This has me wondering if any of you have ever been hired to survey a property line for this reason. Seems like risky work. Was the law enforcement agency your client or the defendant??ÿ
About 20yrs ago while surveying a site, we kept hearing a lot of sawing and other engine noises coming from the woods on the west side of the property.
On day two we set monuments and ran the west boundary and went thru the middle of a newly planted marijuana plot with plants about a foot tall and a watering system in place.
Made sure we got paid before mentioning what we had found to the family we were working for.
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In 1982 I was the only employee of a start up firm in Eureka, California. We got hired to survey a spring and prepare an easement document on a very rural property outside of Garberville. It was winter, maybe February, so not growing season. We met the client in Garberville and followed him for miles to his place in the hills. From there, he took us to three surrounding properties to introduce us to his neighbors and tell them we were there working for him, so don't shoot us. It was pretty early in the morning and I remember one of the neighbors was sitting on his covered deck with a scoped rifle leaning next to him, smoke rolling off his face. Never too early for a big fattie, I guess.
The client then took us to the spring we were to survey and there was growing supplies all over the place. He instructed us to stop at his house on our way out. It started pouring rain late morning. So heavy we were having a hard time seeing to turn angles and get the EDM to work. We kept working because we had only been given a day in the field.?ÿ
We stopped on the way out and the client pulled out a wad of $100s, peeled off a bunch and handed them to my boss. When the easement deed was prepared, my boss drove back down and met the guy in Garberville to drop the document off and get another pile of $100s. Glad he didn't become a regular client.
During the same time period we did a lot of work on Tribal lands in the area. It was very common to see huge "trees" in their yards. Because it was on sovereign lands, local LE didn't even drive through, unless there was a murder.
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My utility work takes me to 2 or 3 new grows under construction a week.?ÿ They're usually a breeze because the owners are consciences enough to have the property surveyed prior to any new construction.?ÿ It's been a real boost for the local economy all the way around.
There are still a few entrepreneurs that cling to their locked gates and grows under the cover of brush and trees.?ÿ Any time I encounter one of these nuts that feel they have to walk around with a shouldered assault rifle I just have to ask, "You do know this stuff is legal now, don't you?".
Out here in the west the law enforcement has nothing to do with it.?ÿ It is legal baby.?ÿ In Oregon you can grow up to four plants per household without a permit.?ÿ I really doubt the Feds are going to try to get in front of this freight train.
I've done a couple of site jobs for proposed legal grow operations here in Oregon.?ÿ They needed the survey as part of the permitting process for commercial.?ÿ Usually boundary and full topo.
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boundary and full topo.
Requiring a boundary survey to construct a structure makes some sense, not so much for planting, but what does topo have to do with permitting??ÿ
All these stories remind of one of the first surveys I ever did under my new license.
A man who grew Christmas trees made all of his yearly income selling the trees, but people were stealing them!?ÿ He needed to fence the property but the bank wouldn't lend him the money unless it was surveyed.?ÿ I agreed to be paid after the holiday when the income from the tree sales was complete. (Who steals their Christmas tree?)
Years later I was called back to subdivide that lot into four parcels.?ÿ He probably made more with the subdivision than selling the trees.
I was offered the opportunity to name the street in the subdivision and couldn't think of a thing at the time!
drainage, environmental concerns. MJ and grape vines are a pretty heavy environmental footprint.
We did a project east of Garberville a couple of years ago...they were growing in plain view not far off our access road.
@JohnPutnam Gives a whole new meaning to the question "What are you looking for?"
Answer: "A stone."?ÿ
My crew stumbled on a patch of Morel mushrooms. We shut down surveying activities and picked Mushrooms. Much more lucrative than surveying
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I took a graduate level botony class on Fungi. You made the right call.
Pick the shrooms and map the location for the next season. ?????ÿ
They need a legal site address.
I created these in line with the permit and planning process in my county.
Even threw a few bones to the local surveyors by explaining to any applicants ( under the guidance of the planner) they would need it to demonstrate they weren't transporting across federal property as that would be a violation of their boundary and easement.
Any time I encounter one of these nuts that feel they have to walk around with a shouldered assault rifle I just have to ask, "You do know this stuff is legal now, don't you?".
It's legal around here, too, but all of the commercial grows are protected by armed guards.?ÿ Apparently the Mexican cartels would rather have someone else do the work?ÿ so that they can show up in force and heavily armed, round up all the employees, lock them in a trailer, then load up all the product and head out.
The first time I entered a commercial grow site (to put an elevation on a well for the flood control district) was an eye-opener.?ÿ Once I got over being greeted at the gate by a guy holding an AR-15, I got to work but had time to chat up the "management."?ÿ The guy who owned the site was maybe late 20s or early 30s.?ÿ He grew up in Humboldt County, and his parents were long-time growers whose business model wasn't working anymore after legalization.?ÿ The operation I observed was pretty sloppy-looking -- the office was a dusty old trailer, the dozen or so trimmers coming off shift were a ragtag bunch, and there was mud everywhere -- but they had at least 3 refrigerated trailers holding finished product.?ÿ The whole place smelled of money, even if it looked like a run-down trailer park.
Being the first legal state, and since it is against federal law to bank cannibus funds, proprietors need full surveys for their respective planning departments and they don't want to cause any 'trouble' in their communities so they order full surveys, no shopping, and pay cash promptly!
