Canada sprays cancer causing glyphosate all throughout it's forest every year and this is what Ai told me was sprayed in British Columbia.
I asked because I just saw a warning to prepare for another bad year of forest fires in BC.
Do you have to have brain to correlate spraying massive amounts of chemicals in the forests every year to an increase in forest fires or am I just insane??
Approximately 5,000–35,000 kg of glyphosate active ingredient (a.i.) per year in recent years for forestry/silviculture (conifer release/brush control), with a long-term average around 17,000 hectares treated annually at typical rates of ~1.9–3.4 kg a.i./ha (often ~2–2.2 kg/ha in BC). Usage has declined sharply since peaks in the 1980s–2000s and especially after ~2018.
Key Data on Areas and QuantitiesRecent years (post-2018 decline): In 2017, 28,050 kg glyphosate a.i. was used on ~13,803 ha for silviculture (mostly aerial). Total forestry herbicides (glyphosate triclopyr) were ~30,454 kg on ~15,053 ha.
From 2014–2019, ~145,905 kg glyphosate total (24,300 kg/year average), peaking at ~34,700 kg in 2015 and dropping to ~5,457 kg in 2019.
2018: ~11,000 ha treated on Crown land (7% of harvested area that year).
2018–2023: >20,000 ha sprayed (average ~3,300 ha/year). In 2024: ~340 ha reported; 2025 (partial): ~600 ha.
Historical/long-term: ~17,000 ha/year average since ~1985 (or 2000 in some refs), mostly in northern/interior BC (e.g., Omineca, Sub-Boreal Spruce zone). Cumulative: >430,000 ha sprayed (counting reported areas; up to ~738,000 ha including multiples) since 1987 across >1 million ha of cutblocks. Peak ~40,000 ha in 1989. Glyphosate dominates (>93–95% of forestry herbicide area nationally and in BC).
National Canadian forestry context (for comparison): Long-term annual average ~291,000 kg glyphosate product (1992–2014), declining; ~94% of herbicide treatments. BC is a major user but second to Ontario.
Application Rates and MethodsTypical rates: 1.9–3.4 kg a.i./ha (label max ~3.36 kg; BC forestry often 1.78–2.16 kg a.i./ha or ~3.3–4 L/ha product like VisionMax). Applications are usually once (or occasionally twice) per rotation, 1–3 years post-planting.
Methods: Mostly aerial (helicopter/fixed-wing, ~86% in 2018), some ground (backpack, etc.). Targets competing broadleaf trees/shrubs/herbs (e.g., aspen) to meet "free-to-grow" standards for conifer plantations.
Trends and ContextDecline: Sharp drop due to policy shifts, alternatives (manual brushing, taller seedlings, sheep grazing), and public pressure. Herbicide use in forestry down ~88% since 2018; non-chemical methods now sometimes exceed chemical in area. NDP government reviewed/committed to phase-down.
Why used: Required or incentivized under BC forest practices to ensure conifer dominance and timber supply on harvested sites (~0.2% of productive forest harvested annually nationally; similar scale in BC). Not used on mature forests broadly.
Data sources: BC Ministry of Forests (RESULTS database), pesticide use surveys, FPInnovations review, National Forestry Database. Reporting can have overlaps/lags and under-represents private land in some surveys.
Exact annual totals vary by year, region (heaviest in northeast/interior), and reporting; no single fixed number exists due to variable needs. Recent figures are much lower than historical averages. For the most current, check BC government RESULTS or IPM reports, as companies report annually with some delay. Glyphosate persists in some plant tissues (up to 10–12 years at trace levels) but binds strongly in soil and degrades relatively quickly.