Brush Picking Responses - 12/28/10

Brush Picker Responses Received.  We have received a number of very thoughtful responses to the problem with brush pickers in the Illahee Preserve.  Our policy is not to use names unless specifically given permission, and to italicize information received from others.  We do not ordinarily edit, only report, so you can come to your own conclusions.  We do sometimes choose not to use emails for a variety of reasons, so if you send something in and it doesn't get put out in an Update, please let us know since we have lost emails, or we can explain our reasons.

I asked my friend ............ what I might say to a brush picker in the park. Her suggestion was "Es ilegal en el parque". It's illegal in the park. I went online and typed "Picking brush is illegal in the park" and the translation was, "Picking cepillo es ilegal en el parque". .................................... She is from Honduras and has friends who pick brush legally. She suggested posting signs and I think that would be a great start. I would even like smaller versions that people could carry with them to show the pickers. I'm sure the signs wouldn't stay up but I'd be happy to help pay for them. I don't want to be confrontational but I do want them to know we are serious. I'm also concerned that if several of us spend some time patrolling the area, they will come back at night.  I look forward to hearing what others suggest.

how about signs periodically stating in spanish "brushpicking prohibited" violaters will be procecucted by the Kitsap  County Sheriff and/or ICE

In Seattle they spray the urban plants near the convention place bus tunnel so they stink and keep the bums from bedding down in them. I walk by this every day while on my way to work. It may simply be a fertilizer they are using, but the smell is quite disagreeable. You might want to contact them to see what they spray on it.  Stinky shrubs probably won't be very attractive to these people. What do they do with this stuff anyway? I don't get it.

My two cents:  If this is a crime in progress, the the proper thing to do is call 911 and get police assistance.  Preferably one should stay with the pickers until police arrive and make note if they leave -- what types of vehicles and license numbers.  Descriptions would also be helpful and cell-phone photos.  If the police choose to ignore this crime in progress, then we should have an issue there, but I believe that they would at least give a token response.

These pickers are just there for the money.  If their 'loot' is confiscated and fines (hopefully) imposed, then that should be enough to dissuade them from such activities -- at least in the Preserve.  Even just having a policeman show up frequently is usually enough to make it easier to find another place to pick.

 

Another solution might involve a telephone tree of responders to come and prevent the removal of the cuttings.  Confrontation, however, should be done with police support.  Keep the profit out of it and it will stop.

 

I don't have my Spanish dictionary handy, but maybe we could print a Spanish statement on the brochure which could be shown to any pickers.

I'm going to research among foresters how to take care of the brush
theives. I also recommend removing "standard Latin response," from
your emails, since this usage, while not intentionally racist, may be
perceived by some as belittling this individual for being
Spanish-speaking, rather than for his envirnomental crimes. Lord
knows, that there is alot of xenophobia directed toward immigrants at
this time, and it wont help our cause to be associate with this
political movement. Perhaps warning signs about vandalism and brush
theft should be bilingual, since it appears that some of the offenders
speak Spanish and not English. Are there members of our group that are
Spanish bilingual who might help with the confronting of these
perpetrators?

I would almost bet that the same folks that are stealing the brush are also stealing the signs for wood projects or fire wood.  These folks

are just barely getting by and live off the land as much as possible.  They just don't understand how we care about our forests and beaches.

They rape and pillage just like they did in their country of origin. ........ They really can't speak much Ingles.  There is no way to convince them that they

are doing wrong, because they just plain don't give a hoot.  The cops won't do anything to them, but if you cut their tires when they are in the

woods, they would work like mad to convict you if they could.  Other than intimidation, I can't think of anything that would work to get rid of

them.  I have jacked up the non Ingles speaking guys on the beach for taking too many oysters.  They just look at you with a stupid look and

shrug their shoulders, duh.  What are you going to do to them, they have no money and nothing else to lose.  The warden looks the other way.

 

Not a New Problem.  Brush pickers are not a new problem in the Illahee Preserve.  We have even encountered a buyer checking out the old growth area of the Preserve (off of Sunset).  He tried to tell us he had a contract with DNR and the Park's Department for brush picking.  While there may be some new brush pickers who are truly uniformed, this has not been our experience in the past.  We have had a bilingual member of the Stewardship Committee talk with Spanish speaking pickers and they have known that they are picking illegally.  They were using the language barrier and a convenient excuse.  We have had groups of unknown nationalities get dropped off early in the day and then later a van shows up and they all jump into it.  We have reportedly had someone at the end of Thompson Lane let brush pickers in when the gate was operational, now they just park along Thompson Lane.  We have also discovered stashes of brush, where they evidently wait until later in the evening to pick it up.  And there are more stories of following some to their residences.  Bottom line is the Preserve is 460 acres of forest and it is hard to keep all the illegal brush pickers out.  But on the positive side, we continue to make progress and with more  people reporting and caring about the Preserve, maybe we can make a significant dent in the problem this year.

Thank You For Responding So Quickly.  We had so many responses we decided to get these out before we loose track of them and will publish more responses if they come in.  We will also see how the Parks Department and the Sheriffs office want us to respond and will report that when we hear from them.

Jim Aho