US National Park Service succeeds

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is alive and well  throughout the 90 million  acres of lands and facilities by the US National Park Service (NPS). The NPS adopted an IPM policy in the late 1970s, and by 1983 had cut pesticide use by 70% and improved both the quality and longevity of pest  control. A definition of IPM and programme components are described (see box) by Shelia Daar of the Bio-Integral Resource Center in California.

Photo: National Park Service goundkeepers are applying a composted top dressing to recently aerated turf to reduce weeds and improve soil aeration and root growth of grass.

Pilot IPM programmes implemented by the NPS in its pioneering endeavour were designed by the non-profit Bio-lntegral Resource Center (BIRC), working closely with NPS staff. The goal of the pilot programme was to design a generic approach to IPM implementation that could fit within the existing organisation structure and budget of the NPS, and be effective against the insects, weeds, plant pathogens and vertebrate pests at NPS facilities throughout the US. The challenge was to develop a general method that would work for important indoor and outdoor pests in widely different habitats showing large differences of climate, vegetation and speciation.

The Park Service programme

This goal was achieved through a series of programme components that included:

• written IPM policy and procedures applicable system-wide;

• establishment of IPM coordinator positions;

• a comprehensive IPM Training Manual:

• a 40-hour IPM training course;

• “how-to” IPM information packages for the major pests at NPS facilities;

• a requirement that non-chemical methods he tried first

• prior approval from headquarters required for any use of pesticides;

• requests for pesticide use must document that non-chemical methods are not sufficient to solve the problem before approval can be obtained.

This mixture of “carrots” (including IPM training, coordinator positions, information resources) and “sticks” (including reduced access to pesticides) has proven effective at achieving IPM adoption for the almost 20 years since the programne was initiated. Moreover, adaptations of this model have been adopted by local, regional and state park systems throughout the US.

As designers of the original programme, BIRC’s staff have continued to work with NPS to up-date amid fine-tune IPM programmes at existing facilities and to design programmes for new parks as they are added to the National Park Service.

BIRC and San Francisco’s Presidio

The latest example is underway in San Francisco, California where BIRC is designing the IPM programme for the 1,500-acre Presidio of San Francisco, an historic former Army Post recently added to the park system. The master plan incorporates the latest IPM techniques, pest-by-pest training materials, and strong coordination among all NPS personnel whose work impacts pest management. This includes architects, building maintenance personnel, custodial and landscape staff foresters, stable managers and wildlife biologists.

    A wide range of pest or nuisance species occur at the Presidio. These include insects such as cockroaches, yellow jackets. ants and flies: dandelions. thistles and other weeds: lawn diseases such as brown patch and fusarium: and various rodents. Skunks, raccoons and feral cats occasionally pose nuisance problems. For each pest species, biological, mechanical, cultural and educational management methods are integrated into an overall programme and applied to the problem. If these methods do not produce sufficient results, least toxic chemical controls - especially insect growth regulators, botanical and microbial insecticides, soaps and oils - are integrated into the programme.

Sheila Daar is an IPM Specialist and Executive Director of the Bio-Integral Resource Center, PO Box 7414, Berkeley, CA 94707, US, Tel: +1 (510) 524 2567, Fax: +1 (510) 524 1758.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No.27, March 1995, page 10]