Submitted photo 

On Aug. 17, at about 10:30 a.m., a local rancher called dispatch to report that they found seven backpacks of marijuana while gathering cattle on a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) allotment in a remote area of Steens Mountain. The sheriff’s office and BLM law enforcement were guided to the location by the rancher. The backpacks were “stashed” under low-hanging juniper tree branches and concealed by brush. The condition of the backpacks indicated that they were there at least through the winter, possibly longer. The backpacks were seized and taken to the Harney County Sheriff’s Office. Each backpack contained several individual bags of marijuana. The total weight of the marijuana was approximately 44 pounds.