Skip to main content

Marijuana Grow Site Discovered Near Malibu in Santa Monica Mountains

Support Provided By
A helicopter flies out a load of trash and marijuana plants | Photo courtesy National Park Service

For the second this summer a site used for marijuana cultivation has been discovered in the Santa Monica Mountains, the National Park Service has announced. Park rangers and L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies last Friday raided the land, gathering and flying out two tons of trash and plants. The exact same location off Kanan Dume Road north of Malibu was used in 2005 as a plantation.

"This cultivation site had all the characteristics of a Mexican drug trafficking organization," Evan Jones, Chief Ranger for Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, said in a press release. "Heavy use of chemicals, aggressive clearing of native vegetation and a very labor intensive grow site are all indicators typically seen of such an operation."

Trash and mature plants | | Photo courtesy National Park Service

Officials say marijuana grow sites damage the land when growers destroy native plants, cut off natural water supplies, use fertilizer and chemicals, and occupy important habitat for wildlife, such as mountain lions. There is also a risk to public safety since campfires can ignite wildfires.

Nearly 4,000 plants were hulled away. In July, around 3,500 plants were seized in Zuma Canyon.

Further Reading on KCET:
- Reefer Madness: Our National Forests Going To Pot
- How to Identify a Marijuana Cultivation Site, and What to Do

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.