Humboldt Stuff....
The video includes an article from the Times-Standard newspaper. After checking it out, all of the grows shown are relatively small when compared to that of almost any vineyard I've seen and I've seen a bunch. Nothing like seeing row upon row of grape vines on sterilized land drawing unauthorized water from any local water supply (streams, ponds, etc.).
Clear cut logging practices have and still do cause major damage in Humboldt watersheds (e.g. road cutting, erosion, siltation and leaving slash to end up in river bottoms). And, anyone who's seen the damage to riparian habitat caused by cattle stomping down stream banks, urinating and crapping in the streams surely recognizes there's some damage there.
So, those growers/ranchers naturally get more attention because they're easy to see and report.
Marijuana growers are, by nature, secretive and their grow sites, remote. Therefore, they don't get the attention that they deserve. The fact that marijuana is legal in CA doesn't change or forgive the fact that growing marijuana here is still illegal by federal law. Judging from how much effort has been devoted to reporting impacts of grow sites on Sierra rivers/streams, there's little doubt about the level/kind of collective environmental damage caused by that activity.
Legal or illegal, all of these activities generate revenue (sales and taxes) for local/state businesses/governments. Politically, marijuana grows are a hot potato and the owners of these "enterprises" feel that they contribute a product to the market. They've demonstrated that they will lobby and do what it takes to defend their rights.
IMO, if we intend to regulate these activities, studies like the Humboldt State project is a good first step.
"America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote."
Author unknown
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