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Armageddon
Mar. 26th, 2010 06:17 pmAround here there is talk of a financial Armageddon. Forget health care reform, I'm talking about the legalization of pot, ganja, and other names I'm not hip enough to know about.
There used to be a reason why there were communities in this area, 350 miles from anywhere else by unreliable roads. In the south of the U.S. and probably east too, a rich stand of virgin timber had about 10,000 board feet per acre. In contrast, the average stand of redwood upon an acre in Mendocino county gave 44,000 board feet per acre. In Humboldt, one single acre yielded an average of 84,000 board feet of straight, knot-free, all but rot-proof wood. But, hey, all that ended a generation ago and the peak was over long before that. Anyone who's read the Lorax knows why.
Why this is not a ghost town: Charity from wealthier areas. The county government is the largest local employer (shows you something really odd is going on right there), and two-thirds of the county budget and operations are mandated and funded by the state and federal governments to the tune of $65 million dollars a year; there is also a State University campus and a community college. The other reason would be pot, which some estimate brings in $100 million. If the bottom falls out of the marijuana market with legalization, it could conceivably take everything I own with it. At least it would be a groove-tastic way to go.
There used to be a reason why there were communities in this area, 350 miles from anywhere else by unreliable roads. In the south of the U.S. and probably east too, a rich stand of virgin timber had about 10,000 board feet per acre. In contrast, the average stand of redwood upon an acre in Mendocino county gave 44,000 board feet per acre. In Humboldt, one single acre yielded an average of 84,000 board feet of straight, knot-free, all but rot-proof wood. But, hey, all that ended a generation ago and the peak was over long before that. Anyone who's read the Lorax knows why.
Why this is not a ghost town: Charity from wealthier areas. The county government is the largest local employer (shows you something really odd is going on right there), and two-thirds of the county budget and operations are mandated and funded by the state and federal governments to the tune of $65 million dollars a year; there is also a State University campus and a community college. The other reason would be pot, which some estimate brings in $100 million. If the bottom falls out of the marijuana market with legalization, it could conceivably take everything I own with it. At least it would be a groove-tastic way to go.
