Man falls out of helicopter in Calif. pot cleanup

[Jesus Malverde]

A California outdoorsman who led crews of volunteers through the Sierra Nevada mountains repairing trails and cleaning up marijuana grow sites has died after falling from a helicopter, authorities said.

Shane Krogen was being lowered in a harness to a remote cleanup site in Sequoia National Forest when he fell Thursday morning, said Lt. Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"He was the last one out. He was in a harness; everyone else had used it too," said Foy, who was at the scene but did not see the fall.

The helicopter was flown by the California National Guard 129th Air Rescue Wing.

Krogen was founder and executive director of the High Sierra Trail Crew, a group that has worked with the fish and wildlife agency since 2008 and U.S. Forest Service since 1995 to remove trash and contaminants from illegal and remote marijuana gardens.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Man-falls-out-of-helicopter-in-Calif-pot-cleanup-4812485.php

[Electric Monk]

1. Proof that weed kills!

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. Perfect dark humor.

Seriously. Funny and clever.

The guys death is tragic, to be sure, but a different career path may have been in order.

[malaise]

6. Killing weed kills

[Nine]

2. sad

hope they figure out what happened

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. I'm betting the answer to that is....

"He fell from a helicopter"

[Nine]

10. The article says he was in a harness, the same one everyone else used.

So I'm wondering whether the harness broke, wasn't fastened properly, or what.

[Duer 157099]

3. Another senseless death from the War on Drugs

Waste of time and lives

[Nine]

5. Did you read the article?

This was an environmental mission.

[Lochloosa]

9. I think the point was with legal pot there wouldn't be these sites to clean

[bluesbassman]

12. +1. Many of the illegal outdoor grows are environmental disasters.

Many are run by the cartels themselves and as little respect as they have for human life, they have less still for the environment. Little concern for erosion, improper water diversion, toxic chemical fertilizers. Bad news all around.

[Duer 157099]

13. Correct n/t

[Tikki]

8. That is very sad...I hope Mr. Krogen's family and friends know how important he was..

for our environment and appreciated for his good work. California is an amazingly beautiful State
and cleanup operations by volunteers are so very noble and important.

I hope there will be a monument in his name soon.


Tikki

[Agnosticsherbet]

11. An environmentalist died for what he fought for...

He is a patriot of earth.

[TeamPooka]

14. Prohibition is a failed public policy. nt

[frylock]

15. truly unfortunate and as others have pointed out, another casuality of the war on drugs..

I thank him for his work and wonder if I've ever hiked trails maintained by he and his crew.