Trouble with California

[pitch]

Ag. Check points;we all know understand and tolerate them,never a problem.
Couple of weeks ago we were heade to redwood. National forest from Grants Pas Oregon.
Ag check ahead, ok I fall into line with everyone else,multiple lanes,cars trucks,other rv,s. Everyone pauses about thirty seconds and moves on. Normal right?
My turn, she looks at my NY tags,Have you any fresh fruits or vegetables on board?"
"No we Don,t"
"w
When was the last time this vehicle was in Ny?"
"About 8or9weeks ago."

She then grabs a flashlight and inspection miror and gives the undercarriage of both truck and trailer a thorough going over. She then does a second tour inspecting the roof area.
I was quite surprised,but oh well not an imposition.
"I would like to inspect the interior"

"Not with out a warrant"
"Sir Weare trying to protect our agricultural resources"

"I understand that,bbut you are not entering my trailer without a warrant !"

She gave me a look that could kill,and entered her both and made a phone call.

Minute is so later she comes out,shoves a handful of invasive critter literature into my hand and said,"move on"

Has anyone else been subjected to such nonsense,or did this inspector just have a bone for New Yorkers?

[covered_wagon]

Alan_Hepburn wrote:
You certainly have the right to refuse a search, but then they also have the right to tell you to turn around and go back the way you came...

Yes and a poor attitude can be reported in a database.

I let them search my whole camper, gave them the keys. When done I was polite and said thank you for what you do.:)

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

goducks10 wrote:


What has got me riled a few times is the Invasive Water Species check points. We sometime pack out kayaks on trips. They don't have any enclosed areas. Just a big open plastic shell.
There's checkpoints at rest areas and you're required to stop.
It could be twice in one day in the same state.
Really annoying especially when you don't plan on using the kayaks in that state. And if you do you still have to get inspected at the lake even after two inspections prior in the same state.

I too am a kayaker. Unless you have rinsed and towel-dried your kayaks, you could still be transporting invasive species larvae in some splash water or mud; or even the smallest shred of something like Eurasian Milfoil or Starry Stonewort can be carried into a lake, where it grows into a mess that will cost hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to control. Many kayaks (especially the cheaper ones) do NOT drain completely, there's often a lip around the cockpit that retains a little water - and that's all it takes to spread AIS (aquatic invasive species)

[JRscooby]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Pull up with your sunglasses OFF! Look them in the eye, let them speak FIRST. The I-5 SB inspection station coming from Oregon will ask if you have and fruit, now you can answer by clearly stating what fruit you have and where it was purchased.

NEVER an issue.

Sunglasses off? If I don't have glasses on my face my DL is not valid. Fumbling around trying to change them does not sound like a safe way to approach a paranoid with a gun.

[suprz]

Acampingwewillgo wrote:
Just for kicks, and I don't know if this is still done or not but a number of years ago while traveling the New cross-over at Hoover Dam, there was a check-point. Not border patrol or Ag inspection but one that required all RV's to stop and open up your compartments( can't recall if they also entered the RV)…. it was a no brainer but I suppose that if you refused, you would not be allowed to cross.

We were just there last month, cute little blonde girl with a glock, asked if they (another girl, and a guy) could search the RV. I said OK, then she asked if we had any weapons onboard and I replied YES.. She looked concerned and told me I could not proceed and had to go around and not over the dam

[larry_barnhart]

My dark glasses always came of at the fruit inspection but maybe never have to do that again. Not a route we take anymore for good reasons.

chevman

[Cummins12V98]

jfkmk wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Pull up with your sunglasses OFF! Look them in the eye, let them speak FIRST.

Oh good grief. What, the fruit police are now the gestapo?

Do what you want but excellent advice for international border crossings, immigrant checkpoints and yes fruit stops.

[WVcampground]

4x4van wrote:

WVcampground wrote:


A visual inspection for such things on a watercraft is a total joke and waste of time. It's nothing more than a Government sponsored feel good measure like a firewood quarantine.

You might feel different about that firewood thing if you saw the millions of dead trees in the forests of CA due to the drought taking a toll on trees that were weakened by Bark Beetles. And watercraft & boats? They only check to make sure that the drain plug is removed so that any Quagga Mussells (go ahead, look them up) will dry out and die before being transferred to another fresh water body.

Amazes me how adamant some can be about their "rights" to not be subject to a 1 minute delay in an effort to prevent major problems down the road.

I won't. Because a Pine Beetle, or what your calling a bark beetle, is not an invasive species, it's native. Its current explosion is due to forest mismanagement. A single female mussel releases up to a million eggs per year that are transferred by birds from one body or water to another.

[4x4van]

WVcampground wrote:


A visual inspection for such things on a watercraft is a total joke and waste of time. It's nothing more than a Government sponsored feel good measure like a firewood quarantine.

You might feel different about that firewood thing if you saw the millions of dead trees in the forests of CA due to the drought taking a toll on trees that were weakened by Bark Beetles. And watercraft & boats? They only check to make sure that the drain plug is removed so that any Quagga Mussells (go ahead, look them up) will dry out and die before being transferred to another fresh water body.

Amazes me how adamant some can be about their "rights" to not be subject to a 1 minute delay in an effort to prevent major problems down the road.

[jfkmk]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Pull up with your sunglasses OFF! Look them in the eye, let them speak FIRST.

Oh good grief. What, the fruit police are now the gestapo?

[discovery4us]

Every time we go through the AG inspection and they ask if I have any fruits or nuts aboard I always have the same response, "Just the wife!".

The AG inspectors always chuckle and smile but for some odd reason the DW doesn't find the same humor in it.

[ppine]

I travel with a boat sometimes out of state. It is totallly reasonable to inspect boats for non-native species. That is how we protect water bodies. I don't mind spending $10. On the other hand it costs $85 to inspect my boat to use it at Lake Tahoe. That is each time unless I only use it at the Lake. It is 30 mintues from my house and I never go there.

[WVcampground]

goducks10 wrote:


What has got me riled a few times is the Invasive Water Species check points. We sometime pack out kayaks on trips. They don't have any enclosed areas. Just a big open plastic shell.
There's checkpoints at rest areas and you're required to stop.
It could be twice in one day in the same state.
Really annoying especially when you don't plan on using the kayaks in that state. And if you do you still have to get inspected at the lake even after two inspections prior in the same state.

A visual inspection for such things on a watercraft is a total joke and waste of time. It's nothing more than a Government sponsored feel good measure like a firewood quarantine.

I have yet to see them inspect the feet or feathers of migrating Canadian or Snow Geese looking for a single living cell of Rock Snot or Golden Alga, you know, those millions of honkers that honk their way from lake to lake, stream to stream every year Spring and Fall. I also have never seen a Fish and Game guy take a stool sample from one looking for fertilized eggs from Snakeheads or Quagga Mussels, but maybe they do.

[Cummins12V98]

Pull up with your sunglasses OFF! Look them in the eye, let them speak FIRST. The I-5 SB inspection station coming from Oregon will ask if you have and fruit, now you can answer by clearly stating what fruit you have and where it was purchased.

NEVER an issue.

[Yosemite_Sam1]

RICK-ards Red wrote:

romore wrote:
I wonder if I would be arrested and deported for that. We got searched once at the international border, cost us a tomato.

Same here 🙂

Show an attitude and you'll get a $250 fine.

Have a tantrum, and yeah, that's deportation.

[Yosemite_Sam1]

ppine wrote:
This thread is demoralizing.
People need to understand the intent of ag inspection stations and why they are important.

Exactly! And think their feelings is above the livelihood of millions of Californian farmers.