IPM: Didn't anyone know where the bandwagon was going?

by Pat Tigges, Administrator

PNAAA Education Foundation

Talking to urbanites about Integrated Pest Management always make me

nervous. Not because I disagree with the concept, but because I was afraid

of where we were going. My worst fear has been confirmed. IPM is headed

exactly where the advocacy groups want it to go.

The city of San Francisco has banned the use of synthetic pesticides on all

city-owned property, including parks, golf courses, rights-of-way, etc.

The new law will be phased in over three years with the complete

elimination by the year 2000. In explaining the law, city officials stated

they were adopting IPM practices.

Beg your pardon, but doesn't IPM mean combining all available tools to

minimize economic, health and environmental risks. Well, that's not what

it means to the public. The public perceives IPM as a way to eliminate

chemicals and, in case you hadn't noticed, public perception becomes

reality.

Am I surprised? No! Anyone who follows environmental issues could see it

coming.

IPM is not new. Agriculture has practiced it for decades. But, several

years ago it became a big thing with anti-pesticide groups. They began

talking it up, pushing for universal adoption, and touting it in literature

as something wonderful.

Overnight, our universities, researchers, EPA, state agencies, and chemical

companies jumped on the bandwagon. Even the President mentioned it in both

his Inaugural and State of the Union addresses four years ago. Producers

climbed on the wagon too, thinking that this would prove to the public that

they too wanted to "save the environment".

When will we ever learn that the enviro-nuts are much better at fighting

this war. They knew where they were going. If you can't get where you

want in one big step, take two small ones.

The first step was to get everyone on the IPM wagon. Get industry to

acknowledge there are other tools available. Then, when everyone's aboard,

it's only one more step to elimination of a tool. After all, we've already

admitted there's a whole tool kit available. The loss of one can't be too

bad.

It was easy! The public didn't know what IPM was in the first place. All

they know is what they're told in the press and green group literature. It

was touted as a new 'silver bullet' to get rid of all those nasty

chemicals. IPM was never their goal. It was merely the first step. And

agriculture walked along with them, hand-in-hand.

Will it stop with San Francisco? Don't bet on it. Goaded by success the

greens will pressure other cities. Unfortunately it will take a while for

the public to realize that a million people crammed into a small area,

living on top of each other, is not Mother Nature's idea of natural. The

varmints will have a heyday!

And who will suffer? Not the affluent neighborhoods. They can afford to

keep their homes safe and clean. At most they will suffer weedy roadsides

and playing golf on bumpy greens.

The real damage will fall on the poor, as the rats and mice multiply in

rundown neighborhoods and tenements. As in the Third World, the fat and

affluent will again get to "feel good" at the expense of the poor.