Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Califor

[Herb Fellow]

BILLINGS, Mont. - The U.S. Forest Service has bought a pair of flying drones to track down marijuana growers operating in remote California woodlands. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, who oversees the Forest Service, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the pilotless, camera-equipped aircraft will allow law enforcement officers to pinpoint marijuana fields and size up potential dangers before agents attempt arrests.

Rey said there are increasing numbers of marijuana growers financed by Mexican drug cartels using California's forests to stage their operations. "We're dealing with organized efforts now – not just a couple of hippies living off the land and making some cash on the side," Rey said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C.

The purchase of the two SkySeer drones, for a combined $100,000, reflects rising interest in remote-controlled aircraft among law enforcement, science and other government agencies. Once used almost exclusively by defense and intelligence agencies, drones are now routinely flown by the Department of Homeland Security to patrol the Mexican border. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hopes to use them on weather missions.

The two Forest Service drones differ from those used by other agencies. They're lighter – less than five pounds apiece – and can fly for only about an hour. Sold by Octatron of La Verne, Calif., the battery-powered SkySeer can fly at under 30 miles per hour, has a two-mile range and is operated by a two-man crew on the ground, according to the company. One of the drones bought by the Forest Service was equipped with a thermal camera for nighttime flights.

The purchase was disclosed in documents obtained through a freedom of information request filed by the group Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility. The group's executive director, Jeff Ruch, questioned whether the Forest Service needed the machines. He said the purchase reflected a "boys with toys" mentality within the agency and that manned aircraft flyovers were adequate.

Rey dismissed the criticism. "The fact is, our guys work in remote locations and knowing more about what they're going to confront will make them a lot safer," he said.

More than 2.3 million marijuana plants were eradicated from Forest Service lands nationwide last year, according to figures provided by the office of Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell. In California's 18 national forests, an estimated 6 million marijuana plants have been removed since 2000. Rey said forests in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains have seen the most activity.

Source: The Star Tribune
Copyright: 2008, Associated Press
Contact: MATTHEW BROWN , Associated Press
Website: Forest Service buys a pair of flying drones to help find marijuana growers in California

 

[Boss]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

See, it's just a matter of time before this "Hidden" military government becomes an outright, in you're face, occupier of what used to be the United States.

Did anyone ever think about the fact that the last 2 generations have basically been food for those that came before them? We cannot go find a plot of land and claim it. We cannot get specialized fixed low interest loans. No wartime government agencies to make sure everything is cheap. No industry base to keep wealth inside the country.

So we have bred humans to be service and labor for the wealthiest 2% of the worlds population, and slowly eradicated the ability to move from middle or low income class, to a status of wealth. Past generations have perfected the art of pilfering pockets of their children.

Ever think about it like this?

 

[Herb Fellow]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Very true. The empire will not stand. It is time for real sovereign states. Think about it, Europe has become like the old U.S. - Sovereign countries (states) working together on common ground without giving up their independence.

 

[Boss]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Exactly Joe Another reason not to buy them in the first place Of course I would have to reccomend long range rifles, as they would tell the last gps coordinates to the pilot on the ground

 

[signman2007]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Exactly Joe Another reason not to buy them in the first place Of course I would have to reccomend long range rifles, as they would tell the last gps coordinates to the pilot on the ground

You will never know the drone is there!

 

[Boss]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

LOL - there is somthing they can do nothing about, the whirl of blades cutting through air. In a forest, even muffled, you could hear it for miles around.

 

[signman2007]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

LOL - there is somthing they can do nothing about, the whirl of blades cutting through air. In a forest, even muffled, you could hear it for miles around.

I've been in the military and even the big drones you can not hear. Believe me they have thought of everything. Not to say there can't be a drone detector invented tho just like the radar detector. Pretty soon you will be able to buy a drone detector from you local head shop and at first they will be as big as a damn VCR and then after a year or so they will be the size of a IPOD Nano to carry in your pocket so you can "detect on the go" so to speak and maybe have it vibrate when one gets near so you will have pocket pleasure as well.........well a little imaginative thinking there thats what a big bowl of goodness will do for ya!!!


SM2007....

 

[Boss]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Lemme get some vids of these "Silent" killers for you. You can hear ALL of them.. At least all of them that I have seen.

 

[signman2007]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

KCBS - Silent Drones To Hunt California Pot Growers

Check it you will never ever hear this thing over you!

 

[cinzanoooo]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

you'll NEVER hear them coming & also you'll NOT see them. at only 5 pounds they're going to be tiny white specks in the sky. and if you do get a look at one of them you can be sure you'll be spotted first.

 

[Boss]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Gimme some time tonight to let you all hear these motors. It family time

Show me a silent prop craft and I will show you a gliding, parked or crashed prop craft

 

[signman2007]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

you'll NEVER hear them coming & also you'll NOT see them. at only 5 pounds they're going to be tiny white specks in the sky. and if you do get a look at one of them you can be sure you'll be spotted first.

Dude the ones they use will not be painted white I can tell ya that...I bet the underside of the ones they use not the prototype are painted blue or grey camo and at the size they are you will never see them and certainly never hear them. The little planes that you can buy at radio shack that are battery powered, you can't hardly hear them and its right next to you.....

 

[Racefan]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

At 7000 feet they are more than a mile above you. You couldn't hear a lawnmower a mile away let alone a 5 lb electric plane. And even if you did manage to hear it, it will not only be long gone, your picture will already be on the internet.lol

 

[FreakNature]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

...
<object height="355" width="425">

<embed src="

" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></object>

 

[signman2007]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

^^^^^Exactly^^^^^^^

 

[Boss]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Ok, you win. I won't explain physics to you These guys say silent, but it is an advertisment.

By the way, they cannot fly over 500 ft. FAA rules (not that that will stop them). If you have never been in a forest, I understand, but you can hear a branch snap a mile away because the trees actually enhance the sound.

I could see it coming in against the wind and not hearing it till too late, but most likely, as soon as that thing started up, you would hear it from 2 miles out in the forest. I don't know about the city though.

 

[Racefan]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Ok, you win. I won't explain physics to you These guys say silent, but it is an advertisment.

By the way, they cannot fly over 500 ft. FAA rules (not that that will stop them). If you have never been in a forest, I understand, but you can hear a branch snap a mile away because the trees actually enhance the sound.

I could see it coming in against the wind and not hearing it till too late, but most likely, as soon as that thing started up, you would hear it from 2 miles out in the forest. I don't know about the city though.

It's "battery" powered and above any woods boss. There is no "starting" it up or trees to echo off of. You turn the power switch on and add throttle and fly above the trees. I used to build battery operated remote racecars. Battery powered cars are "super" quiet. There isn't a combustion engine to hear. Only the soft whir of the "electric" motor.
You can't fly the super lite 5 lb plane at 500 feet or less and control it from the ground in a wooded area. You would lose line of site, crash it and make it worthless. Especially when standing in the middle of a forest with 100 to 200 foot trees all around you. It will be a mile or more high no matter what the FAA rules says. Besides...since when is the government bound by any regulations?
For those who think they "can't" get busted because they will see and hear it before it can see them...good luck. Your playing russian roulette without a empty chamber. I live in the areas where these things will be used. I'm not happy and I refuse to underestimate their capabilities. I'd rather over estimate, be more careful and stay a free man actually.

 

[cinzanoooo]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Ok, you win. I won't explain physics to you These guys say silent, but it is an advertisment.

By the way, they cannot fly over 500 ft. FAA rules (not that that will stop them). If you have never been in a forest, I understand, but you can hear a branch snap a mile away because the trees actually enhance the sound.

I could see it coming in against the wind and not hearing it till too late, but most likely, as soon as that thing started up, you would hear it from 2 miles out in the forest. I don't know about the city though.

If they say it is silent then it is, don't you think they give demos of its silence to prospective buyers? I'm very sure the forestry dept was given a full demo of its stealth abilities and that alone is why they bought it.

I live in the forest and trees absorb sound, why do you think they plant trees along busy roadways, to annoy the people living behind those trees? No they do it to absorb the noise of the roadway, period. I have a train line running about 2.5 miles from my house, I can sometimes hear those trains in the winter & absolutely NEVER in the summer, care to guess why? Trees/leaves absorb sound.

You're giving bad advice to any growers who think that those drones are not going to catch some of them. They may not catch all the growers but they will catch some and that's all that counts here. That plus they'll use those drones to locate grows not just growers, the threat is real and should be treated as such.

Don't be thumbing your nose at technology, it'll bite ya in the ass one day.
Technology allows law enforcement to see through solid walls these days, no they can't read the newspaper sitting on your table but sure as shit they can see those grow lights hanging in the back bedroom.

If it's touted as being silent then it is, believe it until you can prove otherwise.

 

[Racefan]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Let's keep it civil and light here. Not sure if you meant it that way but your post comes off a little harsh. There are all sorts of ways to say things and respect goes a long way. We are also all allowed to think and say our own opinions and are allowed to believe who and what we want. Boss is a "very" respected staff member here and gives great grow advice. If he thinks these are loud then he's allowed to think that. The only way to prove otherwise to him is for him to actually see and hear one of these machines. My opinion or even yours isn't going to change his mind in any way.

Unfortunately I think I will be hearing and seeing one of these as soon as they bring them out. I live right next to tons of BLM land (hooks up to my 4.5 acres) and have to deal with helicopters all the time as it is. I found that they will leave a grower alone if the plant count is small and obviously personal. Plus I have my recommendation laminated and wire tied to stakes around my outdoor plants. They are even visible from the air. They might not be able to read them but they can see the notices fluttering.
Anyway...until I or anyone else hears one personally we are all going to have to civilly agree to disagree with each others personal opinions and beliefs.lol
I just watched the video. Scary Scary Scary! 3 lbs and totally silent at only 21 feet above the subject. Even if this has been exagerated by 300% it's scary. That would be silent at 63feet still.

 

[Boss]

Re: Forest Service Buys A Pair Of Flying Drones To Help Find Marijuana Growers In Cal

Ok you are all right. I give. Forget I studied aeronautical engineering and aerospace science in school. I guess technology has gotton so far ahead of me they have broken the laws of thermodynamics and physics.

Pick up a stick and swing it in your hands. Hear that? That's what you cannot avoid. Physics.

Cinz, as for sound, you are gonna have to read. I can't go through basic science on the boards to explain why the effect you explain happens, and why it is different on the ground and in the air, or what doppler effects are.

I don't think I ever said "Don't worry they can't catch you with these."

They will catch 1/2 of them becuase they missed out of some basic science and physics classes.

RF is right, until we see for ourselves, we will be hard pressed to prove anything one way or the other.