On the eve of Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Forest Service is providing some advice on what to do if you encounter a marijuana garden on federal land.
The forest service says marijuana growers seek out isolated patches of public land, often in rough terrain, to set up clandestine growing operations, sometimes with irrigation systems and camps. If you come across one, the agency says, the first thing to do is leave immediately.
"Never engage the growers as these are extremely dangerous people," the agency said in a news release.
The Forest Service release includes a list of "clues that you may have come across a marijuana cultivation site." They include hoses or drip lines in unexpected places; well-used trails where there shouldn't be any, and camps containing "food, fertilizer, weapons, garbage, rat poison and/or dead animals."
Other telltale signs: people loitering in unusual places or carrying rifles out of hunting season.
The national warning was issued Thursday from the agency's Washington office. No particular events prompted it now, said forest service spokesman Steven Bekkerus in Atlanta.
"It's been an escalating issue for years now, and it's only getting worse," Bekkerus said. "It's been an issue in California for a decade or more, but it's coming east as well."
In the year ending Oct. 30, slightly more than 38,200 marijuana plants were found on national forest land in North Carolina, said forest service spokesman Stevin Westcott in Asheville. The number was inflated compared to most years because of a large seizure in the Pisgah National Forest near Hot Springs, Westcott said.
The previous year, 3,010 marijuana plants were found in national forests in the state. The U.S. Forest Service manages about 1.25 million acres across North Carolina, from the coast to the mountains, much of it used for hiking and other recreation.
Besides being illegal and potentially dangerous, marijuana cultivation also damages the environment, according to the forest service. Some growers dam streams to provide water for irrigation and use banned herbicides and pesticides that kill vegetation and wildlife.
