Source reduction in Florida’s salt marshes: Management to reduce pesticide use and enhance the resource

Abstract

Source reduction as part of an integrated pest management program is a cornerstone of the American Mosquito Control Association's Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Strategy Document to reduce pesticide risk. Since the early 1980s, Florida has made important strides in implementing environmentally sound source reduction strategies in salt marshes while managing them for both mosquito control and natural resource enhancement. The political mechanism for this progress has been interagency cooperation through the Florida Coordinating Council on Mosquito Control and its Subcommittee on Managed Marshes. Challenges in accomplishing source reduction continue because both public and private lands are involved. Public lands include those owned by federal (e.g., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service), state (Florida Department of Environmental Protection), and local governments, and they have a diversity of management objectives. This diversity adds to the challenge facing mosquito control agencies in providing mosquito control services while protecting and enhancing the environment.