Monthly Program: Are Herbicides Drifting By You? And Potluck!

Presenter: Kim Erndt-Pitcher

Tuesday, May 6th

Potluck at 6:00 p.m. | Program at 7:15 p.m.

We will start the evening with a delicious potluck meal. Bring a dish to pass and your own table service. NIBNA will provide beverages. After the meal, there will be some brief announcements with the program to follow at approximately 7:15.

St. John United Church of Christ, Freeport, IL

Kim Erndt-Pitcher, Director of Ecological Health at Prairie Rivers Network (PRN), will present on the status of herbicide drift and the impact it is having in Illinois. Together Kim and retired Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources Biologist, Marty Kemper, coauthored a report on herbicide damage that was observed over a six-year period. In July 2024, PRN released the results of this six years monitoring in the report, “Hidden in Plain Sight.” “The report found that more than 99 percent of sites they monitored exhibited signs of herbicide exposure, and more than 90 percent of trees tested had detectable levels of herbicide residue.”Kim’spresentationwillfocusonthe herbicide issue, how to recognize it, and what we as environmental citizens can do to help.

Kim has worked for Prairie Rivers Network for over 14 years. Before coming to PRN she was a crew member and environmental educator at Living Lands and Waters based in Moline, Illinois, and she also worked as a technician with the USGS in Kansas City, Missouri. She has spent most of her career working to promote and advocate for the protection of biodiversity and the integrity of natural systems.