Timber companies annually use poisonous herbicides on over 20,000 acres of the North Coast forests. The chemicals then run down steep slopes to streams which support threatened chinook and coho salmon. Timber companies use the herbicides in previously clearcut areas in order to kill the weeds and brush that grow back first after the area has been harvested. The companies do not want the economically unhelpful weeds to compete with newly-planted trees. Atrazine, Roundup, and Garlon are some of the herbicides that are used.
Diesel fuel is also of concern as it is commonly mixed into the herbicides.
Involved research is necessary to determine exactly how much of a negative effect these chemicals have already had on the endangered species. Attorney Brian Gaffney from Oakland is representing the three groups in federal court. The company is allowed to kill 100 owls during the first 10 years of the HCP, with additional birds to be authorized in 2002. Strangely, FWS asserted that it did not have continuing discretion over the permit it had issued, in spite of clear written statements to the contrary. Unfortunately, because courts tend to defer to the 'responsible' agencies, and because the implications of our challenge could have shut down much of Simpson's logging, a District Court Judge denied our request to enjoin logging until the agencies had reviewed the impacts of the owl HCP on other listed species.