The U.S. Forest Service is planning to spray glyphosate and other synthetic herbicides on 2,400 – 3,600 acres of public forest in the Lake Tahoe Basin — a watershed designated as an Outstanding National Resource under the Clean Water Act. The Forest Service approved this spray plan using an "emergency determination" that bypassed the formal objection process, and its safety analysis drew on a study that has since been retracted. Glyphosate is classified by the World Health Organization as a probable carcinogen, and the EPA has found it likely harms over 90% of endangered species, including species that live in Tahoe.

Furthermore, the Forest Service spray plan targets native Tahoe vegetation known to have great value after wildfire, holding burned soil in place (reducing erosion and protecting water quality), renewing soil nutrients, bringing back pollinators, and providing wildlife habitat.

I'm not a scientist or lawyer. I'm someone who hiked the Tahoe Caldor area for many years before the fire, who has watched it bounce back naturally and beautifully since the fire, who has read the Forest Service documents regarding their "restoration" plan, and who now has some serious questions about that plan that I can't get answered on my own. So one of the first things I did after learning about the USFS plan was to contact Keep Tahoe Blue, Tahoe's largest and oldest conservation organization dedicated to protecting the Lake Tahoe Basin. Their watchdog reputation is why many of us have Keep Tahoe Blue stickers on our cars.

Unfortunately, while Keep Tahoe Blue has called for downstream water monitoring, monitoring will only tell us what happens after the fact — it can't undo contamination, and it does nothing to protect soil and wildlife where the spraying takes place. Also, while Keep Tahoe Blue has stated that herbicides should only be used as a last resort, "last resort" is a standard that the Forest Service gets to define for itself. Most importantly, while Keep Tahoe Blue has said it will "continue asking questions," it should be directing far more questions to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), a bi-state government agency created by Congress in 1969 to protect the Lake Tahoe Basin as a whole. Tahoe needs real, effective protection.

The Forest Service has said that herbicide spraying isn't planned until 2028 — yet it also said that site preparation was planned to start in spring 2026. And since decisions currently being made likely assume future spraying, the time to speak up is now. What the Forest Service does with herbicides here in South Lake Tahoe will set a template for how the rest of the Basin gets managed. So Keep Tahoe Blue should put its full weight behind protecting the Basin from this plan.

This petition is asking Keep Tahoe Blue to:

• Publicly and clearly ask TRPA whether spraying herbicides across thousands of acres of Tahoe forest requires TRPA review — and if it does, call on TRPA to conduct a thorough review of the Forest Service "restoration" plan.
• Publicly and clearly call on TRPA to amend its Code of Ordinances to prohibit synthetic herbicides in the entire Lake Tahoe Basin — so that no herbicide project can move forward, whether or not TRPA review is required.
• Bring the same watchdog approach to this crucial issue that it has shown for other threats to the Tahoe Basin.

In 1969, advocacy by Keep Tahoe Blue called for the pumping of sewage out of the Lake Tahoe Basin — even as some experts erroneously argued that dumping it into the lake was safe. Thanks to Keep Tahoe Blue's strong advocacy back then, Tahoe is still clear today — and we've been putting our trust in them ever since. The threat we're now facing is just as great, and there's still time for Keep Tahoe Blue to get this one right too.

Please sign this petition to urge Keep Tahoe Blue to use its voice and relationship with TRPA to do the right thing for the future of the entire Lake Tahoe Basin.

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Sources:
HealthyTahoe.org/petition-sources.html