Limited Use of Methyl Bromide

22%

Reduction in pounds of methyl bromide applied per acre in our Washington and Oregon tree nurseries

The forest products industry uses methyl bromide, in a targeted and careful way, to prevent seedling mortality from harmful insects, weeds and disease-causing organisms in tree-seedling nursery beds, and product shipments as appropriate to meet quarantine pest-control requirements. In accordance with the Montreal Protocol, countries are phasing out substances that deplete the ozone layer. Methyl bromide is one such substance.

Within the Protocol, industry can still legally use methyl bromide to prevent the spread of designated quarantine pests, which can include diseases, insects and invasive weeds. The ability to use methyl bromide and other chemicals in forest nurseries enables a very small overall nursery land base to supply the planting stock necessary to promptly plant thousands of acres of forest land annually, with the corresponding significant environmental and societal benefits that healthy working forests bring. We achieved a 22 percent reduction in pounds of methyl bromide applied per acre in our Washington and Oregon tree nurseries between 2001 and 2010.

Weyerhaeuser has been a leader in research to develop alternatives to methyl bromide for forest nursery use in partnership with a number of other agencies and sponsors. This research has met with some success, but no other fumigants or other alternatives evaluated to date have shown efficacy across the range of climate, soil type and pest conditions. As global supplies of methyl bromide continue to decline, the industry will depend heavily on manufacturers and distributors to step up with effective, cost-effective, environmentally sound alternatives and the technology to apply them safely.