Keep on working. We can beat this.
Mim

1. The CDFA Goal of Eradication is flawed and invalid (due to Moth not doing damage, being here 50 years, and eradication not therefore necessary and certainly not possible, based on Carey’s invasive pest analysis and confirmed by all independent entomologists and statisticians.

2. ALL Programs and Tools within the CDFA now in order to eradicate the Moth are now also flawed and invalid because in rational scientific management, one does not proceed with tools or programs that are intended to achieve a flawed or invalid goal.

West Marin is a peerless, precious place. It is absolutely unacceptable that the Marin Ag. Commissioner is so unethical and uneducated about biodiversity and the essential protection of places like Marin.

We have been very upset about Marin’s organic farms since the organic farming group there published a letter offering to cover Marin with twist ties in order to avoid aerial spraying. We were so disappointed and thought Marin would never make a deal with the devil like that.

Upon further investigating, we quickly learned that the offer made by this group did NOT represent the feelings of many organic West Marin farmers, many of whom came to meetings and talked about the devastation this would cause to their safe food supply.

Having heard CDFA’s revised plan to start aerial spray over undeveloped lands, I am very worried about Elephant Mountain and Inverness Ridge in Marin, not to mention all of the precious wetlands which are the crucial habitat of our dwindling migratory bird populations.

Thank you so much for working for so many years to change this state’s unacceptable mindset about pesticides. I believe we are on the edge of big change here and that we can use the power we are discovering in our numbers to stop these toxic and uneducated practices.

Wishing you a happy solstice back, and hoping you’ll comment again here at Vegan Reader!
Mim

We live in rural West Marin, where there are many organic farms. Marin’s Ag Commissioner not only writes permits for aerial and ground spraying of restricted pesticides (2,4-D, Transline, etc), but also is in charge of the organic certification program!

He is fully on board with any kind of spray program, and says it’s OK for organic farms to use ground spray and twist-ties for the LBAM. He’s the Decider on who is and isn’t organic, so everything’s ‘fine.’ The threat is that if growers don’t use these methods, they will be quarantined. The degradation of organic standards is just another bonus for Chemical Ag.

These guys are not going away. (It took 13 years for us to stop CalTrans spraying our roadsides out here, and they now want to start again.)

We have lots of open space out here with people who don’t think twice about chemicals - prime target for LBAM spray. The Bay Area watersheds for rural and urban dwellers alike are at risk, along with all the species living in them.

There are more moth traps appearing every week in our communities.

So, take a moment to breathe, give thanks for the amazing people we have with us, then get ready for the next round.

Happy Solstice to you and all our fellow “pests”,
Donna & Paul, Highway One, Marshall

http://www.nospray.org/ No Spray Coalition,
Fighting Against The Indiscriminant Spraying Of Toxic Pesticides Since 1999
NEW YORK CITY MUST STOP SPRAYING TOXIC PESTICIDES IMMEDIATELY!
The No Spray Coalition is appalled by Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to renew mass-spraying of dangerous pesticides in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Furthermore, we condemn the New York City government’s advice to residents and visitors that they personally use insect repellants containing DEET on themselves and their children. DEET is especially dangerous for children and should NEVER be used; it is associated with numerous infant deaths.

The No Spray Coalition is also deeply troubled by NYC’s reckless spraying of Anvil 10 + 10 to kill mosquitoes. “After years of litigation to stop this reckless spraying of pesticides which has contributed to skyrocketing increases in cancer and asthma, and now the collapse of bee colonies in the New York area, I am outraged that the Bloomberg Administration is renewing its mindless criminal poisoning of the people and environment of our City,” said Howard Brandstein, coordinator of SOS-FOOD and a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit brought seven years ago by the No Spray Coalition and other organizations against Rudolph Giuliani and the New York City government.

That lawsuit ended in April 2007, when NYC signed a settlement agreement . . .

–> “Thousands of New Yorkers were severely sickened by the spraying in 1999 and 2000. A number of members of the No Spray Coalition, including several of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, died from pesticide-related illnesses.”
- - - - - -
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/06/10/2008-06-10_west_nile_virus_fight_to_be_ramped_up_th-1.html
West Nile virus fight to be ramped up this summer
By John Gale
Tuesday, June 10th 2008, 4:00 AM
Burns for News

[photo of spray truck] Crews spray insecticide to kill West Nile-carrying mosquitoes. The Bronx is in the thick of West Nile breeding season. But take heart. City health officials say they’ve gotten a grip on the situation.

At the outset of the 10th mosquito season since the deadly virus first struck New York, the Health and Mental Hygiene Department is again taking measures to keep residents from being infected.

From citywide trapping and testing of mosquitoes to applying anti-breeding larvicides on standing bodies of water, the department has been hard at work.

“We’re focusing very hard on prevention,” said Dr. Edgar Butts, assistant commissioner of the department’s Bureau of Veterinary and Pest Control Services. “We use all of the tools available to prevent West Nile from becoming present.”

Pesticides drift around the planet on dust particles and through the air. The continued use of aerial pesticide spraying with the LBAM Program when it is not needed, not safe, and not necessary remains a concern to all forms of life, the quality of our food and air, and the contamination of our soil.

I want to personally thank everyone who involved themselves with stopping the LBAM aerial spray over urban populations.

I do recognize there is much more that needs to be done and revealed by USDA/CDFA on the LBAM Program and also to stop the chemical addiction by the agricultural industry and other industries polluting us and our planet.

Our environment continues and will be the number one health issue for generations to come unless all of us make a concerted effort to be a part of a local, national, and global environmental movement.

How thrilled I am to read all of your wise and good comments.

Here is a comment from Tom Kelly that bears reprinting:

“From the start this has been a people’s movement. We see increasing amounts of asthma and respiratory disease and other illnesses that are caused or exacerbated by the chemicals in the environment. Simple common sense tells you that exposure to more chemicals equals more disease. We’ve had enough. We insist on greater disclosure, a right to know what we are being exposed to, and that government take a precautionary approach should similar situations occur in the future. A pesticide reform movement has been awakened in California and will continue to grow,” added Kelly.

Thanks to reader BPM for linking to the article.

David -
I am looking forward to see what HOPE can get in terms of those lab results, I have been wondering abut this, too.

Solstice -
You are so right. We need to find out what the deal is with GE insects. GE anything gives me the creeps.

Donna -
Thank you so much for linking to that audio clip. Per usual, Kawamura was not giving very straight answers to straight questions. What I got regarding the concern we all have of urban vs. undeveloped, from listening to his responses, is that they don’t intend to aerially spray over residential areas. It sounded to me, from his comments, that this means both town and country neighborhoods.

However, I don’t feel this has been satisfactorily defined.

He kept mentioning places without road access. Doesn’t pretty much every place in the state have road access? Even state parks are crisscrossed with rangers’ roads.

Still, I do not feel confident about this.

And, of extreme concern is the announcement to spray ag lands. Again, this means everyone living in and around Sonoma, Napa, and the growing regions of Marin, Santa Cruz, Monterey, etc. would be exposed to the spray via drift, if not directly over their house.

Now, this is nothing new. People living near alcohol growers or conventional farms are already being exposed to aerial spray of deadly pesticides. But, here is our chance, with the awareness that has come of our struggle, to begin shouting that aerial spraying of anything, in any area of California, is an outrageous action.

And then there are all the ground treatments, too.

So, like all of you, I’m celebrating right now but I am also ready to keep working and fighting.

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments!
Mim

Nonetheless, we’re making an impact, so let’s keep thinking positive about the paradigm shift in agriculture and be the change we want to see in the world!

Since we have heard from agency staff the tests evaluating
the pesticide on lungs is complete, but not released yet -
why am I suspicious that the results didn’t give the pesticide
a passing grade - as the Governor wanted?

HOPE will be requesting the report results tomorrow.

To stay up to date you can visit http://www.1hope.org/checkmate

USDA/CDFA continues to proceed with the LBAM Program, especially the ground treatment measures, despite the fact that the chemicals they will be using are not safe, are not effective, and not needed.

Science has not prevailed today. Kawamura continues to tell everyone how LBAM must be eradicated - yet there is no evidence to support that LBAM is a threat.

So what does this mean?

Paul Schramski and Tom Kelly (Pesticide Watch) stated it best: “The Devil Is In The Details”. Please read their public statement that I posted on Stop The Spray:
http://forum.stopthespray.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1494

The public’s outcry has raised the public’s awareness of the agricultural industry’s addiction to chemicals and the pollution to us and the planet. This awareness has also pulled back the curtain of the USDA/CDFA and their deceptive tactics of protecting agriculture’s lobbying interests above and beyond everything else. Such deceptive tactics do not include sound science.

The USDA/CDFA’s model of spray first and ask questions later raises serious health and environmental issues that still remain unresolved.

A new paradigm shift needs to change the agricultural industry if we are to save ourselves and our only home, Earth.