The CROP Project (Cannabis Removal on Public Lands), addresses one of the cannabis marketplace’s most damaging environmental legacies: illicit cultivation on federal and other public lands. Since 2018, the project has worked to expose the ecological and public-safety consequences of trespass grows and build support to remove them and restore damaged landscapes.
These sites can leave impacts long after the plants are gone. Illicit cultivation may involve banned pesticides, diverted waterways, contaminated soil, abandoned irrigation systems, trash, and other hazardous materials. Wildlife can be poisoned, waterways disrupted, and public access restricted. Tribal communities can also lose access to traditional gathering areas when public lands become unsafe or environmentally degraded.
CROP has worked to raise public awareness of these harms through congressional briefings, education, and national media coverage, including reporting by NBC, NPR, The Atlantic, the Today Show, and the Associated Press. That outreach has helped move the issue beyond the narrow frame of illegal cultivation and toward a larger discussion about environmental restoration, public safety, and responsible cannabis policy.
The project also draws a connection between illicit cultivation and the regulated cannabis market. Licensed growers are expected to comply with environmental, labor, and product-safety requirements, while trespass grows can evade those protections entirely. Contaminated cannabis from illicit sites can also enter broader markets, creating risks that extend beyond the damaged land itself.
Importantly, CROP’s work does not end with enforcement. The project highlights restoration efforts involving licensed cultivators, Tribal communities, public agencies, and organizations such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. That emphasis recognizes that removing an illegal grow is only the beginning; ecosystems may require sustained remediation before they can recover.
CROP Project embodies the Green Standard Award by confronting the environmental damage associated with illicit cannabis cultivation and by advancing restoration as part of cannabis responsibility. Its work shows that sustainability is not only about improving how cannabis is produced today, but also repairing the damage left behind by unsafe cultivation practices.
Website: https://cropproject.org
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