Yachats council should raise concerns about Starker forest spraying

To the editor:

I am a retired teacher and elementary school principal and I think that if every economic and political decision were made with kids in mind, we’d be living in a better world.

I encourage Yachats citizens to be individually and collectively assertive when it comes to preventing further destruction of watersheds in Lincoln County and to do our best to preserve for our children’s children the balance of natural beauty, livability, and commercial opportunities that exist on the central Oregon coast.

Starker Forests of Corvallis is planning to spray chemical herbicides by drone over its 37-acre Williamson BC tract, which is six miles east of Yachats. They wish to support the growth of tree seedlings in clear-cut areas by eliminating competing vegetation.

Let’s be clear, herbicide and pesticide management strategies are designed to maximize profits.

Due to their harmful effects on the health of humans, fish, forest animals, and other creatures, the application of chemicals to forest lands must be considered in a cost-benefit analysis that includes the health and safety of residents within the watersheds in which they are used. An intelligent balance must be struck between profitability and the health of our ecosystem.

The herbicides Starker Forests will be employing include 2,4-D with choline, clopyralid, hexazinone, indaziflam, oxyfluorfen and penoxsulam and sulfometuron methyl with the additives Dyne-Amic, Induce and MSO Concentrate.

Scientific studies show that exposure to high levels of 2,4-D has been linked to cancers including leukemia in children, birth defects and reproductive problems among other health issues. Low-level exposure to the herbicide disrupts the endocrine system, impacting growth and development, reproduction, metabolism, and our organs and moods.” In addition, studies show that 2,4-D is measurable in the bloodstreams of up to 40% of people and the EPA says that 2,4-D has been detected in groundwater and surface water, as well as in drinking water.

Some forms of 2,4-D have a half-life of a couple of weeks, and some have a half-life of over 180 days, meaning that birds, such as kingfishers, cormorants, bald eagles, and osprey could have hundreds of exposures to the chemical cocktail that Starker Forest is planning on spraying by drone.

Helicopter spraying buffers for Oregon forests are a minimum of 75 feet from fish-bearing streams, 85 feet from streams with salmon, steelhead or bull trout. Non-fish streams have only a 10-foot buffer. Buffer zones for drone spraying are even lower.

Last summer, a coordinated effort by residents, the Seal Rock Water District, Lincoln County commissioners, and Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, persuaded ANE Forests to cancel their helicopter spraying plan and switch to backpack spraying.

Due to pre-emption laws in Oregon, the best way to ensure that coastal watersheds are protected is to buy land surrounding watersheds from commercial and private owners. I urge the city of Yachats to use all means necessary, including linking with an approved agency or organization (including Lincoln County) to apply for acquisition grants from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, which are designed precisely for this purpose.

Yachats is a small city, but our city government has the ability to speak up when potentially dangerous activities are taking place nearby that could impact Yachats citizens. I sent more detailed version of this letter to the Yachats City Council, mayor and the Yachats Public Works Commission requesting that the council consider issuing a public statement notifying Yachats area citizens of the potential dangers to our watershed of the planned drone spray operation that is scheduled to take place. I asked them to request that Starker Forests reduce the scope of their spraying, voluntarily increase spray buffers to streams, and employ backpack spraying (provided it is proven to be a safer alternative to drone spraying).

• Dan Sterling/Yachats