Thank you for engaging with Boulder County land managers!

Your speaking up about pesticide use on Boulder County’s Open Space and the Integrated Weed Management Plan that governs pesticide (specifically herbicide) use on our public lands & waterways has led to the first policy update in over 20 years—finalized in November 2024—which included the banning of aerial spraying from planes, and the removal of 2-4,D, Dicamba, Glyphosate and other chemicals from County weed managers’ “toolkit.”

Thank you to these wonderful community organizations that care for the land!

These local organizations came together in 2023 to encourage you to speak out to protect our public lands and are united in their efforts to reduce or eliminate pesticide use in order to regenerate and protect the land, water, and ecosystems of which we are all a part.

Recent Articles

Go To All Resources ➞

Featured

Urgent Action Alert: Prevent Indaziflam drone sprays uphill from local regenerative farms

Boulder County announced in a press release on November 21st that they plan to use drones to spray both Indaziflam (brand name Rejuvra) to kill invasive annual grasses throughout the Red Hill Open Space area—which is uphill and immediately adjacent to both Yellow Barn Farm and Drylands Ag roecology Research’s (DAR) Elk Run Farm —starting as soon as this week. These farms have both been outstanding leaders in healing our County’s soil for many years.

Be the Non-Toxic Alternative You Wish To See in the World 🐝🐛🦋

Here are two ongoing opportunities to get involved with pesticide-free weed mitigation and ecosystem restoration, organized by local community members.

To support native pollinators, skip the herbicides.

Herbicides may be killing some invasive species that threaten the plants native pollinators need, but they are also definitely killing the pollinators themselves. We need to invest more in non-chemical invasive species management techniques that don’t kill the threatened populations that we’re trying to protect. Explore the 2023 Colorado Native Pollinating Insects Health Study and the role that pesticides play in their threatened status.

Holistic Weed Management Options

Let’s direct our County’s immense resources not just on the bare minimum goal of weed eradication, but on the visionary goal of regenerating our public lands and restoring their health from the soil on up! This chart was created by Longmont organic farmer, Mark Guttridge, of Ollin Farms.

Waterway Contamination and Run-Off Events Due to BCPOS Herbicide Use

Rejuvra™’s (Indaziflam) label states: “This product is classified as having a high potential for reaching surface water via runoff for several months or more after application.”

Staff have repeatedly said that despite their many years of applying Rejuvra™ on Open Space lands, there has been no testing done on non-target impacts such as those on aquatic life. This map shows potential stream contamination from Indaziflam applications using data reported from BCPOS on its 2021 applications.

Should Indaziflam (Rejuvra™) Be Sprayed on Front Range Parks and Open Space land?

Rejuvra™ (active ingredient: Indaziflam) is an herbicide that has been widely used on Boulder County Open Space already and which remains enshrined in the Boulder County Weed Managmeent Plan 2.0, approved by POSAC and now under consideration by County Commissioners. This well-researched paper argues that Rejuvra™ should not be sprayed on Front Range parks and open space land before demonstrating that the expected ecological benefits will outweigh the expected negative effects. This environmental impact study is necessary work that should proceed any large-scale spraying.

TAKE ACTION

The 2024 policy is in place, but you can monitor herbicide applications, prepare comments for what you think should change at the next review, and email your Commissioners anytime.

1.

Email Your Commissioners

Get informed about pesticide use in Boulder County.

Pesticide use is widespread on our public lands. Thanks to the 2024 Integrated Weed Management Policy review process, the County now publicly shares its herbicide applications online, and you can track mosquito spray operations online as well:

2.

View County Open Space Herbicide Applications

View City of Boulder Open Space Herbicide Applications

View County Mosquito Spray Schedule + Opt Out

Engage in pesticide use reduction advocacy at the State level.

3.

Stay Up To Date with State-Level Pesticide Policies through PPAN

Pledge Not To Use Pesticides On Your Own Property

Suggested Talking Points

Even though this policy review process has concluded, you can write to your Commissioners at any time about pesticide use on public lands. Here are some talking points, but you’re encouraged to do your own research and use your own voice.

➜ Thank Boulder County for eliminating Dicamba, 2,4-D, Glyphosate and 3 other herbicides from their “toolkit”, but emphasize that you remain opposed to Indaziflam, and other pesticides currently use on public land. Remember that state law does not mandate the use of pesticides for ANY weed, it does mandate varying levels of management, which does not have to include toxic chemicals.

➜ Thank Boulder County for removing aerial spraying from planes from their revised draft plan—due to public outcry over drift concerns—and emphasize that for the same reasons, aerial spraying from drones should not be allowed either. Hand spraying involves the lowest level of drift risk when chemicals are applied.

➜ Ask for a moratorium on all pesticide use until BCPOS establishes a more science-based, inclusive public process that fully incorporates perspectives from ecologists and other scientists, local nonprofits, community leaders, and staff — much like the County has created through the Fireshed Working Group.

➜ Ask for a moratorium on pesticide use for List B and List C noxious weeds, as well as weeds that are not on Lists A, B, or C. Currently, the County is spraying herbicide to attempt to control more than 65 species on lists, B, C, or watchlist.

➜ Ask for a pilot program, using weed management money, for targeted grazing of weeds using regenerative practices. It’s time for the County to invest in regenerative land managers to manage weeds through targeted, strategically timed grazing and other manual control techniques.

➜ Ask Boulder County to implement a more stringent process for approving individual pesticides for use on public lands. As a point of reference, all 31 of the products listed in use by Boulder County failed the City of Boulder’s more rigorous pesticide approval process, with 2 of the 31 being approved for certain conditions and 1 for special use cases only.

➜ Ask for monitoring of spray sites and downstream water bodies for non-target impacts (insects, aquatic organisms, water, soil, and drift). The current 2024 IWM Plan does not list any protocols for studying short or long-term environmental impacts on water or non-target organisms.

➜ Ask Boulder County what, if any, water testing they have done – at spray sites, along impacted ditches, in surface water, in groundwater. Ask the County to pay for Open Space lease-holders and other downstream neighbors to have their water tested for pesticide impacts.

➜ Ask Boulder County to post every pesticide application going back at least five years and not to destroy the historical data, for use in future environmental toxicity studies.

➜ Ask Boulder County to consider and identify root causes of noxious weeds on public lands and address root causes of land degradation through soil and ecological health efforts.

➜ Ask Boulder County to explain how the use of pesticides fits in with their soil health initiatives and whether pesticide applications could ever interfere with soil health efforts being conducted on Open Space lands.

➜ Add your own thoughts about the direction you want to see Boulder County taking the stewardship of your public lands, your concerns about pesticides, and how you would like this process to unfold.