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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2012)
NEWS BRIEFS IT’S ABOUT TIME BY DAVID WAGNER PESTICIDE SPRAY SEASON BEGINS S eptember is a harvest month for Willamette Valley inhabitants. We are not having as good a time as we might wish because the lead-up has been slow. The long, cold spring followed by a cool, wet early summer has slowed tomatoes from ripening and reduced eggplant production. Even the zucchini are not growing into baseball bats as quickly as usual. Corn grew slowly until there was a burst of hot days, resulting in a sudden glut and the lowest prices in years. Squirrels are busy dropping acorns out of the oak trees and putting away their winter food store. I grump at their digging in flowerbeds I’d rather they leave alone. They will be working on the filberts next. The jays do the same thing but with more finesse, simply hammering their nuts into ground like pile drivers. I went to Sitka, Alaska, for a bioblitz late in August, responsible for tallying mosses and liverworts. It was a treat to gather moss in the world’s biggest FIREWEED temperate rain forest, made especially enjoyable by rare sunny days that made the woods glow green. We enjoyed a flush of wildflowers delayed compared to ours. Fireweed in Alaska is in early bloom but almost finished in the Oregon Cascades. Watching the shoreline from a ferry we were puzzled by the prominence of dead snags emerging everywhere from the canopy in otherwise healthy looking forests. It is global warming: Lack of insulating snow results in Alaska yellow cedar It’s almost fall, blackberries are ripening, and it’s harvest season. But for the rural communities around Triangle Lake, that also means it’s pesticide spray season. Eron King, a mother and farmer, says while an Oregon Health Authority (OHA) investigation into the toxic sprays by the timber industry appears to be on hold, the fight against them sprays is not. King’s two children were among the 44 Triangle Lake- area dwellers whose urine tested positive for atrazine and 2,4-D in the spring of 2011. King, who is president of the board of STOP (Standing Together to Outlaw Pesticides), says the state’s investigation into the possible harms the aerial sprays and their pesticide drifts are causing local residents is on hold due to a lack of cooperation by the timber industry. The OHA investigation’s sampling was suspended in the spring when it became clear that the timber industry was only going to spray the only two chemicals that can be tested for — 2,4-D and atrazine — in very remote locations, which have very few residents, according to the OHA website. King points to documents that show demands made by Oregonians for Food and Shelter and the Oregon Forest Industries Council in regard to the investigation. The demands included having an Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) representative on site, security to keep the public away, the right of landowners to decline participation and preventing the release of documents showing what was actually sprayed until after sampling and test results are complete. “Records will only be then be released to agency personnel if necessary,” the pro-pesticide use groups write. Koch Industries, Inc., gave $5,000 to the Oregon Forest Industries Council PAC in April of 2012, according to filings on the Oregon secretary of state website. dying from frozen roots. David Wagner is a botanist who has lived in Eugene for more than 30 years. He teaches moss classes and leads nature walks. He may be reached at fernzen- mosses@me.com The Oregon Health Authority and ODF responded to the demands in a Jan. 20, 2012, memo, which said, in part, “Because of statutory requirements, the Department of Forestry (ODF) cannot waive the notification requirement for any operation, and will send the notification information to persons who have requested that information in writing (subscribers).” King says one of the things she and other groups are asking for from the ODF is a fair spray notification system. Right now, people have to pay for the spray notices and they are not available online. Also, King says, the notices give warning that a spray will take place in the next six to 12 months, a very long window, she points out. King says the spray notifications should be free, available online, have a one- to two-month window and be more specific about which chemicals will be sprayed, rather than the current practice of providing a long list of what might be sprayed. She also says residents should have an option to be given a 24-hour notice of an impending spray. EW runs spray notices most weeks, courtesy of Forestland Dwellers, which subscribes to, collates and pays for the notices before sending them to EW. While private timber companies such as Weyerhaeuser and Seneca are doing fewer aerial sprays in the area, King says backpack spraying and roadside sprays of pesticides from trucks continue, and those methods are problematic as well. “It’s still pesticides being released into the air and the environment,” she says. She says she believes a backpack spray that took place behind her house in August has led to a lingering cough she and her family members still have in September. Longtime anti-pesticide activist Day Owen of the Pitchfork Rebellion was recently diagnosed with skin cancer, Activities Eugene Sunday Streets is a FREE community Bike Expo at Amazon Park event that opens the streets for people to run, 12:00 – 4:00 bike, walk and roll along a car-free route connecting Eugene’s Fairmount, South University, and Amazon Neighborhoods. This fun-for-all Eugene Masonic Cemetery ages event features activity centers with try-for-free fitness classes, live music, and games at Amazon, University and Washburne Parks. Motor Vehicle Access Points 19th Ave University St Restrooms No Parking on Route Bike Parking Motor Vehicle Parking 24th Ave 12:00 – 4:00 12:00 – 4:00 12:00 - 1:30 12:30 – 1:00 1:00 – 1:30 1:00 – 2:30 1:00 – 4:00 1:30 – 2:00 1:30 – 2:30 2:30 – 4:00 2:00 – 2:30 2:30 – 3:00 SELCO Yard Games SUNA Self-Guided Walking Tour Upstart Crow Performance Partner Yoga Kids Yoga Sustainability Walking Tour Petanque (French ball game) Yoga Fundamentals GreyMatter Jugglers Stephan Nance (folk rock) Sun Salutations Yoga for Athletes Washburne Park 12:00 – 12:30 12:00 – 4:00 12:30 – 2:00 Columbia St Agate St Elinor St Onyx St University St Potter Harris Kincaid Alder EUGENE WEEKLY Find the Veterans Game Masonic Cemetery Walking Tour Masonic Cemetery Walking Tour All yoga at University Park provided by Eugene Yoga Nixon St Miami Ln Hilyard St Amazon Park Masonic Cemetery 26th Ave 27th Ave 8 SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 Emerald St 23rd Ave 25th Ave Learn more or sign up to volunteer: eugenesundaystreets.org Call to volunteer: 541-501-0390 22nd Ave University Park Eugene Sunday Streets is brought to you by: Washburne Park 21st Ave Onyx St Harris St Kincaid St Alder St Hilyard St Sunday, September 9th NOON - 4:00 PM Potter St Uphill 20th Ave 12:00 – 4:00 1:00 – 2:00 3:00 – 4:00 University Park 18th Ave Activity Centers 1:00 – 2:00 2:00 – 2:30 Bicycle Expo, Bicycle Registration with Eugene Police, Kids Traffic Garden and Helmet Decorating Tricycle Drag Races Track Stand Competition DJ Rain on Stage Slacklining Barefoot Leroy on Stage (Americana) 12:30 – 1:30 Hula Hoop Class 1:30 – 2:30 Acro-Yoga Demonstration– Bring-Your-Own-Mats (if you have one) 2:00 – 2:30 DJ Rain on Stage 2:30 – 4:00 Conjugal Visitors on Stage (bluegrass) 2:30 – 3:30 Barre3 (where ballet meets yoga and pilates) Look for Samba Ja (Brazilian percussion ensemble) playing along 24th from 1 – 3 p.m.! Farmer’s Market at 19th & Agate, 10 a.m.–2:30 p.m. VOTE NOW! BESTOFEUGENE.COM
