Marijuana in National Forests Is Cut by 60%

WASHINGTON — Federal agents eradicated roughly 60% of the marijuana grown in national forests during 1988, while sharply increasing the number of cultivation arrests and plant seizures, a Forest Service official said Friday.

Physical assaults against agents and the public in cases related to marijuana growing were down, but the number of booby-trapped sites was up, agency figures showed.

Forest Service official Ed Few said the estimated street value of the plants seized in 1988 was more than $1.2 billion. He said the agency’s estimates are based on intelligence from field agents and surveys of marijuana plantations harvested before being detected.