A marijuana growing operation that authorities say damaged the forest was uprooted Thursday, Aug. 22, four miles west of Big Bear Lake Dam.
The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department, U.S. Forest Service and Drug Enforcement Administration found camping gear and trash near the site near Butler Creek, a sheriffs news release said.
The unidentified growers had created dams on Butler Creek to pool the water that fed into irrigation tubes. The plants, which were mature and in the budding stage, were in a large area that had been cleared.
