Policies Stay Strong When We Stay Engaged

Helen Putnam Regional Park restoration project and planned pesticide application

by Megan Kaun, Director, Sonoma SASS

Sonoma Safe Agriculture Safe Schools has been instrumental in advancing the pesticide policies that now guide land management across Sonoma County's cities, schools, and public lands. These policies represent years of work to dramatically reduce synthetic pesticide use and create transparent, accountable practices for how our shared spaces are maintained.

Helen Putnam Regional Park, Sonoma County

Today I got a call about pesticide application signs posted at Helen Putnam Park. People were upset...and rightfully so. The signage was confusing, listed an unresponsive contractor, and appeared during Thanksgiving week.

After a long conversation with Hattie Brown at Sonoma County Regional Parks, I wanted to share what's happening with our community and provide some context for how our pesticide policies work in practice.

How Pesticide Policy Works in Sonoma County

First, it's important to understand that we don't have a blanket ban on pesticides or glyphosate (Roundup) in Sonoma County. Instead, each public land manager, whether city, school district, or county, operates under their own pesticide policy, and these vary from entity to entity.

For Sonoma County lands specifically (which includes Helen Putnam Park), the county has committed to:

• Significantly reducing synthetic pesticide use (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc.)

• Only using synthetic pesticides as a last resort

• Using the least toxic products available

• Banning synthetic pesticide use along walkways and areas people frequent

• Providing annual transparent reporting on what pesticides are used, when, and where

  
  

What's Happening at Helen Putnam

Regional Parks is planning a one-time glyphosate application at an ecosystem restoration site located (at closest) 50+ feet from the West Wind Trail. This project is a partnership with SMART (our local train transit system) and has been under construction for the past year. The native plantings have been very successful meaning the space is filling in nicely. However, despite a year of mechanical removal and repeated weed whacking, they haven't been able to get rid of the root balls of some persistent Himalayan blackberry and perennial thistle plants. No pesticides have been used on this project so far.

Now that the construction phase is complete and the project will be handed over to the county soon, Regional Parks is proposing a single application of glyphosate to kill the remaining root balls. The applicaiton will be performed by SMART's contractor, Triangle Properties.

What I Appreciate About This Approach

• Regional Parks is using a single product (glyphosate), which I'll grudgingly admit is our least toxic synthetic herbicide option.

• They are not using a chemical cocktail (mixture of projects) which drastically increases the toxicity to humans and the environment.

• They're not using pre-emergent herbicides, which kill seeds and are far more toxic to humans and the environment.

• They've exhausted non-chemical methods first.

• They're allowing benign non-native plants to remain rather than pursuing some kind of native plant purification project.

• They genuinely intend this as a one-time application at a site where the native plantings are well poised to crowd out future weeds.

  
  

What I Don't Like

Of course, any use of synthetic pesticides is unfortunate. Beyond that, I'm frustrated by the poor signage that didn't clearly explain what was happening or where, and that listed an unresponsive contractor (Triangle, SMART's contractor) rather than Regional Parks as the contact. In addition, the timing of this applicaiton during this during busy Thanksgiving week is unfortunate.

My Take

I have a high level of trust in Sonoma County Regional Parks. Of all public land managers in Sonoma County, they have been the biggest champions of avoiding synthetic pesticides (watch [HERE] to hear Bert Whitaker, Sonoma County Regional Parks Director, talk about his commitment to reducing pesticide use). The annual pesticide use reports don't lie; you can see their genuine commitment to using very little herbicide for land management. While I don't like synthetic pesticide use, I'm choosing to respectfully defer to our Regional Park's judgment in this case. I plan to check in with Hattie Brown in March 2026 to see how the restoration project is progressing and evaluate whether this one-time application did what they hoped. I've also requested updated signage with better information be posted immediately.

Your Voice Matters

Here's the thing: these policies we fought for only stay strong when we stay engaged; when we notice things, ask questions, and speak up. I'm grateful to everyone who saw those signs and expressed their concerns. That's exactly what should happen. The level of awareness and sophistication around pesticide issues in our community has grown exponentially since I started this work ~ten years ago, when I had a city land manager earnestly tell me that Roundup was safe to drink (!!) We've come a long way and have a lot to be grateful for 💗

If you have questions after reading this, feel free to reach out to me directly (megan.kaun@gmail.com). If you wish to express your personal perspective to the county, I encourage you to do this as well (Hattie.Brown@sonoma-county.org).

If you're interested in volunteering for spring hand-removal work to help prevent future pesticide applications, you can also reach out to Hattie to join the Helen Putnam volunteer list.

When we love our land enough to speak up, we keep these commitments alive. Thank you for listening to your conscience, speaking your truth, and staying engaged.