Maine State Senate debating bill to ban aerial glyphosate spraying in woods. What will New Brunswick MLAs do?

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As another forest spraying season begins in New Brunswick, I want to state my opposition to the spraying of glyphosate-based herbicides. I just don't believe we need them. As you know, they are designed to kill hardwoods and plants in our forest, which we need to provide both food and habitat for wildlife. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicides used in New Brunswick Crown forest silviculture, was labeled a "probable human carcinogen" by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015. As your constituent, I ask that you support a ban on spraying glyphosates and other herbicides in Crown forestry in New Brunswick. I understand that the Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability is reviewing evidence and presentations from its June hearings on glyphosate use and will make recommendations to the Legislative Assembly. Replacing the use of herbicides in Crown forest with thinning crews of people, as Quebec has done since 2001, would ensure more jobs from our forest resource. The Auditor General of New Brunswick attributed the annual deficit from its Crown forestry operations ($7-10 million for each of the years, 2009-2015) to the costly silviculture program in her 2015 report. A lot of New Brunswickers clearly agree with me. Over 35,000 of them signed petitions tabled in the N.B. Legislature and a growing alliance of over 30 groups are working to ban the practice. The Acadian forest has been listed as one of six endangered forests in North America. New Brunswick makes up a large portion of what remains of the Acadian forest. Ensuring that the Acadian forest is properly managed here in New Brunswick is key to maintaining this unique forest region. Crown forest management must consider first and foremost adequate habitat for wildlife, protection for streams and rivers, climate change impacts and forest diversity in terms of age and species. New Brunswickers have repeatedly expressed a desire for changes in the way our Crown forest is managed, including scaling back on allowable clear cut size and eliminating aerial spraying. The people of the province want to save animal populations decimated by overcutting, stop the damage to our rivers and lakes, and diversify our forest-based economy. You’ll remember that six years ago the provincial auditor recommended that the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development reduce the amount of Crown land harvested by clearcut, to bring practices in line with the government’s 2012 forest management plan. “Clearcut(ting) is running consistently around 80 per cent, whereas in the area of selective or partial cut, there is a decline from 20 per cent to roughly 10 per cent in more recent years,” Kim Adair-MacPherson told MLAs and reporters upon releasing the 2015 report. Back then, she noted that the department had ignored numerous studies and recommendations calling for a reduction of clearcutting on Crown land. Her report said that selective and partial cutting methods are recognized as best management practices because they also serve to protect waterways, wildlife habitat, and preserve a healthy range of plant and animal life in the woods. In her February 2021 update, the auditor general said she was disappointed the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development had to implement the key recommendations she made in 2015. “The Department continues to disregard the need to reduce clear-cut harvest on Crown land to align with the Province’s forest management strategy,” she wrote. It is time for the government to end herbicide spraying and modernize New Brunswick’s outdated approach to forest management in a way that is fair for private woodlot owners, respects First Nation’s rights, and meets the needs of all citizens who use and love our forests and the natural resources and wildlife within. Sincerely,