US Forest Service Sprayed 266,000 Pounds of Glyphosate in California Forests in 2023
Updated
Updated · KALW · Aug 17
US Forest Service Sprayed 266,000 Pounds of Glyphosate in California Forests in 2023
3 articles · Updated · KALW · Aug 17
Summary
266,000 pounds of glyphosate were applied in California forests in 2023, a record level uncovered by a yearlong Mother Jones investigation.
Five million state pesticide records showed use was aimed at regrowing timberland after years of megafires and was nearly five times higher than two decades earlier.
Nate Halverson said the spraying involves the US Forest Service and timber companies, expanding Roundup use deep into post-fire forest recovery efforts.
June 26 added legal context: the US Supreme Court limited thousands of lawsuits alleging Bayer failed to warn consumers about Roundup’s cancer risks.
Recent studies cited in the report also link glyphosate to possible metabolic disorders, brain inflammation and gut microbiome damage, widening concern beyond cancer.
As California races to save its megafire-ravaged forests, could the record use of controversial weedkillers be quietly poisoning the state's pristine watersheds?
Are we destroying forest ecosystems to save them, or is toxic chemical intervention the only way to prevent California's timberlands from vanishing completely?