When Allie McDermott and her partner heard the helicopter blades whirring early on a Sunday morning in March, they were stunned. As they ran up the road to see for themselves they thought, ‘There is no way an aerial spray could be happening on a Sunday!’ After all, they knew there had been an agreement… Read more »
We’ve arrived at a moment when an agreement between corporate timber representatives and environmental health and forest protection defenders has been brokered. Perspectives on the value of such an agreement run the gamut, from Governor Brown’s pronouncement of “historic” to the angry claim of “shameless” by social media users. Beyond Toxics came at this… Read more »
Amanda Astor ends her recent Register-Guard column with “Better understanding of forests and the science behind decision making can bring our community closer and tear down divisions and alarmist narratives.” Apparently she believes that scientists’ and community members’ concerns about the impacts of industrial logging are alarmist and have no basis in fact. Astor would…
“When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money.” – Cree prophecy On June 27th, a logjam of logging trucks circled our state Capitol, spreading lies and fear and spewing diesel soot. Big Timber wants you to believe that taking… Read more »
On May 9th, Oregon became the first state in the country to restrict the use of Aminocyclopyrachlor (ACP), an herbicide marketed to kill weeds that ends up killing trees. In Oregon, ACP killed 2,000 majestic old-growth trees. This deadly chemical reportedly travels underground along tree root systems, passing the poison from tree to tree, and… Read more »
It may be easier to be concerned about wolves, salmon and eagles perishing than it is to feel remorse over dying Ponderosa pine trees. Yet, the presence of giant, old growth Ponderosas in central Oregon is as emblematic of a place as any furry, swimming or flying creature. What would it say about our stewardship… Read more »
By Lisa Arkin, David Vázquez and Raoul Liévanos More than 1 billion pounds of poisonous pesticides are applied on farms annually in the United States, resulting in as many as 20,000 physician-diagnosed poisonings annually among agricultural workers. University of Oregon environmental studies scholar Sarah Wald puts the number of farmworkers exposed to toxic levels of… Read more »
At its August 28th meeting, Beyond Toxics’ Board of Directors voted to endorse the Freedom from Aerial Herbicides Alliance’s charter amendment to ban the aerial spraying of herbicides in Lane County. Oregon lawmakers and state agencies have shown an entrenched resistance to address the problem of toxic exposure to aerial spray drift. The two local… Read more »
Did you know our own Oregon (ODF) is clear-cutting and chemically poisoning public state forest lands, using the same extractive methods as multi-national timber corporations? The latest herbicide sprays on our public forests took place this month along the Northwest Oregon Coast. Here are the opening lines of a July 29 article in a Tillamook… Read more »
I’m writing this from the bedside of my childhood friend who grew up on the same street as I. Ten days ago she was fine. Today she is transitioning to her passing. Her breathing is ragged, her eyes are unfocused. Her doctors at Stanford University Medical Center told the family they have never seen such… Read more »
