I wrote a letter to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection regarding the application of herbicides along our roads.
One of the reasons they give for the liberal application of weed killers is aesthetics.
What do you mean by this! The roads look horrible with dead vegetation everywhere.
Many times the herbicides are applied by farm fields and streams. There is no way this poison does not wind up in our water and soil.
It is bad for the environment. Not only does it kill weeds and wildflowers but insects and small mammals that depend on the plants.
Another reason given was safety. What is so unsafe about mowing the sides of the roads?
For being such an environmentally conscious state, the application of this poison is a disgrace.
In upstate New York, I saw no herbicides applied along rural roads. Instead, beautiful wildflowers were allowed to thrive.
Mary Rapuano
Newton