Comment from Robertson, Ashton

I am writing as a deeply concerned Oregon resident, a local land steward, and an environmental educator to urge the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to fundamentally reform the Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Suppression Program. Our public lands are what make America truly great. I live near these public spaces and see firsthand how they serve as the lifeblood of our region. They drive vital local tourism, support safe and healthy outdoor recreation, foster community well-being, and maintain the ecological balance we all rely on. Widespread aerial chemical spraying directly threatens the safety, beauty, and ecological integrity of these shared treasures. As a land steward who actively practices backyard habitat restoration, and as an educator working with local youth to connect them to the natural world, I am witnessing a quiet catastrophe unfold. Oregon’s native bees are being rapidly depleted by pesticide exposure. Globally, we are facing an ecological emergency: by some estimates, nearly half of the bee populations in North America have disappeared in just the last six months alone. This is a monumental, rapid collapse, yet it is still not being treated with the five-alarm urgency it demands. It is time to act before it is too late,, and you have the power as an agency to make the biggest difference of all. Your choice here will be historic, no matter what you choose. Please behave in a way that protects America's public lands and people. We cannot afford to keep dousing our public lands in broad-spectrum insecticides that kill the very pollinators holding our ecosystems together. In preparing the new Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), I urge APHIS to prioritize the following: * **Implement an Immediate Ban on Aerial Spraying on and Near Public Lands:** Protect sensitive habitats, integral pollinators, endangered invertebrates, wildlife corridors, and recreational areas from chemical drift. Widespread, non-target pesticide application has no place on lands designated for public benefit and ecological conservation. * **A Shift to True Preventive, Ecological Management:** Move away from chemical-first interventions. APHIS must invest in and prioritize ecological management practices that support natural rangeland resilience and biological diversity to keep pest populations in check. * **Stricter Safeguards for Waterways and Sensitive Species:** Implement robust, non-spray buffer zones around all western rivers, streams, and wetlands to protect sensitive aquatic and amphibian life from chemical runoff. * **Total Transparency and Community Consultation:** Ensure that local communities, land managers, and educators are given timely, clear, and transparent notice of any proposed suppression activities. The youth of Oregon and the U.S. deserve to inherit a world where native pollinators still thrive and where public lands are managed with ecological wisdom. APHIS has a historic opportunity and a legal obligation with this new PEIS to transition to a modern, scientifically sound, and protective management framework. Please treat this crisis with the urgency it deserves and choose a path that protects our pollinators, our waters, and our public lands. Sincerely, Ashton Robertson Corvallis Oregon