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VIEWPOINT BY LAURIE BERNSTEIN AND LISA ARKIN
Oregon’s State Forests
Under Fire
OREGON’S DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY SPRAYS HERBICIDES IN
PROTECTED DRINKING WATERSHED
M
Beyond Toxics worked with Sen. Michael Dembrow (D-
ost Oregonians think of our state
Portland) to introduce SB 926, a ban on aerial herbicide
forests as places to camp, fish,
sprays in Oregon state forests, in the 2019 Legislature.
hike and picnic with family and
Our call to action was based on documents we ob-
friends. We go to state forests
tained through an Oregon public records request.
in search of old growth trees
State records revealed that ODF uses public dollars to
and hiking trails along pristine
pay for a program of corporate-style logging accompa-
streams.
nied by aerial herbicide applications in state forests.
The reality is that state forests are primarily used
Here are the results from our case study of Oregon’s
for industrial timber production. The Oregon Depart-
largest state forest, “Tillamook State Forest and Her-
ment of Forestry (ODF) actively manages 745,000
bicide Spray Use 2015-2018.”
acres of state forestlands. Timber harvests are carried
The Tillamook State Forest is publicly owned land
out using the Forest Practices Act, the same rules as
located 40 miles west of Portland in the northern Or-
private timber corporations like Weyerhaeuser.
egon Coast Range. With dozens of trails and 89 desig-
Timber on state lands is logged to generate “eco-
nated campsites, this state forest provides a myriad
nomic, environmental and social benefits” in the form
of activities — hunting, camping, angling, hiking and
of revenue that goes back to counties. However, the
sight-seeing, swimming, mushroom picking, etc.
requirement that state forests make profits from tim-
State documents show that over a four-year period,
ber sales has stoked controversy. The fight to save the
more than 14,800 acres of
Elliot State Forest — its old
growth trees and endan-
Protecting drinking water through resilient the Tillamook State For-
gered species — from tim-
forestry practices is one of Beyond Toxics’ est were sprayed with her-
bicides. The vast majority,
ber sales and destructive
most important programs.
approximately 70 percent
logging is a recent example.
Come join a summer Resilient Forestry Tour to experience
With the exception of the
bio-diverse timberland managed for a future of clean water, of these acres, were aeri-
ally sprayed with herbicides.
Elliot, the public is generally
wildlife and carbon sequestration.
The other 30 percent of
unaware that ODF treats
10 am, Saturday, June 22, Willow-Witt Forest Tour,
the acres received ground
state forests like corporate
Cascade-Siskiyou Range, Jackson County
sprays.
holdings, particularly when
ODF awards contracts to
it comes to aerial herbicide
10 am, Saturday, July 20, Shady Creek Forest Tour,
private
helicopter compa-
sprays. Management of Ore-
Coastal Range, Lane County
nies
to
carry
out the aerial
gon’s state forests deserves
Register at beyondtoxics.org/events
sprays. The contracts often
greater public scrutiny, not
require contractors to use tank mixes of 3-5 chemicals
only for trees and wildlife, but to protect drinking wa-
including glyphosate, metsulfuron methyl, aminopy-
ter systems fed by streams originating within Oregon’s
ralid, imazapyr, sulfometuron methyl plus multiple
state forests.
chemical additives.
Beyond Toxics’ research on ODF’s state forest man-
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the product
agement exposed a pervasive use of aerial herbicide
Roundup, was used in 100 percent of the aerial tank
sprays. The frequency of herbicide sprays and the
sprays. The World Health Organization has recently
lack of policies to protect public safety and drinking
announced glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to
water quality led us to recommend legislative action.
humans” and federal courts have concluded glypho-
sate causes cancer. A 2016 publication in the Canadian
Journal of Pest Management determined that glypho-
sate is persistent in the environment, can contaminate
ground water and deposit on surface water after being
carried through the atmosphere via rain, wind and fog.
Herbicide vapors can continue to re-volatilize miles
from their intended target long after the chemicals
were sprayed, posing a potential risk to anyone enjoy-
ing a day in the forest. Under ODF’s outdated laws,
streams in public forests designated for domestic
drinking water and fish habitat get a meager 20 yard
no-spray buffer — imagine a helicopter spraying herbi-
cides 20 yards from players on a football field.
We found that ODF authorizes aerial herbicide
sprays in domestic drinking watersheds serving resi-
dential users and municipal drinking water systems.
Two other state agencies, the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Oregon Health
Authority (OHA) are charged with drinking water pro-
tection under the federal Clean Water Act. These agen-
cies spend public funds to study and identify domestic
drinking watersheds that are vulnerable to contamina-
tion. Seemingly at cross-purposes with the work of its
sister agencies, ODF conducted aerial herbicide sprays
on clearcuts overlapping within State Protected Drink-
ing Watersheds. In the case of the Tillamook State
Forest, the water coming from these protected areas
provides drinking water for thousands of Oregonians
living in Timber, Hillsboro and Cherry Grove.
On April 2, the bill to ban aerial herbicide sprays
in Oregon state forests (SB 926), died in committee
following a truncated hearing without any discussion
about the risks of spraying tank mixes of herbicides in
state-designated “protected” drinking watersheds.
Oregonians, take heed. If we share the value of clean
and abundant water from healthy forests, then keeping
pesticides out of drinking water should be one of our
State’s public health priorities. Aerial spraying is not
necessary, as proven by Corvallis, Portland and Forest
Grove, cities that get some or all of their domestic wa-
ter from streams in forest holdings. These cities don’t
clearcut or spray herbicides in their drinking water-
sheds. Instead, they prioritize public health benefits
first and foremost.
Our state forests have many beneficial uses, from
recreation to drinking water to forestry. Our State
Lands Board and Board of Forestry can end industrial-
style aerial herbicide sprays on state land without sacri-
ficing revenues to counties. Inaction to change the cur-
rent status quo fails the test of balancing beneficial uses.
Laurie Bernstein and Lisa Arkin are with Beyond Toxics
June 10 - 20
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