© Conservation Council of New Brunswick 2024
Hotspots for herbicide spraying in 2023
Find glyphosate spraying near your community using our up-to-date map of herbicide hotspots, then use our letter-writing tool to tell your MLA you want this unnecessary and old-fashioned practice to stop
The map showing where New Brunswick forests will be sprayed with herbicides during summer 2023 is now available.
Our team is poring over the map to help New Brunswickers identify the major spraying hotspots this summer. Stay tuned to this page for more maps showing spraying hotspots across the province and within our watersheds.
(Click on the map to zoom in)
2023 Update: Herbicide Spraying in New Brunswick
Every year starting in August and continuing through September, companies spray large swaths of clear cuts with products containing glyphosate. These herbicides being sprayed in N.B.’s Crown forest are a symptom of a larger problem—an old-fashioned management regime that sees corporate profits and timber supply trump human safety and the environment.
In January 2023, Health Canada renewed its registration for glyphosate-based herbicides for five additional years, despite being required to conduct a rigorous scientific assessment of glyphosate. Environmental and food advocacy groups responded to this decision by taking Health Canada to court for failing to conduct a thorough assessment.
Although Health Canada asserts that glyphosate is not a cancer risk at the levels humans are currently exposed, environmental groups say Health Canada’s findings are based on outdated evidence from 2017. They also argue that at the current speed that Health Canada updates their science, it could be another 20 to 30 years before Canada updates the threats on each pesticide, meaning glyphosate may not be investigated again until 2030.
Despite Health Canada’s approval, the Government of New Brunswick’s decision to continue using glyphosate-based herbicide in its Crown forestry management fails to properly address the harm that glyphosate does to the biological diversity of our Crown forests. This includes the harm done to our bird and wildlife populations, beneficial insects, soil creatures, aquatic species, and our forests’ ability to withstand and recover from fire events.
With New Brunswick having the highest rate of glyphosate use in forestry by land mass and its use of glyphosate on Crown land only expected to increase, the associated environmental dangers will only continue to intensify.
Over 35,000 New Brunswickers want glyphosate out of their forests, yet the provincial government continues to insist that glyphosate is the only option. We know this isn’t the case, however, because Quebec banned glyphosate on its Crown forests in 2001 and maintains a productive forestry industry, with thinning crews doing the job herbicides once did.
Now is the time for the provincial government to take a progressive stance and prioritize the preservation of our precious Crown forests and the well-being of its people. By following Quebec’s example and exploring alternative approaches, we can strike a balance between economic prosperity and environmental responsibility.
Send your #StopSpraying letter today!
Take action now! Your letter will be sent to:
- Blaine Higgs, Premier of New Brunswick
- Gary Crossman, N.B. Minister of Environment and Climate Change
- Mike Holland, N.B. Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Development
- New Brunswick party leaders: David Coon (GP), Susan Holt (L), Blaine Higgs (PC), Alex White (NDP)
- Your MLA (based on your postal code)
The 2021 Glyphosate Hearings in New Brunswick
In June and September 2021, the Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship held hearings on glyphosate use in New Brunswick.
Our previous Executive Director, Lois Corbett, was among the experts, conservation groups, scientists, and citizens groups who spoke out against spraying during the hearing and called for a better approach to forest management in New Brunswick based around ecological forestry.
“You’re going to hear from industry, ‘We can’t do things differently,’” Corbett told committee members last summer. “I don’t buy it. There are a lot of smart foresters in this province, there is a lot of talent within the industry. If they put their mind to it, they can do it. But if we don’t have legislators standing up with citizens and scientists saying we have to do this, industry will not change.”
“Like a crutch when you have a broken leg, herbicides are a symptom of a broader problem: large-scale clearcutting and an out-dated forest management strategy,” Corbett added as she called for an update to the 30-year-old Crown Lands and Forests Act.
“We have the climate change crisis. We have a crisis in nature. We have First Nations and private woodlot owners demanding fairness, and we have overwhelming public support for change. This is not the time for small goals. It’s time to do what the forests and wildlife needs, what our citizens want, and what New Brunswickers’ deserve.”
What's the problem with spraying herbicides containing glyphosate?
Forestry companies spray clearcut areas with herbicides to kill hardwoods and vegetation that compete with the spruce, fir and pine they grow in plantations. The Conservation Council has long advocated that the province stop the old-fashioned, citizen-funded practice of spraying the forest. Quebec banned the spraying of its public forest more than two decades ago.
In 2016, New Brunswick’s Chief Medical Officer of Health’s Action Plan on Glyphosate found that New Brunswick uses more glyphosate per hectare of harvested forest than any province in Canada.
Bayer, the company that now produces glyphosate, has been ordered to pay millions in damages to cancer victims who were exposed to its products. In June 2022, the US Supreme Court refused to hear two appeals from the company trying to get out of paying.
Meanwhile, also in June 2022, a California appeals court ordered the US Environmental Protection Agency to review its 2019 glyphosate re-authorization, saying the agency did not adequately consider the human health and ecological risks associated with its use.
The same thing happened here in Canada in February 2022, when the Federal Court of Appeal sent Health Canada back to the drawing board on its 2017 glyphosate renewal, and gave the department strongly-worded direction on how to conduct a proper review to avoid “the endless merry-go-round” of court applications.
More Stories: Glyphosate Spraying
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