No arrests were made, but some 27,000 marijuana plants were uprooted yesterday from the northwest portion of Sugarloaf State Park near Kenwood.
The Sonoma County Narcotic Task Force with assistance from the Napa Special Investigation Bureau found two garden sites which were apparently accessed through adjacent private property, according to a statement released this morning by Det. Sgt. Chris Bertoli of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department.
Bertoli said agents were airlifted into the site due to the rough terrain. Two campsites showed recent evidence of multiple tenants – including an improvised garbage pit, a table still laden with breakfast, and burning candles on what Bertoli described as “a makeshift altar.”
The plants ranged in height from 18 inches to two feet and were destroyed in the field, Bertoli said. A natural spring had been diverted to provide water for irrigation, and large amounts of D-Con poison were observed in and around the area as well as dead field mice, squirrels, and one red fox.
Bertoli said agents later moved on to the northwest corner of Mount St. Helena to destroy another 7,000 plants. He said the day’s total netted 34,000 plants with an estimated street value of $59,500,000.
Hospital gets fiscal shot in the arm
A Sonoma couple is saying an extra financial “thank you” to an institution which has made an incomparable difference in their lives.
Gary Nelson announced Sunday that he and his wife, Marcia, working through the Sonoma Community Foundation, had committed an additional $50,000 toward support of and an endowment for the emergency room at the Sonoma Valley Hospital.
The hospital has been a focus of generous support by the Nelsons for many years. In an interview on Tuesday, Gary Nelson noted that, “It’s essential for this Valley to have a functioning emergency facility for young and old alike.” He mentioned that their own son was one of those whose lives would have been lost without the local emergency room, avoiding the loss of precious time in the event of a transport to Santa Rosa or some other facility.
Marcia Nelson is optimistic that the Sonoma Valley community, as well, would rally to this need. She was quoted in a prepared statement as saying, “It is our hope that the Sonoma community will see the need and wisdom of supporting the SVH Emergency Room by considering contributions throughout 2008 and the years to come.”
