In recent years, California's marijuana industry has undergone a radical change from the time when North Coast hippies tended their backyard gardens in Frye boots and drove their VW vans down to San Francisco to unload their stash. Today, the pot gardens have moved south and tend to be larger than ever. Last year, a farm in San Benito County yielded 53,000 plants. Another major change is that many of the biggest farms are being operated by Mexican drug gangs who set up camp deep in remote corners of national forest land. The increasingly high stakes involved were demonstrated with deadly results on Aug. 24, when a Mexican citizen was shot and killed while defending a pot farm in Madera County.
Some people debate the usefulness of the drug war.
Barna is not one of those. Outside, her crew was making ready for the next morning's assault in the Santa Ynez range. Partly, it's because the men and women of CAMP have nicknames for everything. Then they come alive. Barna is a mother of three whose gift of chat conceals a fierce drive, which she comes by naturally.