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Comment by fswd | Hacker News Reader

He did say he had irrigation rights to the stream, which isn't impossible but unusual in that area. (They won't give them anymore). For a pond, you do have to apply. I think it's is $700 for the pond application and additional $1500 in regular fees. But here's the kicker, it takes two to three years to get it.. You're better off just doing it and ignoring the regulators in this area. Reason is, there are 20,000 illegal marijuana grow sites surrounding this guy and absolutely no effective enforcement. The only enforcement is against people who register for water rights and follow the rules. If the drug cartel steals your water rights, they won't even pick up the phone.

What's up with no plants in the ground?

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I have been experimenting more with this sort of civil disobedience, if you will. For example, I like to walk and I have been frustrated by the terrible walking infrastructure around where I live. Lately I've been trying just walking through private property, making my own path while being careful to avoid eroding land, stepping on decorative plants, etc. It makes me feel alive again to be able to make my own way by ignoring what I see as unjust laws in a system that I had no say in creating.

I was also surprised to see so much exposed soil, without so much as a cover crop. Perhaps we witnessed some transitionary state for the farm?

Tilling is a routine farm technique. You mix up the top few inches of soil, so whatever vegetation becomes mixed into the top soil restoring it.

> Tilling is a routine farm technique.

Not so much in permaculture.

Wow. As someone living outside of the US this is quite shocking.

They're being hyperbolic. There are illegal grow operations in southern Oregon, but not on the scale he's implying, and there absolutely is enforcement. The illegal grow ops also don't use any form of large scale irrigation that would impact other water users substantially. They grow in natural areas with an attempt to conceal the patch of plants from airborne surveys. Reading that comment you'd think southern Oregon was like Sinaloa Mexico where mass scale plantations operate openly. That's a totally incorrect portrayal.

Since this got downvotes quick, I'll just elaborate that over the years I've had a pretty diverse friend group, and while it's not my world, I know several people who worked seasonally on these grow ops doing trimming. One of them got caught in a DEA raid. I'm not just blowing empty wind here, as well as my other claims can be trivially verified with a little googling (particularly that there is enforcement).

I have a home on 10+ acres of forested land in Josephine county about 20 miles north of this farm. The owner is not being hyperbolic about illegal grow operations.

Just a quick perusal of google satellite imagery shows quite a few operations in the area around seven seeds and the Applegate valley (look for long runs of hoop structures).

It is true that the number of operating illegal grows has recently dropped dramatically since legalization in Oregon (mostly because it is hard to make enough money versus large legal growers).

Recently, Jackson County and Josephine County have really started cracking down on large illegal operations: - https://ktvl.com/news/local/josephine-county-authorities-exe... - https://www.kdrv.com/news/illegal-grow-site-seized-10-000-lb... - https://www.koin.com/news/over-11k-marijuana-plants-seized-i...

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