BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
Can we put an economic value on our breasts, on our prostates, on the fertility of our children, on our environmental
health, on the health of wildlife? This Thursday April 12, Leonard Gianessi, a pesticide industry spokesman disguised
as a scientist and educator, will ask us to do just that. Worse, he'll ask us at a public presentation at the National Conservation
Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
NCTC also plans on doing a national teleconference with Mr Gianessi. This broadcast will go to the desks of extension
agents, fish and game workers and educators across the country.
You will be personally funding this advertisement for herbicides, with your tax dollars.
The major herbicide used in the US, Atrazine, has been banned in Europe because it is a documented endocrine disrupter,
and, in dosages as low as 2.16 parts per million, is responsible for such diverse effects as breast cancer and feminization
of male animals. To defend the use of such toxic products Mr. Gianessi will present an argument similar to the one he uses
to promote GMOs (in his case, BT Corn): that the use of herbicides is necessary for the economic success of farming, and for
staving off hunger in this country. Mr Gianessi works for CropLife Foundation, whose mission statement ironically includes
the "promotion of sustainable agriculture... and bioengineered agriculture" (<
http://www.croplifefoundation.org/>
http://www.croplifefoundation.org/).
Organic farmers do not use herbicides. With proper management weeds do not present a substantial threat to crop production.
The National Conservation Training Center "trains and educates natural resource managers to accomplish our common goal
of conserving fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats" (<
http://training.fws.gov/who.html>
http://training.fws.gov/who.html). How can promoting herbicide use be conducive to this? The fact that a federal conservation organization is endorsing and
providing a public platform for a presentation that advocates environmental contaminants is very scary. NCTC wraps itself
in images of Rachel Carson, but is now greenwashing a chemical salesman!
Please email or call Mr. Rick Lemon, director of the NCTC, both to protest this event and to request that the NCTC take
a position of leadership in truly conserving our natural resources and our wildlife. Do not allow your tax dollars to be misused
in this fashion. Please act quickly. The presentation is this Thursday April 12.
Contact Information
Mr. Rick Lemon
Director
National Conservation Training Center (NCTC)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Shepherdstown, WV
304-876-7263
The event will be held in "The Byrd Auditorium" at NCTC. You may also want to write to Senator Robert C. Byrd of West
Virginia and ask him to help stop salesmen from using federal property to mislead American citizens. You have to go to the
senator's home page to email him: byrd.senate.gov/byrd_email.html
Contact Allan Balliett at allan@freshandlocalcsa.com for further information
