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Penn State Implements IPM Policy - May 2001
May 28, 2001
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA -- Penn State is taking strides to ensure practices used to manage landscape pests around campus pose minimal hazard to people, property and the environment.
The Office of Physical Plant's (OPP) landscape department will utilize Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to manage landscape pests and the pesticides used for their control. IPM aims to control pests -- such as insects, diseases, weeds and animals -- by combining physical, biological and chemical tactics that are safe and environmentally compatible. The IPM strategy is part of the campus environmental stewardship program.
According to Ron Eckenroth, supervisor in Grounds and Maintenance in OPP, many IPM practices have been used around the campus for years. "Before, we would assess a problem and sometimes use IPM tactics as appropriate. Now, we'll have a formal policy in place with specific guidelines to follow."
According to Lloyd Rhoades, manager of Central Services of OPP and the IPM coordinator, two advisory bodies will be formed. One will be campus wide and the other will consist of technical experts. The Campus Environmental Stewardship Committee will serve as the campus wide advisory body, and Rhoades will act as the liaison to this committee. The technical committee consists of pest management experts from academic departments in the College of Agricultural Sciences as well as OPP personnel.
The campus program will include such IPM tactics as education, exclusion, maintenance, genetic, biological and mechanical controls, as well as appropriate pesticides. "IPM tactics we'll be using consists of utilizing pest histories and planning ahead, scouting, sampling and identifying pests, establishing action thresholds, integrating multiple tactics to suppress pest population and keeping records," Eckenroth explains. OPP will attempt to notify the campus in advance of all-extensive spray operations and post after turf applications, something they've already been doing in the case of Elm tree and turf sprays.
The IPM policy will be in place in two to three months, says Eckenroth. "Training in such IPM tactics as scouting and sampling and identification among personnel is ongoing, and all personnel involved are keeping up-to-date with pesticide training credits. When we use pesticides, the least toxic, most effective means to control the pest are applied."
According to Eckenroth, the national trend is towards universities adopting formal IPM policies. "Many universities across the country are practicing some form of IPM, and now several have begun to adopt policies similar to ours at Penn State. We'd eventually like to expand the program to include the athletic fields, the insides of campus buildings and to the branch campuses of Penn State," says Eckenroth.
The Pennsylvania IPM Program (PA IPM), a collaboration between the Penn State and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, helped to develop the university's policy. PA IPM aims to promote IPM in both agricultural and nonagricultural situations. For more information, contact the program at (814) 865-2839, or web site http://paipm.cas.psu.edu.