This is because, unbeknownst to most people, logging companies and the US Forest Service have been spraying massive amounts of herbicide in clear-cut and fire-ravaged forests of California—and throughout the nation. And not just any herbicide, but glyphosate, a potent and problematic weed killer best known by the brand name Roundup.
This once-idyllic landscape, spanning tens of thousands of acres, is among California’s most heavily sprayed forest areas. The Pacific Crest Trail—a hiking route immortalized in the Hollywood movie Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon—runs straight through it. Yet thanks to all the chemicals, it remains a moonscape even now, nearly five years after the Dixie Fire.
People shouldn’t be surprised that monoculture treefarms are more efficient, and thus more economically attractive, than real forests.
Unless forced to do otherwise, any farmer, or other corporation, will always go for the more profitable route. Money is the goal, not ecology or health.
The lesson that should be learned here is that tree growing should also be regulated.
