Introduction to Boulder's Integrated Pest Management Program

Integrated Pest Management or IPM is frequently considered a pesticide or product management system–what product to use, how and when to apply it, and which pest(s) to target –with the objective to kill or control an undesirable organism. The city’s IPM program is based on a broader philosophy that is centered around a holistic ecosystems management approach. Pest prevention is the foundation of the program. Judicious chemical application is the last resort when an established threshold is met, and other methods have been demonstrated to be ineffective. Close monitoring is important for both chemical and non-chemical methods to track non-target and ecosystem impacts with the goal of achieving a stable and balanced system.

This whole systems approach recognizes and attempts to work with the complexity and interdependence of biological and ecological systems. While this is a complex and often challenging approach, city staff have successfully applied ecosystem management in many cases over the last few decades.

Examples include the city’s organic turf program, sophisticated Urban Forestry IPM program and the efforts of the Transportation Maintenance and Parks & Recreation horticultural and operations staff who have been able to maintain their areas pesticide-free for many years despite significant challenges and limited resources. The city’s  mosquito management program  has resulted in significantly lower West Nile virus risk than surrounding areas that use product-based control practices.

Open Space & Mountain Parks was the first department to develop ecological approaches, leading to the creation of the city’s initial IPM policy, and continues to manage a range of invasive species such as tall oatgrass through approaches like targeted grazing, and is using creative ecological approaches to restore agricultural properties. The Utilities stormwater team is developing ecological management approaches to restore greenways.

The term IPM has different meanings to different practitioners. The purpose of these story maps is to provide a shared language based on the city's IPM policy principles and requirements. This will help ensure there’s not confusion between the city’s approach and the way that other organizations might interpret IPM

The  city’s IPM program  is governed by the city's  Sustainability, Equity and Resilience Framework  that includes care for ecosystems, and accelerating progress towards the city's ambitious climate goals -  Nature Based Climate Solutions  is one of three focal areas for the city's climate plan.

The climate, biodiversity and pollution crises are placing our living world and its ecosystem services, such as clean air and water, food, and stable climate at risk.  Nature Based Solutions can help to alleviate  these problems by replacing damaging practices, that are the underlying causes of ecosystem degradation, with regenerative and restorative methods. City staff have created innovative programs and practices over the last few decades, which places the city in a much better position to cope with coming change than the many other cities and countries around the world.

The city is in an enviable position of having substantial land holdings and natural resources that can help to protect our community in the uncertain times ahead. The biodiversity and quality of this land is a precious resource and insurance policy to navigate the extreme risks and uncertainties ahead and to help stabilize climate and decrease community risk.

Pressures from invasive species are increasing, and extreme weather, continued warming temperatures, unpredictable water cycles and other anthropogenic stressors are destabilizing ecosystems and placing our community at increasing risk for wildfires, floods, drought, zoonotic disease, extreme heat, and other hazards. The city’s underlying philosophy of stabilizing ecosystems through an ecological management approach will become more and more critical as these larger climatic and environmental conditions worsen.

This series of story maps provides a general history for IPM to set the context for how and why the IPM concept was developed, followed by the history of how the city's program was created and is evolving over time. The city's ecologically based IPM program provides a firm foundation to build a stronger and more collaborative approach that includes the knowledge and experiences of city staff, ecologists, researchers and community members.

Next: Part 2 -  What is IPM? The history of IPM and Boulder's first IPM Policy