… Public uproar has echoed across the Tahoe area since April, when our yearlong Mother Jones investigation revealed that, in California, the fastest-growing use of glyphosate—the main ingredient in Roundup—is to spray forested areas, including this massive new project around Lake Tahoe. … As our investigation revealed, the deployment of glyphosate in California’s forestlands has been growing for decades, driven in part by the worsening fires, as companies and government officials scramble to harvest burned wood and replant trees for future timber sales. Glyphosate is among the effective methods—and the Forest Service says the cheapest—to get pine trees to grow back faster, as it kills any other plant that might compete for sunlight, soil nutrients, and water.

Other Lake Tahoe watershed news:

• Snopes: Forest Service, timber companies are spraying weedkiller glyphosate on forests. We dug into proof
• Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.): Viral video makes false claims on toxic chemicals in Lake Tahoe
• South Tahoe Now (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.): Opinion: What is happening in Tahoe right now is bigger than a debate about one chemical