To access Beyond Toxic's mapping tool, go here.
Michael Dunne: I'm Michael Dunne. When thinking about buying a house, or even just re-evaluating where you currently live, online maps can be a valuable tool. They can show you the locations of parks, transit stops and schools, and a quick click can even show you where the best restaurants are located. On the show, we're going to introduce you to a new map, one that can be invaluable when considering the safety of your home's location. It's a map created by the environmental group Beyond Toxics, and it shows the patterns of pesticide and herbicide spraying in our community. The organization's executive director will join to talk about this new mapping tool. Then, in the second part of the show, we'll get an update from the Register-Guard about yet another board resignation besetting Springfield Public Schools. Jennifer Davis is the executive director of Beyond Toxics. Jennifer, thanks so much for coming on and talking with us.
Jennifer Davis: Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for having me, Michael.
Dunne: Let me start with the easy question: Remind folks what the organization Beyond Toxics is. What do you do?
Davis: Beyond Toxics is a statewide environmental justice organization based here in Eugene, working alongside frontline communities who are disproportionately impacted and harmed by environmental toxins. That could be air quality, water quality, contaminated soils, that sort of thing. We're in our 26th year, and we do everything from on-the-ground organizing to statewide policy and advocacy.
Dunne: You recently published a map that showed pesticide use in the community. Can you walk us through what that map shows?
Davis: Absolutely. This is the FERNS pesticide notification web map. FERNS is an acronym from the Oregon Department of Forestry. It stands for the Forest Activity Electronic Reporting and Notification System. This map took a database that ODF already had available to the public, which was a little hard to decipher, and made it more user-friendly for people. We get calls all the time from people who are really concerned about activities that might be happening around their properties, and this web map makes that a lot easier to navigate.
Dunne: If someone were to go on the map, would they be able to see a particular area that is concerning with regard to the number of pesticides being used?
Davis: That's a great question. We created the map so people could plug in an address. The first thing people usually do is plug in their home address, and it shows historical notifications of pesticide applications from 2014 to 2024. I will say these are notifications that were submitted prior to any actual pesticides going on the landscape, so this is what the plans were at the time. You can go in and see what areas around you might have had pesticide applications, the types of methods that were planned, and the types of chemicals that were on that application. But it doesn't actually tell you exactly what happened after the fact.
Dunne: Some people might feel that if a pesticide is sprayed far away from where they live, they don't have anything to worry about. Can you talk about the fact that pesticides don't just affect the area of direct application? They can work their way through the environment in all sorts of ways. Is that the case?
Davis: Yes, there is a lot of concern about watersheds, particularly for rural communities and their drinking water. There are safeguards: Pesticide applicators are supposed to maintain adequate buffers around drinking water intakes, housing, schools and other sensitive areas. But pesticides don't just stay exactly where they were put on the landscape. A lot of people are concerned with aerial sprays in particular, because those get broadcast by an airplane and drift can happen, and does happen. For us, it's really important for people to know what could be happening around them so they're more aware.
Dunne: As a community, are we using fewer pesticides than maybe we did decades ago? Awareness has certainly increased, and your organization does a lot of that awareness and education work. Are you seeing any impact in terms of less pesticide use, or are we seeing more?
Davis: If you look at the map from 2014 to 2024, it doesn't look like use has decreased. I will say that these notifications list every possible chemical the applicator might apply, so it can look like there may be 50 pesticides on any one of these plots. We don't know exactly what's being sprayed. I think with the way that our agricultural and forestry industries operate, we're kind of dependent on these chemicals. There are forest landowners who use minimal or no sprays, so it is possible to reduce use, but that is the less-preferred method for sure.
Dunne: Certainly the publicity about a product like Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate has generated a lot of discussion about the dangers of such chemicals. Are you surprised that despite all this information about health concerns, it's still widely distributed as a pesticide and herbicide?
Davis: Yes, absolutely. Glyphosate is a great example. Bayer, which acquired Monsanto a few years ago, produces Roundup. Glyphosate has been removed from Roundup for residential use, but it is still available on the market in general for licensed pesticide applicators. The toxicology of these things is complicated. The chemical components are often studied individually and not in combination with the other surfactants that are in the actual bottle. Glyphosate is a known potential carcinogen, but the surfactants in these products are known carcinogens as well. Some of these chemicals are being sprayed in conjunction with other chemicals, and they're certainly mixing in the environment. That's where the real concern is. We can study one chemical molecule in isolation, but that's not the real world. We really do feel that getting this information out to the public is going to be the driving force toward more study. Having potential impacts in the environment, especially when they're affecting communities, is not acceptable. We just really want to make sure we're getting that information out there and accessible to the public.
Dunne: Let's talk about the general public. People with the best intentions may not know the ways in which they might limit their family's exposure to pesticides. What are some things the general public can do?
Davis: Some of the exposure is unknown to us. We don't know exactly what's in our water or in the watershed, and even if we did, we don't always know the source. I think the most important thing is just having that information out there and getting people aware of what might be happening. Certainly we can control what happens on our own properties. There are alternatives that don't carry potential health impacts for humans, and just being aware matters. The easy chemical you can pull off the shelf might not be the most appropriate choice for long-term health.
Dunne: My last question is maybe a bigger-picture one. A lot of people might say that when it comes to large-scale agriculture and industrial farming, pesticides and herbicides simply must be used. The name of your organization is Beyond Toxics, so I have to ask: Do you believe that, in terms of large-scale agriculture and feeding a hungry nation, we can move beyond some of these more insidious and potentially carcinogenic pesticides and herbicides?
Davis: That's a really great question, and I don't know if we'll ever fully eliminate their use, especially when we're battling invasive species that were never meant to be in this environment in the first place. My background is in conservation, and I know these chemicals are a really useful tool in that work. Do I think they should be the only tool we rely on? No. I don't feel like that's going to be sustainable in the long term. There have been lots of studies on the nutritional value of agriculture, and they don't suggest this is probably the most appropriate or best solution overall. But I think it's valuable as a tool in the toolbox, not the only tool we always rely on.
Dunne: She is Jennifer Davis, executive director of Beyond Toxics. Jennifer, really appreciate you coming on and talking with us.
Davis: Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Dunne: Now let's get an update on yet another controversy at Springfield Public Schools: the resignation of another board member. Miranda Cyr covers education for the Register-Guard. Miranda, always great to talk to you. Thanks so much for coming in.
Miranda Cyr: Yeah, thanks for having me, Michael.
Dunne: You got the scoop on the resignation of Springfield Public Schools board member Nicole DeGraff. First, remind folks what happened.
Cyr: With Nicole, it was the May 26 board meeting. It was a special meeting that was almost exclusively an executive session. There was very little in public session, so it was not highly attended. I was actually the only audience member. I can't really discuss anything that happened in executive session, but when the board reconvened in public session, they discussed a couple of complaints and then passed resolutions to not hear those complaints any further. Nicole DeGraff, during that discussion, especially around the first complaint, said she had a different perspective on governance and announced she would be resigning on June 30. At least to me, that was a very sudden announcement, and I think for everyone else as well. Even Nicole herself seemed taken aback. She initially declined my request for comment immediately after the meeting, but a couple days later we did connect by phone, and she said it was a real realization during executive session that led her to that decision.
Dunne: What else did she share with you on the phone?
Cyr: We talked for quite a while. She did say this wasn't completely spur of the moment. There has been building tension for quite a while for Nicole. She was first elected in 2023, and ever since then she has kind of been the odd one out on a lot of different votes. As a board, they have voted unanimously on plenty of matters, but more often than not, if there is a disagreement, Nicole tends to be on one side versus the rest. There are a lot of split votes at Springfield Public Schools, maybe more than at some other districts.
Dunne: What were some of the words she used about the board? Did she bring up the D word, dysfunction?
Cyr: In our conversation, Nicole said she had been feeling very upset for the past year, feeling that there was dysfunction on the board. She specifically used the word. She called it a battle that she didn't feel she was being appreciated for fighting, and she also said she was sorry for the role she played in any dysfunction on the board. She acknowledged that, so we'll see how things go.
Dunne: This isn't the first surprising resignation for people who aren't in those rooms the way you are. There's also Heather Quaas-Annsa. Remind folks about what happened there.
Cyr: With Heather, it also happened in the middle of a board meeting. I remember getting a message from her saying she was planning to resign, and she sent me her resignation letter. That was also the result of building tensions and highly emotional board meetings. We've been seeing that at Springfield Public Schools for a while now, some arguments or tense exchanges that have left the board and board meetings in general very strained.
Dunne: Have the board president and other board members commented on the resignation, or on what happened with Quaas-Annsa?
Cyr: I spoke with board chair Jonathan Light by phone as well. He said he was appreciative of Nicole's service on the board. He acknowledged that there is dysfunction on the board, but noted that maybe not everyone is claiming their role in that dysfunction as much as they should. He also pointed out that he and Nicole obviously don't agree on everything, particularly on the role of governance, and that they have genuinely different perspectives on that.
Dunne: Can you also remind folks about some of the big issues Springfield's board has been dealing with, including budget issues and layoffs?
Cyr: There is definitely no shortage of new things happening at Springfield Public Schools right now. I think a lot of it stems from the superintendent resignation. Former Superintendent Todd Hamilton resigned. He announced it in January, and it went into effect in February. Since then, the board has been dealing with the fallout. There was also a tort claim filed for an impending lawsuit by Todd Hamilton, as well as by Assistant Superintendent David Collins. So there was already a lot of tension between the administration and the board when Hamilton ultimately resigned. Since then, they've been trying to find a new superintendent. They have appointed an acting superintendent and will soon be appointing an interim superintendent who will serve for the next year, starting July 1. Three finalists have been announced for that role. It's a busy board with a lot of meetings. There's also the budget situation, which stems from enrollment decline and rising costs due to inflation. There really is a lot going on.
Dunne: Even if it's anonymous, have you talked to staffers or teachers about the general mood among the people who work for Springfield Public Schools?
Cyr: A couple of weeks ago I spoke with the incoming president of the Springfield Education Association, the teachers union. He told me he was actually one of the individuals who experienced a mid-year displacement, moved from one of the high schools to Hamlin Middle School. He said things are not functioning very well. There is a lot of low morale among teachers. Teachers are frustrated and aren't sure how they're going to deal with another round of potential layoffs. More layoffs are coming for the district, and as of a couple of weeks ago, the district had not yet sent those notices out. People are kind of at the edge of their seats, wondering if they're going to have a job going into the 2026-27 school year.
Dunne: When you talk to the board president, is there a sense that they can right this ship? Is it a matter of weathering the budget storm and the enrollment challenges a lot of districts are facing? Is there a sense that better days are ahead, or is it more of a things-will-get-worse-before-they-get-better situation?
Cyr: From what I've heard from Board Chair Light and others, there is a glimmer of hope. Seemingly, there's going to be a lot of new leadership at the district. There's going to be a new interim superintendent, and a couple of other district leaders are on their way out as well, with new leaders coming in. Obviously, there will also be a new board member at some point. The vacancy has not yet been formally announced, so the search process hasn't started. But things are changing at Springfield Public Schools, and Light was hopeful that a new direction could be a path toward a renewed district.
Dunne: Maybe summer couldn't come soon enough to hit reset. Miranda, my last question: What do you think all of these changes will mean for the 2026-27 school year in Springfield?
Cyr: I think it's hard to say. So many districts are going through so many cuts and changes right now. There isn't a single district in Lane County that hasn't faced some sort of unrest amid all the budget problems and enrollment decline. I think we're just going to have to keep a close eye on things and see what's in store for educators, students and families, and how everyone can balance out and manage with less.
Dunne: I'm sure we'll be asking you back as we go through the next school year. Miranda Cyr covers education for the Register-Guard. Miranda, always great to talk to you.
Cyr: Thanks so much.
Dunne: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon On The Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org. Monday on the show, you'll hear from the medical director at Oregon Health Authority about the concerning low vaccination rate among school children in the state. I'm Michael Dunne, host of Oregon On The Record. Thanks for listening.
