Greeting, Senators Crapo and Risch; Representatives Simpson and Fulcher; Governor Little; Lt. Governor McGeachin and the Idaho State Legislature:
OUR FORESTS ARE DYING! SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO STOP THE PINE BEETLES.
Please work to restore DDT to stop the death of our precious forests. DDT was used very safely to control Pine Beetles. Poor forest management of not allowing the removal of dead trees and dead fall have contributed to catastrophic wildfires. Please read the following and reinstate DDT manufacture and use. I would like a reply to what steps you are taking to restore DDT use. Thanks.
A concerned citizen, Adrian Arp, Ph.D.
Note: I worked on a task force for my employer, who had a DDT class soil insecticide, to try to stop the ban on DDT. When DDT and the company’s product was banned, I lost my job and obtained employment in Idaho. I know first hand the information which follows:
RESTORE DDT TO KILL PINE BEETLES – LESSEN FIRES
The ban on the insecticide DDT in 1971 by EPA administrator William Ruckelshaus, who had come from the World Wildlife Fund has cost millions of lives due to malaria and other insect transmitted diseases like West Nile Virus.
DDT was ruled safe by EPA judge Edmund Sweeney. The ban also is causing the death of millions of acres of pine and hardwood trees due to insects previously controlled by DDT.
Note: Ruckelshaus never attended any of the congressional hearings on DDT! With the stroke of his pen he has caused unnecessary killing of our forests and the death of millions of malaria victims. His decision has killed more people than Hitler, Mao, Stalin and Lenin combined. The death of millions from Malaria continues since the ban on DDT. India has the only DDT manufacturing plant. India uses DDT and has very few deaths from Malaria.
The Environmental Defense Fund and its allies had pushed to have DDT banned. The book, “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson, containing half-truths and lies, was used to place DDT under investigation.
J. Gordon Edwards, Ph.D. entomologist, defended the safety of DDT in his publication, “DDT, A Case Study in Scientific Fraud.”
There are three major lies still being repeated about DDT. These are: DDT did NOT kill birds or cause egg shell thinning. The initial egg shell test was conducted without necessary Calcium in the diet to produce normal shells. This was published in Science Journal.
A second test with Calcium in the diet showed no difference, but Science editor Philip Abelson refused to publish the truth that DDT did not cause thin egg shells.
The Audubon Society (a songbird society) had issued a memo to its members asking them to destroy raptor nests. That led to a decrease in raptors. Raptors eat the eggs and kill the songbirds. When there was a huge fine and possible federal prison time, the raptor population came back very rapidly.
DDT is NOT toxic to humans and is NOT a human carcinogen. It is far safer than many replacement insecticides that have high mammalian toxicity. DDT does NOT persist in the environment and does NOT accumulate and concentrate in the food chain.
A documentary, “Three Billion and Counting.” By Dr. Rutledge Taylor is named for the number of malaria victims world-wide throughout history and exposes over five decades of genocide due to the DDT ban. Before the ban, Malaria was almost totally eradicated, and pine beetles and Tussock moths were also controlled.
Original EPA hearing transcripts (9,312 Pages) reveal that DDT is safe and effective. Ruchelshaus was reported that he NEVER read any of the hearing transcripts.
Dr. Arthur Robinson (an Oregon State Senator) said, “The number of children slaughtered by the ban of DDT is greater than any other genocide in world history.” Even Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore said that the ban of DDT and environmental controls were not about concern for the environment but was a way to reduce world population. He left Greenpeace as he found out that people control was the objective of the environmental movement.
Congress must pass a bill to restore DDT to not only fight malaria and Zika Virus, but also West Nile Virus and tree killing insects to save our forests and reduce destructive fires.
A concerned citizen,
Adrian L. Arp, Ph.D. in Agronomy
6 replies on “Our Forests are Dying from Beetles as Wildfires Become More Prevalent”
Rachel Carson was an undergraduate journalism student at Michigan when she wrote silent spring
DDT should remain BANNED! Man has interfered in the natural course of forest management for far too long. When the beetle infests a tree, the tree will eventually die unless you harvest the tree for wood products or cut it down and burn the debris. Fires accomplish several things; destroy dead trees; clear out the underbrush for new trees; improves habitat for animals; and kills unwanted insects. The native american indians news this for centuries. Stop interfering with nature!
More CO2 emissions from Western fires/ yr. than internal combustion engines in LA/yr. Not to mention simultaneous H2O released to atmosphere which is the largest greenhouse gas, with the greatest impact on warming and simultaneous loss of O2 fixation from destroyed chloroplasts and photosynthesis creating more Co2 + H20 + O2—-the equation goes both ways
I’m sure DDT is “safe and effective” and “proven science”. You want to stop beetle kill, or at least trees dying? How about stop hosing the highways down with 200 lbs/lane mile of salt applied as spray by Idaho Dept of Transportation plows driving 35 mph+ which generates huge cloud of salt spray. Everytime it snows. Better living with less chemistry, not more, PLEASE!
What has the use of salt on Idaho road have anything to do with DDT use! DDT is the safest pesticide ever developed. It is safer to humans than the same amount of table salt. DDT should be reinstated to stop the killing of millions of people from malaria, controls pine beetles and tussock moth, west nile virus and Zeta virus. India manufactures and uses DDT and has very little malaria.
With the use of DDT, Malaria which kills millions of people was nearly wiped out. Malaria is killing millions once again. The only country that still manufactures and uses DDT is India. They have very little malaria! DDT has a very low human toxicity. It is the safest pesticide ever produced by man. Without its use, our forests will continue to die and make for catastrophic wildfires. The Forest Service has prevented the harvesting of dead trees and dead fall that could be used. DDT should be reinstated for the benefits to mankind.