MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. - Authorities in Mono County seized more than 26,000 marijuana plants on federal land in the eastern Sierra Nevada recently.
The Sheriff's Department says a federal and local task force seized some 26,300 plants on U.S. Forest Service land in the Glass Mountains and Wildrose Canyon since Monday. The plants had a potential street value of nearly $79 million.
No one was arrested. Authorities say it appeared the pot farms had been abandoned, possibly because of fires in the area or discovery by hikers.
Marijuana production thrives in California's remote regions.
Shasta County sheriff's officials this week reported seizing a record number of pot plants this year - nearly a half-million.
On Thursday, 2,475 marijuana plants with a potential street value of about
$3.7 million were destroyed by Nevada state drug officers in a remote location in Esmeralda County.
The most recent marijuana operation was located four miles from the location of another operation destroyed in August 2008.
No arrests have been made.