Cannabis Watershed Protection Program

The Cannabis Watershed Protection Program is a multidisciplinary team dedicated to restoring watersheds affected by cannabis cultivation. State Parks created the program in 2019 with funding from Proposition 64 (The Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act), to repair the damages done by decades of illegal growing activities throughout California State Parks. Unique to California, this multifaceted team brings a holistic approach to the complex work of protecting parks from cannabis and restoring degraded watersheds back to their natural state.

 

The Cannabis Watershed Protection Program Vision

Cannabis-impacted watersheds are operated and stewarded to:

• restore and adaptively manage ecosystem functions;
• protect and interpret natural and cultural resources;
• ensure improved public access is safe and enriching;
• and discourage, quickly identify, remediate, and prevent incompatible activities.

Given the challenges of accessing cultivation sites hidden in remote areas of parks, growers often return to the same watershed year after year, causing tremendous environmental damage from clearing the land, diverting water from its natural course, and using highly toxic herbicides and pesticides that kill native plants and wildlife. With funding available from Proposition 64 tax revenue, State Parks is able to address large scale protection of natural and cultural resources in watershed impacts by illegal cannabis cultivation. To learn more about recent projects, click the button below:

 

• 2021 Sonoma Coast State Park
• 2020 Robert Louis Stevenson & Sugarloaf State Parks
• 2016 Humboldt Redwoods State Park

What should I do if I see suspicious cannabis-related activity in a State Park?

• Your safe exit is our first priority: quietly leave the site as quickly as possible.
• If you are safely able to use a mobile phone to record your GPS location and/or take a photo, that could help State Parks Peace Officers locate the area of concern.
• When it is safe to do so, contact a State Parks staff member to report your observations, and/or email watershed@parks.ca.gov to contact the Cannabis Watershed Protection Program's Special Enforcement Team

For current job opportunities, visit parks.ca.gov/jobs

Contact us: watershed@parks.ca.gov