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