STOP BOULDER COUNTY FROM AERIAL SPRAYING OUR OPEN SPACES AGAIN

THE COUNTY IS ONLY TAKING PUBLIC COMMENT ON THIS TOPIC FROM OCTOBER 2ND TO OCTOBER 18TH. PLEASE WEIGH IN NOW...

...and share this link with your community, friends and social media! Public input ends October 18th regarding the vast amounts of herbicides used on our Boulder County Open spaces. https://www.pesticidesbouldercounty.org/. 

Sign up here to be notified of the time and location of the public hearing on January 23rd to determine the fate of pesticide use on our open spaces.

Please also sign the PETITON for demanding that Boulder County Open Space (BCPOS) stops aerial spraying pesticides, on our open spaces, in a program called Restore Colorado 22 Big Game Aerial Spray Program, to kill cheatgrass with an experimental herbicide called Rejuvra/Indaziflam. The problem is that it kills all plants, flowers (hurting our pollinators) and grasses that sequester carbon and provide habitat for wildlife as well as erosion control--especially during a flood. Inevitably it ends up in waterways and ruins the biom of the soil promoting more weeds. There are NO long term studies on the efficacy nor safety of this toxic chemical. There are far better ways to control weeds that are already in the BC Weed Management Plan and they don't adhere to and even deny to our group that they work when we met BCPOS in November after they aerial sprayed our town. Please call me if you want to see a copy of the Grant Document.

This aerial spray campaign, along the front range in 3 counties (Larimer, Boulder & Jeffco) with Bayer employees involved, started last year in Larimer County who completed half the project, Jefferson County completed their spraying and Boulder County has not begun their spraying, but will start at the end of February or begining of March 2023. The program claims to be trying to control cheatgrass for fire mitigation and to protect elk and deer feed. However, CU professors, one of which is a top expert on cheatgrass (Dr. Timothy Seastead) wrote 11 papers on the topic, says that cheatgrass is NOT an issue, nor spread in 10 years here) and states it has become an important part of our ecosystem. Dr. Seastead is also a fire mitigation expert, working with the government in this capacity, and states that cheatgrass is NOT a fire hazard and that resources would be better spent on mitigating trees and 3 fire chiefs in Boulder County agreed with him. Ranger Pete in BC states that elk and deer populations are so high that they have to increase hunting licenses meaning their food sources are abundant and that elk and deer eat the cheatgrass in the winter before their favorite foods come up in the Spring. This is in agreement with the professors and the CO Dept of Agriculture who categorizes it as a List C (not required to manage) species.

Ogallala Farms, in Longmont, lost 350,000 bees on October 17, 2022 on the day BCPOS spot sprayed Pyrite Trail a few blocks West with the same toxic chemical, Indaziflam. On November 1, 2022, a 1.5 year old boy got a rash from head to toe when BCPOS aerial sprayed Indaziflam/Rejuvra adjacent to the town of Lyons and it lasted for 2 months. His Mother testiified in tears and sent a letter with photos to the county commissioners.

Our group met with BC Commissioner Claire Levy and BCPOS management in January to present a pesticide free weed management plan and weed guide (which Commissiioners Levy requested after the huge outcry from the public the last time they aerial sprayed near the Town of Lyons in November).  CU Professor Robert Brackenridge authored a 60 page plan for BCPOS incorporating into their own Weed Management Plan, dated 2003, which is 20 years out of compliance according to state law. We are hopeful that they will accept the plan and implement it immediately before their Spring pesticide spray campaign.

Other types of application of these toxic chemicals is sprayed nearly on a daily basis in our county as the weather warms up (see spray schedule 2022). before their spray campaign which includes aerial spraying along the front range. 

Ending the use of pesticides (herbicides and other harmful chemicals) on Open spaces in Boulder County is a CLIMATE SOLUTION. The global climate experts, including Hunter Lovins, says that healthy soil and plants (especially grasses) can sequester virtually ALL of the carbon in the air and it begins with ending the cycle of pesticide use. Big ag companies, especially Bayer/Monsanto, spends billion of dollars per year spreading their propoganda about their products and how well they work, even saying it is GOOD for the environment and bees! They infiltrate universities and municipalites with their employees and fund studies with their products to spread these messages.

The Town of Lyons has a Non Synthetic Weed Management Plan as well as several other municipalities around the country. Others working toward this are Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette and Boulder in our own county. 

Recent History of aerial spraying in Boulder County:

Boulder County Parks & Open Space (BCPOS) Invades the Town of Lyons with helicopter and poisonous herbicide and Plan to do it again soon!

BCPOS's director is spent $35,000 to rain an experimental, toxic chemical on our open space near Lyons, Hall Ranch, to control one weed that experts say does not need controlled and does not pose a threat.

November 1, 2022 at 7:40 am Boulder County Parks & Open Space (BCPOS) doused Indaziflam (a preemegent herbicide) with a helicopter on public open space, while children walked to school, next to our homes and St. Vrain Creek against the wishes of our town's people. This herbicide was forced on us just 2 weeks after BCPOS partnered with Cemex Lyons to extend their mining permit 15 more years.

A neighbor at the open space land had gotten a notification about this spraying and told others in town; and people were up in arms and inundated the county with calls. Joe Swanson, the Weed Management Specialist with the Natural Resource Manager, Stefan Rhinhold, held an emergency meetingat Lyons Firehouse justdays before spraying. Around 50 people showed up with one or two day's notice to this meeting and (100% of people opposed) told BCPOS they did not want chemicals sprayed in our area and that the Town of Lyons has adopted a Weed Managment Plan without the use of chemicals on our public spaces. They told BCPOS there are many other ways to handle the cheatgrass-- including tarteted goat grazing that has been used successfully all over the country and prescribed fire. They scoffed at all of these alternative methods but said they would take out a few acres near our creek that provides drinking water to our town and a drainage. He said they were moving forward anyway and they did. Since it was such short notice, some people had not heard the news and were walking in the area when the helicopter came and were directly showered with this chemical with the SW winds that day. People said their eyes and throats burned and coughing occurred. The towns people, including Lyons Climate Action begged the county not to do it, even offering to do the work and take on the cost themselves, and have gathered 2700 signatures to date opposing this method. We got sprayed and the town is devestated about it because they know it will take the land three years to recover and there will be consequences for the wildlife, public health and plants nearby. Lyons Climate action will do whatever it takes to make sure this kind of thing does not happen again. However, they are planning to aerial spray again at the end of February or early March.

Please join our coalition and help us with the solutions that prevent this spray campaign from continuing. See calendar on menu to see our next meeting is at the Lyons Library at noon. Food will be provided so please RSVP for headcount (even last minute) by text or email to 303-642-6144.

Sign up here to be notified of the date and time of the Fall public hearing to determine the fate of pesticide use on our open spaces (to be set by county).