[PCA] NEWS: USFWS Region 1 will phase out use of neonicotinoid pesticides on national wildlife refuge system lands

[Kwong, Olivia]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Inouye
Date: Fri, Jul 25, 2014 at 11:02 PM
Subject: [Pollinator] USFWS Region 1 will phase out use of neonicotinoid
pesticides on national wildlife refuge system lands
To: pollinator at coevolution.org


*FWS: NORTHWEST REGION TO PHASE OUT CHEMICAL LINKED TO BEE DEATHS *

The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Region 1, representing the upper
Northwest United States, announced a phase out of the use of neonicotinoid
pesticides on national wildlife refuge system lands.

The phase out is based on the agency’s determination that there is a
growing body of scientific evidence to suggest that these pesticides are
contributing to the decline of pollinator populations, including honeybees.
State and territories under the jurisdiction of Region 1 include Washington
state, Oregon, Idaho, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. Region 1 plans to
fully phase out the use of the pesticide by 2016.

“The prophylactic use of neonicotinoids and the potential broad-spectrum
adverse effects to non-target species do not meet the intent of [Integrated
Pest Management] principles or the Service's Biological Integrity,
Diversity, and Environmental Health (BIDEH) policy,” states the memorandum,
released earlier this month.

According to FWS, the decision was an internal management decision not
directly linked to the White House’s June memorandum urging federal
agencies to invest in research that reduces the decline in honeybees and
other pollinators.

Many agricultural and environmental organizations have published studies
highlighting the negative impact neonicotinoids have on various pollinator
species. The June 2013 edition of the Ecological Society of America’s
*Frontiers
in Ecology and Environment* mentioned neonicotinoids as being among
anthropogenic pressures that contribute to population declines of crop and
wild plant pollinators.

View the full FWS memorandum by clicking here:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/guidelines-for-interim-use-and-phase-out-of-neonicotinoid-insecticides-in-refuge-farming-for-wildlife-programs-signed-kf-7914_67415.pdf

Additional information on the White House memorandum is available by
clicking here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/20/presidential-memorandum-creating-federal-strategy-promote-health-honey-b

The *Frontiers* article is available here:
http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/120126

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