Tweeters,

I have looked at the use of glyphosate in depth in regards to its use on
Spartina in Willapa Bay and the Puget Sound. I was all ready to write a
long reply, but Kelly did quite a good job and there is not a lot that I
can add. I agree that glyphosate is a relatively safe herbicide. One thing
that has not been studied well is how the surfactants (i.e. the vehicle
that carry the active ingredients) effect the environment for either Rodeo
or Round-up.

Russell

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Russell Rogers and Mary Moore
6637 Glenwood Drive SW
Olympia WA 98512
(360) 709-9870
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On Tue, 28 Jul 1998, Joanne Powell wrote:

> After some years of letting this valley lie fallow, the farmer who owns the
> land I live on has just sprayed the thistles with Round-up. I live in a
> narrow valley with Coulee Creek running through it. There are two largish
> meadows on each side of the house I live in. The meadows run down to the
> creek. The thistles are widespread and he has decided on a two-year attack
> on the thistles as a precursor to planting alfalfa. I am heartsick at this
> news and hope, through Audubon WetNet and others to show him other
> alternatives. His family has farmed this land for 3 generations. He is not
> unsympathetic; he but he has two sons in college and two in high school. He
> holds down a full time job except for times when farming requires full
> days. His wife has a part time job. I need to show him a way for this
> valley to earn him what he would make farming these small meadows. But, for
> now, what I need from anyone who has any experience with Round-up is the
> effect it's going to have - both long term and short term. Is this going to
> kill the Goldfinches who love thistles? He says it takes about two weeks
> for the thistles to absorb this poison which works its way down to the
> roots. If it rains will the stuff on the outside of the plants wash down
> into the creek and kill the frogs and whatever else the pair of Great Blues
> who feed here eat? I put up a thistle feeder with niger seed for the
> Goldfinches in hopes they would continue eating from the feeders. There are
> still fledglings appearing at my feeders. I have many many towhees with
> young of all stages of development. Will inhaling this stuff from where
> they hang out in the thick ground level cover kill them? After two days I
> can still smell the poison in the air when the morning breeze from the east
> picks up.
>
> This message is not well structured. I know I'm jumping around from comment
> to comment...as you can see I'm pretty worried about this whole thing. Any
> information anyone has on this herbicide will be gratefully received.
>
> Regards,
>
> Joanne Powell
> Reardan (Spokane) WA
> jhpowell at snapwa.org
>