A deer hunter in Northern California tipped police off on what he thought was a massive stand of marijuana growing on public land. The police arrived and found 1,991 plants that they estimate are work about $3.8 million. They also dismantled a dam that had been setup to divert water to the illegal farm. People in the area reported that they’d seen workers going into the field every day, which begs the question why the police didn’t bother arresting anyone who’s been trashing wildlife areas to grow marijuana.

These farms on public land must be all over the place. If you’re in Northern CA and don’t have the money to fill your pot prescription, just go to a national forest and walk in a straight line. You’re bound to find a bunch of it for free sooner or later.

via Outdoor Pressroom

The California legislature is at it again. The Supreme Court orders them to empty prisons and instead they look to close parks. Maybe they could just release the prisoners into their state parks and solve both problems. That would make the people at Castle Rock State Park happy, as long as the Bay area got to keep their favorite bouldering spot. It’s very odd that the government would even consider closing these parks since they offer such boosts to local economies. If you live in California or you’re simply looking for a cause to take up, you can contact the people who are making decisions through the Access Fund.

via Climbing Narc

Do you have a favorite hellhole on Earth? This short film looks as the Salton Sea, the largest lake in California that was accidentally created when the Colorado River was diverted. It’s a fantastic story, a largely forgotten part of U.S. history told by the writer Ransom Riggs.

Photo by David Mickelson/groveoftitans.com

NPR put together an interesting story on the duo who found the world’s latest tallest tree. I don’t think they can tell if it’s also the oldest tree unless they drill out a core piece and count the rings, so let’s hope they don’t bother. So what space age triangulation laser technology do they use to determine the tree’s height? A tape measure. Someone actually climbs to the top and drops it down. The tallest tree for now is 379 feet tall, and its location in California is a secret, which is making it really hard for me to realize my dream of owning the world’s biggest toothpick.

A California bill to turn 1.65 million more acres of desert into nationally protected lands has made some strange bedfellows. Back in 1994 rookie senator Dianne Feinstein protected 8.5 million acres of California desert against the fierce opposition of many of the people who made their living off all that desert. But once that land in 1994 was turned into National Park land, the people who lived there embraced it. They found increased tourism and the prestige of joining the national park system helped their local economy. And now they’re hoping Feinstein can get the rest of this land protected before developers come in looking for energy - solar energy. They want to setup 8 square miles of solar panels in the Mojave to run power to LA. Now the clean energy lobby, environmentalists, ATV riders, the US Marine Corps landowners and desert people are all in different overlapping camps. It’s an odd story over at SF Gate.