To:  Maria T. Garcia, Responsible Official
Santa Fe National Forest

Attention: Invasive Plant Control Team

I received a notice of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for the Invasive Plant Control Project for the Santa Fe and
Carson National Forests. From this notice, I am commenting on this
proposal.

MY COMMENT

The proposed action, an integrated strategy, includes the use of
herbicides. The two alternatives to this proposed action are listed
as:

1. not allowing any herbicides
2.  use only herbicides.

Only alternate proposal number one is acceptable. So-called "noxious"
plants aren't deadly to life. Herbicides are! NO HERBICIDES!

Here are the facts as I and many others have experienced such:

Both the proposed action and alternative 2, using only herbicides,
would be literally life-threatening to me and to others living in
these regions. We are ones who have already been so seriously
chemically poisoned that usage of herbicides in our areas could
seriously injure or even kill us. We are the so-called "chemically
sensitive" people. We should be called "previously chemically
poisoned" people!

My Experience:

In1964, I was exposed to heavy amounts of pesticides. I did not work
in agriculture. In my absence, my home and grounds were sprayed with
thick foam pesticide. I attempted to clean up this chemical residue
and became seriously ill. I never recovered from this exposure. I
found it impossible to live or work in the usual chemical pollution of
our towns, cities, and work environments. My ability to support
myself, and later my two children, was seriously compromised.

Over twenty years later, Dr. David Root of Sacramento, California, a
specialist in chemical injuries, tested me for levels of dangerous
chemicals in my blood and fat. I tested in the highest percentiles for
pesticide residues, especially DDT, DDE, and so-called inert chemicals
mixed with these applications which are not listed in the product
literature. Dr. Root informed me that these "inert chemicals" were as
dangerous or more so than the pesticides. I learned that such chemical
residues remain in our bodies. Our bodies have no natural way to
discharge them.

Unless you or someone close to you has experienced the effects of such
poisonings, these facts are arguable. Once one is seriously poisoned,
however, becoming aware of dysfunction-causing chemicals in one's
environment becomes critical to being able to survive.

My land partner is also chemically sensitive. We moved to a relatively
remote area of New Mexico, Mimbres, in Grant County, hoping to avoid
any more chemical exposure. We count on the natural forest areas as
safe places for us to visit. We drive the roads, as we must, to obtain
supplies. With herbicide usage and herbicide drift, NO PLACE would be
safe for us!

I recently met a woman who'd become extremely reactive to chemicals
due to her profession. She was an animal doctor, a vet. She can no
longer work. She lives in a specially designed travel trailer near
natural areas remote from people. Her desperate attempt to survive
would be seriously compromised by usage of herbicides. I know many
others whose lives are challenged, over and over, by our culture's
toxic chemical usage.

There is ample proof of the destructive effects of herbicides and
other chemical agents used in our environments. There is no excuse for
herbicides even being considered as a solution to weed control!

Alicia Adams
HC 68 Box 4124B
Mimbres, NM 88049
phone: 575-536-3093
email: Alicia.dan@gmail.com