[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 193 (Tuesday, November 28, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H9440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HIGHLIGHTING THE RISING SEVERITY OF ILLEGAL MARIJUANA GROWS ON FEDERAL 
                                 LANDS

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to highlight the rising 
severity of illegal marijuana grows on Federal lands.
  In 2016, the DEA Cannabis Eradication Program found a 60 percent 
increase in the amount of assets seized from marijuana raids compared 
to just the previous year.
  The same year, the Forest Service eradicated nearly $1.5 million 
worth of marijuana plants from over 240 sites on National Forest System 
in the Pacific area alone.
  Local sheriffs from my district have expressed to me their great 
concern for public safety, environmental destruction, a lot of time 
which farmers end up getting blamed for for water quality and the 
chemicals and stuff that get left behind, not the farmers' fault, but 
indeed these illegal grows, and even human trafficking gets caught up 
in all this.
  What is currently being done to address the amount of marijuana grows 
on our public lands? Not nearly enough. People feel endangered by going 
out into their public lands, whether it is adjacent private property 
owners or what have you.
  Timber harvest needs to be done, forest thinning needs to be done, 
taking care of the environmental needs for our wildlife, all that, and 
it can't happen due to these illegal grows and the danger they bring. 
They should be able to enjoy them, and we should be able to stop this 
illegal practice. We need many more assets poured into our Western 
forest lands to eradicate this illegal grow.

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