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Yosemite National Park: Marijuana farm raided, thousands of plants seized Yosemite National Park marijuana farm

For most of us, remote areas of Yosemite National Park are places to escape and unwind. But those same places can provide the perfect cover for illegal pot farms. Park rangers and other law enforcement officials raided an illegal marijuana farm (in photo above) inside the California park and nearby forest land Tuesday and seized thousands of plants and processed marijuana valued at $14.6 million, park officials said Thursday.

Two men, identified only as Mexican nationals, who were guarding the site were arrested but not charged in federal court as of Thursday, Yosemite spokeswoman Kari Cobb said. One of the men was armed with a pistol, officials said. The farm was found off Highway 140 near El Portal in the eastern part of Yosemite on land belonging to the national park and Sierra National Forest; officials aren’t releasing the exact site of the operation.

he 3,657 plants they found ranged in size from young plants a foot high to mature 10- to 15-foot plants ready for harvesting. An ongoing investigation by the park, the U.S. Forest Service and Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office uncovered the illegal site. Why would a pot farm turn up in one of the nation’s most-visited national parks? “It’s rugged terrain,” Cobb said. “There are so many places in and around the park where there are no trails and no roads — places that provide good coverage for an illegal marijuana site.” She said that the natural resources department of the park will work on restoring the area to its natural state. This isn’t the first time that an illegal marijuana farm was found at Yosemite. In August 2009, rangers and law enforcement officials destroyed 4,735 marijuana plants valued at nearly $19 million.