Herbicides have no place in our watershed.

The California Parks Department is planning to use glyphosate (the main ingredient in Roundup), among several other herbicides, to control “non-native” plant species in the forests of Inverness as well as at locations in Marshall and Millerton. The plan is called: The Tomales Bay State Park Forest and Wildfire Resilience Project.  

Given the extensive scientific evidence showing harm to human health, wildlife, soil, and water quality, we demand that the California State Parks Department cease all current and future use of Roundup, glyphosate formulations, and all other herbicides on our public lands. 

In 2015, the World Health Organization declared glyphosate a probable human carcinogen, and it is listed by the State of California under Proposition 65 as being known to cause cancer. Roundup is linked to multiple forms of cancer, disruptions to the microbiome and integrity of the gut lining, harms to metabolic health including obesity, diabetes, and liver and kidney disease, impairments to fertility, and developmental problems in babies and children.

Investigative journalist and Inverness resident Kristin Lawless, who has been publishing nationally about food safety and health for more than 15 years, wrote a recent article with all of the evidence and details, which you can read here: https://kristinlawless.substack.com/p/california-is-spraying-our-forests

The areas that the parks department intends to spray herbicides are in Inverness, Millerton, and Marshall. All of these areas are near homes, and many of them immediately surround sensitive waterways, creeks, and other bodies of water that flow down toward the Tomales Bay, which is a critical wildlife area — a blend of estuarine, wetland, and surrounding upland habitat. It’s host to more than 490 migratory birds, and many other species that are endangered or threatened including the California Fresh Water Shrimp, Coho Salmon, the California Red-Legged Frog, the California Tiger Salamander, and the Northern Spotted Owl. The Environmental Protection Agency's own biological evaluation found that glyphosate is likely to adversely affect 93 percent of endangered species and modify 96 percent of critical habitats.

When public agencies choose herbicides as a cost cutting method, the true costs are passed on to our water and soil, and throughout habitats, affecting insects, birds, amphibians, fish, mammals, children, pets, and the people who live nearby.

The agency may save money on labor today, but the public is left carrying the health costs and unknown long-term risks.

That is not restoration.

Restoration should mean repairing ecological relationships, protecting water, rebuilding habitats, and caring for the living systems we all depend on. It should not mean spraying chemicals of serious public health and ecological concern near sensitive waterways and wildlife habitat.

Take action

Please join us in demanding an end to this destructive practice. We, as well as all the other creatures on this land, deserve to be safe from the harms of these unnecessary and destructive products. 

After you sign, please add a personal comment or video explaining why this matters to you. Share your connection to Inverness, Tomales Bay, West Marin, the park, the trails, the water, the wildlife, your family, your home, or your hopes for how public land should be cared for.

Then please forward this petition to five friends, neighbors, or community members who care about Inverness, Tomales Bay, West Marin, public land, clean water, wildlife, or public health.

Your story and your share both matter. Personal comments help show State Parks that this is not an abstract policy issue. This is a real community asking for transparency, precaution, and restoration without poison.