4-2017 Update

Dear Sky Valley Residents,

Sky Valley 3, 5-4-2017

Skykomish River Valley in the spring time,   5-2017

SVENA stands for Skykomish Valley Environmental & Economic Alliance. Our mission is to protect an environmentally and economically sustainable future of the Skykomish River Valley. We are working towards a safer, cleaner, healthier, more beautiful and economically sustainable place to live, work and visit. You can find more information at our website svena.org.

Contents:

  1. Singletary Timber Sale and logging next to Wallace Falls State Park;
  2. Hampton Lumber Company of Darrington and logging next to Wallace Falls State Park;
  3. Good news for the spring 2017 about toxic spraying in Sky Valley;
  4. Articles about Glyphosate, Roundup and Monsanto in The New York Times and Newsweek,  10 things you need to know about Glyphosate, EPA report “Pesticides Industry Sales and Usage 2008-2012”;
  5. We do not recommend the use of exterminating chemicals, Eco-friendly products and practices page;
  6. A great example for the whole WA State at the WA State Capitol grounds for healthy, organic landscaping without toxic pesticides.
  7. Article about South Fork Skykomish River in crosscut.com.
  8. Latest FPAs for Sky Valley (Forest Practice Applications for industrial tree farms) including, locations, activities, a list of active toxic aerial spraying FPAs, and more info for FPAs.
  1. Singletary Timber Sale, which is next to famous and popular Wallace Falls State Park (WFSP), is scheduled for the auction on May 17, 2017. This timber sale is the gate to more massive clearcut logging on the adjacent 2000 acres of public lands in the very near future. Public land that is used for tourism and recreation can not be
    WFSP view down

    Wallace Falls State Park, WA

    brown and ugly. Instead of clearcutting of old forests, there is an urgent need for more recreational infrastructure in the area of Wallace Falls State Park that can relieve the overcrowded park (which brings 170.000 annual visitors), and also for support of local small rec and tourism businesses. Every single business in the Skykomish River Valley benefits directly or indirectly from tourism and recreation.

> Clearcut logging page at svena.org
> Singletary Timber Sale $$$
> “Deal, no deal for Singletary”, article in Monroe Monitor 3-14-2017
> “Agreement sets aside 25 acres from planned DNR timber auction”, article in HeraldNet 2-23-2017 and PDF 2-23-2017
> MAP OF TIMBER SALES NEXT TO WALLACE FALLS STATE PARK
> PLANNED LOGGING NEXT TO WALLACE FALLS STATE PARK 2017-2020, part 1
> PLANNED LOGGING NEXT TO WALLACE FALLS STATE PARK 2017-2020, part 2

If you have concerns about big-scale clearcut logging that is going on and planned next to or in the area of Wallace Falls State Park, please write to:

> Contact List for Press and Elected
> Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands         cpl@dnr.wa.gov
> WA State Board of Natural Resources (BNR)      bnr@dnr.wa.gov

  1. Hampton Lumber Company has headquarters in Portland, Oregon. One of its affiliates Hampton Lumber Company of Darrington, WA is in Stillaguamish Valley – same Snohomish County, but different county districts. Hampton Lumber Company uses extremely aggressive strategy to get to timber resources in the states of Oregon, Washington and in the Skykomish River Valley. “Access to ‘a reasonably
    heystack-montain-2016

    Typical landscape after clearcutting, Heystack Mountain, Skykomish River Valley, spring 2017

    priced timber supply’ in publicly owned forests will be essential to survival” of the company and its affiliates, says Hampton ‘s chief executive Steve Zika.

MASSIVE CLEARCUT LOGGING IN SKYKOMISH VALLEY IS DESTROYING TOURISM AND RECREATION INDUSTRY, LOCAL JOBS AND INCOME FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS. IT IS LEAVING THE VALLEY UGLY, TOXIC AND DIRT POOR.

  1. DOUBLE GOOD NEWS FOR MARCH AND APRIL 2017: No toxic herbicide spraying on industrial tree farms this spring by Weyerhaeuser, and currently Sierra Pacific and Global Campbell have no active FPAs (Forest Practice Applications) for spraying in Sky Valley !!

Every year industrial tree farming companies aerially spray toxic herbicides including Spraying pageGlyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup, and/or other chemicals) on industrial tree farms in Skykomish Valley and beyond to control unwanted vegetation. These toxic sprays take place after clearcutting, in the spring and in the fall. They may relocate to non-targeted areas by aerial drift, toxic runoff, evaporation and condensation (coming down elsewhere in the rain), and/or leaching into groundwater, potentially contaminating drinking water sources.

SVENA is closely monitoring toxic spraying in Skykomish Valley and Snohomish County. So far we have not seen any new FPAs (Forest Practice Applications) for spraying and hope none will be coming in. SVENA is actively opposing toxic aerial spraying.

FPAs (Forest Practice Applications) for pesticide spraying are valid for 3 years. Spraying can take place any time during those 3 years from the date of approval, and the same site may be sprayed more than once, during the 3 year period. Companies that have plans for spraying are required to notify only neighboring properties about upcoming toxic sprays.

The following are active FPAs for Weyerhauser in the Skykomish Valley, including locations and list of chemicals: 2815270, 2814707

If you have concerns about toxic aerial sprays, pollution of drinking water sources, and/or suspect toxic water/air drift, please look for contact information for authorities at our website svena.org.

> Chemical Spraying page at svena.org
> What to do before, during and after toxic aerial spraying
> Chapter 35.88 RCW “Water Pollution—Protection From”
> RCW 70.54.010 “Polluting Water Supply – Penalty”
> Fact Sheet, Some of Most Probable Active Ingredients vs. Human Health Effects
> Human Exposure to Pesticide Drift: Washington State Report 2-2017

“America’s Tap Water: Too Much Contamination, Not Enough Reporting, Study Finds”, article in The New York Times 5-4-2017 and Water Quality and Quantity page

  1. On 3-14-2017 The New York Times published an article “Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents” unveiling compromised ethics of Monsanto’s upper management. Glyphosate, a component of Roundup, is used for massive aerial sprays on tree farms in Skykomish River Valley. According to an article in Newsweek “Glyphosate the most-used agricultural chemical ever” from 2-2-2016, “the world is awash in glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicidedeath-ROUNDUP-41Roundup, produced by Monsanto. It has now become the most heavily-used agricultural chemical in the history of the world…Worldwide, 9.4 million tons of the chemical have been sprayed onto fields since 1974.” In the U.S. homeowners and agricultural industry are the largest sectors using Roundup.

“10 things you need to know about Glyphosate” at detoxproject.com (Later this year, Detox Project is going to have testing of urine and water for Glyphosate.)

Animated map “Use of Glyphosate in the U.S. vs. time”

You might find some interesting facts, numbers, tables and fun reading in EPA report “Pesticides Industry Sales and Usage 2008-2012”. EPA stands for Environmental Protection Agency.

  1. We do not recommend the use of herbicides such as Roundup, pesticides, fungicides and other exterminating toxic chemicals due to potential water and soil contamination and negative effects of toxics on human and environmental health. Children and pregnant women are most sensitive to synthetic toxic chemicals. We promote finding alternative methods to toxic chemicals used for the body, home, dendelione-with-beesgarden and yard care. Please think twice what you put on/in/around yourself, and in your drain. It can very much affect your and your family’s and neighbors’ health as well as the whole downstream watershed (including drinking water sources) and Puget Sound.

Eco-friendly products and practices

21 Expert Organic Lawn Care Tips

  1. WA State Capitol Grounds Crew is setting an excellent example of maintaining beautiful grounds without using harmful pesticides. Please add your signature toWA Capitol in spring the “Thank you” letter that will be widely publicized. We very much wish that the State of Washington becomes as healthy, eco-friendly, sustainable and beautiful as the grounds of the hub for the State’s government.
  2. The latest news about South Fork Skykomish River: ”Washington river among the nation’s most endangered”, article at crosscut.com from 4-11-2017 
  3. It takes only a couple of minutes to check the latest FPAs for Sky Valley (Forest Practice Applications) and more info for FPAs. We encourage that you look out for your neighborhood in terms of logging, toxic chemical spraying and trash that can affect your and your family’s health, safety, and value of your property and business. More info is in three simple steps for becoming an FPA reviewer

SVENA is working to bring a substantial value and benefit to the Skykomish Valley. Please support our efforts and visit SVENA website, become a sponsor or a member, join our Facebook Group, or simply click on a “Like” button on our Facebook page. Please spread the word, share this page with your family, friends and neighbors, let us know if you have questions / economic, public health or environmental concerns / interestinggold bar photo
facts or photos, if you would like to add someone to the mailing list or to opt out of receiving SVENA updates.

Warm regards,

Inessa Pearce
President
SVENA (Skykomish Valley Environmental & Economic Alliance)
svena.org