Herbicide-poisoned land near Lake Almanor, where forest recovery after the Dixie Fire has been blocked by drenching the land with chemicals
We’re up in arms about new information related to the scale of USFS, State Parks and private spraying of herbicides on local forest lands, in the Feather River Watershed and beyond. The scale of what they are planning would mean unimaginable landscape-scale poisoning of the forest and human communities.
We’ve got to stop it.
This is a map provided by the USFS indicating where they plan to apply herbicides (in orange). That little spec of white left of center is a back up water source, owned by the City of Portola. This is one of many water sources, including streams, wells and springs near planned applications.
Note herbicide applications planned immediately surrounding (and uphill from) the spring, immediately to the southwest. We’ve reported this to the City, and made follow up inquiries but so far have not heard back. Write to the council and encourage them to demand the USFS stop herbicide applications in the local watershed.
Related to that- there is a lot going on related to this issue– here’s how to engage:
1) New coalition— No Poison California— is tackling Toxic Herbicide Spraying in CA Forests Visit the website to understand how this is happening, what can be done and sign on in opposition. Spread the word and join the movement that Nate Halverson’s Mother Jones article sparked..
2) A recent viral article by Michelle Perro MD asks the question: What Happens to Forest-Applied Glyphosate and Other Herbicides When They Burn? The answer: nothing good and probably worse than we know. Another reason herbicide applications need to stop.
3) Check out the Quincy “Goat Alternative to Herbicides”Fundraiser Live Music, Fresh Ale, Goats
Aug. 8th 4:30-10pm at the Rich Bar Taproom— supports goat vegetation control pilot project: “In response to U.S. Forest Service plans to use herbicides to control herbaceous vegetation on Plumas National Forest and around communities, organizers are calling for a goat alternative for vegetation control. Money raised through this event will be used for a demonstration pilot project to show goats can be used successfully.” (via Plumas Sun)
4) New Online Mapping Tool Sheds Light on Herbicide Applications in Plumas County (and beyond): The scale of this is shocking to see just based on the limited data included: “https://www.spraymapca.org/ has been created to inform the public about how much herbicide is being used and where. The intent is to share the facts about what is happening (and planned for the future) so that individuals have the data necessary to ask informed questions. If anyone has questions on how to use the map or how the information was compiled, please email spraymapca@gmail.com”
“…The goal of the show, said collective founder and artist Amy Napoleon, is to create dialogue through art. “Right now there aren’t many people having real conversations with one another about politics and political issues. Our hope is that these pieces will create meaningful dialogue. We can’t solve any issues unless we are willing to have conversations about them…”
Herbicide Application on private lands along Hwy. 89 east of Canyondam June 6th, 2026 Photo: Feather River Action!
Locals Say NO to Conversion of Public Forests to “Privatized and Poisoned” Tree Plantations
PORTOLA, CA— Recent reports in the national media, including in Mother Jones and on NPR Reveal, and in the local Mountain Messenger, have shed light on the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) vastly expanded glyphosate (and other herbicide) spraying on public forest lands. Now, new estimates for the quantity of spraying have been calculated using USFS documents, revealing plans to spray more than 104,224 acres (162 square miles) with more than 1.46 million pounds of carcinogenic herbicides. One of the largest of these plans– what the USFS calls the “Community Protection Project” — is being challenged in court by local groups including Feather River Action! and Plumas Forest Project. Residents, alarmed by the scale of deforestation and herbicide spraying planned for local watersheds, are demanding an immediate halt to all spraying in national forests.
Planted pine tree sprayed with glyphosate on Collins pine land west of Chester (Photo: FRA!)
Despite the known health risks, and with little to no intervention from state regulators, Glyphosate and other chemicals are being sprayed on entire landscapes within the Feather River watershed, a source of drinking water for more than 23 million Californians. Satellite images show a huge “round up” scar on the north side of Lake Almanor, apparently resulting from extensive herbicide use on 140,000 acres of private timber production lands, belonging to Collins Pine, surrounding the town of Chester. Rough estimates are that over 1 million pounds of herbicides have already been sprayed on this land, part of the Lake Almanor watershed.
Collins Pine, which is “FSC Certified” and who owns the herbicide-devastated “Almanor Forest” seen in the map above, claims on their website to: “provide key habitat elements needed to support all native animal, plant and fish species.”
Now the U.S. Forest Service is poised to adopt the same intensive, herbicide dependent management practices on public land at a similar scale, without holding a single public meeting to address residents’ concerns.
Backed by only one (withdrawn) safety study, the USFS continues to recklessly push forward with plans to vastly expand its own herbicide spraying on public forest lands in the Northern Sierra, including near communities like Greenville, Lake Davis, Quincy, Cromberg, and Portola, as part of several projects claiming to “improve forest health.”
Herbicide treated scar visible from space- not great for clean water, carbon storage, wildlife… or recreation (photo: FRA!)
According to Feather River Action! “This is a secret plan by industry to undermine the multiple use mission of the Forest Service. Recreation, clean water, and habitat uses of the forest are being sacrificed for monocrop poisoned plantations that are less resilient to wildfire and would threaten local communities with fast moving wildfire. People spoke out strongly against recent plans to sell off US Forest Service lands and those plans were shelved. This is a de facto privatization and taking of public lands. Lacking specific information on sprayed areas, the public would not know where it is safe to recreate, and could avoid whole regions, with devastating consequences for local economies.”
Extreme logging on public lands near Greenhorn, CA as part of the so-called “Community Protection Project”- USFS admits such mechanical “thinning” will allow wildfires to move into communities faster. Photo: Plumas Forest Project
Local organizations Feather River Action!, Plumas Forest Project, as well as national group John Muir Project are suing the Forest Service in federal court to require the USFS to prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the so-called “Community Protection Project Central and West Slope” (CPP) project, that includes areas in Plumas, Butte, Sierra, and Yuba counties. An EIS would be required to take a deeper look at impacts from heavy logging, mastication and herbicide spraying over such a wide area. The groups are represented by Deborah Sivas and the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic.
USFS plans to unleash industrial logging and herbicide “treatments” into areas along the Feather River including the Gooseneck, west of Portola, shown in August 2025 (FRA!)
As part of the CPP project, the USFS is spending more than $674 million of public funds to industrially log and spray chemicals over a wide area (logging on 217,721 acres and spraying over 51,000 acres as part of the CPP project alone). Industrial deforestation north of Hwy 70 between Greenhorn and Blairsden has already started, and USFS contractors plan to expand as soon as June 2026 to areas near Portola and the ecologically sensitive Feather River “Gooseneck” area west of the city.
Map showing areas that USFS plan to spray in Plumas National Forest (in orange)
The largest and most pristine ecosystem under threat from tree plantation conversion is the area around Strawberry Valley, up La Porte Rd. from Quincy. It is the only rainforest in the Sierra, with 80+ inches of rain annually.
Strawberry Valley Rainforest Threatened by USFS Tree Plantation Plan (Photo: FRA!)Heavy herbicide spraying (shown in orange on inset and on map above) is planned all along the boundary of Bucks Lake Wilderness, and private properties bordering federal lands.
Areas adjacent to the pristine Bucks Lake Wilderness near Quincy, CA are also planned to be heavily sprayed, according to Forest Service maps. The organization, Friends of Plumas Wilderness, did not respond to repeated e-mails seeking comment.
According to Feather River Action: “Areas of old growth and mature forest far from any community are being targeted with herbicides and industrial equipment as part of this so-called “emergency” action. Communities have been demanding public meetings with the USFS, but they have refused to hold even one, and bypassed environmental reviews normally prepared for a project of this scale. The threat posed by the secret herbicide spraying program is a direct result of the deregulation of USFS forest management programs.”
Local environmental groups say this goes to the heart of our failed wildfire safety strategy and timber industry corruption that’s led to public wildfire mitigation money paying for actions like “thinning” and spraying herbicides that would make forests and communities even more vulnerable to climate extremes. They refer to these projects as “wildfire excuse logging.”
These groups say that the projects would actually increase danger to nearby communities. They point to the CPP project, where the USFS withdrew the plan’s objective to reduce wildfire speed after the groups raised several scientific studies showing that thinning increases speeds during a wildfire. Instead of changing their project to actually slow down wildfires (and protect communities) the USFS simply dropped the objective. The speed of wildfires is strongly associated with structure losses and deaths.
Herbicides clearly being used above a stream within the area burned by the Dixie Fire– NW of Greenville, CA. June 6th, 2026.(FRA!)
Here is a map of the CPP project, showing treatment areas along the Hwy. 70 corridor (near Quincy, Portola, Blairsden, Cromberg, etc.) and the areas to the west (in the Strawberry Valley area). Areas in green are “emergency” prioritized areas. They are apparently starting with the eastern portion.
USFS “Community Protection Project” –green areas are “emergency” logging areas
FRA! inquired with the USFS multiple times what the total quantity of herbicides planned to be applied in the area would be and they repeatedly refused to disclose this information. Nevertheless, FRA! calculated likely herbicide quantities for areas of the Plumas National Forest and these totals are available below, based US Forest Service public documents.
These are some of the native plant species they are targeting:
These are food for wildlife and necessary inhabitants of forests. They retain moisture and carbon. They should not be killed with toxic chemicals in the public forest for the timber industry to “reduce competition” for the tree crop.
Deerbrush
Bitter cherry
Deerbrush
Chinquapin
Manzanita
Here is a list of the herbicides U.S. Forest Service contractors plan to use (includes Imazapyr, a substance banned in the EU because of toxicity to humans and the environment):
Normal healthy forest 5-year post Dixie fire recovery without the use of bulldozers or herbicides, south of Crescent Mills along Highway 89 (Photo: FRA!)
List of “Restoration” Projects Active in Plumas National Forest (PNF)– (total project acreage / acreage to be sprayed with and est. amt. of herbicides:
Area of PNF planned to be logged under current major plans: 438,599 acres (685 sq. mi.)
Total forest area to be sprayed: 104,224 acres (162 sq. mi.)
Total amount of herbicides planned to be used on the Plumas National Forest (estimated based on USFS documents showing up to 14 lb/ acre application rates in “reforestation areas”): 1.46 million lbs. (repeated applications not included– which could raise the total to ~14.6 million lbs. — this is the amount contained in nearly three olympic-sized swimming pools, for reference).
Logged and sprayed area in he midground near Canyondam June 6th, 2026 (Credit; FRA!)
TAKE ACTION- Who to Call and What to Say:
1. Contact Plumas Forest Supervsor Laura Schweitzer at 530-283-2050
5. Contact Brooke Rollins U.S. Secretary of Agriculture at (202) 720-7100
6. Call US EPA: (202) 272-0167
7. Call California Department of Pesticide Regulation: (916) 445-4300
8. Call EPA Region 9 Office (Western States) (415) 947-8000
9. Contact Federal Representatives: Rep. Kevin Kiley (CA District 3) (202) 225-2523 Senator Alex Padilla (CA) (202) 224-3553, Senator Adam Schiff (CA) (202) 224-3841
Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I am calling from [YOUR CITY/TOWN]. I am calling to express my strong opposition to the Forest Service’s plan to spray glyphosate herbicides across millions of acres of US Forest Service managed public forest lands.
I understand that the Plumas and nearby National Forests are currently coordinating several vegetation management and forest treatment projects that include the vastly expanded use of herbicides. Glyphosate is classified by the World Health Organization as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” California has listed it under Proposition 65 as known to cause cancer. The 9th Circuit Court vacated the EPA’s flawed safety determination in 2022.
This is not only an environmental issue — it is a direct threat to the health of families, children, and outdoor workers in our community. The Feather River — source of drinking water for 23 million Californians, cannot absorb more chemical stressors. The soil microbiome needed for real forest recovery would be destroyed.
I urge you to do whatever you can to immediately HALT any glyphosate spraying on public lands. Please pursue evidence-based wildfire safety measures such as structure hardening, defensible space pruning, and underburning around communities, NOT mechanical logging and poisoning of our watersheds! There are huge environmental and human health risks to such mass chemical applications.
There is zero evidence that killing of trees or brush farther than 100 ft. from structures affects structure survival in a wildfire.
Please record my strong opposition in the official record.
This winter was already the hottest on record for many places in the west…
The unprecedented spring heatwave in the southwest is about to get a lot worse, decimating already feeble sierra snow pack, and setting up Northern California mountain communities for a possibly severe fire season, making discussions and debates about community fire defense even more urgent.
Next Friday March 20th— the last day of what was once referred to as “winter.” — it’s predicted to hit 83F in Portola at 5000 feet elevation and 94F in Redding. Highs should stay in the eighties for several days.
Check out weather & climate expert Daniel Swain’s recent discussion of this likely record breaking (and lethal) heatwave. I can always gauge how bad the situation is by his tone, and he is visibly shaken and alarmed by these worsening climate developments.
A weasel, in the snowy environment such a coat evolved to blend in with..
A few days ago, I saw a weasel scurrying across a green and brown wetland meadow near the Feather River. Her coat was white, evolved over thousands of years of late winter snowpacks to blend in with and escape predators. Now, against the bare earth, and green plants, she stood out from the landscape, and she seemed to realize it, seeking out a pile of rocks with urgent curiosity. Like weasels, humans are also struggling to adapt to higher temperatures, especially at this time of year. We are all waking up and squinting to the new reality of living on a planet spinning faster and faster into truly dangerous territory.
I’d like to say government and quasi-government agencies are responding sensibly to this emergency: slashing emissions, setting aside forests, wetlands, and the moisture and carbon they lock up on the landscape, anything to throw the brakes on the climate freight train heading straight at us. I’d like to say we were urgently assisting (especially vulnerable) people to harden their homes and communities so loss of life is prevented during inevitable wildfires.
But that is sadly not the case.
Instead, the US Forest Service, CalFire, and other agencies have ramped up multi-billion dollar extreme logging plans in some of the wildest, remotest old growth forest remaining in the Sierra, pledging to kill and remove nearly 80% of the trees across vast swathes of wild lands, in the name of “forest management” and “forest resiliency”— using falsified data of past forest density to justify such an extreme intervention, while largely leaving rural communities to deal with the consequences.
We know from (actual science) that allowing the powerful evaporative effects of sun and wind into a forest canopy that is broken apart by heavy machinery disrupts the forest’s natural resilience, putting both forest communities and human communities at risk from droughts, floods, and storms, also dramatically increasing wildfire spread rates.
Homes burned in Paradise. Note living trees surrounding. If these homes had been hardened, using money that USFS paid to thin surrounding forest (that the fire raced through into town), they would still be there, and many fewer souls would have perished.
Greenville, Paradise, and other communities have already dealt with the consequences and false promises of thinning near their communities. How many more?
The USFS in particular is planning so many timber extraction projects on public land within and around the Plumas National Forest, it is hard to keep up (but we are trying!). These include:
— So-called “Community Protection” Project Central and West Slope (~218,000 acres)
— So-called “Community Protection” Project Eastside Project (~58,000 acres)
— North Forks (~167,000 acres)
— Tributaries (~163,000 acres)
— North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project (275,000 acres)
Total: ~881,000 acres (~ 1377 square miles!) For reference this is just over half the land area of Plumas County, and well over the total area of the state of Rhode Island.
Since the USFS has not provided a single map of these projects to help the public and decision makers understand the true overall impact, we thought it would be a good idea to make our own. If you gave mapping/ GIS skills and want to help us with this project, or are able to carry out forest surveys, please reach out!
Trees marked to designate private land boundaries in preparation for landscape level logging.
By what is known as “piecemealing” one massive overarching plan to log the Sierra Nevada into separate projects, the Forest Service is attempting to obscure the scale of the impact of their overall logging plan on wildfire, community safety, climate, water quality, and survival of threatened species such as the California Spotted Owl.
Other non-governmental and quasi- governmental groups in the area are moving forward with their own logging plans, many of which are not undergoing any environmental review whatsoever. Many of these groups receive direct funding from the Forest Service and other (timber-industry captured) agencies.
Likely what the “Fire Safe Council” is planning for East Quincy. Be Wary.
We suspect it is this failed approach they are pursuing, with heavy equipment set to damage the greenbelt in the name of “community safety.” Instead of improving fire safety, this kind of project instead sets up a disaster scenario where wildfires speed through thinned areas and slash piles into communities intentionally left unprotected by spending public money on logging instead of home defense.
I hope I am wrong. I hope the the Fire Safe Council is following best practices and scientific advice and prioritizing what science tells us are the most effective interventions: home hardening, pruning and defensible space around structures. If they want to go beyond that, perhaps respectful underburning (not pile burning which harms the land) and hand thinning of smaller trees in the immediate region around communities to aid fire defense would be appropriate.
We hope that is the case, but without additional information, we just have to assume the worst at this point.
— Will their project increase moisture in nearby forests, or decrease it?
— Will their project increase or decrease the spread rate of inevitable wildfire during high wind events?
— Will the project assist in providing defensible space and home hardening to the people of E. Quincy?
— What actual scientific evidence are they relying on that shows logging or brush removal farther than 200 ft. from structures has ANY EFFECT on the survival of those structures?
— What environmental (eg. CEQA/ NEPA) review is being carried out?
Please let us know if you hear back. I don’t see how continuing to refuse to provide information to the community (about projects that we pay for) is anything like a sustainable strategy for these groups.
Our mountain communities are made of kindling. Ember intrusion, ignition, and subsequent house to house spread— even as surrounding trees stay green and healthy— this is the biggest single cause of structure loss during a wildfire.
Wildfire– even high intensity wildfire– is a natural cycle, necessary for healthy forests. Though it may look devastating, the patchwork created by variable intensity wildfire is crucial for diverse habitat, and has been for millions of years.
Recent intensive logging in Greenhorn is set to spread across the region, with wildfire as the excuse.
Hacking away at vegetation in the forest in the name of fuel reduction may give some people a sense of control, and make quite a bit of money for some, but the reality is the embers don’t care a bit when they burn up the abandoned slash piles and send even more embers up to 2-3 miles from a flaming front, igniting a tinderbox community.
The results of all this are as predictable as they are preventable. If we funnel limited resources away from actual community hardening, and believe the lie that logging bare entire forests will prevent wildfire intrusion into communities, more people will die. It’s as simple as that.
And those who swallow and perpetuate the lie, because it’s easier than asking the tough questions and accepting that we may have gotten some things wrong, will have blood on their hands when their “forest management” results in wildfires speeding into communities, denying inhabitants time to evacuate.
Every public dollar flowing to “forest management” is a dollar that is not available for critical community hardening work. And it is making it much harder for animals like the weasel, who need shelter and habitat more than ever, but are finding it increasingly difficult to find it among the thinned tree plantations being created.
It’s a choice being made with your hard earned money— whether to respond effectively to climate collapse, or double down on the corporate corruption that led us to this place, waiving forest protections when we need them the most.
There’s a better way, and it starts at the home. Let’s unite around what really works to save lives and property, and not be misled by those who seek to hijack a true emergency to line their own pockets.
These are food for wildlife and necessary inhabitants of forests. They retain moisture and carbon. They should not be killed with toxic chemicals in the public forest for the timber industry to “reduce competition” for the tree crop.
