PANUPS Action Alert: Tell the Forest Service Not to Spray the Stanislaus

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> PANUPS <panups

> PANUPS Action Alert: Tell the Forest

 

> Service Not to Spray the Stanislaus

> Tue, 10 Aug 2004 17:19:00 -0700

>

> ===========================================

> P A N U P S

> Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

> ===========================================

>

> Action Alert: Tell the Forest Service Not to Spray

> the Stanislaus

> August 10, 2004

>

> On July 13, 2004 the U.S. Forest Service announced

> plans for widespread aerial herbicide spraying in

> the Stanislaus National Forest, adjacent to the

> boundary of Yosemite National Park. Sign our

> petition and help us overturn the decision.

>

> Claiming to " reforest a burn area, " the Forest

> Service's massive herbicide treatments will kill

> back a healthy oak forest where pines and cedars are

> scattered amidst native wildflowers, brush, and

> groundcovers that have re-grown in the 17 years

> since the fire. The agency claims that reforestation

> will develop pine trees to benefit the California

> spotted owl and other old growth dependent wildlife,

> and will justify the destruction of food, shelter,

> nesting materials, birthing areas and over-winter

> cover for numerous species. The spraying will also

> pollute streams and creeks in a forest that is

> especially significant to the basket weavers and

> other members of the Me-Wuk Indians.

>

> " The Larson Fire burned in 1987, and the Forest

> Service never got around to reforesting the area,

> said John Buckley, of the Central Sierra

> Environmental Resource Center. " In the meantime,

> nature did the job, with literally thousands of

> oaks, dogwoods, alders, and maples now dominating

> the site. Now, the Forest Service wants to wipe out

> 17 years of recovery and put the area back to the

> point just after the fire, so they can plant row

> after row of ponderosa pines. "

>

> Of several forest management options under

> consideration for the Larson Burn, forest service

> officials elected to spray glyphosate herbicides by

> helicopter on nearly 1,200 acres, and apply both

> glyphosate and triclopyr in ground spray on another

> 4,000 acres. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency

> (U.S. EPA) has termed glyphosate " extremely

> persistent " with U.S. field tests measuring

> half-lives longer than 100 days. The herbicide has

> been found in streams following agricultural, urban,

> and forestry applications. Despite the fact that the

> U.S. EPA placed glyphosate in a category of

> " non-carcinogenicity for humans " two studies have

> linked glyphosate with increased risks of

> non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In studies with farmers,

> glyphosate use has also been associated with

> increased risk of neurological development effects,

> miscarriages and premature birth. Triclopyr has not

> been sufficiently studied to determine human

> toxicity and has been found to be moderately toxic

> to fish.

>

> The spraying is expected to begin this fall and

> continue for years. Vivian Parker, biologist for the

> California Indian Basketweavers Association

> anticipates significant harm to wildlife, " If

> restrictions are necessary to protect livestock,

> such as periods of time that must elapse before

> livestock are allowed into a sprayed area, what

> about wildlife? How can wildlife be restricted from

> " entering " a sprayed area? "

>

> In 2003, the Stanislaus National Forest sprayed

> 25,277 pounds of herbicides on tree plantations,

> more than five times the amount used by the Eldorado

> National Forest (which sprayed 4,263 lbs), the

> second highest herbicide user of all national

> forests in California. The Shasta-Trinity, the

> Klamath, Six Rivers, Mendocino, Modoc, Lassen, and

> Plumas National Forests are all big timber producing

> forests that do not use herbicides on tree

> plantations.

>

> The Forest Service will spend about $6 million on

> the Larson Reforestation Project, at a time when

> taxpayers' dollars are insufficient to pay for

> schools, roads, and other vital needs. For that sum,

> a plant-killing chemical mist will repeatedly

> descend upon the rejuvenating Larson Burn,

> transforming a public forest into a tree plantation

> for the ultimate benefit of the timber industry.

>

> Sign the petition against the spraying at:

> http://www.petitiononline.com/NoSpray.

>

> Sources: Press Release, July 14, 2004, Central

> Sierra Environmental Resource Center,

> http://www.cserc.org/ ; Press Release, July 14,

> 2004, California Indian Basketweavers Association,

> http://www.ciba.org ; Garry, V. 2002. " Birth

> defects, season of conception, and sex of children

> born to pesticide applicators living in the Red

> River Valley of

> Minnesota, USA, Environmental Health

> Perspectives,110:441-449; NCAP Pesticide Factsheet:

> Glyphosate (Roundup),

> http://www.pesticide.org/factsheets.html#pesticides

>

> Contact: Central Sierra Environmental Resource

> Center, cserc, (209) 586-7440; California

> Indian Basketweavers Association,

> vparker; PANNA.

>

>

> ===========================================

> Back issues of PANUPS are available online at:

> http://www.panna.org/resources/panups.html

>

> Please note: responses to this message will not be

> read.

> To comment, send an email to:

> panna

>

> To , send a blank email to:

> PANUPS-

>

> Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)

> 49 Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102

> USA

> Phone: (415) 981-1771

> Fax: (415) 981-1991

> Email: panna

> Web: http://www.panna.org

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