DNR Plans Aerial Spray of Carcinogenic Chemicals across 2,200+ Acres in Southwestern Washington

If you thought clearcuts were bad, imagine spraying them from above with toxic chemicals.

That’s exactly what the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) does when it turns biodiverse native forests into homogenous tree farms. This week, the department quietly released Forest Practices Applications (FPAs) for seven aerial pesticide treatments across southwestern Washington. According to the documents, DNR plans to cover a total of 2,257 acres with glyphosate and other systemic, broad-spectrum herbicides including imazapyr, sulfometuron methyl and metsulfuron methyl.

The aftermath of DNR's Action Item Sorts timber sale in Lewis County, among the sites that DNR plans to spray.

The DNR often applies herbicides by hand in areas near population centers. While this method still carries ecological and public health risks, it is significantly less hazardous than aerial spraying.

The agency sometimes justifies herbicide use as necessary to control invasive species. However, the sites currently proposed for treatment do not contain significant populations of Scotch broom or other highly invasive plants. Instead, the stated goal is to eliminate competing vegetation—specifically hardwood trees such as alder and bigleaf maple, along with understory species like sword fern and vine maple—in order to favor the growth of conifer timber plantations.

Many of these areas were last logged over a century ago and have never been treated with herbicides. As a result, even after recent clearcutting, they still support relatively diverse and resilient plant communities compared to nearby intensively managed plantations. Some understory species, such as sword fern, can persist for decades or even centuries, contributing to long-term ecological stability. Applying herbicides in these areas would fundamentally alter that trajectory, simplifying these ecosystems and reducing biodiversity in order to prioritize timber production.

The DNR''s Action Item Sorts timber sale in Lewis County, before it was logged.

Glyphosate is not something you want raining down from the sky. Classified as "probably carcinogenic to humans" by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, the chemical has been the subject of extensive litigation, leading to multibillion-dollar settlements over ongoing cancer-related claims regarding Roundup.

Beyond human health concerns, glyphosate threatens water quality through runoff and poses serious risks to a wide range of Washington’s aquatic species. Its toxic effects on Pacific Northwestern amphibians raise special concerns for the globally imperiled Columbia torrent salamander which has been documented directly adjacent to the areas that they plan to spray. The buffers mentioned in DNR's documents—which can be as narrow as 50 feet— offer little reassurance when pesticides are sprayed from helicopters, raising the risk of chemical drift into waterways and neighboring communities. 

Everything about these chemical applications undermines the resilience of native forest ecosystems. Each treatment is a rash attempt to wipe the land’s already fading biotic memory, to silence even the faintest echo of bygone genetic complexity and richness. Like much of DNR’s broader approach to forest management, aerial spraying prioritizes short-term revenue over long-term ecological health, propping up the timber and agrochemical industries at the expense of biodiversity, clean water and air, and human health. It's time to end this toxic cycle for good.

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Say it: Don't Spray It!

Urge Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove to withdraw the seven aerial spray Forest Practices Application (FPAs):

FPA/N 2944503

FPA/N 2944504

FPA/N 2944505

FPA/N 2944506

FPA/N 2944507

FPA/N 2944508

FPA/N 2944509

 and discontinue all future aerial spraying on public lands!

Send a formal comment to: PCForestPractices@dnr.wa.gov

Send a Message to the CPL

SAMPLE TEXT:

Dear Commissioner Upthegrove,

I am alarmed by DNR’s recently filed Forest Practices Applications for seven aerial spraying projects, which threaten to dump massive amounts pesticides on over 2,200 acres of public lands in southwestern Washington.

Most of these lands were, until recently, structurally complex and biodiverse legacy forests. They should never have been logged in the first place, let alone be contaminated with broad-spectrum herbicides like glyphosate. Classified as a probable human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, glyphosate has been the subject of extensive litigation and multibillion-dollar settlements over ongoing cancer-related claims. It also impacts water quality and poses serious risks to a wide range of Washington’s aquatic and semiaquatic species, including the globally imperiled Columbia torrent salamander.

You claim to focus on “protecting clean air, clean water and habitat,” but aerial pesticide spraying is patently detrimental to all three. If we are to restore ecological integrity and resilience across the landscape, we need to stop treating native forests like noxious weeds and start protecting what remains of these rare ecosystems.

I urge you to cancel the recently filed FPAs (nos. 2944503, 2944504, 2944505, 2944506, 2944507, 2944508, and 2944509) and put an end to DNR’s aerial application of pesticides altogether. 

Thank you,

[Name]