MANAGEMENT OF INVASIVE PLANTS IN THE WESTERN USA
  • Defining the Problem
    • What is a Weed? >
      • Federal Definitions of Noxious Weeds
    • Costs of invasive plants
    • Human Factor
    • Challenges of Invasive Plants
    • Wildfires in the Western USA >
      • Forest Fires: Structure
      • Bark Beetles & Forest Ecosystems
      • Rangeland Fires
    • Climate Change Impacts on Plants >
      • Climate Change: CO2, NO, UV, Ozone Impacts on Plants
      • Climate Change Impacts on Crops
      • Climate Change Impacts on C4 Plants
      • Climate Change Impacts on Rangelands
      • Climate Change Impacts on Forests
    • What are we doing?
  • Focus of this Project
    • Why Western States? >
      • Audience for these reports
    • History: Are we doomed to repeat it? >
      • Dust Bowl Re-visited >
        • China: Past & Present
        • UN Biodiversity Report
    • Policy vs. Practice
    • Ecosystems & Economics >
      • Reductionist Approach to science
      • Ecology & Feminism
      • Systems View of Life
      • Ecosystems Health
      • Economic Growth
      • Impact of the Petrochemical Industry
      • Interrelation of Economics & Ecology
    • Federal Agencies >
      • Federal Agencies and Invasive Species
      • History of Coordination with States
      • Challenges of Coordination between Federal Agencies
      • Collaboration or Confusion
    • Organizations to assist landowners
    • Federal Legislation on Invasive Species >
      • 1930s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • Federal Seed Act 1939
      • 1940s-1960s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1970s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1980s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1990s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 2000-2010 Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 2011-2022 Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • Federal Bills on Invasive Species not passed
      • Executive Orders on Invasive Species
      • Federal Excise Taxes
    • State Laws and Lists of Noxious Weeds
  • Why we need plants
    • Native Plants
    • Plant Resources
  • Invasive Success Hypotheses
    • Unified Framework
    • Role of Diversity >
      • How Ecosystems Maintain Diversity
      • Fluctuation Dependent Mechanisms
      • Competition-based coexistence mechanisms
      • Niche Differences
      • Species Richness
    • Enemy Release Hypothesis
    • Constitutive Defense Mechanisms
    • Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability
    • Role of Microbes
    • Indirect Defense Mechanisms
    • Novel weapons hypothesis
    • Evolutionary Shifts
    • Resource Allocation
    • Evolutionary Dynamics >
      • Pre-introduction evolutionary history
      • Sampling Effect
      • Founder Effect
      • Admixture, hybridization and polyploidization
      • Rapid Evolution
      • Epigenetics
      • Second Genomes
    • Role of Hybridization
    • Role of Native Plant Neighbors
    • Species Performance
    • Role of Herbivory
    • Evolutionary Reduced Competitive Ability
    • Summary Thoughts on Research
  • Historical Record
    • Regional Conferences
    • Timeline
  • Innovative Solutions
    • Grazing Solutions >
      • Sheep, Goat & Chicken Grazing
      • Cattle & Sheep Grazing
      • Cattle and Bison Grazing
      • Grazing and Revegetation
    • Agricultural Best Practices >
      • Ecologically based Successional Management >
        • Regenerative Agriculture
        • Sustainable Agriculture
      • Perennial Crops, Intercropping, beneficial insects
      • Soil Solarization
      • Natural Farming
      • Permaculture
      • Organic Farming
      • Embedding Natural Habitats
      • Conservation Tillage
      • Crop Rotation
      • Water Use Practices
      • Tree Planting: Pros & Cons
    • Rangeland Restoration >
      • Federal Goals for Rangelands
      • Novel Ecosystems
      • Prairie Restoration >
        • Prairie Restoration Workshop
        • Weed Prevention Areas
        • California grassland restoration
        • Selah: Bamberger Ranch Preserve
      • Sagebrush Steppe Restoration >
        • Low Nitrogen in Sagebrush Steppe
      • Revegetation with Native Plants
      • Dogs as detectors of noxious weeds
    • Habitat Conservation
    • Technology solutions
    • Nudges
  • Biological Control
    • Insects as Biocontrol >
      • Impacts of Biocontrol Agents on Non-Target Species
      • Indirect Impact of Biocontrol on Native Species
    • Challenges of Using Biocontrols >
      • DNA studies on Biocontrol Insects
      • Biocontrol takes time
    • Prioritization process for Biocontrol Programs
    • Evolutionary changes impact Biocontrol
    • Vertebrates as Biocontrol Agents
  • Herbicides: History and Impacts
    • Effectiveness of Herbicides in Agricultural Lands
    • Effectiveness of Herbicides in Rangelands
    • History of Use of Herbicides and Pesticides Prior to and During WWII
    • Herbicide use during and post-World War II >
      • 2,4-D Herbicide Use
      • 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, post-World War II
    • Modern use of Herbicides >
      • Atrazine Herbicide
      • Dacthal, DCPA
      • Dicamba Herbicide
      • Glyphosate Herbicide
      • Paraquat Dichloride
      • Picolinic acid family of herbicides >
        • Picloram (Tordon 22K) Herbicide
        • Triclopyr Herbicide
    • Herbicide Resistance in Invasive Plants >
      • Herbicide Resistant Crops
      • Controlling herbicide-resistant weeds in herbicide-resistant crops
      • Best Management Practices
    • Myth of the Silver Bullet
    • Myth of Eradication
    • Merging of Agrochemical Companies
    • Funding for Research on Pesticides
    • Impacts of Pesticides on Environment and Human Health >
      • Pesticide Drift
      • Impacts of Pesticides on Biological Diversity
      • Impacts of Herbicides on Native Plants
      • Pesticide Impacts on Insects >
        • Butterflies: The Impacts of Herbicides
        • Monarch Butterflies: Impacts of Herbicides
      • Impacts of Pesticides on Wildlife >
        • Reptiles & Amphibians: Pesticide Impacts
      • Pesticide Residue in Foods
      • Commentary on Herbicide Use
  • Interviews
    • Interviews Biocontrol >
      • Biocontrol Wyoming
      • Montana Biocontrol Interview Maggio
      • Montana Biocontrol Interview Breitenfeldt
    • California Interviews >
      • Robert Price
      • Doug Johnson
    • Colorado Interviews >
      • George Beck Interview
      • Scott Nissen Interview
    • Idaho Interviews >
      • Purple Sage Organic Farms in Idaho
    • Montana Interviews >
      • Jasmine Reimer Interview Montana
      • Organic Farms Montana Interviews
    • Texas Interviews
    • Washington Interviews >
      • Ray Willard
    • Wyoming Interviews >
      • Slade Franklin Interview
      • John Samson Interview
    • Wyoming Weed and Pest Districts >
      • Josh Shorb Interview
      • Slade Franklin Interview 2
      • Lars Baker Interview
      • Steve Brill Interview
      • George Hittle Interview
      • Peter Illoway Interview
      • Robert Jenn Interview
      • Sharon Johnson Interview
      • Larry Justesen Interview
      • Gale Lamb Interview
      • Stephen McNamee Interview
      • Allen Mooney Interview
      • Rob Orchard Interview
      • Robert Parsons Interview
      • Dick Sackett Interview
      • Comments by Delena
    • NRCS Interviews: Wyoming
  • Western Weed Control Conference 1940s Minutes
    • 1942 Conference
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  • Who am I?
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    • New Mexico Road Logs
    • Texas Road Logs
    • Wyoming Road Logs
  • Bibliography

The Impacts of Pesticides on the Environment and
​Human Health

Photo: Cheatgrass, southwest Montana. © 2020 Delena Norris-Tull

The Impacts of Pesticides on the Environment and Human Health

​
Summaries of the research and commentary by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita of Science Education, University of Montana Western, October 2020, updated 2024.
 
In this section, I relied primarily on recent research reports (2000-2010), and I focused on reports that included an extensive review of existing research in each area. These sections refer to both herbicides and other pesticides.

In The Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in Symbiosis, Dahl (1996, p. 36-37) points out that, “One of the consequences of both the growing human population and the rising resource consumption of the rich has been increasing pressure on renewable resources. The original natural endowment of the planet included vast forests that generated rich and productive soils in many temperate lands. These have become the major agricultural areas of the world, and some of them have been cultivated for centuries. However, the drive for ever-higher productivity and profit in agriculture has brought increasing chemical fertilizer and pesticide use, large-scale mechanization and soil clearing with its risk of erosion, reduced fallow or other soil regeneration techniques, the spread of irrigation with its potential for salt accumulation or waterlogging, and other changes that are collectively threatening long-term agricultural productivity.”
 
Dahl (1996, p. 32) states, “Since the richest one-fifth of the population today uses about four-fifths of the world’s resources, the existing world population cannot be brought up to, say, European living standards using present technologies and consumption levels.”
 
Dahl (1996, p. 21) points out that by not taking a systems approach to ecology and economy, we are ignoring the long-term costs of environmental pollutants. “(M)any developed countries are discovering thousands of old industrial sites contaminated with hazardous materials since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and now requiring expensive clean-up.” Damages to the ozone layer and the global climate are additional examples of unaccounted for costs that future generations will have to bear. Resource managers are not adequately taking into account the likely future damages and expenses of dealing with the aftermath of decades of widespread use of chemicals in agriculture and in industry, and the now widespread use of chemicals in managing invasive plant species.
 
In analyzing both ecological and economic systems, it is crucial to examine both extent of growth and change, as well as rates of growth. The current economic system is poorly designed to deal with rates of growth. “Part of the problem is due to the different scales and paces of growth between human activities, which we can control, and the natural world, where rates are beyond our influence and scales can exceed our capacity to respond. The speed with which chemicals move in the environment and are detoxified or recycled by natural processes… cannot necessarily be accelerated” (Dahl, 1996, p. 25).
 
in a 2013 interview with Becky McMillen, Lars Baker, retired Fremont County, Wyoming, Weed and Pest Supervisor who worked for the County for 38 years, stated: “I have concerns about the lack of research on chemicals. We are not thinking about the non-target impacts of chemicals. Some chemicals, such as Tordon, kill all broadleaf species, including crops and native species. It also kills trees. Chemicals are a temporary treatment. The chemical may do the job for two-three years, but eventually the chemical dissipates in the soil, and the weeds return because we have not changed the environmental conditions that allowed the weeds to grow there in the first place. RoundUp-Ready corn is not going to work for very long.
 
“Chemicals seem like an easy fix, but the environmental cost is too high. We don’t take into account the indirect costs, the environmental costs of spraying, the environmental cost of tractor tires, diesel fuel, the farmers’ exposure to the sun and to the chemicals. We have to change the environmental conditions to control weeds.
 
“In the early days, if we wanted to know how a new product worked, we had to do our own local research. We tried it on a plot, and we recorded the results. Harold Alley, at the University of Wyoming, did some of the early research on chemicals. He was one of the first Weed Scientists in the United States. He was followed by many others like Steve Miller and Tom Whitson who worked so hard to improve weed control practice in Wyoming.
 
“Chemicals do have a role in stopping a small weed population before it becomes an infestation. We can use it effectively for part of our Early Detection and Rapid Response program, to prevent the spread of a weed. The Nature Conservancy did some interesting research on controlling leafy spurge. They found that it is not effective to spray the inside of a patch of weeds, the most heavily infested lands where the most economic loss is. You have to map out the area, to find out where the weeds are, and you have to treat from the outside of a patch, to slow down the spread. You rarely have enough money to pay for enough chemicals to treat the entire patch, but if you treat the edges the first year, the second year you can treat closer to the center. Each year, you treat further toward the center. If you start in the middle and work out, the weeds continue to spread.”
 
In 2017, I interviewed George Beck, retired Weed Scientist at Colorado State University, who has worked with perennial noxious weed issues in rangeland and pastures since 1985. He told me, “We have the least amount of data on how herbicides remaining in the soil impact the growth of native plants.”
 
In 2018, I interviewed Jim Pike, District Conservationist for the NRCS Laramie County Field Office, now retired. He  commented that he served in the Vietnam War, and thought nothing at the time about being drenched in Agent Orange. That early experience with the country’s lack of concern with the potential toxicity of chemicals causes him to be much more aware of the possibility that we are poisoning our environment and ourselves even more, in the current use of herbicides and pesticides to manage weeds and pests.
 
The USGS, through its National Water Quality Program, conducts surveys to evaluate the prevalence of herbicides and pesticides in our waterways. In the USGS water quality report for 2013-2017, Covert, et al., 2020, found that, “In the study of 72 rivers and streams across the contiguous U.S., five or more pesticides were detected in 88% of the more than 5,000 samples collected during 2013–17… The potential for toxicity of the pesticide mixtures to fish was low, but about 12% of samples were predicted to have potential acute (rapid) or chronic (longer-term) toxicity to aquatic invertebrates.” Of the 221 chemicals detected, 17 (13 insecticides, 2 herbicides, 1 fungicide, and 1 synergist) were evaluated to be the primary drivers of toxicity.
 
“In a given sample, a single pesticide compound generally was responsible for most of the potential toxicity of the pesticide mixture…  in [samples] with…potential chronic toxicity to fish, the greatest contributor to that toxicity was likely to be the herbicide acetochlor, the fungicide degradate carbendazim, or the synergist piperonylbutoxide” (Covert, et al., 2020).
 
For aquatic invertebrates, insecticides were the most toxic. “For cladocerans [microcrustaceans], the pesticide compounds driving the [toxicity] scores were bifenthrin, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, dichlorvos, dicrotophos, diflubenzuron, flubendiamide, and tebupirimfos. For benthic invertebrates, atrazine (an herbicide)” (Covert, et al., 2020).
 
 Sheley, et al., 2011, also cite research that suggests that atrazine has played a role in “global declines in amphibian populations.” They also found that “chemicals that target dicots can decrease plant community diversity, thereby reducing the food available for some wildlife species… For example, 2,4-D applied to western Colorado rangeland to favor grasses over forbs and shrubs reduced densities of northern pocket gophers… and least chipmunks…, while increasing densities of montane voles.”
 
Sheley, et al., 2011, found that “the impact of… herbicides on [soil, water, and air] resources is dependent on type of herbicide used, application rate, and soil characteristics, among other factors…. Glyphosate tightly adheres to soil,” thus reducing the risk of the chemical leaching into groundwater or affecting soil biota. But “dicamba and picloram are highly mobile in the soil… High application rates, high rainfall following application, or direct application… to water bodies can pose a significant threat to water resources.” But little research has been conducted on the impacts of herbicides on water and soil resources and wildlife. And few studies have compared impacts of herbicides on native versus invasive plant species. “Herbicides such as 2,4-D, clopyralid, or picloram…[used to control broadleaf weeds] can greatly decrease native forb density and cover… There is evidence suggesting that herbicide effects on native forbs are long-lasting and can drive a local decline in species richness… Desirable rangeland grasses have shown varying degrees of susceptibility to imazapic, a herbicide used to control invasive annual grasses, with evidence suggesting grasses within the Hordeae tribe may be more tolerant to imazapic than other grass species.” They concluded that, “The effect of herbicide on desirable vegetation remains difficult to predict.”

Insecticides and Human Health

Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate, has been in use as a pesticide since 1965. As an insecticide, it is used to kill various insects and worms on various crops (corn, soybeans, fruit and nut trees, Brussels sprouts, etc.). It is also used on turf, on golf course greens, and in greenhouses. Approximately 10 million pounds are applied in U.S. agricultural fields each year. It is also used to kill mosquitos, roaches, and ants.
 
High doses are highly toxic to humans and can cause respiratory paralysis and death. In a 2000 EPA decision, its use in homes was greatly reduced, to require the use of child-resistant packaging for ant and roach baits, to avoid accidental poisoning of children. Its use in treating wood for construction, to kill termites, was ordered to cease by 2005. And additional restrictions were added, to better protect agricultural workers.
 
In addition, in 2000, reductions in its use were mandated to protect wildlife. It was determined that, “a single application of chlorpyrifos poses risk to small mammals, birds, fish and aquatic invertebrate species.”
 
In 2012, the EPA ordered a reduction in the aerial application rates, to create “no-spray” buffer zones, to reduce the amount of spray drift that was occurring, to better protect public spaces. In 2014, with additional review of the research, the EPA placed additional restrictions on its use in sprays. As additional concerns arose relating to possible toxicity that could cause developmental delays in infants, the EPA stated that “epidemiologic and biomonitoring studies, indicate that chlorpyrifos likely played a role in the neurodevelopmental outcomes reported by the epidemiologic study…investigators. However, uncertainties such as the lack of an established MOA/AOP for neurodevelopmental effects and the potential exposure to multiple AChE-inhibiting pesticides preclude definitive causal inference. However, there is sufficient uncertainty in the human dose-response relationship for neurodevelopmental effects to prevent the Agency from reducing or removing the statutory 10X FQPA Safety Factor. The FQPA 10X Safety Factor will be retained for infants, children, youths, and women of childbearing age for all exposure scenarios” (US EPA Chlorpyrifos Human Health Risk Assessment).
 
As of 2020, the safety of chlorpyrifos, particularly in regards to infant development, remains controversial. The EPA maintains that the standards they have set for its use are adequate. On August 9, 2018, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos within 60 days.  The following month, the US Department of Justice asked the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its opinion. Several States have moved to ban its use.

Herbicide suspensions

In October 2024, based on the review of studies on potential thyroid toxicity in human fetuses, the EPA announced the cancellation of all products containing Dacthal.

​As of November 2024, there were over 5800 active lawsuits pending in the Paraquat Multidistrict Litigation. The affected individuals claim that Paraquat has caused or significantly contributed to the development of Parkinson's Disease in agricultural workers. Ten bellweather cases are moving towards trial. Over 6000 cases are being addressed in the Southern District of Illinois.

Pesticide use in Potato Crops

Americans have become averse to blemishes on their foods. McDonald’s is one of many fast food chains that relies on unblemished foods. The Russet Burbank potatoes the chain uses for their French fries are prone to have a defect called net necrosis, little brown lines or spots caused by aphids and fungus. The company has come to demand that their potatoes be free of this blemish. Blanching helps eliminate the blemishes. But pesticides are also used.
 
McDonald’s now likes to claim that the farmers they work with do not use the toxic insecticide, Monitor, on their potatoes. What they neglect to mention is that Monitor was in widespread use on potatoes from 1972 until 2009.
 
An insecticide previously used on potatoes, cotton, and tomatoes, Monitor, methamidophos, was so toxic that the U.S. voluntarily suspended its use in 2009. It is banned in several countries, but is still widely used on rice in China. It is toxic not only for humans and other mammals, but also highly toxic for birds, fish, aquatic invertebrates, and bees.
 
In northern Minnesota, concerns about pesticide drift, the distance a chemical can blow in the breeze, caused the leadership of the White Earth Nation to join with other concerned citizens, including the Pesticide Action Network, to form the Toxic Taters Coalition. This group is trying to educate the public about the use of pesticides in the potato industry, and trying to influence companies like McDonald’s to stop the use of pesticides.
 
While many companies have been averse to changing to more sustainable agricultural practices, other companies, like the sports clothing company Patagonia, have been so effective in supporting organic farming, that many farmers now grow organic cotton.

References:
  • Covert, S.A., Shoda, M.E., Stackpoole, S.M., & Stone, W.W. (Nov., 2020). Pesticide mixtures show potential toxicity to aquatic life in U.S. streams, water years 2013–2017. Science of the Total Environment, 745.
  • ​Dahl, A.L. (1996). The Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in Symbiosis. Oxford: George Ronald Publisher.
  • Sheley, R.L., James, J.J., Rinella, M. J., Blumenthal, D., & DiTomaso, J.M. (2011). Invasive plant management on anticipated conservation benefits: A scientific assessment. In D.D. Briske (Ed.) Conservation benefits of rangeland practices: Assessment, recommendation, and knowledge gaps. (pp. 293-336). USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Links to other Impacts of Pesticides:
  • Pesticide Drift
  • Biological Diversity: Impacts of Pesticides
  • Native Plants: Impacts of Herbicides
  • Insects: Pesticide Impacts
  • Wildlife: Impacts of Pesticides
  • Pesticide Residue in Foods
  • Funding for Research on Pesticides
  • Commentary on Herbicide Use​
Copyright: Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, July 2020. Management of Invasive Plants in the Western USA.

These webpages are always under construction. I welcome corrections and additions to any page.
​Send me an email, and I can send you the original Word format version of any page you wish to correct.
contact Dr. Norris-Tull
Bibliography
who am i?
My work
my inspirations
my adventures
  • Defining the Problem
    • What is a Weed? >
      • Federal Definitions of Noxious Weeds
    • Costs of invasive plants
    • Human Factor
    • Challenges of Invasive Plants
    • Wildfires in the Western USA >
      • Forest Fires: Structure
      • Bark Beetles & Forest Ecosystems
      • Rangeland Fires
    • Climate Change Impacts on Plants >
      • Climate Change: CO2, NO, UV, Ozone Impacts on Plants
      • Climate Change Impacts on Crops
      • Climate Change Impacts on C4 Plants
      • Climate Change Impacts on Rangelands
      • Climate Change Impacts on Forests
    • What are we doing?
  • Focus of this Project
    • Why Western States? >
      • Audience for these reports
    • History: Are we doomed to repeat it? >
      • Dust Bowl Re-visited >
        • China: Past & Present
        • UN Biodiversity Report
    • Policy vs. Practice
    • Ecosystems & Economics >
      • Reductionist Approach to science
      • Ecology & Feminism
      • Systems View of Life
      • Ecosystems Health
      • Economic Growth
      • Impact of the Petrochemical Industry
      • Interrelation of Economics & Ecology
    • Federal Agencies >
      • Federal Agencies and Invasive Species
      • History of Coordination with States
      • Challenges of Coordination between Federal Agencies
      • Collaboration or Confusion
    • Organizations to assist landowners
    • Federal Legislation on Invasive Species >
      • 1930s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • Federal Seed Act 1939
      • 1940s-1960s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1970s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1980s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1990s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 2000-2010 Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 2011-2022 Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • Federal Bills on Invasive Species not passed
      • Executive Orders on Invasive Species
      • Federal Excise Taxes
    • State Laws and Lists of Noxious Weeds
  • Why we need plants
    • Native Plants
    • Plant Resources
  • Invasive Success Hypotheses
    • Unified Framework
    • Role of Diversity >
      • How Ecosystems Maintain Diversity
      • Fluctuation Dependent Mechanisms
      • Competition-based coexistence mechanisms
      • Niche Differences
      • Species Richness
    • Enemy Release Hypothesis
    • Constitutive Defense Mechanisms
    • Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability
    • Role of Microbes
    • Indirect Defense Mechanisms
    • Novel weapons hypothesis
    • Evolutionary Shifts
    • Resource Allocation
    • Evolutionary Dynamics >
      • Pre-introduction evolutionary history
      • Sampling Effect
      • Founder Effect
      • Admixture, hybridization and polyploidization
      • Rapid Evolution
      • Epigenetics
      • Second Genomes
    • Role of Hybridization
    • Role of Native Plant Neighbors
    • Species Performance
    • Role of Herbivory
    • Evolutionary Reduced Competitive Ability
    • Summary Thoughts on Research
  • Historical Record
    • Regional Conferences
    • Timeline
  • Innovative Solutions
    • Grazing Solutions >
      • Sheep, Goat & Chicken Grazing
      • Cattle & Sheep Grazing
      • Cattle and Bison Grazing
      • Grazing and Revegetation
    • Agricultural Best Practices >
      • Ecologically based Successional Management >
        • Regenerative Agriculture
        • Sustainable Agriculture
      • Perennial Crops, Intercropping, beneficial insects
      • Soil Solarization
      • Natural Farming
      • Permaculture
      • Organic Farming
      • Embedding Natural Habitats
      • Conservation Tillage
      • Crop Rotation
      • Water Use Practices
      • Tree Planting: Pros & Cons
    • Rangeland Restoration >
      • Federal Goals for Rangelands
      • Novel Ecosystems
      • Prairie Restoration >
        • Prairie Restoration Workshop
        • Weed Prevention Areas
        • California grassland restoration
        • Selah: Bamberger Ranch Preserve
      • Sagebrush Steppe Restoration >
        • Low Nitrogen in Sagebrush Steppe
      • Revegetation with Native Plants
      • Dogs as detectors of noxious weeds
    • Habitat Conservation
    • Technology solutions
    • Nudges
  • Biological Control
    • Insects as Biocontrol >
      • Impacts of Biocontrol Agents on Non-Target Species
      • Indirect Impact of Biocontrol on Native Species
    • Challenges of Using Biocontrols >
      • DNA studies on Biocontrol Insects
      • Biocontrol takes time
    • Prioritization process for Biocontrol Programs
    • Evolutionary changes impact Biocontrol
    • Vertebrates as Biocontrol Agents
  • Herbicides: History and Impacts
    • Effectiveness of Herbicides in Agricultural Lands
    • Effectiveness of Herbicides in Rangelands
    • History of Use of Herbicides and Pesticides Prior to and During WWII
    • Herbicide use during and post-World War II >
      • 2,4-D Herbicide Use
      • 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, post-World War II
    • Modern use of Herbicides >
      • Atrazine Herbicide
      • Dacthal, DCPA
      • Dicamba Herbicide
      • Glyphosate Herbicide
      • Paraquat Dichloride
      • Picolinic acid family of herbicides >
        • Picloram (Tordon 22K) Herbicide
        • Triclopyr Herbicide
    • Herbicide Resistance in Invasive Plants >
      • Herbicide Resistant Crops
      • Controlling herbicide-resistant weeds in herbicide-resistant crops
      • Best Management Practices
    • Myth of the Silver Bullet
    • Myth of Eradication
    • Merging of Agrochemical Companies
    • Funding for Research on Pesticides
    • Impacts of Pesticides on Environment and Human Health >
      • Pesticide Drift
      • Impacts of Pesticides on Biological Diversity
      • Impacts of Herbicides on Native Plants
      • Pesticide Impacts on Insects >
        • Butterflies: The Impacts of Herbicides
        • Monarch Butterflies: Impacts of Herbicides
      • Impacts of Pesticides on Wildlife >
        • Reptiles & Amphibians: Pesticide Impacts
      • Pesticide Residue in Foods
      • Commentary on Herbicide Use
  • Interviews
    • Interviews Biocontrol >
      • Biocontrol Wyoming
      • Montana Biocontrol Interview Maggio
      • Montana Biocontrol Interview Breitenfeldt
    • California Interviews >
      • Robert Price
      • Doug Johnson
    • Colorado Interviews >
      • George Beck Interview
      • Scott Nissen Interview
    • Idaho Interviews >
      • Purple Sage Organic Farms in Idaho
    • Montana Interviews >
      • Jasmine Reimer Interview Montana
      • Organic Farms Montana Interviews
    • Texas Interviews
    • Washington Interviews >
      • Ray Willard
    • Wyoming Interviews >
      • Slade Franklin Interview
      • John Samson Interview
    • Wyoming Weed and Pest Districts >
      • Josh Shorb Interview
      • Slade Franklin Interview 2
      • Lars Baker Interview
      • Steve Brill Interview
      • George Hittle Interview
      • Peter Illoway Interview
      • Robert Jenn Interview
      • Sharon Johnson Interview
      • Larry Justesen Interview
      • Gale Lamb Interview
      • Stephen McNamee Interview
      • Allen Mooney Interview
      • Rob Orchard Interview
      • Robert Parsons Interview
      • Dick Sackett Interview
      • Comments by Delena
    • NRCS Interviews: Wyoming
  • Western Weed Control Conference 1940s Minutes
    • 1942 Conference
    • 1945 Conference
    • 1946 Conference
  • Who am I?
    • My Work
    • My Inspirations
    • My Adventures
    • Contact Page
  • Road Logs
    • Colorado Road Logs
    • Idaho Road Logs
    • Montana Road Logs
    • New Mexico Road Logs
    • Texas Road Logs
    • Wyoming Road Logs
  • Bibliography