Since I worked for many years for the director of the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, the discussion about using herbicides on Adair County roadsides has been of particular interest to me. EPA makes a distinction between what is "safe" and what can be "used safely." In fact, the agency says there is no such thing as a "safe" pesticide, only that pesticides may be "used safely" if applied according to label directions. Herbicides (like Crossbow and Round-up), insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, repellants, disinfectants, etc., all are pesticides and, as such, are specifically designed to kill something. Let's just say that my years in OPP have influenced my decision to limit the use of ANY pesticide to the greatest extent possible. I wish the county would follow the same practice. --Wendy Butler Burt