A Mother Jones <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/roundup-glyphosate-spraying-forests-monsanto-science-retraction-cancer-health-concerns-maha-trump-executive-order-supreme-court-bayer-lawsuits/" target="_self">investigation</a> found that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has been spraying massive amounts of toxic glyphosate herbicide on forests across the United States.
Mother Jones wrote, "While glyphosate is more well-known for its use in agriculture, its fastest-growing use in California—where our investigation analyzed more than 5 million state pesticide records—is on forestlands. Private timber companies and the USFS have been dousing hundreds of thousands of acres of the state’s forests in the herbicide, especially areas affected by wildfires.”
Why is the USFS dousing forestland with a carcinogenic herbicide?
The USFS claims that spraying glyphosate is the easiest and least expensive way to help conifers regrow after wildfires. Pine needle conifers aren’t affected by glyphosate in the same way as other plants. Blanketing forestland with glyphosate kills everything but the conifer trees. This helps the agency meet its desired forest density for future timber sales, according to hundreds of pages of USFS documents reviewed in Mother Jones’ investigation.
In 2025, President Trump issued an executive order for the USFS to increase timber sales by 25%. In 2026, Trump issued an executive order calling for an increase in the domestic production of glyphosate to help Bayer-Monsanto. While these presidential actions may benefit Trump’s allies— the private timber industry and Bayer-Monsanto—they only bring increased risk of disease to Americans and destroy the vital biodiversity of nature.
Locals living near the sprayed areas are livid and have been speaking out. And some lawmakers in Congress are listening. Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Jared Huffman (D-CA) are <a href="https://pingree.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=6786" target="_self">demanding answers</a> from the USFS about its current and planned use of glyphosate-based herbicides on federal forestlands, and raised the issue with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.
“It’s bullshit. I’m really mad. You're talking about just wiping out all biology, you know, just like all life forms. It’s bonkers,” Congresswoman Pingree <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2026/06/roundup-glyphosate-chellie-pingree-jared-huffman-forest-service/" target="_self">told Mother Jones</a>.
We should all be really mad. This is not just happening in California. This is the USFS policy throughout the United States. Because California is the only state that requires and collects pesticide-use data, the full extent of glyphosate spraying in other states—including where and when it occurs—remains unknown.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The spraying of glyphosate on forestland is not acceptable and the practice must cease.
Tell the White House and Congress to direct the USFS to stop spraying glyphosate, or any other toxic synthetic herbicide for that matter, on national forestland.
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Tell Congress and the White House: Stop Spraying Glyphosate on National Forests

I recently learned that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has a policy of spraying glyphosate-based herbicides on national forests.

I am also aware that Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Huffman have sent a letter to USFS Chief Tom Schultz seeking information about the agency's current and planned use of glyphosate-based herbicides on federal forestlands, as well as any environmental risk assessments and worker safety evaluations conducted by the agency.

A recent Mother Jones investigation, using California pesticide-use data, found that glyphosate use has increased dramatically as a result of this USFS practice. California is the only state that comprehensively tracks pesticide use, but it is reasonable to assume that this federal policy is contributing to increased glyphosate spraying on forestlands across the country.

The public deserves complete transparency regarding any past, current, and planned herbicide applications on federal lands. However, transparency alone is not enough. The practice of spraying national forests with glyphosate and other toxic synthetic herbicides must end.

I urge the White House and Congress to direct the USDA and U.S. Forest Service to phase out the use of these herbicides and pursue safer, non-toxic approaches to forest management and restoration. Protecting public health, wildlife, water resources, and forest ecosystems must be a top priority.