[pct-l] Mexican marijuana cartels sully U.S. forests, parks

[Brick Robbins]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20081011-1206-potenvironment.html

Excerpts

PORTERVILLE – National forests and parks – long popular with Mexican
marijuana-growing cartels – have become home to some of the most
polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic
chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides,
federal officials said.

...

Some popular parks also have suffered damage. In 2007, rangers found
more than 20,000 plants in Yosemite National Park and 43,000 plants in
Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, where 159 grow sites have been
discovered over the past 10 years.