Earlier this year, Canada declared road salt an environmental toxic. Perhaps the most obvious victims of road salt are trees. Woody Cole, former chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency, laments that salt killed most of the white birches that once grew along the road beside the Cascade Lakes. DEC forester Bruce Barnard said hardwoods are especially vulnerable in spring, when runoff is often heavily laden with salt. The salt keeps moisture out of the fine roots, making it difficult for the tree to take up water.
Salt also invades plant cells, forcing out water.
Trees like sugar maples are very susceptible to it. Several communities in the United States tried banning road salt in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but all rescinded the ban after discovering that sand and synthetic substitutes failed to keep roads free of ice. The city of Tulsa managed to go an entire winter without salting its roads, but the next year it returned to applying a mixture of sand and salt. We also had areas where the ice never melted. Frederick Buck, the highway superintendent of Essex County, which includes Keene Valley and Lake Placid, regards salt as essential for keeping roads safe.