California State Parks have intensified their efforts to curb illegal cannabis growth, including at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
As part of its Cannabis Watershed Protection Program, the state conducted 16 operations, removing 25,558 plants and confiscating a handful of firearms, leading to seven arrests.
“Illegal cannabis cultivation poses a serious threat to California’s unmatched natural resources,” said State Parks Director Armando Quintero in a news release, adding that the agency “will never stop working to protect these most valuable public lands and ensure their environments are safe for generations to come.”
During an operation at Anza-Borrego, California’s largest state park, teams removed 4,672 cannabis plants.
The CWPP also led to remediation of 23 historic growth sites, including the removal of approximately 16,000 pounds of waste.
Other sites in the program this year were Clear Lake State Park, Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, Lake Oroville State Recreation Area, Onyx Ranch State Vehicle Recreation Area, Saddleback Butte State Park and Smithe Redwoods State Natural Reserve.
