Illegal pot farms in California are polluting public forests and watersheds

Illegal cannabis farms hidden in California forests are harming nearby wildlife, ecosystems and watersheds. But with little being done at the federal and state levels to clean up these sites quickly enough, environmentalists are sounding the alarm about farm pollution sow on the public lands of the state.

As CalMatters’ Rachel Becker explains, the nonprofit Center for the Study of Integral Ecology has counted nearly 7,000 abandoned growing sites on public lands in California. In addition to the trash that growers leave behind, pollutants from these sites seep into soil and nearby streams, the center’s co-founders and the U.S. Geological Survey said. Excess nutrients from fertilizers disrupt ecosystems and algae bloomsand poisonous pesticides can kill wildlife, according to the co-founders.

Cultivation sites are scattered across state, federal, and privately managed lands. But the U.S. Forest Service said it doesn’t have enough funds or staff to handle the cleanup. Under President Donald Trump, roughly 5,000 employees who have not been fired have also been “either off-boarded or in the process of doing so” through “multiple voluntary departure programs,” according to an agency spokesman.

Meanwhile, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has a policy to clean up all vegetation on the 1.1 million acres under its jurisdiction. Fees and taxes on California’s legalized cannabis market help pay for this endeavor, and the department has removed nearly 350,000 pounds of trash and more than 920 containers of pesticides over the past nearly decade.

Still, critics say progress isn’t happening fast enough, and the Integral Ecology Research Center has counted only 587 grow sites that have been at least partially cleared, out of 7,000 they’ve counted.

• Greta Wengertco-founder: “They’re just these little death bombs waiting for any wildlife to investigate.”

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More environmental news: The Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency reaffirmed the commitment of the US and Mexico to restoration of the polluted Tijuana Riverwrites Deborah Brennan of CalMatters.

Lee Zeldin detailed upcoming projects that would prevent millions of gallons of sewage from entering the river during a meeting with local San Diego leaders and members of Congress on Thursday. He also said that while public health solutions are not part of the current funding package, he would be willing to add them if Congress appropriates money for it.

• US Representative Mike LevinCarlsbad Democrat: “You wouldn’t know what party we were all from based on our conversation. It’s unusual. It’s refreshing, but I think it’s also necessary to solve a problem of this magnitude.”

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From CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinstein:

California’s public universities should get no new funding or much less than what Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing, the legislature’s top group of advisers wrote in a report last week.

Newsom wants to increase support for the University of California and California State University by a combined $1 billion, split equally, compared to what each system received in state support last year.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office says this type of growth is unsustainable given California’s projected multibillion-dollar deficits. Nor does Newsom propose new revenue, such as taxes, to ensure funding for the systems, the office wrote.

But that recommendation runs counter to what the Legislature and Newsom promised the systems in last year’s state budget. Increased university funding is a way to open up more places for California residents at the University of California and help the state of California overcome its entrenched budget problems. The proposed funding also offsets cuts in the systems last year. Every system was allowed take out loans to cover losses.

The proposed billion-dollar increases are in line with the governor’s 2022 pledge of a 5 percent annual increase in state funding for universities over five years. The analyst’s office calls the governor’s five-year plan “budget constraint” because it circumvents the legislature’s official role in determining how the state’s money is spent and limits fiscal transparency.

A California public employees union is sponsoring a bill that would work from home permanent option for government employees, writes CalMatters’ Yue Stella Yu.

The proposal is supported by the Professional Engineers in California Government, which represents 15,000 state engineers. It would require government agencies to offer telecommuting options and provide justifications when agencies require in-person work. The state will also have to create a dashboard to track the annual savings generated by telecommuting — something the California Department of General Services was doing before ending the practice in 2024.

The bill challenges Newsom’s mandate from last year by requiring most state employees to do so work in offices until Julyat least four days a week.

Half of California’s public workers will be eligible for telecommuting by 2024, according to the Department of General Services. A state audit report also found last year that letting state employees work from home at least three days a week could save the state $225 million a year.

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California is suing two websites it says offer computer code and instructions for 3D printing deadly firearms. 3D guns are a subset of “ghost guns” that are difficult to track, the lawsuit says, and since 2021, state law enforcement has recovered more than 11,000 ghost guns on average annually. Read more by Cayla Mihalovich of CalMatters.