Stop the Spray BC is calling on the Ministry of Environment to release the Notice of Intent to Treat (NIT) maps that show the locations of the upcoming annual aerial herbicide spray program around Prince George.
Forest companies use helicopters to broadcast spray glyphosate on regenerating cutblocks
under the premise that they are controlling deciduous vegetation to favour coniferous tree farms.
Many experts are also asking why we are spraying fire-resistant deciduous species like cottonwood, birch, aspen and willow in the first place given this practice makes forests more prone to fire.
“Research shows these glyphosate herbicides do not disappear after one or two weeks as has been previously claimed,” said Stop the Spray BC founder James Steidle, in a news release. “Research has found glyphosate in forest plants in these sprayed cutblocks as long as 12 years after spraying.”
While species like fireweed appear to grow back in the year after spraying, these species are found with glyphosate in their tissues. Woody plants like cottonwood, birch, aspen, willow, alder and huckleberry, experience high mortality.
“These cutblocks they are spraying are places where people pick berries, hunt, recreate, camp, and hike,” said Steidle. “Yet the public is given no prior notice as to which of these publicly owned pieces of land will be sprayed and when.”
Under the Pesticide Management Regulatory Regulation, companies are required to submit maps to the Ministry of Environment in the weeks prior to spraying. The Ministry of Environment has no requirement to release these maps to the public. Freedom of Information requests are required to obtain these maps, which typically become available weeks or months after the spraying in complete.
“We have an outdated public notification system whereby companies are using taxpayer money to contaminate public land in secret, where they are reducing the diversity of our forests and increasing the risk of fire, and they don’t have to tell us where this activity is taking place,” said Steidle.