Anti-spray group will keep protesting Starker’s drone herbicide application near Yachats despite assurances it is OK

 

By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews

YACHATS – A planned aerial spray of herbicides using drones on private forestland east of Yachats has sparked concern and condemnation from central coast residents who oppose any use of herbicides in forests near watersheds.

Opponents of the spray lined U.S. Highway 101 in Yachats last Sunday holding signs with slogans that read – “Keep Yachats Pristine,” “No Aerial Spraying” and “Protect Yachats Watershed – No Spray.” Another demonstration is planned again Sunday.

“We are opposed to all spraying,” said organizer TiAnne Rios of Waldport, president of the newly formed nonprofit Protect Oregon Watersheds.

The nonprofit sprung from a citizens group formed last August to oppose spraying herbicides on 473 acres of private forestland in the South Beaver Creek watershed. Pressured by residents, the Seal Rock Water District, Lincoln County commissioners and Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, ANE Forests of Oregon changed its plans to apply herbicides with a helicopter and to instead use backpack sprayers to ease concerns about spray drifting into nearby waterways.

“The contents of the spray is equivalent to Roundup or Agent Orange,” Rios said of the chemicals listed for use on the 37-acre Williamson BC tract, which is approximately six miles east of Yachats.

“It’s really bad. It’s not just destroying plants. That chemical compound is meant to kill. And it kills insects and specifically pollinators. It is being put into our watershed and we are poisoning ourself with it.”

The chemicals listed for use in the notification filed March 12 with the Oregon Department of Forestry by landowner Starker Forests of Corvallis are 2,4-D with choline, clopyralid, hexazinone, indaziflam, oxyfluorfen and penoxsulam and sulfometuron methyl. And the additives Dyne-Amic, Induce and MSO Concentrate.

Matt Thomas, forester for the forestry department’s Toledo unit, characterized the chemicals as “very standard” in forestry and added that Starker is “following all the rules.” Spraying helps tree seedlings grow in clearcut areas by eliminating competing vegetation.

The Williamson unit is surrounded by other land owned by Starker as well as the Siuslaw National Forest.

Argues not safe

Opponents of the spraying are not placated by claims the chemicals are safe. They say 2,4-D is a component of long-banned defoliant Agent Orange and none of the chemicals have been tested for safety by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Noted anti-herbicide activist and author Carol Van Strum of Five Rivers wrote in a Facebook statement that no safety testing exists on any combination of herbicides to be sprayed and there is no truth to any claims of safety to wildlife, ecosystems, or humans.

“Be also aware that allowing use of an Agent Orange poison, 2,4-D, banned by the military in 1970 may be legal, thanks to corporate influence over (the) EPA, but its use is unconscionable,” Van Strum wrote. “For shame.”

Van Strum is at Columbia University in New York City this week as a panelist during a forum on the legacies of the Vietnam War, including the widespread use of Agent Orange as a defoliant.

But the EPA says 2,4-D has been widely used as a pesticide since the 1940s and is safe if instructions on the label are followed. It has “low toxicity for humans” except in certain forms where it can cause eye irritation. It is even used to control aquatic weeds and generally has “moderate toxicity to birds and mammals, is slightly toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates, and is practically nontoxic to honeybees.”

The agency does say that “ester forms” of the chemical can be highly toxic to fish and other aquatic life. But it’s website also says it is not Agent Orange, which was a mixture of different herbicides.

Lincoln County voters in 2017 passed a ballot measure banning aerial herbicide spraying. The ban stayed in place for 29 months before it was overturned by a circuit court judge who ruled that “pre-emption” enables state law to override laws passed by local governments or citizens.

Spraying can begin

Timber operators must file a notice of operations with the Oregon Department of Forestry, which oversees management of state and private forestlands in Oregon. The notification starts a 14-day window for public comment, after which operations can begin.

The comment period for the Williamson BC tract, along with two other units Starker listed on the same permit, closed at midnight Wednesday. Thomas said his agency received more than 25 letters in opposition to the Williamson unit spraying. The letters were forwarded to Starker.

Unless Starker applies for an extension, spraying must be completed within 90 days.

The two other units to be sprayed with drones are Spencer Oyster, an 18-acre unit along the north side of South Fork Spencer Creek a few miles east of Beverly Beach State Park, and 37-acre Ralph’s Middle Ridge located northeast of Eddyville near Oglesby Creek.

Rios said Protect Oregon Watersheds, which has seven board members and a contact list of 270 people, was unaware of the other two units listed. She blamed the difficulty of navigating and interpreting the system where notifications are listed. The system is managed by the forestry department and open to the public.

“We will definitely be getting word out about those as well,” Rios said.

Rios said she also understands that only a change in the law by the Oregon Legislature can end the use of herbicides in forestry practices.

“Addressing injustice starts out with people making noise,” Rios said of the Sunday protests in Yachats. “This is definitely something that should not be happening and if we don’t say anything then we’re complicit. And it is not okay to poison each other. It is not okay to poison the planet.”

Buffer zones

The 1971 Oregon Forest Practice Act and amendments made to it with the 2021 Private Forest Accord — a collaboration between timber industry and conservation groups — requires buffer zones between herbicide applications in relation to surface water, water intakes, homes and schools. The buffer distances vary greatly depending on where and whether applied by air or ground.

According to the forestry department, aerial buffers on forests are a minimum of 75 feet from fish-bearing streams and 50 feet from others. There is an 85-foot buffer for a small stream with salmon, steelhead or bull trout. Non-fish stream have a 10-foot buffer. A 300-foot buffer is required near schools, inhabited dwellings and water intakes.

Buffers for drone application, however, fall into a new category called “other aerial applications” established by the state in 2022. While some distances remain the same as helicopter-applied herbicides, others require less distance.

Drone use

Hundreds of herbicide applications via backpack sprayer and helicopter have taken place in Lincoln County, according to the state forestry department’s notification records which date back to 2016. But Starker’s notice is the first that drones will be used on lands in the Toledo unit, Thomas said.

“Drone stuff is just kind of starting to gain traction mostly because the technology is growing,” Thomas said. “Where the technology was before just wasn’t efficient … (but) now it is a more viable option.”

Drone operations are similar to backpack spraying in the sense that unlike helicopters which may be 50 feet above the ground, the drones are “almost at eye level …” Thomas said.

“From what we’ve seen they are very, very precise,” he said. “Some of the mapping technology is accurate within plus or minus inches, which is pretty incredible.”

Drones are programmed with a map of the site that accounts for streams and other protected features.

“From what I understand, once it is programmed it can fly a path that’s most efficient and accomplish what you need to accomplish protection-wise of other resources,” Thomas said.

The company that will spray the herbicides is Albany-based Aero Tract, which was founded in 2019.

AeroTract managers could not be reached for comment Thursday, but its website says its drone spray program covered four times more acreage than expected in 2023.

It listed several reasons why its customers use drones to apply herbicides, including safety, efficiency, effectiveness, and that they “are more precise in herbicide application, yielding better site preparation and protection of environmental resources.”

Starker statement

Starker officials would not answer questions from YachatsNews, but the company did issue a statement via email.

“We have heard concerns from some members of the community about our upcoming operations, and we want them to know that as a fifth-generation family business that has managed forestland sustainably in Lincoln County since the 1930s, we are deeply committed to protecting the environment and ensuring our forestlands continue to produce high-quality water for surrounding communities…” the statement said.  

“This particular application will deploy some of the most cutting-edge technology to ensure both the safety of our trusted operators on very steep ground and ensure advanced precision to protect sensitive resources while also holding back invasive species that threaten to choke out our newly planted seedlings. We strive to be excellent neighbors and stewards of the lands we manage.”

• Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com