Government Plan to Spray Herbicides in 17 Western States Sparks Backlash by Conservationists & Organic Consumers

Government's plan to use herbicides in 17 Western states sparks backlash
http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2005/12/28/news/local/news02.txt
Idaho State Journal - Pocatello,Idaho

Staff and Wire Reports

A Bureau of Land Management proposal to apply herbicides to nearly 1 million
acres in 17 Western states is drawing fire from environmentalists and
organic food producers.

Verlin Smith, BLM branch chief for renewable resources in Utah, said the
weed killer is needed to combat the rise of cheat grass, tamarisk, Russian
olive and other invasive species, which he said are strangling rangelands
and wildlife habitat and sucking up precious water resources.

Smith said herbicides are one of the tools at the BLM's disposal to reclaim
land overgrown with invasive non-native plants. Much of the herbicide
application will be from the air.
³It changes the whole fire cycle. Normally, fire in a vegetative ecosystem
occurs every so-many years. But with cheat grass and other invasive plants,
that time frame shortens considerably,² he said. ³It perpetuates the cheat
grass and almost wipes out the possibility that the native species will be
able to re-emerge and reclaim the site.²

The proposal, which is in a public comment period through Jan. 9, has
generated opposition from those who fear the unknown consequences of the
aerial spraying of herbicides in a wide array of areas, including national
monuments and conservation areas.
Terry Ratzlaff, the owner of a Pocatello native plant and landscape business
called Idaho Native Plants and Revegetation, said the BLM's decision to
spray the herbicides is a knee-jerk reaction to a complex issue.

³I don't think herbicides are going to work on our weed problem,² Ratzlaff
said. ³They need to do some more work on analyzing the problem and finding
the right solution.²
Pocatellan Cathy Frischmann, a member of the Idaho native Plant Society,
said she is concerned by the BLM's plan to use herbicides to combat the
invasive non-native plants.

³Native plants are one of the most visible part of the ecosystem, they
provide habitat for wildlife, and unless you can selectively eliminate some
of the invasive species I think we are jeopardizing our native plant
species,² Frischmann said. ³Chemicals kill us. Depending on what they are
using, I am very concerned about what it will do to the native ecosystem...
This should be looked at very closely.²

BLM officials said they have gone to great lengths to ensure the herbicide
program is safe, and the agency has the backing of ranchers and at least one
state legislature.

³This program has taken a long time to develop, and the reason it has is
because the risk assessment took a long time,² Smith said. ³We spent a long
time analyzing the true risk of using herbicides at that level. We can do
it, and do it safely so long as we follow the label directions and apply the
appropriate mitigation processes.²
However, the Organic Consumers Association has launched a nationwide
petition drive to halt the program, which they say includes the use of toxic
pesticides, such as 2,4-D, bromacil, chlorsulfuron and others.

³The aerial spraying of herbicides and pesticides to kill weeds is
borderline insanity,² said Jim McMahon, an ecologist and activist based near
St. George, Utah. ³You're talking about dropping stuff on the ecosystem that
will enter the food chain.

³While the intention may be good and they're saying it will be safe, the
fact of the matter is we don't know what the long-term ramifications of this
will be,² he said.

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