Overview

• NPS law-enforcement rangers and BLM special agents cleared the remote site using hand crews and helicopter sling-loads.
• Teams removed 2,377 mature plants and roughly 2,000 pounds of trash and infrastructure from the backcountry area.
• Officials recovered about one gallon of methamidophos, a highly toxic banned insecticide, and a semi-automatic pistol.
• The operation had diverted a creek, cut terraces, dug large water pits, and carved roughly two miles of illegal trails, with evidence of poaching and makeshift campsites; each plant can consume 6–8 gallons of water per day.
• An initial raid in 2024 was followed by rehabilitation this summer due to chemical hazards; no arrests have been made, and over the past two decades nearly 300,000 plants worth about $850 million have been eradicated in Sequoia and Kings Canyon.