A message from Charlton H. Bonham, Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
At the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, we know the process of regulating cannabis cultivation is going to be complicated. Underscore complicated. We realize this is an important moment in time. We want to collaborate with cultivators and local governments to bring growers into compliance with state laws.
While Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement is often a focus of debate, let’s not forget the Department of Fish and Wildlife has made extensive outreach efforts, including more than 100 presentations to groups of cannabis farmers and other constituents explaining how to acquire proper permits. Our department has also started to build new, nimble permitting processes with dedicated staff to handle the expected onslaught of new permit requests. We expect to receive thousands of such requests.
Since the passage of Proposition 64, along with all of this outreach and preparation for bringing cultivators into permitting, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has executed approximately 87 cannabis-related search warrants statewide. California is big, about 163,000 square miles. Of these warrants, only 44 were in the Emerald Triangle. In addition, our department has conducted approximately 137 administrative inspections in the Emerald Triangle where no plant eradication took place. The reality is, some people want more enforcement and some want less.
Read the full story from the Press Democrat.