Environmental group kicks off campaign to save Illinois trees from herbicide drift

Sam Lisec, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·4 min read
1

Apr. 12—URBANA — Mayor Diane Marlin recalls joining a tour of Carle Park last summer organized by the Prairie Rivers Network, a local environmental advocacy group, and noticing the trees had damaged, curled leaves.

When she went home, the mayor noticed that the redbud in her backyard was sprouting the very same signs of damage as those in the Urbana park.

Kim Erndt-Pitcher, PRN's director of ecological health, said a six-year study completed by the network and its partners has found that afflicted leaves are just one of many symptoms caused by herbicides that drift from target plants and coat trees all over the state.

Marlin, Erndt-Pitcher and other spokespersons for the city and nonprofit will be gathering in Carle Park at 2 p.m. today to kick off PRN's Save Our Trees campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the widespread harm done by herbicide drift.

"This is not confined to parks, it's not confined to city trees, the damage, when you start looking, you'll see the damage from the herbicide drift everywhere," Marlin said.

PRN started monitoring the prevalence of herbicides in 2018 after the group began receiving calls "left and right" from individuals concerned about the state of trees in their yards, orchards and forests, Erndt-Pitcher said.

Most of the monitoring took place in Southern Illinois, but Erndt-Pitcher, a co-author on the study, said every one of the 13 tree tissue samples taken from the Champaign-Urbana area tested positive for residues of herbicide — which can move through the air when first applied or become volatile and vaporize into the atmosphere.

When the chemicals eventually land on trees, they can stunt leaf growth and cause them to become cupped or curled. Redbuds serve as canaries in the coal mine because they are particularly sensitive, but Erndt-Pitcher said the impact isn't limited to plants alone as herbicides can travel onto playgrounds and through open windows.

"This monitoring we've been doing, not only have we been seeing injuries on the large majority of the state, year after year, but we've monitored many sites multiple times throughout the summer in the growing season, so we know that these herbicide exposures are occurring more than once," Erndt-Pitcher said.

"It's important for us to recognize this because it's not only pervasive, it is something that is poorly studied, and right now, we're not doing enough to stop the injuries."

Ahead of the study's release in two to three weeks, Maggie Bruns, PRN's executive director, said the Save Our Trees campaign serves as the next mobilization phase of work done by the coalition which consists of other nonprofits, conservationists and everyday landowners.

The group wants to encourage individuals to stop treating their lawns and spread awareness of herbicide drift in Champaign-Urbana, with several art installations timed with the opening of the Boneyard Arts Festival — like brown burlap ribbons tied around all 300 trees in Carle Park.

But the group also plans on taking its findings on the road and pressuring other cities around the state to stop treating lawns with herbicides. Ultimately, Erndt-Pitcher said existing regulations need to be strengthened and better enforced.

"We're a nonprofit, and I do not have the resources that industrial agricultural chemical companies do," Bruns said. "But what we do have are people, we have science, we have justice, and that's kind of what we're trying to mobilize around right now, and I think with that will come change."

Marlin said she's a "fifth-generation family-farm girl," so she understands the importance of agriculture to Champaign County and the state's economy.

But the mayor also emphasized the critical role that the thousands of trees in Urbana play, as they provide temperature control, keep water clean and offer mental and physical health benefits to those who treasure the city's natural areas.

"I can tell you one of the things people value most about Urbana are our trees," Marlin said. "It's part of our public infrastructure, just like our streets and sidewalks and sewers and lights."

"It contributes to the beauty of the city, the quality of life, the health of the city itself. So that's why I'm very concerned about the damage I'm seeing, and I know we can work together to take the steps we need to to both maintain our food supply as well as protect our environment."