The Register-Guard reports that organizers in Oregon hope to put a measure on the November ballot banning aerial spraying of herbicides on forest lands in Oregon after logging. They also want to collect signatures for a measure to add restrictions for steep-slope logging, and for an initiative requiring more trees be left standing at logging sites.

The groups behind the aerial spraying ban effort are Beyond Toxics of Eugene, Oregon Wild, and Mountain Rose Herbs, a Eugene-based company that grows and sells organic teas and spices. Mountain Rose came aboard when they discovered helicopter crews sprayed herbicides at a logging site close to their farm raising concerns that spray residue was hitting their crops.

The proposed initiatives have a long road ahead. For a proposed ballot measure to move to the next step, they need 1,000 state-verified signatures each. They would then need 88,000 signatures per measure to make it on the ballot. To date, the groups have turned in about 1,300 voter signatures in support of each initiative.

Timber advocates contend aerial spraying is the most economical and efficient way to kill fast-growing weeds.

In a letter to the Register-Guard editor, one concerned Oregonian wrote that the aerial spraying initiative does not go far enough and the groups’ efforts are being “marketed as a ban but would have loopholes large enough for helicopters to fly through.”