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  • From: Rick Valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>
  • To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] fuel reduction in Western forests
  • Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 09:33:50 -0700

I'm sending this as an example of a current conflict between permacultural
and monocultural mindsets. (although the quoted statements by, for example,
the California Indian Basketweavers Association people, are limited to
rebuttals in this news release and so are not very proactive, trust me, the
organization is definitely proactive) In some areas of the west the movement
towards fuel reduction in forest lands by utilization is being led by
permaculturists, one example being Tom Ward and others in the Ashland, OR,
area.
-Rick

Herbicides to Fight Forest Fires?

September 13, 2002

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has approved a plan to spray the
herbicides glyphosate and triclopyr on nearly 5,000 acres of
timberland to reduce the risk of catastrophic forest fire. The
project area lies within the Eldorado National Forest, watershed of
the San Francisco Bay Area and point of origin for Bay Area drinking
water. The Plantation Protection Fuels Project is the first time the
Forest Service has proposed to use herbicides for fire reduction;
herbicides are commonly applied by USFS and private timber companies
during tree planting projects to lessen competition for new
seedlings. However, in the Eldorado National Forest, the herbicides
will be applied among mature trees--in this case 40 to 60 year old
Douglas Firs--that support a variety of wildlife. The California
Indian Basketweavers Association (CIBA) and Sierrans for Safe Passage
(SSP) have appealed the Forest Service decision on the grounds that
use of herbicides for fire fuels reduction is an environmentally
dangerous new precedent and is hazardous for both people and
wildlife. The groups argue that use of mechanical brush cutters and
thinning are the appropriate tools to use.

"The Forest Service has really gone too far with this proposal," said
Vivian Parker, biologist for the California Indian Basketweavers
Association. "They want to turn the forest floor into a sterile dead
zone, killing valuable native shrubs and herbs on 4,522 acres of
publicly owned lands. These native plants provide important food,
nesting material and shelter for many species, including black bear,
quail and deer. Use of brush cutters is more than adequate to provide
brush control, without risking contamination of our streams,
poisoning culturally valuable plants, and injuring native wildlife.
This proposal makes no ecological, scientific or moral sense."

The conservation groups also disagree with the Forest Service
assumption that spraying of herbicides will reduce fire danger,
"After two treatments, the amount of surface fuels will be the same,
irrespective of the treatment used," said Dan Zimmerman, of Sierrans
for Safe Passage. "The truth is, herbicides will actually increase
the short term fire danger due to the dead stems and foliage left
behind. Mastication shreds the surface fuels, laying them down and
speeding up the decomposition process."

The Forest Service has proposed herbicide use despite several recent
court rulings requiring more thorough assessment of the impacts.
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATS) filed a suit against
USFS for the Cottonwood Project’s plan to use herbicides on 22,000
acres of Tahoe National Forest after the 1994 Cottonwood forest fire.
In that case, a federal judge ruled that the agency had failed to
consider adequately the effects on human health and wildlife from
herbicides, which may act as endocrine disruptors, neurotoxins and
immune system suppressors.

Two other cases have brought the weight of the federal courts to bear
on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is charged
with regulating pesticide use, but has yet to evaluate the full
impacts of forestry herbicides on wildlife which has been listed as
threatened or endangered. The courts have asked EPA to perform this
evaluation in consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
develop a mitigation plan for herbicide use in areas with endangered
species.

"These same problems are at issue in the Eldorado National Forest
project," Parker said. "No one knows what the real effects are from
the widespread use of herbicides in our forests. In fact, most
laboratory studies have focused only on the lethal effects from
ingestion. They seldom have looked at the more subtle effects of
these products on eggs and sperm, developing embryos or on juvenile
organisms. However, recent laboratory studies have shown that even
infinitesimally small amounts of some herbicides used commonly in
forestry can have devastating effects on the ability of frogs and
other amphibians to reproduce successfully."

Use of herbicides also frequently results in an increase in
aggressive non-native or noxious weed outbreaks. According to Parker
of CIBA, EPA has not considered the potential impact on California
Indians who still use national forest system lands for gathering
food, for hunting and fishing, for basket plant materials, and for
ceremonial purposes.

The Forest Service plans in the Eldorado National Forest bear
continued scrutiny. As a result of the CIBA/SSP appeal, the plan is
under review by the Regional Forester for Region 5. A decision is
expected by October 10, 2002.

Sources: California Indian Basketweavers, Sierrans for Safe Passage
press release, August 19, 2002 and U.S. Forest Service, Region 5,
Plantation Protection Fuels Project, http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/eldorado.

Contact: Vivian Parker, Resource Policy Analyst, The California
Indian Basketweavers Association, P.O. Box 2397, Nevada City, CA
95959; phone (530) 622-8718; email vparker@innercite.com; Web site
http://www.ciba.org or Dan Zimmerman, Environmental Investigator,
Sierrans for Safe Passage, phone (530) 477-6510.

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