When I was a child, growing up in the seventies in New England, I spent most of my free time outdoors. During the day, I wandered through forests and meadows to the tune of birds, cicadas and crickets. At night, I played well into the evening among throngs of glistening fireflies. My parents taught me to appreciate all the animals that lived around us from the lowly earwig to the majestic hawk. Each had an important role, they told me, like keeping our soil fertile and our water clean. Nature felt balanced, resilient and endlessly inspiring.
I didn’t know it at the time, but my parents’ lessons about nature were rooted in the environmental awakening sparked by Rachel Carson’s 1962 landmark book “Silent Spring.” Hearing Carson’s warning, they adamantly opposed the use of pesticides and taught me big words like bioaccumulation, ecosystem disruption and resistance. Even as a child, I grasped the basic rules: pesticides don’t just kill one animal, they kill many. They don’t go away. They move into the soil and water and travel up the food chain. Eventually, they stop working.
Yet, despite the warning laid out more than 60 years ago, and concepts easy enough for a seven-year-old to understand, we failed to fully heed Carson’s message. Pesticide use rose sharply through the 1960s and 70s, peaked in the early 1980s, and has remained at an elevated level ever since.
So, what have we gained? Has life gotten better? Well, yes. For the pests. That 1970s kid roaming freely outdoors never encountered a tick. Today, many parents are afraid to let their children play outside. Over recent decades, populations of rats, mice, ticks, mosquitoes and most agricultural pests have increased. This is hardly an endorsement of the efficacy of pesticides.
As pest populations have thrived, what has happened to the animals who would naturally keep their numbers in check? Over my lifetime, average wildlife populations worldwide have declined by a shocking 72%. Insects, essential to pollination, soil health and food webs, have declined by at least half in many regions. In fact, all the major animal groups — amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, fish, and invertebrates — are in decline. New Hampshire is no exception, with bats, fishers, bumblebees and other common species, dropping by 1% to 2% per year.
These losses are not caused by pesticides alone. Habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species and pollution all play a role. But one thing is certain, continuing to rely on toxic chemicals as our primary response to pest problems is not working.
In the upcoming legislative session, several bills proposing restrictions on particularly harmful pesticides will be heard by the House Environment and Agriculture Committee. House Bill 1018 would effectively ban Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides, which are used primarily in bait boxes placed along the exterior walls of buildings. As seven-year-old me would have been able to tell you, these poisons do not just kill rodents. They move up the food chain, killing hawks, owls, foxes and other predators. Another bill, HB 1676 also addresses SGARs, but is far more limited in scope and unlikely to result in substantial change.
Two additional bipartisan bills, HB 1086 and 1431, would place restrictions on neonicotinoid insecticides. HB 1086 targets treated seeds, commonly used in silage corn and other crops, while HB 1431 provides broader limits. Both would help curtail these toxins that, following the rules of pesticides, move into the soil and water, harming pollinators, birds, soil organisms and aquatic life.
While passing these bills will not solve the biodiversity crisis, this is a clear opportunity for lawmakers, on both sides of the aisle, to demonstrate that protecting wildlife, public health and long-term agricultural resilience matters. I encourage readers to reach out to their representatives and members of the committee to express their support.
The predictions of “Silent Spring” have arrived. The path forward is a choice. Business as usual will continue the decline of nature while pest problems worsen. A change in direction, guided by science, stewardship and common sense, offers hope to restoring balance to the ecosystems that sustain us all.
Caelin Graber lives in Greenville. She can be reached at caelingraber@gmail.com.