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Use extreme caution when entering national forest
By Terry Knight -- Record-Bee outdoors columnist

The Mendocino National Forest consists of more than 950,000 acres and offers majestic mountains, lakes, streams and an abundance of wildlife. It also has a dark side ... illegal marijuana gardens.

The recent unsolved killing of two individuals that entered a marijuana field near Covelo has had a chilling effect on those who legitimately use the national forest. In fact, it has become so dangerous that the U.S. Forest Service Supervisor for the Covelo District has ordered his employees to stay out of the national forest unless accompanied by armed law enforcement officers.

That action raises a question. If it's too dangerous for the employees, what about the public, and should they be banned from the forest for their own protection?

The national forests are owned by the public and are supposed to be managed by public employees. The forests are one of the few areas left where a hiker or hunter can get away from the crowds and enjoy solitude of the wilderness. Now it appears that this privilege is in jeopardy.

There is no question that marijuana gardens are increasing in the national forests and other public land. In the last month alone there have been 50,000 marijuana plants eradicated from the Mendocino National Forest. By the end of the summer, that figure will quadruple.

If you're a hunter or a hiker and have traveled a mile or more off the road, chances are you have passed near a marijuana garden and weren't even aware of it. Two years ago during the Zone A deer season I was hunting alone off the Bear Creek Road in the Mendocino National Forest. I was following a trail that led down into a canyon, where I spotted a small string stretched across the trail. It was suspended only a few inches off the ground. I stepped over the string and I spotted another string about five yards down the trail.

Needless to say, I beat a hasty retreat back to my truck. I notified a forest ranger and he told me the strings were probably placed there by a person guarding a marijuana garden. Apparently a person walking down the trail would break the string. The guard would check the trail before entering the area and if a string was broken, he would know that someone had preceded him down the trail. In other words, I was probably headed for an illegal garden.

Last year a deer hunter who was hunting in the Snow Mountain Wilderness Area told me that he stumbled upon a marijuana garden.

He met four heavily armed individuals who asked what he was doing in the area. He said that he was lost and they told him to get out and not come back. He was lucky.

It's not just the marijuana growers who pose a danger to our public lands. There are a lot of people now illegally living in the national forests and on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property.

A good example is the BLM Sheldon Creek Campground, located on Highland Springs Road between Lakeport and Hopland. This is a popular hunting area and the campground is a great place to spend a day or two. It's located in a well-shaded area and a cool stream meanders through the campground. The problem has been that in the past three years certain individuals have taken up permanent residence in the campground and the place has been turned into a dump.

Last fall as I was getting out of my truck near the campground, a man and woman approached. Apparently they had been living in the campground for some time as they had an old plastic tarp strung over a dilapidated car. They looked like they had been in the movie "Deliverance" and I swear I could hear a banjo playing in the background. They felt very uneasy that I was in the area.

In fact, last year a body was dumped off the side of the road not far from the campground. I know that I will no longer camp there.

If it's not even safe for U.S. Forest Service employees to enter the national forest, then obviously the federal government can't police its own lands. A hunter recently suggested that it may be time to bring the National Guard back from Iraq and the U.S./Mexico border and let the Guardsmen patrol the Mendocino National Forest. Or better yet, issue the forest employees armored Humvees.

Don't get me wrong because there are many excellent and perfectly safe campgrounds in the national forest. The campgrounds around Lake Pillsbury have camp hosts and are clean and safe. The Middle Creek Campground out of Upper Lake is an excellent campground. But if you want to camp or hike in a remote area, be aware that someone is probably watching you and it's not a government employee.

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