The US Forest Service wants to spray herbicides. Again.
The Caldor Fire Restoration Project has been approved. It involves thinning forests and prescribed burns, but there’s another piece: chemicals. The plan targets shrubs and competing plants. Roughly 4,900 acres are involved where natural regeneration looks unlikely. Only a portion—maybe 2,400 acres—will get the chemical treatment. The rest relies on replanting and time.
This project spans over the next decade. Maybe fifteen years.
The area covers land near Meyers and South Lake Tahoe. You’ve driven by these places. Sierra-at-Tahoe. Kirkwood. Heavenly. Even campgrounds. It’s not deep wilderness anymore. It’s where people go for weekends.
The “Necessary Evil” Argument
Glyphosate. Roundup. You know the name.
It kills broadleaf plants. It does not kill the pine trees or Douglas firs. Those cones protect the seeds. The Forest Service argues that after high-severity burns, this chemical is essential. Manual pulling takes too long. Machines can’t reach every spot.
Wait, though. The spraying won’t happen until 2028. Backpack sprayers only. No helicopters dropping poison from the sky. Just people with backpacks, targeting specific weeds.
Why rush the decision then? The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit used what’s called an “Emergency Action Determination.” It skipped a formal step allowing objections. Fast-track approval. They did hold a comment period in December 25 though. Just barely.
The Controversy Doesn’t Sleep
Timing is weird. A Mother Jones investigation dropped around the same time. They dug into 5 million California pesticide records here is what they found 266,00 pounds of glyph sprayed in 202 alone five times what was used twenty years ago
And there is the matter of safety studies. Mother Jones alleges that key evidence used to justify glyphosate’s safety came from a study later retracted. Allegations point to ghostwriting by Monsanto. The company that patented glyphosate back in the ’70s. Now Bayer. Who has paid out over $12 billion. Lawsuits claim the cancer link is real. The World Health Organization said in 2015 that glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic.”
Do you feel lucky?
Public comments raised alarms. Not just about human health. What about the water? The trails? The kids swimming? The Forest Service admits manual removal is possible. It just costs three times more money.
Avoiding The Obvious Eyesores
The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) says they were thoughtful. Avoids riparian zones. Steers clear of summer months June to September when pollinators are out. Minimal chemical use. That is what they say.
Have they changed their minds after Mother Jones published their report? No.
The Final Environmental Assessment dropped on March 27, 6. Site prep starts soon. The chemicals? Still a way off. At least until 6.
Why Tahoe Now?
Is this unique to Tahoe? Hardly. Ninety percent of US forest spraying happens in the South. Oregon does it too. Aerial spraying there has angered locals for years. Washington’s Olympic National Forest plans similar moves.
So why the headlines here?
Coincidence plays a part. Mother Jones story landed right as local news picked up on Tahoe. Tahoe is high-profile. Lots of tourists. People walk those trails. If this happened in remote Idaho nobody might notice. Also California tracks pesticide data closely. Other states do not. We have numbers for Tahoe. Other regions remain invisible. That gap is the real story perhaps.
Where To Look Next
Want to check the documents? They are public. USFS Lake Tahoe Basin site has the project page. The TRPA holds monthly meetings. Agendas and recordings live on their website.
If the idea of herbicides makes your skin crawl support organizations fighting them. American Regeneration works on removing chemicals from land management. Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics pushes for ecological balance inside the agency itself.
The trees won’t save themselves. But maybe the spray shouldn’t be the first resort either.
