Pioneer Press
Fort Jones, CA
May 19, 2004
Page A1, Column 6

Salmon River Drug Industry
posted to KBC 5/24/04

. The trial of Daniel Webster ? a case for federal oversight
By John Martinez
Pioneer Press Special Opinion
The following two-part article is what the Pioneer Press, Barry Clausen
and John Martinez were drafting when the Siskiyou County Sheriff
Department raided the Alderbrook Manor and seized a Pioneer Press
computer.  As it now is public record, it appears that Felice Pace,
Michael and Gabriel Sherry, Mark Hash and local law enforcement officers
may have conspired to set up Webster to discredit the Pioneer Press and
eliminate his newspaper's influence.  As electronic data will clearly
demonstrate for history's sake, the following articles were in the
making at the time the district attorney charges were brought against
Webster.
The California Highway Patrol Northern Division command structure was
accidentally, inadvertently audio taped by a private citizen discussing
aspects of the following articles appearing in the Pioneer Press and Los
Angeles Times. Given the demeanor of the CHP representatives, as they
demanded to know the name of the reporter at the LA Times that exposes
police corruption, it is unnerving to think high level state law
enforcement officials may have played a role in silencing the press.  As
you will see, law enforcement and major drug dealers were aware articles
exposing the regional drug trade and corrupt practices were about to be
published in the Pioneer Press.
The elements necessary for a conspiracy to work were all present.  Why
would law enforcement want to set up and discredit a newspaper publisher
that was drafting articles exposing the regional drug trade and its
relationship and linkages to Tribes, Mexicans operating out of Sinaloa,
Mexico, Asian gangs and major environmentalists?
Felice Pace's relationship to the following article and as a potential
conspirator to frame Webster is simple.  The large marijuana growers on
the Salmon River constitute Pace's closest associates and many
constitute boards of both the Salmon River Restoration Council and the
Klamath Forest Alliance.  According to an informant, "Pace is the one
with the connections to the very big players" that facilitate major drug
movements.  A young Gabe Sherry  idolizes Pace and the Black Bear
Commune lifestyle.  Mark Hash, according to his own "on the record"
statements to both the Pioneer Press and independent investigative
journalists, was a marijuana "runner" for Pace's closest associates on
the Salmon River.  Hash and Sherry have both admitted to purchasing
marijuana from Pace's Salmon River associates and a Pioneer Press source
claims that Michael Sherry admitted that Hash compensated him with
marijuana for his employment at Hash Communications, a local Pegasus
Satellite dealership. The people employing Hash to "run" dope out of the
forest have undeniable links to the Mexican Mafia, Tribes and
environmentalist groups.
The authors of this article have patiently waited for the close of
Webster's trial to publish this information. The persecution of
Publisher Webster is not over yet, as State Attorney General Bill
Lockyer's office is re-filing charges against Webster that were 10-2 and
11-1 in favor of "not guilty" in a recent trial.  Given the onerous
presence of law enforcement officials intimidating witnesses, coercing
testimony and tampering with witnesses, we are waiting no longer and
going to print.

Background
The Salmon River is widely known as a major source of narcotics
production, especially marijuana. The Salmon River's geographic
isolation, rugged mountainous terrain, proximity to Humboldt County,
remote access to the northern slope of the Trinity Alps  and its dire
economic circumstances constitute an ideal platform for major narcotic's
interests.
The Salmon River marijuana trade is anything but unorganized.  The
Salmon River represents an entrenched interest in the broader burgeoning
regional narcotics trade.  From several years of study, numerous
interviews and covert surveillance, the Pioneer Press and independent
investigative journalists have uncovered and identified a central
organizing group that controls the Salmon River and Orleans area
marijuana trade ? The Salmon River Marijuana Growers Association (SRMG).

SRMG's philosophical roots date back to the 1960s Haight-Ashbury era.
East Coast radicals launched SRMG's organizational structure in 1974.
Today, SRMG represents a vertically integrated drug trafficking
organization with influence going as far as Washington, D.C.  The
founding members of the SRMG have a single connection ? Black Bear
Commune located in the Salmon Mountains.  Heavily armed leftist
revolutionaries were a dominant force at the Black Bear in the late
1960s.  Their goal: to overthrow the U.S. government by force of arms.
Black Bear served a dual purpose: A small arms training facility for
left wing anarchists; and as a refuge to hide leftist leadership cadres.

The radical elements of the 60s and 70s and the organizations that were
created are still with us today.
The anti-war and then budding anti-government environmental movement
inspired SRMG. The Salmon River Marijuana Grower's Association's (SRMG)
growth from the mid-70s to present, suggests that the organization used
the drug trade to finance and structure an underground movement ? an
ideological movement or cause spawned by the turbulent Vietnam anti-war
era.

Barry Clausen and Daniel Webster contributed to this article.