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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:25.5pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:25.5pt;font-family:LAHeadline'>Massive raid to help Yurok tribe combat illegal pot grows <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:25.5pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:LAHeadline'><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-tribal-drug-bust-20140720-story.html">http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-tribal-drug-bust-20140720-story.html</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><img border=0 width=750 height=422 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CFA5AA.F2AED080" alt="A marijuana grow photographed from the air."><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>A marijuana grow photographed from the air. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999'>Yurok tribe<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999'>An aerial surveillance photo shows one of the grows that officials are targeting in and near the Yurok Reservation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.75pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999'>An aerial surveillance photo shows one of the grows that officials are targeting in and near the Yurok Reservation. (Yurok tribe)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:15.0pt;background:white'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#666666'>By </span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#FF5443;text-transform:uppercase'><a href="http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-lee-romney-staff.html">Lee Romney</a></span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";text-transform:uppercase'> <a href="mailto:lee.romney@latimes.com?subject=Regarding%20Massive%20raid%20to%20help%20Yurok%20tribe%20combat%20illegal%20pot%20grows"><i><span style='color:black;text-transform:none'>contact the reporter</span></i></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:16.5pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/crime-law-justice/laws-legislation/02006000-topic.html" title="Laws and Legislation"><span style='color:#999999;text-decoration:none'>Laws and Legislation</span></a><a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/dance/01006000-topic.html" title=Dance><span style='color:#999999;text-decoration:none'>Dance</span></a><a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/11000000-topic.html" title=Politics><span style='color:#999999;text-decoration:none'>Politics</span></a><a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/11006000-topic.html" title=Government><span style='color:#999999;text-decoration:none'>Government</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#666666'>The National Guard assists California's largest tribe in a push to eradicate marijuana grows</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#666666'>Marijuana cultivation in and near the Yurok Reservation has threatened the water supply for 200 households</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#666666'>Illegal pot grows in Yurok country have harmed salmon, poisoned mammals and hampered cultural ceremonies</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The California National Guard on Monday joined more than a dozen other agencies to help the Yurok tribe combat rampant marijuana grows that have threatened the reservation's water supply, harmed its salmon and interfered with cultural ceremonies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Law enforcement officers began serving search warrants at about 9 a.m. in the operation, which came at the request of Yurok officials and targeted properties in and near the reservation along the Klamath River.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Humboldt County Sheriff's Drug Enforcement Unit coordinated the raid and was joined by, among others, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Justice' North State Marijuana Investigation Team, and Yurok police.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-yurok-tribal-judge-20140305-dto-htmlstory.html"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=250 height=141 id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.jpg@01CFA5AA.F2AED080" alt="Tribal court's chief judge works for Yurok-style justice"></span></a><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-yurok-tribal-judge-20140305-dto-htmlstory.html">Tribal court's chief judge works for Yurok-style justice</a></span><span class=MsoHyperlink><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt;background:white'><u><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999'><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-yurok-tribal-judge-20140305-dto-htmlstory.html"><span style='color:#999999'>Lee Romney</span></a></span></u><span class=MsoHyperlink><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999;text-decoration:none'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>State environmental scientists were standing by to enter the properties and survey for damage once the sites were secured.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Yurok Tribal Chairman Thomas O'Rourke joined officers as they staged at a hillside fire station Monday morning and thanked them for assisting in what was dubbed "Operation Yurok."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"They're stealing millions and millions of gallons of water and and it's impacting our ecosystem," he told the officers. "We can't no longer make it into our dance places, our women and children can't leave the road to gather. We can't hunt. We can't live the life we've lived for thousands of years."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Yurok Interim Public Safety Chief Leonard Masten said tens of thousands of plants are likely to be eradicated over the next week and a half. They will be chipped on-site.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Though growers in the region once "brought their fertilizer in in batches in the dark," O'Rourke said dump trucks now enter reservation land with impunity in broad daylight and use heavy equipment to carve roads on tribal land. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Bald Hills Road, a remote and winding route that connects the upper reservation to tribal headquarters in Klamath, used to be traveled almost exclusively by tribal members, O'Rourke said. Now, "it's one in 10 that I recognize and every fifth car is an out-of-state plate."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>California's largest tribe has sought help combating marijuana grows in the past but until now never received such a vigorous response. Then the drought hit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><img border=0 width=750 height=422 id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image003.jpg@01CFA5AA.F2AED080" alt="Yurok tribal police"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Yurok tribal police <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999'>Lee Romney / Los Angeles Times<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999'>Yurok tribal police review a map of terrain where 40 search warrants will be served this week on and off the Yurok reservation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.75pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999'>Yurok tribal police review a map of terrain where 40 search warrants will be served this week on and off the Yurok reservation. (Lee Romney / Los Angeles Times)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The strains on dual water systems that serve 200 households and rely entirely on surface water became apparent last summer, when residents began complaining of plummeting pressure.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Tanks that were full on a Friday, Masten said, would be nearly empty by Monday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>When tribal staff surveyed the land from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, they were startled at the number of grows. By this summer they had tripled, Masten estimated. And when the marijuana crop was planted in late spring, community water gauges once again swung low.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>This time, creeks ran dry. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"Streams I’ve seen in prior years with more severe droughts where water ran, there’s no water now," said O'Rourke.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>To strengthen its enforcement abilities, the tribal council last fall approved a new controlled substance ordinance that allow for civil forfeiture in circumstances where cultivation has harmed the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>(All growing on the reservation is illegal, as the Yurok tribe does not honor state medical marijuana law.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The breakthrough came in April when governor's office staff was discussing the drought with tribal officials. Gov. Jerry Brown, tribal officials were told, had pressed for California National Guard assistance with marijuana eradication and specifically urged the Office of the Adjutant General to assist in the Yurok operation, said Captain Pat Bagley, operations officer in charge at the scene.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>He was expecting to haul out two miles of irrigation hose at one grow alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>For the Yurok, the damage is broad. Sediment and chemical runoff have suffocated juvenile fish, and warmer, shallower water has triggered an increase in the parasite <i>Ceratomyxa shasta</i>, which targets salmon.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:15.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>We are coming close to being prisoners in our own land. Our whole lifestyle, everything we stand for, everything we do is impacted.</span><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>- Thomas O'Rourke, Yurok Tribal Chairman<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Rodentide has poisoned the Humboldt marten and weasel-like fisher, which the Yurok consider sacred. The danger of encroaching on a guarded grow site has made it unwise to gather medicine, acorns and materials for baskets, or to prepare sites for ceremonial dances.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The White Deerskin Dance – a biannual ceremony that was banned for decades along with other cultural practices -- takes place this September, but Masten said access to the site for preparations is currently blocked by a grow.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“We are coming close to being prisoners in our own land,” O’Rourke said. “Everything we stand for, everything we do is impacted.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>On Saturday night, as the raid loomed, he and Masten were participating in a Brush Dance -- a dance for the health and vibrancy of a child. At a village site near the mouth of the river, tribal members entered the dance pit in groups throughout the night as a medicine woman and two helpers tended to a young mother and her infant boy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>After the sunrise Sunday morning, they appeared elaborate regalia passed down for generations and imbued with the spirits of ancestors. Otter skin arrow quivers intricately adorned with woodpecker scalps. Dresses of abalone and dentillium shells. Intricately woven basket hats.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Brush Dance is hosted by family groups and the frequency of the ceremonies has increased in recent years as the tribe reconnects with its culture, and more youth participate. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"I think this is not only a strong opportunity to take back our land but to set an example that the tribe has got a zero tolerance policy" toward cultivation, Masten said. "Whether you're an Indian or a non-Indian, you've got to go."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#999999'>Copyright © 2014, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/"><span style='color:#999999;text-decoration:none'>Los Angeles Times</span></a></span><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>___________________________________<br>Jerry Gardner, Executive Director<br><a href="http://www.tribal-institute.org/lists/tlpi.htm" title="http://www.tribal-institute.org/lists/tlpi.htm"><span style='color:#002060'>Tribal Law & Policy Institute</span><span style='color:#6699CC'><br></span></a>8235 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 211<br>West Hollywood, CA 90046<br>(323) 650-5467 ~ Fax: (323) 650-8149<br>___________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>