Pot crops, campsite found in preserve — chicagotribune.com

n a Cook County forest preserve, about 200 yards from a highway commuters hum along every day, authorities uncovered an elaborate marijuana-growing operation, with 6-foot-tall plants nearly ready to harvest and campsites stocked with beer, canned food, insect repellent and, on one cot, a copy of High Times magazine.On Tuesday, as an Illinois National Guard helicopter circled above the Crabtree Nature Center Forest Preserve near northwest suburban Barrington, federal agents joined local police in chopping and burning as many as 30,000 marijuana plants found last month when a Forest Preserve District intern researching foxes encountered three men and an irrigation system.

Marijuana crops have been found on public land before, but nothing of this scale, said Richard Waszak, chief of the Cook County Forest Preserve police. Officials described the find as “one of the nation’s largest illegal cannabis cultivation schemes.”

Holy crap! We’ve been to that forest preserve – it’s not close, but within pretty easy reach.