Pot Busts In Forests Strain Chelan County

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Sheriff Says Forest Service Should Pay More Toward Costs Of Shutting Down Operations On Federal Land

The number of marijuana fields found in Chelan and Okanogan counties this year exceeds that found in the rest of the national forests in Washington and Oregon combined.

WENATCHEE - Chelan County sheriff's officials want more money from the U.S. Forest Service to pay for increasing marijuana busts that deputies have investigated on national forest lands.

Sheriff Mike Harum said he asked the Forest Service for $48,000 in overtime and other costs incurred by his office after eight pot fields were found on forest lands this year.

The number of marijuana operations found on federal lands is expected to increase in coming years, Harum said, and the agency should help.

But that's not likely, Forest Service officials say.

"That's an unrealistic expectation," said Ron Pugh, who supervises criminal investigations for the Forest Service in Washington and Oregon. "We're struggling for funds just like he ( Harum ) is."

The number of fields found in Chelan and Okanogan counties this year exceeds that found in the rest of the national forests in Washington and Oregon combined, Pugh said. But drug-related crimes are overshadowed by concerns for public safety, wildfire investigations and the theft of resources.

Although the agency has agreed to pay $7,200 for helicopter surveillance done by Chelan County this year, even that amount may not be possible next year, Pugh said.

"We don't have any more funding," he said, noting that the agency's other regions around the West are also experiencing a boom in marijuana growing. Officials are trying to address the problem with limited funding.

The Forest Service is adding an officer to the Columbia River Drug Task Force, and the agency's law enforcement officers received more formal training this year on investigating marijuana fields. It may also move a detective from Oregon to Wenatchee, Pugh said.

Still, Chelan County wants more help paying for its overtime, surveillance and other costs for investigations on federal lands, and county commissioners have asked Republican Rep. Doc Hastings to get more funding from the agency.

The county has spent $130,000 so far this year investigating 11 marijuana fields. Nine people have been arrested, with more expected, said Harum, who met with local and regional forest officials in August to ask for more money.

"We really feel like the Forest Service should reimburse the county for part of that," Commissioner Buell Hawkins said.

Source: Spokesman-Review (WA)
Copyright: 2005 The Spokesman-Review
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