 Integrated Pest Management is a science-based pest management program with a focus on preventing pest problems. Not only does IPM provide better control of pests, such as insects, weeds, or rodents, it can also limit the use of products and practices that may pose hazards for school students, staff, visitors, and the environment. Pests must be properly identified so appropriate management practices can be selected. A big part of any IPM program is inspection, detection, and monitoring. An IPM program won't be successful unless you regularly inspect the school environment for conditions that may lead to pest problems and eliminate these conditions. Staff must also regularly put out traps and carry out other procedures to monitor and detect pest presence. They must keep records of pest activity and action taken. The key is knowledge and prevention. No more spraying on a calendar schedule or resorting to spraying simply because you see a few pests. When management is needed, IPM programs combine practices for long-term management of pests. Many times preventive IPM methods and monitoring practices are effective against multiple pests. The safest, least toxic methods and materials are chosen to protect people and the environment. The initial phase of an IPM program is pest prevention. If pests do become established, the first step is to correctly identify your pest and familiarize yourself with its life cycle so you will know the best time to manage it. For instance, if you have weed problems, manage them before they produce seeds. If you have a rodent problem, control them before they reproduce. Pest problems can be used to indicate where prevention needs strengthening. If you misidentify a pest, you might not be able to effectively manage it. Cockroaches are a perfect example. There are several species of cockroaches found on school grounds. Some don't need to be managed at all and others require different management approaches. The field roach is an outdoor roach that occasionally comes indoors. They die quickly indoors and so don't need to be managed. There are several other roaches such as the Oriental Roach that live outdoors and occasionally come indoors looking for food, water, or shelter. If management is required for these roaches, focus your efforts on keeping them out of buildings by sealing cracks and crevices, installing door sweeps, or removing nearby outdoor hiding places. On the other hand, the German Cockroach which resembles the field roach lives indoors and if found should be managed to manage indoor roaches, clean up food sources, place baits indoors, and treat with insecticidal dusts. There are several resources available to you to help you identify your pest problems. The UC IPM website is a good place to start. You'll find tools for identifying various pests such as pest notes. Keys to identifying ants. Or identifying weeds in turf. Several UC IPM publications include tables to help with pest diagnosis. Contact your local UC Cooperative Extension office where many experts will be able to assist in pest ID. Finally, you can take your pest or a sample of damage to your Ag Commissioner's office. Regular inspection and monitoring of indoor and outdoor areas can give you an idea of what is going on in and around your school. Be on the lookout for signs of problems. This way you can catch things before they get out of hand. Most monitoring involves a quick visual inspection. Look for ant trails in and out of buildings. Routinely inspect leaves, bark, or buds of plants or trees for other pests. Check landscapes and lawns for weed invasions. Look especially for seedlings of perennials. Check for signs of hard to find pests such as rodents or roaches. For instance, rodent droppings are a good indicator of rat or mice presence. Use a flashlight to help you see in or under cabinets or underneath appliances for evidence of pest problems. A small mirror can be helpful in hard to see areas. Monitoring devices such as sticky traps for cockroaches are available to help you detect several types of pests. Place traps where pests are likely to find them and check them often. Monitoring helps you determine the optimum time for controlling pests to prevent problems from getting bigger. Keep records of pest activity and note what action you are taking, if any. Remember that pesticide use must be recorded. Hang a clipboard with a monitoring form where you know you'll see it daily and record all important information. Prevention is the most important part of an IPM program. You need to keep pests out of buildings and keep their populations low. Sanitation and exclusion are the key. Remove attractive areas before pests can invade or build up. Avoid invasions of pests such as ants or cockroaches by getting rid of sources of food, water, shelter, and access to buildings. Clean up spills. Seal up attractive food sources. Remove clutter. Fix leaky pipes. And caulk cracks. Preventive methods often are effective against multiple pests. Outdoors remove plants too close to buildings that could provide shelter for ants, roaches, or rats and other rodents. Trim trees back from buildings to prevent insects and rodents from using branches as a bridge to get into buildings. Prevent weeds in turf with proper selection of turf species and proper mowing, fertilizing, and irrigation. Plant competitive plants to shade out weeds and use mulches and landscape fabrics in landscaped areas. Use mechanical or physical controls as part of an IPM program to destroy pests or to create conditions that don't allow pests to enter, survive, or reproduce. For example, control weeds by hand pulling as you see them or mowing lawns regularly and at the correct height. Use portable weed trimmers or weed eaters to remove older weeds or small woody weeds where appropriate. Use a propane torch along fence lines in bare soil or in pavement cracks to control weeds. Trapping can be effectively used for rats, mice, gophers, and yellow jackets. There is a level of natural pest control that goes on in any school landscape. Owls and hawks eat pocket gophers, moles, and other rodents. Lady beetles, lace wings, and spiders feed on aphids and other honeydew-producing insects. In an IPM program, it is important to encourage these natural enemies. Control ants and keep them out of trees and plants where they tend honeydew-producing insects and keep natural enemies away. Conserve natural enemies by avoiding pesticides that kill them. Pesticides can be part of an IPM program, but many pests can be controlled in landscapes and buildings without using any pesticides at all. Before using any pesticide, make sure you really need one. Monitor first, determine what is causing the problem, and consider safer non-chemical alternatives, especially preventive methods. If other methods are not sufficient and pests are reaching intolerable levels, then you may need to use a pesticide. Avoid pesticide use when possible, as they can pose a threat to human health, wildlife, and natural enemies. Pesticides can drift and cause injury to desirable plants. They may also get washed off and run into storm drains or rivers, streams, and other waterways affecting water quality. Accidents or improper use of pesticides may pose health risks for students and staff. If you do use a pesticide, make sure you are using the least toxic, effective material. Always use pesticides in combination with other methods. Be sure to follow all label instructions for any pesticide you use. If you do need to use pesticides, choose them carefully. Use the least toxic, effective material and use it in a way that limits exposure to people and non-target plants and animals. Find out which pesticides are the least toxic by doing a little research. There are websites to help you do this. Check out the School IPM Helper on the IPM for Schools website. This guide will help you determine which materials are best to pose the least risk to people and the environment. It can even help you avoid posting requirements as many of the materials listed are exempt. If using herbicides to control weeds, use selective materials to avoid injury to desirable plants. Apply materials in ways to reduce exposure. For example, for pests such as ants or cockroaches, use enclosed, pre-packaged baits. Apply baits in refillable bait stations or use insecticidal dusts in voids to avoid exposing children. There are many organisms that can become pest problems in schools. A common practice in many schools is to spray whenever pests are seen or on a timed schedule. However, this system doesn't provide the benefits of IPM. Using IPM will prevent pest problems and give you more effective pest control. In addition, there is less exposure of children to pesticides and less risk to the environment. For more information on IPM, visit the UC IPM website. For more information on the Healthy Schools Act or on School IPM, see the California Department of Pesticide Regulation School IPM Program website. On the following screens, you will be presented with several scenarios that will reinforce key ideas in the presentation and give you a chance to discuss integrated pest management with the group. Follow the instructions for each question. For many of the questions, you will be instructed to hit pause so that you can have time to discuss your thoughts. Resume play when you are ready. Your school district has prohibited the use of pesticides. How will you control these weeds? Press pause now. The answer will be revealed in five seconds. You can use a weed trimmer or a propane torch to remove weeds along the fence line. Plant low-growing competitive plants to keep weeds out. Use mulches or consider installing mowing strips at the edges of lawns. You can also install fences in a concrete base so that weeds can't grow. What is the problem here? There is a large gap under the door. Rats and other rodents, roaches and other pests can easily gain access to buildings. What can you do to fix this? Install door sweeps and weather stripping. What are the benefits? Not only do you keep pests out, but door sweeps and weather stripping can also save on heating and cooling costs, save you money over time on pest control, and result in less damage to property from rodents. What are the problems here? This tree was planted too close to the building. Ants and rodents can climb up trees and get into buildings. This ground cover was also planted too close to the building. Mice, rats, ants and roaches can nest in the ground cover and easily get into buildings. How would you fix this problem? Remove the tree and plant away from the building. Install at least a one foot barrier between buildings and ground cover. What is the problem here? There is a gap where the pipe connects to the ceiling. Ants, roaches and rodents can travel to other rooms along this pipe. What can you do to fix this? Exclude pests and eliminate hiding places by sealing up access points and entryways. What is wrong in this classroom? Food has been left out on the counter, the garbage is full, there is no liner in the trash can, and there is a lot of clutter on the ground. Food can attract pests such as ants and roaches and clutter can provide good hiding places for many pests. How can you prevent pest problems? You need to clean up and seal foods properly. Keep the garbage emptied and use and replace liners regularly. Finally, remove clutter that can harbor pests.