With all the news that is out there, why carry this nothing story?
The only reasion I can think of is because it is pushing that environment agenda again, and because the affected group is a bunch of richers.
Nothing about the fires, huh, BG?
"Calif. city faced with prickly problem of thieves swiping expensive cactuses" by David Kelly, Los Angeles Times | August 17, 2008
PALM DESERT, Calif. - Someone is swiping the cactuses in this upscale desert city.
Over the past six months, there has been an epidemic of thefts. City officials say they have lost nearly $20,000 worth of cactuses. The main target is the golden barrel, which, depending on the size, can fetch $100 to $800 each.
The article never tells you why anyone would want them.
Who would pay $800 for a cactus?
The problem is so bad that surveillance cameras have gone up near large concentrations of the cactuses and authorities expect to implant microchips into the barrels soon.
(Blog author just shaking his head at the rank totalitarianism; gonna microchip PLANTS, too, huh?)
"Each microchip has a scannable bar code that tells who owns it," Police Lieutenant Frank Taylor said. "The odds are that we won't microchip every plant, but it will have a deterrent effect."
A few years ago, this city of golf resorts and retirees began shedding its lush grass and artificial turf for a landscape more in keeping with its austere, sun-blasted environment.
Out went the phony greenery and over-watered lawns. In came sand, succulents, cactuses and other hot weather plants. Median strips around town and public spaces soon were studded with spiny, twisted flora.
"The city decided to stop apologizing for the desert and said, 'We live in the desert; it is what it is,' " city landscape manager Spencer Knight said.
But with the transformation nearly complete, the thefts began. The city's visitor center lost 50 cactuses in one night, and criminals have hit private property as well.
"They have a very shallow root system and can be popped out pretty easily," Taylor said of the cactuses. "People have been digging them up in broad daylight."
Outside the visitor center in Palm Desert, city landscape inspector Brad Chuck looked over a collection of golden barrels that had been stolen, recovered, and replanted.
"I can't believe they are still here," he said, a surveillance camera above him trained on the area. "These are probably worth $150 or $200 each. I think the economy is driving a lot of this. If it isn't nailed down, they are going to take it."
There isn't going to be a pebble that isn't under surveillance in AmeriKa's police state.
Bet you they will have a camera built in to the toilets soon!
Chuck said the thefts began increasing last year. Agaves and Mexican fan palms also have been taken. He said thieves sometimes dress like city workers to steal plants in the middle of the day.
"I think there is a demand for them," he said. "We are trying to be in the forefront of water-wise planting and are cutting down on our lush vegetation. A lot of people are getting away from lawns and turf in favor of desert landscaping. A golden barrel 3 or 4 feet across is worth $4,500 or more. You pay by the inch."
In some cases, entire median strips have been picked clean. Knight said the city wants a more natural, eco-friendly environment. It initially imported plants from the Sonoran Desert, such as saguaros, but the Coachella Valley is too dry to sustain them.
Translation: They bit on the LIE, too!
Eventually, the city turned to native plants and those capable of surviving baking summers - oleander and lantana, for example.
"There has always been plant theft, but now it has escalated," Knight said. "It has increased because a landscaper has a job to do, and with the slowdown in the economy he may look for cheaper prices. I have heard that some of these [thieves] sell plants on street corners now."
Cactus, cactus, get your cactus here!!!
??
Still, there are no plans to return to the water-guzzling greenery of yesteryear. "Generations of people have gotten used to fake turf," he said. "But we think we are way ahead of the curve on this."
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