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> Montana IPM Center
Montana School IPM
School districts around the U.S. grapple every year with the best and most cost-effective ways to deal with the encroachment of unwanted rodents and insects on school grounds. How do we know if the pest management practices in our schools are the lowest risk, most effective and cost-efficient available? Are our schools doing everything possible to discourage pest problems and shield our children from pest allergens and pesticide contact?
The expanding use of a strategy known as “integrated pest management” (IPM) is now being used in many areas of the United States to tackle pest problems while simultaneously reducing pesticide risk and exposure to school children. Since children spend so much of their lives in school – over 1,000 hours a year for most students – the importance of healthy school environments is vital to defending children’s health.
The Montana School IPM program promotes the adoption of IPM principles in our schools and day care centers by providing information to school staff and administrators, parents, government regulators, state legislators, and commercial applicators operating on school grounds. We identify pests and offer current IPM-friendly control guidelines, and we survey current school pest control practices state-wide to identify existing practices, targeting areas needing improvement. We also provide contemporary information on IPM-friendly pest control, MT laws and regulations, and proper understanding of pesticide labeling. Our goal is to minimize pesticide exposure to children, reduce common asthma triggers stemming from uncontrolled pests and pesticidal residues, improve school staff ability to identify and monitor pests, promote adequate record-keeping, assess treatment thresholds, implement cultural controls, and aid in the selection of low-risk, targeted pesticide applications when strictly necessary.
Supported in part by:
US Environmental Protection Agency, Montana Department of Agriculture, National Plant Diagnostics Network and Montana State University (College of Agriculture, Extension Service, and The Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology and the MSU Entomology Group)
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