHOSE NOT TO LISTEN TO THOSE WHO DRIVE YOUR LOCAL ECONOMY.
YOU MADE YOUR CHOICE.
NOW LIVE WITH IT [edit]
The damage you’ve done will last GENERATIONS longer than toxic nuclear waste.
[edit]
YES REALLY …
FREE THE LEAF ALREADY!
I DID NOT BRING THIS ABOUT
THE MAJORITY DID
I WOULD SAY WORSE BUT KYM WILL NOT LET ME
GRENERATIONS FROM NOW, WEED WOULD BE LEGAL ANYWAY…
BY THE WAY..THE EARTH IS ROUND.. NOT FLAT…
{Edit} {Edit} {Edit} {Edit} So there.. lol.. BETTER KYM?
You are a fool, and a tool of the local powers-that-be who have harnessed you like a mule in order to labor for their selfish and monopolistic belief that THEY are better and more deserving of YOUR hard-earned money than YOU are.
Go ahead, HAND THEM your blood and sweat. I, for one, refuse to do so. PERIOD, END OF STORY. FOREVER.
YOU ARE SHEEP, AND WILL BE FOREVER SHEEP. PINK FLOYD GOT IT RIGHT.
What ever.. Because innocent people belong in jail in order for you to make a “profit”? . Go stuff your self on rotten potatoes, Skeptic..
~how do you distinguish theft from taxation?
They’re almost the same, but I bet you’ll vote for the leftys, won’t ya?
~i’m not a part of the corporation’s REGIStered voting herd. That only encourages them.
Record if you want to elect.
Theft is carried out with a gun, taxation is carried out with a gun and a badge.
~a badge has power? Without evidence for the claim, it’s just a belief. You’re looking at a corporation stealing the rights and wealth of the people –what you’re delusionally seeing is government. If you can’t do it in the private, you can’t do it in the public just because you sport a badge.
“Taxation is theft pure and simple.”
“Taxing profit is tantamount to taxing success.”
–Mises
It may be a delusion, but it’s a persistent delusion.
Good point, SF. They forget those realities because $$ clouds their brains and most of them have no real skills to get by in the real world.
If money and weed is your game that can be done cheaper and easier just about ANYWHERE!! Put down the bong and run some simple numbers. But , if your gonna stick around stop the whining, you sound like spoiled little children of the worst kind. Yes the old days of $4500 a lb for your powdermold, mite infested, bud rot, indoor is gone for good. You need to develop at least a little knowledge, and be able to maintain a schedule. This is often too much for those who cannot put down the bong. But if you can manage to get yourself off of the couch and do some work you can survive on $350 a lb just fine.
CDFW is the gestapo in the New War on Drugs and Agenda 21.
In 1984, I watched CAMP take everything I owned away in helicopter nets. Later, I saw Trinity county cops who had boats, motorcycles, additions to their homes, pools, all the neat stuff the money they stole from growers got them. They would take chain saws and cut the 4×4 pilings under their homes part way through, to destabilise the foundations. They would also tear apart homes, and take the women’s under wear and string it out on lines so all could see. If they saw something in the home or shop, if they wanted it they took it, nothing we could do. We considered them less than human then, and we still do today. They were and are today criminals of the highest order. But I, like so many others, got smart, planted smart, and had many successful harvests. It was more work, but the poor darlings got none of my money and stuff. I won, especially in the taxes not paid to the state or feds. Joshua Grover and Janice Mackey are the products of enviro Nazis teaching them bullshit and like the sheep they are, they believe it. I would rather grow 100 plants along a tree line, and get 50 #s, or 100, depending how the trees are trimmed, and sell my stuff to my buddies in the under ground. And we all know, since DFW lack all integrity, we know they are selling your pot they took to their own black market people. They won’t allow any transparency as to where and what happens to the confiscated pot. [Edit] we bark at them they will crumble.
I wonder if officer tatum will join cdfw now, he wont need warrants im sure he’d like that.
Lol.
This is an interesting opinion piece and would make a great news piece with actual numbers in it.
What are the number of fees assigned for, say, a cow farmers vs. a cannnabis farmers? Total other ag vs. cannabis ?
Is the baseline budget of the local CDFW augemented by the amount of fees they collect?
I think you might have a shot with your argument if you could show the greater community how many dollars you are talking. Or maybe not and CDFW is just having to catch up on all the destruction of the last 20 years.
Your right cdfw making up for all the past destruction that they approved when the timber companys made these acess roads and landings into the hills and didnt engineer things properly.
the people who bought the legally subdivide land and are going legal have to pick up the tab for these “Legacy features” that is left over from the timber companys. In my case it would of cost me anywhere between 100-200k based on a consultant who wanted me to continue. The roads have to be to the standard if you where making a new road into the hills. They would give you a timeframe to do it in but with everything else adding up, it didnt make sense. Now nothing will get fixed.
Timber is a reasonable comparison as weed and timber are being grown, out here at least, in similar areas. Steep topography, erosion prone geology, potential for high intensity rainfall events and small single lane native or rock surfaced roads with many watercourse crossings. The roads are legacies sure, but ignoring them won’t fix their inherent issues, from deferred maintenance to serious existing or potential negative environmental effects.
You want to own the property? You want what’s best for the land and community so you say? You want to pursue commercial development of the land and profit off of it; but not reinvest a large portion of the proceeds back into it to improve it from where past practices have left it degraded?
There is a cost to land stewardship and reinvesting profits back into the land that generated them does not end at buying a new cover for your greenhouse or that new yurt or a couple fruit trees and a veggie garden. Maybe it precludes your trip to Indo or Todos Santos, but ignoring significant environmental issues because YOU didn’t make the mess is not good stewardship and maybe even childish. “But that’s not the part we’re profiting from so why should we fix it? And why do we have to meet road building standards that are regarded as best management practices to prevent significant negative effects to the environment when they are so expensive?”
Do you even CEQA?
CA has some serious, almost hostile even, environmental regulations which are often implemented by fools with little practical real world experience. What did you expect with legalization? The less fun question is did you want to or expect to keep profiting from the land while ignoring scars from previous poorly considered or downright greedy land management decisions and practices?
So many people up here have been profiting off the land for so long and rarely or barely reinvesting in the land. This smells of that.
I do feel for you though, DFW can really come up with some doozies.
I didn’t mean ‘you’ as in you Done. My diatribe was intended for mass distribution, as all great midnight rants are.
I don’t know you’re situation and don’t presume to. I was just commenting on the general condition of our fine counties.
Peace
Many of these ‘the logging company put in the ‘not to spec’ road, not me’ reasonings are red herrings and there are good reasons there are requirements to bring them into spec.
Putting in a temp logging access road across a property for a skidder or logging truck requires one spec (I worked in both the timber and marijuana industries during the years in question) This road will be left alone in the years following and will be reclaimed by nature and grown over – minimizing the erosion impacts.
If this temporarily intended road is then kept open by following land owners, reclamation by nature does not occur and the erosion impacts need be mitigated through and entirely different road spec.
Yes, someone else cut the road across your property, but it is you who is using it for a different purpose than intended and keeping it open and clear.
Are you using the road according to it’s original intent? No? Then upgrading it to appropriate environmental standards is your responsibility.
The only sensible comment on this thread.
No your wrong, culverts dont go back to nature. They keep diverting water the wrong way.
Cdfw should of orchestrated with timber companys to place culverts in the proper location.
Becasue they would be there with or without me.
You all like to play the stereotype greed grower on everyone.
I guess i didnt rape the land good enough to have an extra 300k to go legal.
I grew enough to get by not enough to get rich buy new trucks and go on vacation every year like you would like to fantisize.
and honestly it hurts alot to get attacked like this because your f**k face dont kno shit about how much money i spend re rocking and grading the road.
You cant drive old log roads, you have to maintain them or you dont get home.
If cdfw wasnt such ruthless thugs, if they got funding and helped us instead of demoizing us then maybe we would actualy fix the environment together. Because its not just my responsibility its all of our responsibilities.
Have you Ever driven the lost lost trail!
Hahaha my roads better than that but thats a popular public dirt road, where is the state stewards when it comes to their own backyard?
And what if cdfw comes and takes my land away and auction it off, will cdfw come in and fix the road for the new owner since they will be making a profit? Doubt it.
Now im done, i gave up growing and ive had to move to get decent paying work.
So who wins here? Nobody.
The consultant i payed 3k told me that if i didnt grow everything was legacy issues and i wouldnt have to fix it.
And btw i am slowly fixing some of the issues i spent 3k to get the report on. but fuck no am going to call cdfw for help. they will demand everything to be engineered and surveyed and request a remediation fee that i cant afford. But I can afford a culvert and a backhoe for a day once a year without them.
Their use to be grants available, me and a neighbor tried to get one, but other neighbors freaked out when they herd the agency was going to be invited to come up. We tried the best we can, but we are stacked against the odds in all regards.
So you win cdfw
And im done, and now it wont all get fixed the“cash cow” is dead.
Way to help save the enviro guys outstanding job!
Meanwhile i drive 101 and see huge swatches of land wiped clean for grape production thats sprayed with avid on a massive scale, cattle farms next to creeks leaching thousands of gallons of urine into the waterway and we are the fucking big issue.
🖕🏾
Ridge and JB,
Really like your points of views expressed.
Responsibility is a fleeting mentality these days.
Don’t they have to remove the culverts, create deep water bars, and make the road impassable when it’s no longer used as a logging road?
Someone else likely has a better answer.
The short answer is they close skid-roads that they just made.
I’m surrounded by SPI and Nat. Forest. The 6 mile road to my house is owned by SPI, but I have easement rights.
If SPI cuts down a unit (area to be logged) they will waterbar and tank-trap the roads that they made for that logging job.
A unit is generally at least 40 acres.
They will access this unit via the same roads I use. They’ll bring in yarders, dozers, etc. Once they get to where they want to log, they’ll make new “roads” in order to access the unit more efficiently.
So, when they’re done working, all the roads they just made on the unit will be blocked by the tank-trap (picture a 4′ tall speed bump, with a 4′ hole infront or behind of speedbump).
But the main (access) road, the easement road, which 55 years ago was made for logging also, is not closed down.
Infact the law says that once the logging trucks are out, and before the job is done, they need to leave the main road in better condition than when the job was started. So they once-over with a dozer on their way out.
Regarding culverts, I dont see them logging areas that have culverts, and have not seen them add any where none existed.
To a certain extent I agree with you. However, when neighbors not growing cannabis are not having to do the same level of cleanup on legacy issues, then it feels less like concern for the environment and more like punishment for your choice of plant to grow.
Kym,
Operating a business should be considered differently than living.
My neighbor and I can go for 2 or more months in winter without driving the 6 mile dirt road -because we dont operate a business from our house.
However, farms that always have employees with multiple vehicles travelling almost daily are a huge burden on the roads in spring snow melt.
There is a big difference in usage is my point, ultimately.
What about the smallest of farms who dont have employees? Should be treated the same as your 1 acre grow?
I operate any other buisness there.
I can have the same sqft in kale.
To be clear im not against helping the envrioment, Jesus! I do want to fix it but if you saw what i see and the insanity of 40k culvert that has to go from 3 to 4ft diameter for a stream that is so season and small makes your head shake, Thats not even half of it.
i just feel its excessive and over the top and too demanding. and if it was truly honest about the environment, their would be grants and help not intimidated and threat.
The permit price would go up if you lobbied for more State regulations defining road usage differences per amount of employees, pounds produced or whatever.
I hear what your saying, but it isn’t practical from a Governing point of view.
I think it’s more fair for the farms to be lumped together than residents and businesses.
-deleted my asshole comment sorry, just heated-
Just to let you know more people will be driving the roads now because they wont be home growing. They will be commuting burning fuel to go to their new job.
I sympathize with your frustration.
I hate being governed. Probably the only thing worse would be trying to govern.
Commonsense is often not the outcome of any legislations.
I’m sure many things you’ve dealt with seem stupid, and they very much likely are.
Government loves to over-do. It helps keep the economy going.
I learned that of you want a deal, buy from the government auctions.
Government buys expensive overpriced equipment, and sells it for cheap, normally underused also.
Good luck, I hope you thrive.
That sounds like a fair if difficult way to regulate, if a ranch or a farm has multiple employees and multiple impacts on the environment, then they should be responsible for more cleanup. However, if a mom and pop cannabis farm (in the original sense of just the family) is being held to a higher standard then a large dairy farm with multiple employees then maybe something is off.
Theres always something off, you wont spend much time convincing me of that!
Good luck to your son.
There’s no question Kym that Prop 64 elevated cannabis to something other than ordinary agriculture (from a CEQA standpoint).
Where we are we are currently on historic active agriculture land (more than 100 year history) with AG zoning for decades now and when making the change from alfalfa to cannabis we had to spend endless money (over $200k so far) preparing and winding our way through the endless CEQA requirements. Greenhouse gas studies, biological, cultural, … etc. We could have switched from alfalfa to any other crop or husbandry agriculture and never had to even ask permission, but no … endless money flushed down the toilet.
On land that’s tilled, mowed and baled every year, how could there be rare plants? We had to pay to have a traffic study done for our wide paved county road AND a major US highway in the middle of nowhere even with only a handful of employees (we’re only 1 mile or so off of a US highway). It matters not that by switching area to cannabis we *reduce* damaging heavy truck traffic – still have to do the study.
Prop 64 took us out of the ministerial permitting process and dumped us into the world of CUP/SUP (conditional/special use permits). This triggers all these CEQA requirements and YES, every other industry in CA that falls outside ministerial permitting has to go through the exact same process.
Is it fair? No – it’s not. It’s stupid actually that I can grow a field of tomatoes and not trigger CEQA. I can grow a field of .3% hemp (cannabis) and I’ve triggered it. 1/10th of 1% different in the plant and we get triggered. Silly.
It’s the new world however. Prop 64 demanded it so we either put our heads down and grind our way through it, go back to the pre-Prop 215 days and grow under fallen trees and watch for helicopters, or choose an entirely new way of life. Change is hard.
Change is hard. And those of us going through the process are learning to grit through it BUT change for the better doesn’t come without clearly articulating the problems and working to address them.
Good luck JB.
I hope you thrive.
Totally agree Kym. I have nothing but best wishes for folks in this business — it’s hard work and currently very stressful.
Thanks for the best wishes Brian. Same to you.
In a way, the overregulating that is bieng done to permitted growers acts as a retroactive tax.
Everyone seems to be aware that these new businesses have already been in operation for decades, mostly evading any fees, permits or regulatory burdens.
In that regard, I have limited sympathy for the the pain of those who went legal.
A little punishment might be fair, and well deserved for all the vacation loving bulk soil farmers that set up shop on all the tanoak parcels
Canyon Oak, Seriously? I think people have been punished enough. Families torn apart, people doing harsh time for something that should have been legal years and years ago, and never been illegal in the first place. The odels and odels of cash stolen from people, tremendous fines on smaller cannabis users.. The gov. Has made thier fair Share of money… Actually I think repreations are in order…
And then to punish people for trying to get legal is even worse!
Regulation — The act of regulating, a rule or order prescribed for management, or government. a regulating principle, a precept Regulation is a rule or order having force of law issued by executive authority of government (E.G. by Federal Administrative Agency) Villines v. Freeman OKL 370 P2d 307, 309.
~i have a real hard time with ‘regulate’ when we have different definitions.
The Only thing corporate governmental service providers can regulate is/are themselves.
Fraud — An intentional perversion of truth for the purpose of inducing another in reliance upon it to part with some valuable thing belonging to him or to surrender a legal right. –Blacks.
But, what if it’s a small buisness and also residential? Personally I understand the need for reasonable regulations. And I get that skid trails, are different than a road that is being used and needs to be maintained. However, a lot of roads in the hills were actually designed to have logging trucks in and out all day. That also has a huge impact! But DFW are tripping on roads that are overgrown and put in like 20 years ago.. That seems unreasonable to me.
But, personally I agree with Done, if your road isn’t maintained, your not getting home. And, actually, A lot of $ goes into simply maintaining a road..
If folks are soo concerned about “personal responsibility” what about corporate responsiblity? How about making the logging companies go back in and in fix all of thier bad mistakes?? I didn’t think so…
We feel like we are the best stewards of the land, and we don’t like bureaucrats behind a desk telling us what we need to do/not do on OUR property. There’s a difference between people doing commercial operations on rural land, which I think should have to fill out some forms and be required to do things correctly. But small mom and pops living rurally should be left alone.. let them grow on their three acre conversions, alongside the Apple and fig trees, and focus on FISH and WILDLIFE.
Remember these fake cops get paid through our taxes, therefore they work FOR US. Keep that in mind people.
funny about owning land in ca…. no one owns land in ca. ownership means it is yours you can do with it what you want , much like a truck, some take really good care and detail every aspect of it,others simply fuel it up and drive the piss out of it, and there is no one coming after either with guns drawn, why ? because they own it. now land on the other hand they tell you that you own it, yet you cant build a house on it without asking and paying for permission. you can not forage on that land without paying for permission, you cant even drop your pants and take a shit on it without an paid for and approved permit, and every year you must pay ownership tax on top of the sales tax and the taxes that you pay on every penny of profit you make off of it. and by the way if you improve that land that you supposedly own and make it of a higher value through your hard work, you get to pay more taxes. land ownership is a joke in this country and esp in california.
a guy who recommends turning in your neighbors to his boys for “dipping into your profits”
can take a hike. hope that’s more appropriate to not get deleted like my last comment relating him to a certain barn animal that police are commonly known as.
Its almost like carma for knowledge that permittees are paying to wipe out all the mom and pops/poor people who weren’t super greedy. If you don’t like it vote out your supervisors,assemblyman, senator,congressman,and govenor!!!! This is the way our government was designed,to really pick representation that represents us and that’s definitely not what we have.we have corparate sellouts who are overseeing us being extorted and harassed.there standing by while they strip us of our constitutional rights!!!!
And Department of fish and wildlife is the SS of this regime.there the end of everything good this country stood for !!!!
Cdfw holds siminars , first question they ask parcel # , name, their rats!!!
Eeew
When ever there is such a disconnect in tone from a public agency I just assume they are asking for bribes.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Do they even have the time or inclination anymore to investigate poaching? I see large commercial poaching ring busts in Mendo county every so often but I don’t think I’ve seen any in Humboldt. I wonder why.
They busted me trying to sell elk hides on Craigslist. I go to elk hunting every year. About 7 years ago, I brought back 3 hides and salt dried them. Posted on CL for $150 each. I met the second person to respond to my add in the parking lot of Sal’s off Broadway. They were 15 min late, and I was about to leave when 2 game wardens came around the corner with hands on their guns(not drawn). I showed them my 3 valid elk tags and was genuinely confused as to why they were there. Come to find out I had illegally imported 3 out-of-state big game “trophies” without filing a proper declaration of import at the border when I returned from my trip. The wardens informed me they were going to cut me a break and not confiscate my hides or fine me. I was advised to make the hides into rugs and learn all the laws of the State of California since I decided to move here.
But that was a few year before they could just go around extorting money from their fellow community members.
I notice our one local fish amd game guy doesnt show his face much anymore
Now we need Fish and Game to hold the timber industry to the same standards as the pot growers to help our fish and rivers.
The homesteader got it right. California constitution article 2 section1 all political power ! Is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their protection security and benefit and they have the right to alter ! Or reform ! It when the public good may require. Reclaim your Liberty Freedom and Property Rights ! There are those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened ! Which one are you?
State territory boundary lines are just another puzzle piece of the manufactured reality via repeating history’s mistakes because the facts weren’t presented as a learning tool for us (and each generation thereafter), during twelve years in the public fool system. The teachers had to use the books provided by the U.S. Inc. Pretty sure the teacher’s retirement fund eclipses even CalPers.
All State, County & City “Officials” willfully, knowingly and intentionally misled We the People & are guilty of the following crimes; “Human Rights Violations,” Crimes Against Peace,” “Perjury,” “Sedition,” “Treason,” “Misconduct,” “Malfeasance in Office,” “Abuse of the Public Trust,” “Impersonating Public Servants,” et.al.
Each corporation maintains a Fed. Tax ID No., is listed with D & B and supports “Organized Crime.” “Public Servants” freely and willfully, accepted an “Oath of Office” to uphold the laws of “The State & The Republic of California” , and routinely violate the Constitutions.
Remind the “Public Servants” of the truth, their “frauds,” their duty, and responsibility to We the People!
The circle is complete – there is NO STATE GOVT. TODAY.
The dumbed-down masses were/are spoon-fed to swallow the Commerce Clause in the Supreme Law of the Land, upside-down, inside-out and backwards.
“NOTE: This reporter is part owner in her son’s cannabis cultivation farm that is going through the permitting process.”
“This reporter” is leading her son down an unconstitutional dark path. If you need some pretend external authority to give you permission to perform a right . . . begging for permission to exercise your rights is no way to go through life.
Wait a minute !
Honest cultivators are now, against their will, yoked with “legal” enforcers?
Environmental issues are well known and documented. Everybody wants them gone and to not come back. They were dishonest. Surely CDFW doesn’t believe that “legal” means environmentally correct.
Those of us who have been handcuffed (yoked) and stomped in the face by “legal” enforcers of prohibition, cannot ever accommodate the brutal inhumanity against herbal, organic, sunloving, Hippies in California. We are the native sons of California.
This entire experiment of “legalizing” that which is already proven to be good and useful to mankind is the result of a scant few 80 or so recent years. The new restrictions imposed on innocent people are new and have been shown to be unconstitutional, immoral, and leads to death or confinement.
I want to be compassionate towards “legal cultivators”. They’re very hard to tolerate, I’ll dislike them ’till death. They’re subsidizing excess taxation and inhumanity towards fellow man. Their inability to take the high road where people come first and enforcers take orders from something other than a paycheck provider, is low-down and stinks. Stab me in the back, you can become a millionaire too.
The newest definition of “legal in the marijuana industry” is subjective to the doctrine of prohibition. Pay us and we’ll make you “legal”. The semantics and deception of cannabis control by misinterpreting true justice and social norms is only a political idea, not in fact.
Thanks for another stimulating article Kym.
When it comes to playing fair there is no such thing in this industry. All other ag gets by with a slap on the wrist but or no slap at all when in violation. Thousand of gallons of chemicals are sprayed in our counties directly next to our waterways. Matter of fact I viewed pg&e and multiple other companies in clear violation on the City of Ten Thousand buddahist property. I have visual evidence. I made complaints to cal-tip and other local agencies. Even when the evidence is clear as day many seem to look the other way. Two days after they where drilling to install huge steel power poles, steelhead where spawning in that very spot where sediment was pouring into our creek.
This was all so predictable to anyone but a “progressive”. It is the nature of people to abuse power. Government consists of nothing more than people…..with the most guns.
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.- Frederick Douglass
Sadly, your average dipshit hippie, like a battered housewife, will run back to their tormenter (the government) when this is all said and done and they have gone bankrupt. And like a battered housewife they will make every excuse in the world for their abuser: it’s the corporations man!
Well said Rollin.
That comparison doesn’t really add up Rollins but nice try. I agree with you that many govt institutions are too much. They suck our tax dollars up and don’t do anything to help the people who pay their salaries. But I have no problem with govt in general… you drive on roads don’t you? You call the cops? Fire dept? Maybe search and rescue once or twice in your life? This is the point of govt- things we need to live together in a society. I can’t stand u anti govt types- you have a lot of quotes and links to look at online but you haven’t thought out the basics.
Yes government over reaches- and it’s our job to put them in their place when that happens.
“…all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”
It is us “anti govt types” that are pushing back against government overreach. Just because basic services are needed, and appreciated, doesn’t mean we need to accept every single bureacratic dictum that ‘they’ try to shove down our throats. You seem to think it’s an all or nothing equation,
No- I’m with you. Just pointing out that as a critical thinker, one can be in favor of ‘some’ government and not in favor of overuse of government. So we are on the same page on this.
But I get annoyed with people on far right or lefty that think they can just complain and be ‘anti-govt’ and not ever vote or be involved… the world is governed by those who show up. So why don’t we go down to these fish and game get together a and give them a piece of mind?
Yes! Get together and give F&W a piece of mind . . . for peace of mind.
~first thing i want to know is, who T.H.E.Y. are. Names spelled correctly so they are correct on their subpoenas or indictments.
Because, since they can No Way prove authority over the living sentient being, AT the very least, cough up a certified copy of their oath to uphold the land jurisdiction.
T.H.E.Y. The Hierarchy Enslaving You.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwmUH5AGydQ
The problem with DFW is there is no recourse to change their policies. It is a bureaucracy with no one to vote in or out. The entrenched bureacrats are killing the free republic.
“I Am the Majority” Mark Robinson at Greenboro, North Carolina City Council on Gun Control.
~not about plants, but then it never is . . . it’s about political control. Some reviewers are calling this the greatest speech of 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM4cFDb9AYI 5 mins. April 3, 2018
~good vid., Ullr Rover. The guy in the video mentions alphabet soup agencies. Here’s a court ruling on alphabet gangs:
The FCC, CIA, FBI, NASA and all of the other alphabet gangs were never part of the United States government. Even though the “US Government” held shares of stock in the various Agencies. (U.S. V. Strang , 254 US 491, Lewis v. US, 680 F.2d, 1239).
“(c) Unless otherwise required by law, no regulation shall be issued by an agency if it was not included on the most recent version or update of the published Unified Regulatory Agenda as required under Executive Order 12866, as amended, or any successor order, unless the issuance of such regulation was approved in advance in writing by the Director.”
….
“Sec. 2. Regulatory Cap for Fiscal Year 2017. (a) Unless prohibited by law, whenever an executive department or agency (agency) publicly proposes for notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-reducing-regulation-controlling-regulatory-costs/
A few of the orders from headquarters. Anybody have a timeline outlining the rules dropped, added, etc?
Willow Creeker,
“I can’t stand u anti govt types”
And I despise you big government types.
“you have a lot of quotes and links to look at online but you haven’t thought out the basics.”
And herein lies the reason I despise you and your ilk. You are given quotes from very wise men which you ignore or ridicule. You have been given links by people repeatedly, such as the video from Ullr, who are advocates for freedom and wise enough to recognize the tyranny that exists and it’s predictable outcome. Yet, you blindly mock us as “far right wingers” and FOX news watchers etc. without refuting a single point. [edit] Contrary to your mindless statement, unlike you I HAVE thought out the basics very, very thoroughly. That is the reason I have a rebuttal for everyone of your [edit] arguments. Do you have a rebuttal to the video? Of course not; you didn’t even watch it. You only have a litany of mindless platitudes and insults. VOTING! That’s your fucking answer! How’s that working out for ya? How bout those roads genius? I’m sure they’ll be getting fixed any day now. Right after they raise your gas tax again. I promise this time; the checks in the mail and all that. Have you ever even researched or watched a video from, say, Stossel or The Mises institute or Prager U on how private roads, fire depts. etc. would work in a free society? OF COURSE YOU HAVEN’T! The big government policies that you blindly advocate are sucking the resources from “the people” of this country that you pretend to care about and destroying our freedom. So either step to me with a reasoned argument or [edit]
” I agree with you that many govt institutions are too much. They suck our tax dollars up and don’t do anything to help the people who pay their salaries”
You don’t say. Can you tell me which ones aren’t too much and don’t suck up too much money? Seriously, name them please.
The California Dept of Food and Agriculture is systematically destroying Cali’s cannabis crop by refusing to issue provisional licenses to valid temp license holders whose temp license is expiring. Right now farms and processors all over the state are not being given their license even though they have satisfied every requirement and have been told they are approved. It seems to be a mix of ineptitude and maliciousness, but it is spring and the season marches on, the untrimmed gets older, and the state sits on its ass.
~people leave the ground of sovereignty and all capacity for asserting their unalienable rights in favor of being presumed as having exercised their sovereignty and free-will autonomy for the purpose of going along with the government’s assertion that they sacrifice everything for the “public good”. By so doing people lose their standing in law, (i.e., they “die a civil death in the law”). They are placed in the “legal” position of mortmain (i.e., as if deceased) and are shorn of capacity for asserting their rights, since the presumption is that they have already exercised those rights for the purpose of being placed in the position that they are in (i.e., playing the “imaginary game.” The private being (the real individual) is sacrificed for the good of the public (the imaginary collective).
People who die a civil death are like ghosts, and incapable of managing their own affairs.
You can’t join in the fraud and not be a part of it.
We need to expel our supervisors,assemblyman,senator,Congressman,and govenor in the next elections.its in our hands we have to show up on election day.this state has become shameful and groutesq to live in in the Last couple years.this fish and wildlife is just one of the many forms of extortion and enslavement the state of California is ramping up.the water board is another.pull your heads out people and stop voting the same thieves into office!!!!!!
The very IDEA of penalizing folks in Ranch Sequoia for envirornmental damage is ludicrous. Rancho was created by helter skelter road building in the wake of rapacious logging. The entire subdivision is a devastated area CREATED by and APPROVED by the county as a property tax cash cow with exactly ZERO benefit for taxes paid.
You know the Irony here, to me, is that CDFW says that if people just implement “small fixes” things will be better for the Environment, while that may be true.. to an extent, Thier idea of a small fix is a $50,000 improvement and a huge permit fee to implement that change, then if you don’t it’s a $10,000 dollar a day charge… That is not a “small” or simple fix. And the kicker, the fee is only spurred if it’s “linked to cannabis”… That is absolutely ridiculous. I could have say 1000 cows, on 40 acres that would do much more damage, and would not get “fined” that high… The Idea That, All growers went on an all exclusive vacation, and didn’t fix thier road is a highly assumptive position.
And yes, I would say that I feel CDFW, is out to punish, and extort you if your a grower. Why.. maybe so they can go on that vacation they accuse everyone else of taking… They are flatly bent they lost the war on Cannabis, and now they want to punish people for it by extortion.
As far as the legacy issues, now, growers are being “punished and extorted” for the timber industry’s mis deeds, that is absolute usery..
They are going after the money… not against growers in particular I think.
“They are going after the money”.
You’re probably right, Willow Creeker. Poor dumbo control freaks, being led like sheep to slaughter, just like the masses supporting them.
“Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” Kissinger.
I think it’s both.. Look at all the crazy grape orchards in Mendocino, they do not target them, and they have lots of money…
~remember, a lot of what is spun is to instill fear to keep us in hiding. It is the “fear factor ” – False Evidence Appearing Real.
Assumption and presumption are just what they are — law not with standing.
Bailey vs Alabama 7 Peters 219
If a source of authority cannot justify its existence, it should not exist. Refusal for cause always works. Cause; T.H.E.Y. cannot justify their position, or prove authority over the living. Fact (unincorporated) v Fiction Inc. California state (unincorporated) v. State of CA. Inc. Humboldt County (unincorporated) v. The County of Humboldt Inc.
Stand your ground, Humboldt.
Bottom line is: you purchase property that has code violations on it, you inherit those code violations. People need to take responsibility for their business decisions and conduct their due diligence before purchasing.
No, because these “Legacy” violations are not triggered until you have “Cannabis” on the property.. Many of these old roads were approved and put into existence decades ago, before the new “codes” even became an issue, often with a harvest plan.. this is nothing but a corrupt loophole to extort more cash from cultivators…
The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, Chicago, B.&Q. R.Co. v. Chicago, 166 U.S. 226 (1897), prohibits the government from taking private property for public use without just compensation. In Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393 (1922), Justice Holmes well-known formulation; while property may be regulated to a certain extent, if a regulation goes too far it will be recognized as a taking. (To quote Justice Stevens) It is wrong for the government to take property, even for public use, without tendering just compensation The Supreme Court ruled over 100 years ago that it is wrong for government to steal. If the restriction is not listed in the Deed, the city or county cannot come in AFTER the fact and say it’s restricted, even if the restriction occurred before the property was purchased. If the city did not reimburse the FORMER owner for the regulatory taking, it cannot get away with failing to reimburse the PRESENT owner. That is FRAUD. If it isn’t listed in the Deed, IT IS NOT RESTRICTED. And if the city or county still wants to impose any restriction, they have to lawfully acquire the property by justly compensating the owner —buying the land.
“What if they gave a war and nobody came”?
~what if they gave a seminar and nobody came?
IFF the unlawful, illegal, shameless Moratorium Warmongers lack subject matter jurisdiction, does it still count?
I MEAN, how many people in here buy the lie?
How many people in here have been sold the lie?
How many sold out? I’m thinking few. When you have stopped one of the bankster’$ war$ (Vietnam), you’ve proved your worth to be of the highest. ~in gratitude.
[…] days after posting the CDFW editorial, Kemp published a long article titled, “Drug Warriors–Former Outlaw Cannabis Cultivators and CDFW Eradicators–in an Uneasy Truce,” that described an increasingly tense situation in which the state is once again pitted against […]