Exploring the Results of Herbicide Drift Damage
According to a report from Prairie Rivers Network (PRN), trees are dying and gardens are being threatened throughout Illinois by herbicide drift damage.
“Hidden in Plain Sight”, a report released last year by PRN, summarizes six years of study of herbicide drift – the movement of toxic chemicals through the air to a non-target site – across rural and urban Illinois. The report shows that herbicide drift is damaging wild and cultivated plants and trees throughout the state.
Prairie Rivers Network launched a Tree and Plant Health Monitoring Program in 2018 to study symptoms of herbicide drift and the damage it causes. Testing was conducted at 280 sites in more than 40 Illinois counties. Widespread symptoms of injuries and an alarming decline in tree health was found. Tissue samples showed detectable levels of herbicides in leaves of 95% of trees tested. Nearly all sites had symptoms of drift every year.
Martin Kemper, retired IDNR Natural Heritage Biologist and co-author of the report said, “This scientific report by Prairie Rivers Network, conducted in places it matters – gardens, backyards, school yards, parks and natural areas – show that such drift is pervasive and insidious.”
Trees play a vital role in climate change, sequestering carbon, improving air quality, and cooling urban areas. The drift is triggering a chain of adverse effects that are destroying habitats and food sources for native wildlife.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes that injuries are widely under-reported. Much attention has been paid to the damage caused by the herbicide dicamba, which has damaged millions of acres of cropland and natural areas across the Midwest and South; however, the report finds that there has been consistent drift from many herbicides, including 2,4-D, glufosinate, atrazine and others. In fact, 2,4-D was found even more often than dicamba.
CLIFFTOP, a local nonprofit organization, is focused on preserving and protecting area blufflands.
A version of this article appeared in the June 4, 2025 edition of the Republic-Times.
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