Illegal marijuana cultivation on California public lands has become an increasingly significant problem affecting natural resources and public safety. The major perpetrators are Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations exploiting California’s abundant resources and lucrative markets for illegal marijuana. Cultivators degrade some of the few natural places left by altering land, diverting water, applying chemicals, and inhabiting sites for long periods of time. In order to reduce the long-term impacts, clean up and remediation efforts are conducted, but remain hindered by high costs, understaffing, and the remoteness of sites. Environmental remediation depends on the ability of law enforcement agencies to identify and seize sites. As the issue has become increasingly prominent, law enforcement agencies have adapted their efforts, but have only had a limited effect. In order to solve the problems that illegal marijuana production creates, cultivators must be prevented from exploiting public lands, and/or the incentive for doing so must be removed. These objectives can be reached through the right combination of education, law enforcement strategies, and public policy change.

Over the past three decades, carsharing has grown from a collection of local grassroots organizations into a worldwide industry. Traditional carsharing, though expanding, has a limited network of vehicles and locations. The next generation of shared-use vehicle services could overcome such expansion barriers as capital costs and land use by incorporating new concepts like personal vehicle sharing.

Personal vehicle sharing provides short-term access to privately-owned vehicles. As of May 2012, there were 33 personal vehicle sharing operators worldwide, with 10 active or in pilot phase, three planned, and four defunct in North America. Due to operator non-disclosure, personal vehicle sharing member numbers are currently unknown. The authors investigated personal vehicle sharing in North America by conducting 34 expert interviews. This research explores the development of personal vehicle sharing including business models, market opportunities, and service barriers to assess its early viability as a sustainable transportation mode and to provide a foundation for future research on the topic. Personal vehicle sharing has the potential to impact the transportation sector by increasing the availability and interconnectivity among modes and providing greater alternatives to vehicle ownership in more geographic locations.