There's someone else out in the woods

It's hard to believe that Mexican drug cartels have invaded our neck of the woods to grow marijuana, but that's what authorities believe is happening.

Tending to 40,000 plants in the Alpine County wilderness does not sound like a weekend project for a couple of slackers.

According to the Alpine County Sheriff's Office, the plants were cultivated in neat rows and cared for by people living at the scene.

Alpine is California's least populated county with fewer than 1,100 people. We agree that it seems unlikely that the residents have established a $30 million pot farm.

That sounds like major agribusiness, and there's not that many outfits that can conduct illicit business at that level, so the cartels seem like a good bet.

We figure that the folks who are running these grows are pretty happy to avoid detection or confrontation, and there's no sign that anyone has been harmed.

Campers, hikers and hunters need to maintain a level of awareness about their surroundings when out in the wilderness, anyway.

Now, besides having to watch out for threats of the four-legged variety, they may have to be a bit more wary of strangers, which probably isn't a bad idea in any case.