WERA1017: Coordination of Integrated Pest Management Research and Extension/Educational Programs for the Western States and Pacific Basin Territories
Statement of Issues and Justification
WERA-069 is an active and productive committee that functions as a coordination and vision-setting body for research and Extension IPM programs in the West. The committee has good relations and communications with the regional IPM Center and USDA NIFA IPM staff. Committee participants work together on numerous multi-state IPM activities and programs, e.g., School IPM, High Plains IPM website, Pacific Northwest IPM guides, weather-driven pest models and regional pest advisories, noxious weed management, and water quality projects. This regional approach is increasingly important as fewer Extension and research scientists are available in individual states due to budget cuts and shrinking pest management resources.WERA-069 represents a geographically and bio-climatically diverse region, with correspondingly high diversity in both crops and the pests that attack them. Some of the emerging issues for agro- and urban-ecosystems in the West include a better understanding of pesticide fate and behavior, impacts of pest management practices on environmental quality and human health, and impacts of ever-increasing introductions of invasive species and pest-vectored diseases on ecosystem stability. Today, western IPM programs receive increasing requests to address new and expanding audiences and stakeholders, such as forestry, parklands, schools, and homeowners. Western IPM programs are challenged to meet these increasing demands with a decreasing work force.
Recognizing the complexities of the challenge, IPM nationally is guided by a Roadmap, developed by the USDA CSREES (now NIFA) with input from many sources. This Roadmap has identified the analysis of health, environmental and economic impacts of IPM as a key priority. Impacts require aggregation of data at a state and regional level in order to contribute to a national policy, but no resources have been allocated for this important task. WERA-069 will continue to address this need as a key part of its activities.
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