Thursday, January 3. 2008
Cactus Cops
They need them in Phoenix. The newspaper tells you what they do.
Now you know. Are you interested?
Two people with a truck can uproot a saguaro in 20 minutes and sell it for $55 to $75 a foot to a homeowner who thinks planting a cactus shows a love of the desert. These criminals enrich themselves at the expense of our natural environment.
There ought to be a law.
There is. Poaching a protected native plant is a misdemeanor that can carry a fine of up to $1,500. But so many people disregarded native-plant protections that back in the 1980s, the state Department of Agriculture hired seven law-enforcement officers and trained them to track down cactus thieves and monitor sales in nurseries and other places.
Those are the cactus cops?
Right. And they caught 90 to 100 cactus thieves per year for a while.
That's great!
Sure, but it is yesterday's news. Today, there are only two cactus cops in the state, and they managed to nail only about 20 cactus thieves in 2006.
There ought to be a law.
There is. Poaching a protected native plant is a misdemeanor that can carry a fine of up to $1,500. But so many people disregarded native-plant protections that back in the 1980s, the state Department of Agriculture hired seven law-enforcement officers and trained them to track down cactus thieves and monitor sales in nurseries and other places.
Those are the cactus cops?
Right. And they caught 90 to 100 cactus thieves per year for a while.
That's great!
Sure, but it is yesterday's news. Today, there are only two cactus cops in the state, and they managed to nail only about 20 cactus thieves in 2006.
Now you know. Are you interested?
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