Take, for ins tance, that commodity prized by every c hambe r of comme rce throughout the
land—the good will of vacationing tourists. There is a steadily growing chorus of outraged
protes t about the dis figurement of once beautiful roads ides by chemical s prays , which
s ubs titute a s ere expans e of brown, withe red vegetation for the beauty of fe rn and wild flower,
of native s hrubs adorned with blos s om or be rry. ‘We are making a dirty, brown, dying-looking
mess along the s ides of our roads ,’ a New England woman wrote angrily to he r news paper. ‘This
is not what the touris ts expect, with all the money we are s pending advertis ing the beautiful
scenery.’
In the s umme r of 1960 cons ervationis ts from ma ny s tates converged on a peaceful Maine
is land to witnes s its pres entation to the National Audubon Society by its owner, Millicent Todd
Bingham. The focus that day was on the pres ervation of the natural lands cape and of the
intricate web of life whose interwoven strands lead from microbes to man. But in the
background of all the convers ations among the vis itors to the island was indignation at the
des poiling of the roads they ha d traveled. Once it had bee n a joy to follow thos e roads through
the evergreen forests, roads lined with bay berry and s weet fern, alder and hucklebe rry. Now all
was brown des olation. One of the cons ervationis ts wrote of that August pilgrimage to a Maine
is land: ‘I returned...angry at the des ecration of the Maine roads ides. Where, in previous yea rs ,
the highways were bordere d with wildflowe rs and attractive s hrubs , there we re only the s cars
of dead vegetation for mile after mile...As an economic proposition, can Maine afford the loss
of touris t goodwill that s uch s ights induce?’ Maine roa ds ides are merely one example, though a
particularly s ad one for thos e of us who have a deep love for the beauty of that s tate, of the
s ens eless des truction that is going on in the name of roa ds ide brus h control throughout the
nation.
Botanists at the Connecticut Arboretum declare that the elimination of beautiful native s hrubs
and wildflowers has reached the proportions of a ‘roadside crisis’. Azaleas, mountain laurel,
blueberries , huckleberries , viburnums , dogwood, baybe rry, s weet fern, low s hadbus h,
winterberry, chokec herry, and wild plum are dying before the chemical barrage. So a re the
daisies, black-eyed Sus ans , Queen Anne’s lace, goldenrods , and fall as ters which lend grace and
beauty to the lands cape. The s praying is not only improperly planned but s tudde d with abus es
s uch as thes e. In a s outhern Ne w England town one contractor finis hed his work with s ome
chemical remaining in his tank. He discharged this along woodland roadsides where no s praying
had been authorized. As a res ult the community los t the blue and golden beauty of its autumn
roads , where as ters and goldenrod would have made a dis play worth traveling far to s ee. In
anothe r New England community a contractor changed the s tate s pecifications for town
s praying without the k nowledge of the highway de partment and s prayed roads ide vegetation
to a height of eight feet ins tead of the s pecified maximum of four feet, leaving a broad,
dis figuring, brown s wath. I n a Mas s achus etts communi ty the town officials purchas ed a weed
killer from a zealous chemical salesman, unaware that it contained arsenic. One res ult of the
s ubs equent roads ide s praying was the death of a dozen cows from ars enic pois oning.
Trees within the Connecticut Arboretum Natural Area were s erious ly injured when the town of
Waterford s praye d the roadsides with chemical weed killers in 1957. Even large trees not
directly sprayed were affected. The leaves of the oaks began to curl and turn brown, although it
was the s eas on for s pring growth. The n new s hoots began to be put forth and gre w with
abnormal rapidity, giving a weeping appearance to the trees. Two seasons later, large branches
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