Salmon River Drug Industry: The Trial of Daniel Webster
By John Martinez, Pioneer Press
May 26, 2004

Pioneer Press Special Opinion

The following two-part article is what the Pioneer Press, Barry Clausen and John Martinez were drafting when the Siskiyou County Sheriff Department raided the Alderbrook Manor and seized a Pioneer Press computer. As it now is public record, it appears that Felice Pace, Michael and Gabriel Sherry, Mark Hash and local law enforcement officers may have conspired to set up Webster to discredit the Pioneer Press and eliminate his newspaper's influence. As electronic data will clearly demonstrate for history's sake, the following articles were in the making at the time the district attorney charges were brought against Webster.

The California Highway Patrol Northern Division command structure was accidentally, inadvertently audio taped by a private citizen discussing aspects of the following articles appearing in the Pioneer Press and Los Angeles Times. Given the demeanor of the CHP representatives, as they demanded to know the name of the reporter at the LA Times that exposes police corruption, it is unnerving to think high level state law enforcement officials may have played a role in silencing the press. As you will see, law enforcement and major drug dealers were aware articles exposing the regional drug trade and corrupt practices were about to be published in the Pioneer Press.

The elements necessary for a conspiracy to work were all present. Why would law enforcement want to set up and discredit a newspaper publisher that was drafting articles exposing the regional drug trade and its relationship and linkages to Tribes, Mexicans operating out of Sinaloa, Mexico, Asian gangs and major environmentalists?

Felice Pace's relationship to the following article and as a potential conspirator to frame Webster is simple. The large marijuana growers on the Salmon River constitute Pace's closest associates and many constitute boards of both the Salmon River Restoration Council and the Klamath Forest Alliance. According to an informant, "Pace is the one with the connections to the very big players" that facilitate major drug movements. A young Gabe Sherry idolizes Pace and the Black Bear Commune lifestyle. Mark Hash, according to his own "on the record" statements to both the Pioneer Press and independent investigative journalists, was a marijuana "runner" for Pace's closest associates on the Salmon River. Hash and Sherry have both admitted to purchasing marijuana from Pace's Salmon River associates and a Pioneer Press source claims that Michael Sherry admitted that Hash compensated him with marijuana for his employment at Hash Communications, a local Pegasus Satellite dealership. The people employing Hash to "run" dope out of the forest have undeniable links to the Mexican Mafia, Tribes and environmentalist groups.

The authors of this article have patiently waited for the close of Webster's trial to publish this information. The persecution of Publisher Webster is not over yet, as State Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office is re-filing charges against Webster that were 10-2 and 11-1 in favor of "not guilty" in a recent trial. Given the onerous presence of law enforcement officials intimidating witnesses, coercing testimony and tampering with witnesses, we are waiting no longer and going to print.

Background

The Salmon River is widely known as a major source of narcotics production, especially marijuana. The Salmon River's geographic isolation, rugged mountainous terrain, proximity to Humboldt County, remote access to the northern slope of the Trinity Alps and its dire economic circumstances constitute an ideal platform for major narcotic's interests.

The Salmon River marijuana trade is anything but unorganized. The Salmon River represents an entrenched interest in the broader burgeoning regional narcotics trade. From several years of study, numerous interviews and covert surveillance, the Pioneer Press and independent investigative journalists have uncovered and identified a central organizing group that controls the Salmon River and Orleans area marijuana trade - The Salmon River Marijuana Growers Association (SRMG).

SRMG's philosophical roots date back to the 1960s Haight-Ashbury era. East Coast radicals launched SRMG's organizational structure in 1974. Today, SRMG represents a vertically integrated drug trafficking organization with influence going as far as Washington, D.C. The founding members of the SRMG have a single connection - Black Bear Commune located in the Salmon Mountains. Heavily armed leftist revolutionaries were a dominant force at the Black Bear in the late 1960s. Their goal: to overthrow the U.S. government by force of arms. Black Bear served a dual purpose: A small arms training facility for left wing anarchists; and as a refuge to hide leftist leadership cadres.

The radical elements of the 60s and 70s and the organizations that were created are still with us today.

The anti-war and then budding anti-government environmental movement inspired SRMG. The Salmon River Marijuana Grower's Association's (SRMG) growth from the mid-70s to present, suggests that the organization used the drug trade to finance and structure an underground movement - an ideological movement or cause spawned by the turbulent Vietnam anti-war era.

Barry Clausen and Daniel Webster contributed to this article.

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