James Steidle

B.C. needs to end the use of herbicides that are killing broadleaf trees in Okanagan forests, according to members of several environmental groups at a meeting in Peachland last week. Yearly, the province sprays thousands of hectares of B.C. clear-cut land with the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide known as Roundup, and it’s causing more harm than good, James Steidle of Stop the Spray BC said. …Under B.C.’s Forest Planning and Practices Regulation, non-conifer trees must be kept to less than five per cent of re-planted cut block. Steidle said it’s a move, aimed at bolstering the supply of trees most desirable for logging and it’s putting adjacent communities at risk. …Steidle said he’d like to see communities to take control of public forests back from private interests. …“The use of herbicides, like glyphosate has declined by over 90 per cent since the 1900s,” the Ministry said.