I’m a tree lover but Chapel Hill has taken its protection mindset way too far. As JLF Local Government Analyst Michael Sanera and I discussed on Carolina Journal Radio recently, Chapel Hill has further tightened restrictions on cutting down trees. To make matters worse, there are several built-in conflicts with other Chapel Hill ordinances, as Sanera explains in the interview. Now comes a story about the Orange County Sheriff’s office discovering $1 million worth of marijuana plants. How did they find them? From the air, as part of the N.C. National Guard’s “aerial eradication effort.” Notice why, according to the News & Observer, the helicoper unit was able to see the illegal plants (emphasis is mine).
The flyover was conducted by an N.C. National Guard helicopter unit trained to spot the distinctly dark plants in areas cleared of trees.
The Sheriff’s Office normally conducts one or two flyovers a year. Although many plants were seized, there have been larger raids in recent years, a representative from the National Guard said.
