Protect Our Laguna!!!

[Magick]

Dear Community, here is my report on the Herbicide Ludwigia removal project that greatly impacted our Laguna. The Laguna foundation's report can be found on their website. Take a moment to contemplate. Peace, Magick Please circulate widely!

Speech for April 4th 2006

by Magick

My name is Magick and I spent a lot of the last few years working with many wonderful people who love the Laguna. I have learned much and know that my learning will be a lifelong love affair.

In my work with Laguna Lovers and the Pepperweed Project I have been proud to say that Sebastopol has stood in the forefront in holding to its policy as a pesticide Free Zone. I want to thank you again for your letter in opposition to the spraying that took place last year. Because you were right, this was not the way to deal with the situation at all.

According to John Short the Chief Engineer of the Sonoma County Waterboard the work near Occidental road was not successful. The spray failed to kill the plants and there was actually a lot of regrowth shortly after the initial spraying.

According to Patty Clary of the Californians Against Toxics the scientific community is recognizing that herbicides are not successful in dealing with a dominant species. Last year we argued that if there was going to be mechanical removal then they should not use herbicides as well.

The argument given by the Task Force was that when you chop it up, it fragments into millions of tiny pieces that can sprout and grow new plants so they had to kill it first with herbicides. But since they couldn’t get their spray boats in there they went against their own logical argument and brought in a machine called a Cookie Cutter and went right down the middle of the Laguna and chopped it all into floating fragments.

Glyphosate

There is no measurement of the damage that is being done to all the species that live there but we do know that glyphosate is deadly to fungus which is a natural water cleanser. That it is harmful and sometimes deadly to amphibians and salmonids.

It is an endocrine disrupter and has caused miscarriage in Canadian farmers. The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent studies show it is the ovaries that are effected most. Dr Mary Maddox Gonzalez, our county Health officer, states that pesticides are a leading cause in the asthma epidemic and that children are most effected by these chemicals.

Now the Laguna Foundation proposes to use triclopyr. Dr. Marc Lappe, our highly respected local expert that recently passed away, fought to end the use of such toxics. He found that tryclopyr is also harmful to the reproductive system.

It is more persistent than glyphosate and therefore there is concern about it leeching into the groundwater. It is also an odd choice considering it is usually used for grasses and would be deadly to willows and oak seedlings. Sta-put a drift control agent was also used without the public or the waterboard ever being informed, and yet it is regulated like an herbicide. It is an eye and skin irritant and is combustible. Not only that it s 1% poly vinyl, in other words, what they sprayed out there was plastic.

We have no idea what these chemicals are doing in combination withal the other chemicals, both medical and agricultural, that are not eliminated and therefore dumped into the Laguna from the wastewater plants. We need to uphold the precautionary principle which states that if we can’t prove its isn’t harmful we shouldn’t use it.

The agreement to keep the turbidity below 20% was also broken and these boats were allowed to churn up the water. We have no way of knowing what it did to all the life in this delicate ecosystem, but it was described as akin to boiling the water. The large machines that were used to haul out the plants, destroyed the very important riparian zones that are now trying to recover from the devastation.


In other words like the Press Democrat stated this was a war on Ludwigia and like any war zone there was death, injury and devastation. Yes, the Ludwigia is clogging the Laguna but the question is why and what function is it fulfilling? Nature responds to our actions and if you ask Mike Reynolds who headed up much of the work at the Llano treatment plant for over 20 years, “If the waterboard doesn’t have the courage to impose large fines on the Dairies and other polluters the nutrient load will continue to feed the explosion of this plant.”

Put simply this means that Ludwigia is actually serving its natural function of cleaning the water by drawing up excess nutrients, silt and heavy metals. In fact if you Google Ludwigia it is quite amazing to find that you see the Laguna Foundation’s report on killing this plant right next to many reports about how Ludwigia is actually planted in structured wetlands to do exactly what it is doing in the Laguna. It is cleaning the water. If the level of nutrients were brought down the Ludwigia would naturally withdraw to the edges of the waterway.

If we spent all this time and money planting trees and shrubs to restore the riparian zones so they could act as filters and prevent much of the siltation then the Ludwigia would not grow in these shady areas or in water deeper than 3 feet. But this is common sense and is commonly discounted in the name of science that is funded by big herbicide companies.

Last year The task Force stated that Ludwigia hexapetela is a non-native invasive when in fact according to the Jepsom manual the standard for California plant identification it is listed as native. Now researcher Brenda Grewell of Davis states that they don’t actually know what plant this is.

It would seem that with all that I am telling you now this travesty against our precious water source would have never taken place. So what is it in our culture that allows for rational cruelty to continue to be the dominant paradigm. We must go deeper to see that the cause of the problem is rooted in the psychology of our culture.

We are still suffering from a dualistic approach to problem solving; put simply it goes like this: identify the enemy, use propaganda to devalue the enemy and make us hate them and now that we are de-sensitized and have lost all compassion they offer the method to search and destroy. Make us the good guys then nature’s response to our degradation actually becomes the problem and the War is on! This is the same method used in any war whether it is against humans or the glassy winged sharpshooter or any living thing.

To call a plant invasive, noxious, and an enemy to the natives are loaded words. Invasive is hardly an objective scientific term. But when we allow science to be separated from the heart we are capable of rationalizing the killing of other species. To truly understand the problem we need to look at causes not just the symptoms. Otherwise we are just creating an addiction to the herbicides that only put a bandage on a deeply wounded water way.

My life is dedicated to the recognition that all life is sacred and interconnected. The dominant spiritual values in our cultures continue to operate within the good/bad dichotomy. If we can not recognize that we are part of nature and no plant, no animal is our enemy then we will continue to allow the war against nature to continue unabated.

According to the Gala principle the earth is a conscious living body and to pour poisons, feces, and pharmaceuticals into her water is to show a blatant disregard for life itself. It is no different than pouring poison in the holy water of a priest.

When I watched the video of the Laguna Task force it was so disturbing to hear it suggested that they were considering aerial spraying this year and to not see a single soul in the room object. Then the suggestion was made that there may be a need to spray earlier and that that could be fatal to some of the salmonid. The response was from the man representing the fisheries. He offered to help find away to get around the Endangered species act by getting a permit that is called a “take” which allows a certain number of salmonid to die. I watched the entire 2 hours and never heard a single person in this room full of scientists say one word of concern for the death and devastation of their brothers and sisters in the plant and animal world.

I am sure that these people were drawn to this profession because they loved the outdoors and spent hours fascinated by the amazing mysteries of nature. I have faith that their spirits can be reawakened to the love of cooperating in supporting life and to give up the domination and killing that has so defined our culture for thousands of years.

We are at a crucial point in the evolution of our planet. With the rapid devastation of the natural world, global warming and extinction on the rise, we must do everything in our power to reintegrate ourselves into the natural order of existence and let nature lead us and be our teacher once again. I am asking you to take action by requesting the Task Force do an Environmental Impact Report so we can create together an environmentally superior alternative to this project. Secondly I am asking you to repeat your request of last year to not use pesticides and instead work with nature planting willows, and oaks, that will restore our riparian zones.

We are a Pesticide Free Zone lets continue to lead the way to save our beloved Laguna!

[moonrise]

Just want to say THANK YOU )) for caring and working so hard to make things better for all of us living here together.

-Dorothy

[don]

Hey Magick

Thanks for the good work you have done for the Laguna, but I can't support some of the things that are out of context or not true that are misleading to those that don't know better. Here's an example:

You say "According to John Short the Chief Engineer of the Sonoma County Waterboard the work near Occidental road was not successful. The spray failed to kill the plants and there was actually a lot of regrowth shortly after the initial spraying."

While I have not talked to John, I have spent a great deal of time at this area both before and after the work (I am there almost weekly, and have kayaked on both sides and can tell you that there is a HUGE difference, and can only suspect that what you say that John says has been paraphrased incorrectly. I would like to see exactly what he said. Just because 100% of the Ludwigia was not killed doesn't mean that "the work near Occidental road was not successful". But having the waterway going from being almost totally choked off to now open and beautiful is a great thing for many reasons.

Since you are representing this to a large group of people, I encourage you to tell the whole story as to not misrepresent what is really going on in the Laguna.
From someone who loves the Laguna as well
;) Don

Dear Community, here is my report on the Herbicide Ludwigia removal project that greatly impacted our Laguna. The Laguna foundation's report can be found on their website. Take a moment to contemplate. Peace, Magick Please circulate widely!

Speech for April 4th 2006

by Magick

My name is Magick and I spent a lot of the last few years working with many wonderful people who love the Laguna. I have learned much and know that my learning will be a lifelong love affair.

In my work with Laguna Lovers and the Pepperweed Project I have been proud to say that Sebastopol has stood in the forefront in holding to its policy as a pesticide Free Zone. I want to thank you again for your letter in opposition to the spraying that took place last year. Because you were right, this was not the way to deal with the situation at all.

According to John Short the Chief Engineer of the Sonoma County Waterboard the work near Occidental road was not successful. The spray failed to kill the plants and there was actually a lot of regrowth shortly after the initial spraying.

According to Patty Clary of the Californians Against Toxics the scientific community is recognizing that herbicides are not successful in dealing with a dominant species. Last year we argued that if there was going to be mechanical removal then they should not use herbicides as well.

The argument given by the Task Force was that when you chop it up, it fragments into millions of tiny pieces that can sprout and grow new plants so they had to kill it first with herbicides. But since they couldn’t get their spray boats in there they went against their own logical argument and brought in a machine called a Cookie Cutter and went right down the middle of the Laguna and chopped it all into floating fragments.

Glyphosate

There is no measurement of the damage that is being done to all the species that live there but we do know that glyphosate is deadly to fungus which is a natural water cleanser. That it is harmful and sometimes deadly to amphibians and salmonids.

It is an endocrine disrupter and has caused miscarriage in Canadian farmers. The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent studies show it is the ovaries that are effected most. Dr Mary Maddox Gonzalez, our county Health officer, states that pesticides are a leading cause in the asthma epidemic and that children are most effected by these chemicals.

Now the Laguna Foundation proposes to use triclopyr. Dr. Marc Lappe, our highly respected local expert that recently passed away, fought to end the use of such toxics. He found that tryclopyr is also harmful to the reproductive system.

It is more persistent than glyphosate and therefore there is concern about it leeching into the groundwater. It is also an odd choice considering it is usually used for grasses and would be deadly to willows and oak seedlings. Sta-put a drift control agent was also used without the public or the waterboard ever being informed, and yet it is regulated like an herbicide. It is an eye and skin irritant and is combustible. Not only that it s 1% poly vinyl, in other words, what they sprayed out there was plastic.

We have no idea what these chemicals are doing in combination withal the other chemicals, both medical and agricultural, that are not eliminated and therefore dumped into the Laguna from the wastewater plants. We need to uphold the precautionary principle which states that if we can’t prove its isn’t harmful we shouldn’t use it.

The agreement to keep the turbidity below 20% was also broken and these boats were allowed to churn up the water. We have no way of knowing what it did to all the life in this delicate ecosystem, but it was described as akin to boiling the water. The large machines that were used to haul out the plants, destroyed the very important riparian zones that are now trying to recover from the devastation.


In other words like the Press Democrat stated this was a war on Ludwigia and like any war zone there was death, injury and devastation. Yes, the Ludwigia is clogging the Laguna but the question is why and what function is it fulfilling? Nature responds to our actions and if you ask Mike Reynolds who headed up much of the work at the Llano treatment plant for over 20 years, “If the waterboard doesn’t have the courage to impose large fines on the Dairies and other polluters the nutrient load will continue to feed the explosion of this plant.”

Put simply this means that Ludwigia is actually serving its natural function of cleaning the water by drawing up excess nutrients, silt and heavy metals. In fact if you Google Ludwigia it is quite amazing to find that you see the Laguna Foundation’s report on killing this plant right next to many reports about how Ludwigia is actually planted in structured wetlands to do exactly what it is doing in the Laguna. It is cleaning the water. If the level of nutrients were brought down the Ludwigia would naturally withdraw to the edges of the waterway.

If we spent all this time and money planting trees and shrubs to restore the riparian zones so they could act as filters and prevent much of the siltation then the Ludwigia would not grow in these shady areas or in water deeper than 3 feet. But this is common sense and is commonly discounted in the name of science that is funded by big herbicide companies.

Last year The task Force stated that Ludwigia hexapetela is a non-native invasive when in fact according to the Jepsom manual the standard for California plant identification it is listed as native. Now researcher Brenda Grewell of Davis states that they don’t actually know what plant this is.

It would seem that with all that I am telling you now this travesty against our precious water source would have never taken place. So what is it in our culture that allows for rational cruelty to continue to be the dominant paradigm. We must go deeper to see that the cause of the problem is rooted in the psychology of our culture.

We are still suffering from a dualistic approach to problem solving; put simply it goes like this: identify the enemy, use propaganda to devalue the enemy and make us hate them and now that we are de-sensitized and have lost all compassion they offer the method to search and destroy. Make us the good guys then nature’s response to our degradation actually becomes the problem and the War is on! This is the same method used in any war whether it is against humans or the glassy winged sharpshooter or any living thing.

To call a plant invasive, noxious, and an enemy to the natives are loaded words. Invasive is hardly an objective scientific term. But when we allow science to be separated from the heart we are capable of rationalizing the killing of other species. To truly understand the problem we need to look at causes not just the symptoms. Otherwise we are just creating an addiction to the herbicides that only put a bandage on a deeply wounded water way.

My life is dedicated to the recognition that all life is sacred and interconnected. The dominant spiritual values in our cultures continue to operate within the good/bad dichotomy. If we can not recognize that we are part of nature and no plant, no animal is our enemy then we will continue to allow the war against nature to continue unabated.

According to the Gala principle the earth is a conscious living body and to pour poisons, feces, and pharmaceuticals into her water is to show a blatant disregard for life itself. It is no different than pouring poison in the holy water of a priest.

When I watched the video of the Laguna Task force it was so disturbing to hear it suggested that they were considering aerial spraying this year and to not see a single soul in the room object. Then the suggestion was made that there may be a need to spray earlier and that that could be fatal to some of the salmonid. The response was from the man representing the fisheries. He offered to help find away to get around the Endangered species act by getting a permit that is called a “take” which allows a certain number of salmonid to die. I watched the entire 2 hours and never heard a single person in this room full of scientists say one word of concern for the death and devastation of their brothers and sisters in the plant and animal world.

I am sure that these people were drawn to this profession because they loved the outdoors and spent hours fascinated by the amazing mysteries of nature. I have faith that their spirits can be reawakened to the love of cooperating in supporting life and to give up the domination and killing that has so defined our culture for thousands of years.

We are at a crucial point in the evolution of our planet. With the rapid devastation of the natural world, global warming and extinction on the rise, we must do everything in our power to reintegrate ourselves into the natural order of existence and let nature lead us and be our teacher once again. I am asking you to take action by requesting the Task Force do an Environmental Impact Report so we can create together an environmentally superior alternative to this project. Secondly I am asking you to repeat your request of last year to not use pesticides and instead work with nature planting willows, and oaks, that will restore our riparian zones.

We are a Pesticide Free Zone lets continue to lead the way to save our beloved Laguna!