Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
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When the Forest Service sent a routine letter about wildfire recovery in, one word buried in the text stopped me cold: herbicides.
This spring, federal agencies plan to spray glyphosate—the world's most controversial and widely-debated weedkiller—across thousands and thousands of acres of public land. Land where families camp, hikers explore, hunters pursue game, and children swim in mountain streams. And almost no one knows it's happening.
Glyphosate, introduced by agri-giant Monsanto in 1974, has been classified as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Bayer, the multinational conglomerate that acquired Monsanto in 2018, has now paid over $12 billion in legal settlements to thousands of people who claim Roundup gave them cancer and other serious illnesses. Scientists have also linked the chemical to decimated Monarch butterfly populations, mass frog die-offs, and widespread environmental destruction.
And yet in February, President Trump signed an executive order declaring glyphosate critical to national security, invoking the Defense Production Act to guarantee its continued use and shielding its producers from legal liability.
So why is one of the most litigated chemicals in American history being quietly sprayed across our national forests?
To get to the bottom of it, my colleague Melissa Lewis and I pulled California pesticide application records going back to 1995 and analyzed more than 5 million data points. What we uncovered was deeply troubling: glyphosate spraying in California forests has quintupled since 2005—the fastest-growing market for the chemical in the state—and the public has been left almost entirely in the dark.
This is the plan they don't want you to know about.
#Investigation #Monsanto #Glyphosate #Herbicide #California #BigAgriculture
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► For more, visit Mother Jones: motherjones.com
When the Forest Service sent a routine letter about wildfire recovery in, one word buried in the text stopped me cold: herbicides.
This spring, federal agencies plan to spray glyphosate—the world's most controversial and widely-debated weedkiller—across thousands and thousands of acres of public land. Land where families camp, hikers explore, hunters pursue game, and children swim in mountain streams. And almost no one knows it's happening.
Glyphosate, introduced by agri-giant Monsanto in 1974, has been classified as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Bayer, the multinational conglomerate that acquired Monsanto in 2018, has now paid over $12 billion in legal settlements to thousands of people who claim Roundup gave them cancer and other serious illnesses. Scientists have also linked the chemical to decimated Monarch butterfly populations, mass frog die-offs, and widespread environmental destruction.
And yet in February, President Trump signed an executive order declaring glyphosate critical to national security, invoking the Defense Production Act to guarantee its continued use and shielding its producers from legal liability.
So why is one of the most litigated chemicals in American history being quietly sprayed across our national forests?
To get to the bottom of it, my colleague Melissa Lewis and I pulled California pesticide application records going back to 1995 and analyzed more than 5 million data points. What we uncovered was deeply troubling: glyphosate spraying in California forests has quintupled since 2005—the fastest-growing market for the chemical in the state—and the public has been left almost entirely in the dark.
This is the plan they don't want you to know about.
#Investigation #Monsanto #Glyphosate #Herbicide #California #BigAgriculture
--
For more award-winning independent reporting, visit Mother Jones: motherjones.com
Facebook: facebook.com/motherjones
Twitter: twitter.com/motherjones
Instagram: instagram.com/motherjonesmag
