The project will report on regulations, monitoring, research, chemical toxicity, impacts to fish, wildlife, water and people, and watershed specific information about pesticide application in the forests of Washington State. It is intended to enable informed decision-making about use of highly toxic chemicals in ecosystems that are expected to support sustainable populations of fish and wildlife, and to provide clean water and other resources to people.

Pesticide use in Washington’s industrial forests is reported through the forest practices application review system, but not monitored or quantified by any regulatory agency. Over 200 different pesticide formulations are routinely and legally applied to uplands, forested wetlands, and within stream buffers within 50 feet of flowing water. Many timber operations apply a number of different pesticides per acre. Impact or injury to people or public resources – water, fish, and wildlife - is perceived to be of low risk, but is unknown. The list of pesticide formulations approved for use in forestry includes chemicals and substances known to be lethal to fish and amphibians, or to cause a range of sub-lethal effects that may result in injury, a reduction in ability to avoid predators, swim or eat, or inability to reproduce. Residential communities are increasingly in proximity to industrial forest operations, receiving drinking water from upslope surface and groundwater sources. Forest workers, subsistence and recreational users are also at risk of exposure.