1. Workers from our Sonoma County Water Agency apply Monsanto's RoundUp herbicide to eradicate invasive Himalayan blackberries...but it doesn't work on those plants! Tax money spent to spray RoundUp is tax money wasted.

2. Scientific American and other sources question the safety of active and inert ingredients in RoundUp. See the article at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weed-whacking-herbicide-p/

3. Toxic herbicide does not belong in and along our creeks where children play, where families pick berries, where homeless people take shelter, and where other plants grow that are important to bees, butterflies and more. 

4. Funds can be redirected to effective methods of removal, as shown here: http://swni.org/bcs_remove_himalayan_blackberry_sbs

Sonoma County should be leading the way in green agriculture and eco-tourism, as attractive as our localvore cuisine, wines, farmers' markets and restaurants are. The county sets a bad agricultural example and may deter tourism when it poisons our waterways with herbicides. 

This petition was started after a safety-masked county spray crew, with no advance warning and posting no signs, applied RoundUp along a creekbank in close proximity not only to running water but to public access trails, homes, and childrens' play areas. Crew members indicated that this was a standard procedure for controlling invasive blackberries, as part of flood control. 

Flood control is important, but will be better achieved with effective and selective methods of plant removal.