City considers using herbicides against invasive plants in hills

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FYI for those in the Bay Area.

 

Lynda

-

> To spray or not to spray?

> City considers using herbicides against invasive

> plants in hills

>

> - Jim Herron Zamora

> Chronicle Staff Writer

> Tuesday, March 15, 2005

>

> Click to ViewClick to ViewClick to View

>

> Robert Sieben and Michelle Miller strongly disagree

> about whether herbicides should be used on public

> property -- and they each can point to the same steep

> North Oakland hillside to prove their point:

>

> The rugged canyon near the Caldecott Tunnel that

> surrounds several playing fields covered with young,

> pale green eucalyptus trees and blooming yellow French

> broom plants.

>

> Two summers ago, the city of Oakland cut down the

> eucalyptus and pulled out the broom. But as spring

> approaches, both of the fast-growing, highly flammable

> species are back -- with many new plants 6 feet tall.

>

> That and other problem hillsides have prompted the

> City Council to consider relaxing the city's

> 8-year-old ban on herbicides on city property by

> allowing workers to spray chemicals selectively on

> non-native plants. A council committee will take up

> the issue next week.

>

> By reconsidering its ban, Oakland has jumped into the

> global debate over the safety of using herbicides to

> fight invasive non-native plants from remote canyons

> to playgrounds and median strips.

>

> In recent years, a dozen California cities and school

> districts have sharply curtailed the use of

> herbicides. San Francisco has debated the herbicide

> use on golf courses and parks, while several Marin

> County communities ban pesticides near schools and

> playing fields.

>

> Sieben, who for years has climbed the steep slopes in

> Oakland's Hiller Highlands area and pulled out broom

> and replanted the area with less-flammable species

> such as redwoods, said that using small amounts of

> herbicides is the only way to defeat eucalyptus and

> broom.

>

> " They just keep coming back, " Sieben said. " Just look

> at that hill. "

>

> But Miller, an Oakland hills resident and head of Stop

> Toxic Trespass, an Oakland group opposed to the use of

> herbicides, hiked the same hillside on Friday and said

> it is proof that the city was lazy about getting rid

> of the pesky plants.

>

> " It's not a methodical approach, " Miller said. " The

> city didn't cut these trees down properly, and then

> they didn't do the required follow-through " a year

> later to kill the new shoots.

>

> Miller's position is supported by a coalition of

> antipesticide groups and environmental organizations,

> including the local Sierra Club chapter.

>

> Those who support lifting the ban include several

> homeowners' groups in fire-prone areas, as well as

> some environmental groups -- including Friends of

> Sausal Creek and the Claremont Canyon Conservancy,

> whose members have spent hundreds of hours

> hand-pulling broom.

>

> " We see herbicides strictly as a last resort, " said

> Karen Paulsell of Friends of Sausal Creek, which has

> worked for eight years to restore the riparian

> environment near Park Boulevard.

>

> " We are greatly concerned about the use of toxics in

> the environment and are reluctant to use chemicals to

> manage invasive species, " she said. " However, we also

> find that we are losing ground in our ecosystem

> restoration efforts in the face of certain invasive

> species. In order to have successful ecological

> restoration projects, we need additional tools to

> effectively deal with invasive species. "

>

> City Councilwoman Jean Quan has agreed to some

> modifications to her proposal for lifting the ban to

> make sure that herbicides are limited to problem

> hillsides and canyons and sprayed directly on targeted

> plants. The plan could face lengthy environmental

> review, but Quan hopes her proposal will gain final

> approval by summer fire season.

>

> But Miller insists that using herbicides is unsafe,

> especially near parks where children play and in steep

> hillsides along creeks. She points out that in nearby

> El Cerrito, private landowners cut down 75 eucalyptus

> trees and prevented them from coming back without

> herbicides.

>

> Across the state, many agencies have tried to reduce

> or ban herbicide use. Arcata (Humboldt County) and

> Oakland are among only a few with a total ban. More

> than 400 school districts and dozens of cities and

> park districts nationwide have policies so restrictive

> that herbicides and pesticides are used in minimal

> amounts.

>

> Some jurisdictions, from Brazil to Canada and Denmark,

> have banned specific herbicides, most often the

> popular weed-killer glyphosate, commercially sold as

> Roundup.

>

> Quan's legislation would allow the city to use Roundup

> again. Although Roundup is the most popular

> weed-killer in the world, it is also controversial.

>

> Several studies have been critical of glyphosate,

> including some in Europe that have found it in

> drinking water and linked it cancer and birth defects

> among employees who use it over prolonged periods.

>

> But supporters say other studies show that Roundup is

> water-soluble and disperses within 48 hours. The

> Monsanto Co. has developed new crops that are " Roundup

> resistant, " including soybeans, cotton, corn, canola

> and alfalfa.

>

> At the time Oakland banned herbicides, some residents

> argued that city workers had carelessly overused the

> chemicals and ruined nearby private gardens.

>

> City Attorney John Russo wrote the ban in 1997 when he

> was a city councilman. He was particularly concerned

> about the use of herbicides near Lake Merritt.

>

> " People have a legitimate concern about fires in the

> hills, " said Russo. " It's a balancing act. It's tough

> getting people to change their practices. "

> Where herbicides are restricted

>

> -- California cities and school districts that ban

> herbicides or severely restrict their use on public

> property:

>

> Arcata (Humboldt County)

>

> Los Angeles Unified School District

>

> Mendocino Unified School District

>

> Oakland

>

> Oakland Unified School District

>

> -- Cities and school districts that use herbicides as

> a last resort or require that chemical-free pest

> controls be given a priority:

>

> Berkeley

>

> Fremont Unified School District

>

> Fresno Unified School District

>

> Kentfield School District

>

> Larkspur School District

>

> San Diego Unified School District

>

> San Francisco

>

> Ventura Unified School District

>

> Sources: News reports and www.beyondpesticides.org

>

> E-mail Jim Zamora at jzamora.

>