Pubdate: Sat, 29 Dec 2012 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2012 Los Angeles Times Contact: http://www.latimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248 Author: Amy Woflburg Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n658/a05 Page: A19 GOING TO POT Re "Pot farms take dirty toll," Dec. 23 Some years back I purchased a copy of biologist George Wuerthner's guide "California's Wilderness Areas: Mountains and coastal ranges." As a Southern California native, I was not familiar with geographic locales outside my immediate area, so reading the volume and looking at the beautiful color photos instilled an incredible sense of fascination with California's far north and its incredibly rich biodiversity and unspoiled splendor. It made me realize that pristine areas of the state, untouched by humans, still exist. Needless to say I was horrified, sad and angry after reading how our natural resources and wildlife are being destroyed by reckless and greedy criminal elements. Why should we allow this rape of our environment to continue? If marijuana were legalized and regulated, this detestable rampage of our natural environment would stop. Until then, the federal government needs to step in and provide more resources - either in the form of money to provide for restoration or National Guard troops to patrol our public lands - to combat this menace to our state. Amy Woflburg, Los Angeles - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom