Volunteer Assisted Authorities In Cleaning Up Marijuana Grow Sites

The director of the High Sierra Trail Crew in California was fatally injured last Thursday when he fell 50 feet from a hovering helicopter while being lowered to a marijuana grow site he was going to help clean up.

Shane Krogen of Fresno, CA was being lowered to the site in a harness that had been used to lower others in the cleanup detail to the ground. Lt. Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said that "everyone else had used it too," and it was not clear why Krogen had fallen.

The aircraft belongs to the CA National Guard 129th Air Rescue Wing.

According to the Associated Press, Krogen and some others in the High Sierra Trail Crew had been trained by the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the military to be airlifted into areas to clean up trash and other detritus at such remote marijuana grow sites. The weather reportedly was good at the time of the accident.

Foy said that Krogen was reportedly alive when he was hoisted back up into the helicopter on a stretcher and transported to a trauma center at a nearby hospital.

“Shane’s dedication to California’s natural resources was extraordinary,” said CDFW Assistant Chief John Baker in a news release. “He and his crew have worked tirelessly for several years to maintain access to the high Sierra for all Californians.”

Krogen had received the U.S. Forest Service's Regional Forester's Volunteer of the Year award in 2012, and the Chief's award in 2011.

FMI: www.dfg.ca.gov