In Memory of William Metterhouse
What is IPM?
How IPM Helps Protect Human Health
How IPM Helps the Environment
Elements of IPM
What Commissions Can Do
For Further Information

What is IPM?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) aims to control the insects and diseases that attack crops and landscape plants while minimizing economic, health and environmental risks. It emphasizes natural and safe methods, using a combination of prevention, avoidance, monitoring and suppression strategies that use physical, horticultural, and biological treatments. It uses chemicals as a last resort and then only those with the least adverse environmental impact.

A successful IPM program strives to:

• Reduce costs through reduced pesticide use;
• Reduce evolutionary pressures from resistant insect populations;
• Provide benefits through the use of self-perpetuating biological control organisms;
• Conserve energy;
• Reduce public health and environmental hazards of organic chemicals.
  

How IPM Helps Protect Human Health

Pesticides are poisonous chemicals designed to kill a variety of plants or animals. Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides and fungicides. Both the active chemical compounds and the inert ingredients in pesticides may ultimately be toxic to humans and wildlife.

In general, pesticide use can impose many health and environmental risks. Continued dependence on pesticides has caused the evolution of strains of insects with a high resistance to pesticides. Outbreaks of secondary pests due to the destruction of their natural controls and, damaging impacts on wildlife have occurred because of concentrations of pesticides in various food chains.

The toxic chemicals in pesticides can be absorbed through the skin, swallowed, and/or inhaled. Many pesticides are suspected to cause birth defects, cancer, or gene mutation in humans and other animals. They can also cause headaches, dizziness, stomach and intestinal upsets, numbness of hands and feet, spasms, convulsions and heart attacks. Children, pregnant women and people with chemical sensitivities and/or asthma may be at a particularly high risk from pesticide exposure.

During routine residential applications, pesticides can drift and settle on ponds, laundry, toys, pools and furniture among other household items. They can also make their way into homes when family members and pets pick up toxic residues and track them inside. Even pesticides that the US Environmental Protection Agency has approved for residential use can and do pollute streams, rivers and the water we drink. Sometimes people do not follow the precautions on pesticide labels and apply them recklessly to their homes and gardens in large quantities even when insects or diseases have not inflicted significant damage. Generally, only a small percentage of pesticides actually reach the target. The remainder often contaminates runoff and/or dissipates in the air. It is appropriate to ask, “Are pesticides really worth it?”

How IPM Helps the Environment

Integrated Pest Management minimizes environmental impacts by using environmentally friendly methods to control pests. IPM’s preventative, monitoring, and controlling techniques serve as an alternative to routine, indiscriminate spraying of chemical pesticides. IPM techniques enhance sustainability of vital natural systems and help promote lawns, trees and shrubs that are more resistant to insects and disease. IPM protects beneficial insects since it uses little or no pesticides. IPM also reduces threats to wildlife and water quality by lessening the amount of chemicals that will reach our drinking and recreational water resources.

Elements of IPM

Prevention
Pest prevention is a fundamental IPM concept. Prevention involves removing the conditions that might attract a pest or disease or provide it with the food and environment it needs to thrive.

Pest Prevention Techniques

• Adjust planting dates to avoid certain insect life stages;
• Rotate crops to reduce pest populations;
• Practice good housekeeping indoors and out to reduce food and shelter for pests;
• Plant native species, disease and insect resistant varieties in appropriate places;
• Monitor regularly for signs of damage.

Some plants need full sun, some do better in shade. Some grow best in sandy soils, others in clay or wetlands. Some need a lot of fertilizer, others very little. Nothing does well surrounded by weeds that compete for light, fertility and water and often harbor insects and diseases. When selecting annuals, perennials, shrubs or trees make sure the soil and light conditions on your property support the particular plant's needs. Strong healthy vegetation is much less susceptible to attacks by insects or disease. Monitoring flowers, vegetables and landscape plantings for damage every two weeks during the growing season can also help reduce pesticide use. With frequent monitoring, you are more likely to spot the problem before it has a chance to get too far. If you do identify a particular insect or disease, the first consider the level of damage. Then determine the best approach. Is the loss of a couple of tomatoes worth the risk and expense of treating all your plants with toxics? Why not try physical, biological or horticultural controls?

Physical Controls
If preventative measures fail to prevent pest problems, a second strategy is to use mechanical trapping devices, natural predators including various insects and birds, insect growth regulators, pheromones or other mating disruption substances. Pests can often times be removed by hand, or by using a strong jet of water. Other physical practices, including pruning, raking, and regular mulching also help. Mulch, for example, discourages weeds from growing, conserves moisture during drought periods allows better use of water by controlling runoff, and increases the water-holding capacity of light sandy soils. Using physical controls means taking on a more active role in pest management, without spending time and money on pesticide treatments that may harm the environment.

Horticultural Controls
Various oils have been used for centuries to control insect and mite pests. Today, horticultural oils remain an important tool to manage certain pest problems. They help control aphid and mite populations that thrive on fruit trees, shade trees, and woody ornamental plants. They can also control some plant diseases, such as powdery mildew.

Although horticultural oils have different effects on various pest populations, the end result is usually the same- safe and effective pest management. The oils may block the air holes through which insects breathe, causing them to die from suffocation.

In some cases, oils act as poisons to insects, interacting with their fatty acids and interfering with normal metabolism. Oils can disrupt how an insect feeds. They have few residual effects, and so their impact on beneficial or benign insects is minimal.

Horticultural practices such as pruning, mulching, planting pest-resistant trees and shrubs, composting decayed plant material and using it to improve soil quality also help control pest populations safely and effectively while protecting the environment from chemical overuse.

Biological Controls
Biological control is yet another safe way to manage pests without the use of chemicals. Numerous organisms that which feed upon or infect insect pests exist in nature. In many cases, these organisms can prevent insects from ever reaching the "pest" status. The most common natural enemies include predators, parasites, and pathogens. Predators, including various insects, birds, bats and moles, help consume and eliminate large numbers of pests. Ladybugs, for example, help control aphids. Predatory mites feed on the eggs and small stages of various insects. Parasitic wasps have helped control gypsy moths. Parasites, however, will generally only consume one host during its lifetime. Pathogens, including fungi, bacteria, viruses and protozoa can also help protect plants from disease.

Chemical Controls
Chemical pesticides are the last resort, used only when alternative controls have been exhausted. With IPM, landscapers and homeowners use the least toxic pesticides only when a pest is actively causing serious damage. They do not spray on a calendar basis. Insecticidal soaps have been accepted as a safe chemical for aphid, mite and whitefly control.

Many commercial greenhouses now use soap regularly because whiteflies and green peach aphids have become very resistant to standard greenhouse chemicals. Insecticidal soaps act by impairing the waxy layer of insect exoskeletons, which results in the eventual death of the insect. Sulfur can be used for spider-mite control and will control some other mites, which are resistant to other mite controlling chemicals. Sulfur competes with oxygen in the blood stream. Again, IPM aims to use very few chemical treatments, if any.

What Commissions Can Do

A number of environmental commissions have worked with the NJ Environmental Federation to persuade their municipalities to adopt IPM for public lands and facilities. More than 80 towns and school districts have passed resolutions supporting IPM. A number of commissions have been able to persuade their school districts to switch from periodic toxic chemical treatments to the preventative, biological and horticultural controls of IPM – for both playing fields and buildings. USEPA offers guidance on the benefits and approaches for implementing IPM in schools.

Princeton Borough and Princeton Township have both adopted an IPM Policy. The Princeton Regional Health Commission and the Joint Princeton Environmental Commission investigated IPM, and maintained that IPM would benefit the health and welfare of Borough citizens. IPM soon became the new pest control strategy employed in the maintenance of the Borough’s facilities. Princeton Township initially adopted an ordinance governing the development and maintenance of golf courses, which included a section on chemically treated areas. The ordinance required that golf courses maintain vegetated buffers between chemically treated turf areas and any stream. The size of the buffer would have to be sufficient enough to protect the stream from chemical runoff. In addition, a section of the ordinance required the developer to submit an Integrated Turf Management Plan as well as an IPM Plan for the proposed golf course. The plans would have to include the best management practices to prevent and/or minimize adverse impacts of chemical use on ground and surface water sources, and it was required that the water sources were monitored and the results were then submitted to the Township for review.

The Joint Princeton Environmental Commission’s web page actively promotes lawn care without chemicals, an important element of IPM.

For Further Information

Note: Links to external sites are not an endorsement of the site or its contents.

Government agencies

• NJDEP Pesticide Control Program
• USEPA Office of Pesticide Programs
• USEPA, IPM in Schools

Educational and non-profit organizations

• Database of IPM Resources
• Lawn care without chemicals
• The IPM Institute of North America, Inc.
• NJ Environmental Federation brochures on pest control without pesticides, safe pest control for schools, lawn care without chemicals
• Rutgers Cooperative Extension county offices (Blue Pages of the phone book) or their Pest Management Office web page

Commercial organizations

• Biological Controls
• Horticultural Oils
• IPM Almanac

Our thanks to ANJEC intern Laurie Bardon for preparing this material

Princeton Township-Golf Course
(Last Amended 6/27/94-Source ordinance.com)

Section 10B-272.26 Golf course/club: Conditional use requirement.

(a) A golf course/club approvable as a conditional use must include a minimum of eighteen professional holes located on at least one hundred eighty-five acres and available for play to the members and their guests If the one hundred eighty-five acres in Princeton Township constitutes more than seventy-five percent of the combined contiguous acreage in Princeton Township owned by the applicant, then the entire acreage shall be deemed part of the golf course/club development The golf course/club may include accessory structures for the maintenance and operation of the course and for the lodging of members and guests on an occasional overnight basis Such support facilities and overnight housing shall, to the extent practicable, be provided within existing and/or renovated structures, if they exist, and are to be located on the tract that accommodates the golf course and accessory facilities. Any new structures built on the tract shall be directly related to the operation of the golf course/club The total gross floor area (new and existing) for residential and overnight accommodations shall not exceed sixty thousand square feet The total gross floor area (new and existing) for buildings related to the operation and maintenance of the course or for accessory facilities shall not exceed one hundred thousand square feet

(b) In its review of whether a site is appropriate for a golf course/club, the board of jurisdiction shall be satisfied that the application achieves the following

(1) The integration of the proposed golf course/club with the existing development and land uses adjacent to the site, including safe locations for golf holes (tees, holes and greens) and practice areas as related to adjacent roads, development and other neighboring site improvements

(2) Where a golf course/club is adjacent to or within an open space corridor, including floodplains, open water, waterway corridors, wooded corridors, flyways and associated buffers, linkages and conservation areas as shown and otherwise referenced in the community master plan, the owner shall provide and maintain an adequately designed walking/trail easement within the property open to the public in furtherance of the municipal goal of linking open spaces within the community. The pedestrian easement shall be located so it does not interfere with play and shall be appropriately isolated from the general operation of the golf course/club. In the application approval process, consideration shall be given to providing access to any required walking/trail easements

(3) Assurances that the necessary infrastructure and utilities are available from on-site, municipal or private systems including sanitary sewer, potable water and irrigation water The provision of infrastructure and utilities shall not have a detrimental effect on groundwater or surface water resources

(4) The golf course/club shall have two safe and adequate access and egress points from one or more public roads One of the two accesses may be provided only for emergency access The two means of access and egress shall be connected internally and this may be achieved by use of a stabilized surface sufficient to allow passage by emergency vehicles

(5) Assurances that during a special event, including a tournament event approved by the township, adequate provisions will be made by the golf course/club to handle the crowd generated by such an event and to satisfactorily mitigate offsite impacts including traffic management, transportation services, parking, trash removal, security and safety, sanitary, waste disposal, etc The golf course/club shall be required to post a performance guarantee for these purposes All local permissions and permits now or hereafter required for special events shall be obtained prior to the event

(6) A sufficient buffer shall be maintained between the golf course/club and accessory uses and the adjacent uses The centerline of any golf tee, fairway or green shall be no closer than one hundred twenty-five feet from property line or one hundred twenty-feet from the right-of-way of a road The golf course shall be designed to minimize the opportunity for golf balls to be hit outside of the property boundary lines Any structure exclusive of those features associated with playing golf (tees, fairways, greens, cartpaths, practice areas) shall be a minimum of two hundred feet from a property line

(7) The course shall be designed to the extent possible to preserve the contiguity of existing woodlands and wooded corridors Clearance of mature woods shall not exceed fifteen percent of the total acreage of land within the tract Any clearing of woods beyond ten percent of the tract acreage shall be replaced elsewhere on the tract by trees and shrubs similar in composition and comparable in area In no case shall the amount of clearing, excluding the area of replacement planting, exceed thirty percent of the area of woods as measured from a vegetation map or aerial photographs prepared or taken at the time of adoption of this ordinance or, if none is available at that time, then as shown on the most current maps or photographs available at the time of adoption of this ordinance

(8) Improvements related to the golf course/club and accessory facilities/uses affecting existing steep slope areas shall be subject to the steep slope restrictions of section 10B254 1 Areas of play (tee, greens, bunkers) created for purposes of the golf course and resulting in new areas of steep slope shall be exempt from this section of the Code

(9) A vegetative buffer area shall be maintained between any turf area which is to be chemically treated and any non-intermittent stream which shall be of sufficient size and design to protect the stream from chemicals carried by stormwater run-off

(10) As part of the application for conditional use approval the applicant shall submit an integrated turf management plan and an integrated pesticide and pest management plan specific to the operation and maintenance of the proposed golf course/club These plans shall be prepared in accordance with guidelines established by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and shall also take into account guidelines promulgated by the United States Golf Association These plans will include best management practices (BMPs) to prevent or minimize any adverse impacts of chemical applications on the groundwater and surface water resources associated with the golf course

(11) Assurances shall be provided that any adverse impacts on groundwater or surface water quality resulting from the golf course/club will be mitigated by the owner The applicant shall provide for the monitoring of water quality of the groundwater and surface water resources associated with the golf course The monitoring program, including the timing and the frequency of testing and the identification of chemical parameters to be tested shall be established at the time the integrated turf management plan and integrated pesticide and pest management plan are approved as part of the conditional use application The monitoring program shall be consistent with the guidelines established for monitoring plans by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Bureau of Water Quality Analysis The results and findings of any water quality monitoring shall be submitted by the owner to the township for information purposes

(12) Exterior lighting shall be provided on safety as related to support facilities including areas, walkways, access drives and is prohibited on or adjacent to the golf course and related practice areas Netting, mesh or similar devices to restrict areas of play are prohibited

(13) Section 10B-321 of the Township of Princeton Land Use Code shall not apply

(c) The only provisions of the chapter which shall be interpreted as conditions of the conditional use are subsection (a) and paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5) and (9) of subsection (b) of section 10B-272 26 (Ord No 94-22, § 2

Section 10B-272.27 Accessory facilities and uses.

The following accessory facilities and uses shall be permitted in a golf course/club

Club house (including dining rooms, common rooms, pro shop, social rooms, kitchen, locker rooms, etc) overnight accommodations (occasional lodging for members and guests of the golf club), residences for employees engaged in the maintenance and operation of the golf club facility, putting green, practice range, cartpaths, parking lot, maintenance facility/garage, cart storage facility, water supply impoundment/hazards, tennis and paddle tennis courts, and swimming pools (Ord No 94-22, § 2 )

Section 10B-272.28 Bulk regulations for tract.

The following bulk regulations shall apply to the tract on which the private golf course is to be located

(a) Minimum tract size one hundred eighty-five contiguous acres,

(b) Maximum building height (new construction) thirty feet,

(c) Building setbacks seventy-five feet,

(d) Parking setbacks seventy-five feet,

(e) Golf course setbacks see section 10B-272 26(b)(6), and

(f) Gross floor area see section 10B-272 26(a) (Ord No 94-22, § 2.)

Section 10B-272.29 Parking requirements.

The number of parking spaces shall be as few as necessary to serve the club facility All spaces shall be within the boundary of the golf tract, and the number shall be determined by a parking needs study to be conducted by the applicant and filed at the time of the application To the extent possible, existing parking spaces on the lot shall be used New spaces shall be constructed of pervious material to minimize runoff and detention, except where the level of use would make such an installation impractical (Ord No 94-22, § 2 )