Scott Greacen (left) and Wes Chesbro.

3:56 p.m.: Download Greacen’s prepared testimony here.

3:12 p.m.: And that’s it.

3:12 p.m.: Assm. Jared Huffman hops in to again slam the feds. He thanks Greacen for testifying, and delivers a slight slap to other environmental groups who have so far been silent.

“If we had seen pictures like that from any other commercial activity … doing these things to our forest, to our public lands, the outcry from the environmental groups would be deafening,” Huffman says. “But it’s not.” Chesbro calls for statewide environmental groups to get involved.

3:09 p.m.: “This is every bit as much of a threat as forest practices that threaten the environment, and of forest practices that lead to development,” Chesbro says. Promises that the legislature will look at ways to develop interim tools.

Federal crackdown slammed from all sides. “Bad actors are in a position to drive out the good, and maybe out of the business,” Greacen says.

3:07 p.m.: Chesbro wrapping up. L’il mom and pop grows are one thing; these huge industrial practices are something else entirely. “One of the reasons we have this degree of problem — like the prohibition of alcohol, it’s not widely supported.” Eradication impossible.

“Assuming we can’t legalize marijuana tomorrow, and assuming we can’t get the feeral government to be supportive of local governments on the North Coast [who are attempting to regulate] — assuming we can’t succeed at those things, we have to come up with an interim strategy.” 

3:05 p.m.: “The failed prohibition policy has given birth to some of the worst practices,” Greacen says. He relates a conversation with Supervisor Mark Lovelace: Why would a grower spend money to fix up their practices, if it doesn’t buy them anything with law enforcement?

3:03 p.m.: Fertilizers and pesticides are another huge problem. Loading up streams with nutrients kill fish by suffocating them. They produce algae blooms. “A number of dogs have died,” he says. “Thankfully, no children have yet.” People dump old soil in the hills.  

3:00 p.m.: If you take water out of the stream, the concentration of pollution becomes higher — a double-dip impact, if you will. He shows graphs indicating continuously falling stream flow levels on key Eel tributaries. Grows are accessed by crumbling old logging roads, he says. Sedimentation is a very large problem.

2:57 p.m.: Any grow can potentially have huge environmental impacts, Greacen says. We need ways to regulate this like we do all other industries.

2:55 p.m.: “I think this is a long overdue but extremely challenging conversation,” Greacen begins. Says that most North Coast residents would agree that there is a problem. Especially problematic: The new impacts on the forest from marijuana cultivation comes on the tail of years of abuse at the hands of extractive industries.

2:52 p.m.: Greacen has “embarrassing” technical difficulties. Clearly says “Shit!” into the mic. 

2:51 p.m.: Scott Greacen of Friends of the Eel up next.

2:50 p.m.: “When you start add up the years of activity … it’s hard not to discuss the cumulative impacts. How are we going to adress these land use practices, and how are we going to change what people largely view as a benign industry, which I’m afraid isn’t the case anymore.” — Giusti

2:48 p.m.: Giusti says that he’s seeing some very large and sophistical water diversion technologies in the forest. Has found a 50,000-gallon water bag at one grow. Shows a picture of a large pond built to supply a grow with a small rowboat on the shore. Says that professional construction workers are clearly involved in the industry, given the level of bulldozer work that goes into prepping some sites.

2:45 p.m.: Giusti calls mass weed cultivation “the new normal” on the North Coast.

2:45 p.m.: “The level of environmental destruction that can and does occur is of great concern.” — Chezz. Greg Giusti of the University of California up next.

2:43 p.m.: Baker is showing photos of massive amounts of garbage being removed from sites. Ninety-seven miles of black plastic pipe were hauled out of one busted grow.

He says DFG is doing its best to restore trashed growing areas – hauling out trash, restoring streambeds, reversing diversions. He says that removing the infrastructure is helping to curb grows.

2:38 p.m.: Jim Baker of the California Department of Fish and Game is here to testify about impact in the Central Valley and the Sierras. The next two speakers will be talking about the North Coast.

He says that his department would be just as concerned about runoff from tomato farms. It’s all about fertilizers and pesticides running off into the river.

The environmental impact associated with illegal grows is stunning, he says. People are diverting streams. “They can completely de-water a small stream.” They’re pumping tons of chemicals into the watershed. He mentions that illegal growers often camp near their grows and illegally poach game.

Illegal growers in his region take enough water to supply 75,000 households, he estimates.

2:33 p.m.: The Chezz says that this was inspired by an earlier hearing, which talked about cultivation’s impact on coho specifically. There are a whole variety of potential impactors, he says, ranging from small grows to insanley large ones on commercial timber land.

“This is not an anti-marijuana discussion. This is a discussion about how to reduce the environmental impacts of marijuana.

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It’s getting ready to roll right now. See here for background. Frequent updates coming.