Look Out For Bears--And Opium Fields

Though U.S. Park and Forest Service Rangers are getting used to finding meth labs in places such as Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest, and pot farms everywhere from Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest to California's Sequoia National Park, last week's bust was a first. A hiker had discovered 40,000 lavender-hued opium poppies growing in the Sierra National Forest, south of Yosemite. The plants, enough to yield 40 lbs. of raw opium, were in a clearing on a 3,000-ft.-high slope scorched by a forest fire two years ago. When law-enforcement officers burst onto the scene, three men in camouflage outfits were scoring...

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