The map showing where the forests will be sprayed with herbicides during summer 2017 is now available.
Forestry companies spray large swaths of clearcuts with products containing glyphosate — a chemical linked to cancer and a slew of other health problems — beginning this month through Sept. 30.
The full 2017 spray map is available at forestinfo.ca, a partnership between government and the forestry industry. If you want to know if your community, favourite walking trail, or summer swimming hole is near a spray site you’ll have to zoom in on the map until herbicide spray zones appear.
Our team is pouring over the map to help New Brunswickers identify the major spraying hotspots this summer. We started by looking at herbicide spray hotspots near popular N.B. cottage lakes this summer:
Click here for the full images
How we made these maps: Our team selected 10 popular N.B. lake destinations on the 2017 herbicide spray map and zoomed in to reveal the areas being sprayed within a five-kilometre radius. For each lake, we recorded the spray block I.D., the land manager (forestry company) spraying the block, and the total area in hectares being sprayed, to generate a bird’s eye view of spraying activity near each lake. The complete set of data is available at geonb.snb.ca/herbicide/index.html. Note: The Washademoak Lake spray map was generated using a 10-km radius.
Check out this infographic to see which companies are doing the most spraying next to the above N.B. lakes during summer 2017:
Click the infographic to view in full size
How we made this infographic: Using the 2017 online spray map, we zoomed in at each lake to reveal spray blocks within a five-kilometre radius and recorded the spray block I.D., the land manager (forestry company) spraying the block, and the total area in hectares being sprayed, to generate this table. The complete set of data is available at geonb.snb.ca/herbicide/index.html.
Be part of our forest conservation efforts. Donate $50, $15, $5 or more to help fund our work. Stay tuned for our second annual 5 Days for the Forest festival coming up in September. Donate today!
Want to know which companies are doing the most spraying on Crown forest clearcuts across the entire province this summer? Check out the graph below:
Click here to see the graph full size
Want the spraying to stop? Our representatives in provincial government need to hear from us.
We’ve made it easy for you to write your Member of the Legislative Assembly.
We’re still crunching through the 2017 data to provide you with the bigger picture of spray activity across the entire province. In the meantime, here’s a bird’s eye view of spraying hotspots in N.B. between 2013-2016, compiled from the government’s GIS herbicide spray data from 2013-2016, inclusive:
What’s the problem with spraying herbicides containing glyphosate?
The forest industry sprays clearcut areas with herbicides to kill hardwoods and vegetation that compete with the [spruce, fir and pine] companies grow in plantations.
The Conservation Council has long advocated that the province stop the old-fashioned, taxpayer-funded practice of spraying the forest. Quebec banned the spraying of its public forest more than 15 years ago and Nova Scotia stopped using taxpayers’ money to spray its forest. Glyphosate, the main active ingredient in most herbicides used in Crown forest operations in New Brunswick, has been listed as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization in 2015. Click here to learn more about glyphosate and its health impacts on people and wildlife.
Conservationists, biologists and hunters are worried that spraying vegetation is wiping out the food and habitats of our forest wildlife.
Let’s take the herbicides out of the woods and put more people to work in 21st century forestry and silviculture practices that conserve and restore a healthy, resilient and diverse forest.