In California, as in the rest of the nation, a County Sheriff (the elected official) is responsible for law enforcement within their County. This is true regardless of whether the crime or other threat to life or safety occurs within a National Forest or Park.

FYI: Here is the official list of Sheriff responsibilities in California: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/GOV/1/3/d2/3/2/1

This is why SAR operations, for instance, are the ultimate responsibility of the local County Sheriff's department(California Codes 26614-26615), regardless of whether the incident occurs with SEKI, Yosemite, or a National Forest. The Sheriff may, however, delegate the SAR OP to any other agency, but remains the reporting agency.

Dope farm cleanups are usually conducted by the local Sheriff...although the Sheriff may call upon other agencies for assistance. For example, several years ago an Army special forces unit, with their helicopter, was stationed at Bishop airport, for the purpose of searching for m.j. plantations. Any arrests made in the conduct of those operations were always done by the Sheriff's Department.

Last edited by Bob West; 07/23/13 06:52 PM.