Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Jackson County Vector Control Policy
The American Mosquito Control Association advocates management of mosquito
populations when and where necessary by means of integrated programs designed to
benefit or to have minimal adverse effects on people, wildlife, and the
environment. This integrated pest management policy recognizes that mosquito
populations cannot always be eliminated but often must be suppressed to tolerable
levels for the well-being of humans, domestic animals, and wildlife, and that
selection of scientifically sound suppression methods must be based on
consideration of what is ecologically and economically in the long-term best
interest of mankind.
The following principles are advocated
- Mosquito control measures should be undertaken on when there is adequate
justification based upon surveillance data.
- Integrated mosquito management programs should be tailored to the needs and
requirements of the local situation. The combination of methods for
mosquito control should be chosen after careful consideration of the
efficacy, ecological effects, and costs versus benefits of the various
options, including public education, legal action, natural and biological
control, elimination of breeding sources, and insecticide applications.
- Mosquito breeding sources, whether natural or created by human activity,
should be altered in such a manner as to cause the least undesirable impact
on the environment.
- Insecticides and application methods should be used in the most efficient
and least hazardous manner, in accordance with all applicable laws and
regulations and available scientific data. The registered label requirements
for insecticide should be followed. When choices are available among
effective insecticides, those offering the least hazard to non-target
organisms should be used. Insecticides should be chosen and used in a
manner that will minimize the development of resistance in the mosquito
population.
- Personnel involved in mosquito management programs should be properly
trained and supervised, and certified in accordance with relevant laws and
regulation, and should keep current with improvements in management
techniques through continuing education and/or training programs.
All methods and materials used by the District are based on these principles
outlined by AMCA. An annual Pesticide Use Plan is prepared before every season
and sent to the Health Division of the Oregon Department of Human Resources and
the Habitat Conservation Division of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
These two agencies must give approval on a yearly basis to any agencies intending
to use chemicals for Vector Control.
