NEWS

Release Date: May 6, 2005
Contact: Marianne Martin, 303-492-8308, marianne.martin@colorado.edu

Students Pull Together to Limit Herbicide Spraying

It's dandelion season! This Sunday, an herbicide spray will take place on the campus but it will be far reduced compared to the past two years. In order to avoid sprays in three high-traffic, main campus areas, the Environmental Center is organizing a series of Dandelion Digging events. Facilities Management has agreed to allow the Environmental Center to help out by digging a few heavily-infested areas. "We have until May 15th to apply manual labor instead of herbicide, to set an example about the least toxic way of controlling dandelions, and to put our muscle where our mouth is. We need volunteers to help out. If we do not succeed, then these areas will be sprayed at a later date," explains Marianne Martin, Interim Director of the CU Environmental Center.

In a separate press release, Facilities Management explains how the Turf Management Team has prioritized the fifteen areas that herbicide will be sprayed with the MCPP-4 Amine product. The Environmental Center, student leaders and community activists have opposed spray plans for the past two years due to human and ecological health impacts and have asked for more open communications about the decisions to apply herbicide. "Compared to the past two years, the process this year is much improved for what has been a very contentious issue. While we are not pleased that herbicides are being sprayed again this spring, we are at least pleased that the spray volumes are significantly less and that Facilities is giving us the opportunity to get a handle on these three high-traffic locations that were originally on the spray list," observed Martin.

Facilities Management included an Environmental Center representative in order to open the decision process and more clearly define how areas are prioritized for treatment. Additionally, the volume of herbicide this spring is half of what was applied in 2004. The area is also two-thirds the area compared to 2004.

"While zero herbicide spray would be best from our standpoint, the major reduction in volume and area is hopefully a real trend and could point to this year being the end of herbicide spray applications. That would please the students, their parents and the community," explains Courtney Krause of the UCSU Environmental Board.

The turf team seems to have gotten ahead of the "battle" with dandelions with an Integrated Pest Management approach emphasizing least toxic and cultural treatments. With this approach, they can now maintain areas that were sprayed in the past so as to avoid future applications. Where they cannot maintain dandelion-infested areas, the recommendation is to re-landscape since spraying would not be effective over the long-term.

To view the campus Integrated Pest Management Policy, visit: http://ecenter.colorado.edu/greening_cu/policies/index.html. Please contact Facilities Management for their turf management plan and for more information on the cultural practices, threshold levels and treatment priorities.

To help volunteer with the dandelion digging from May 8 through May 15, contact the CU Environmental Center at 303-492-8308 or ecenter@colorado.edu. Please provide your name, availability and desired shift(s), phone number and email.

ATTENTION PHOTO EDITORS: Following is the schedule for the dandelion digging effort. Please call to confirm participation and location.

Sunday, May 8: 1-5pm
Monday, May 9: 4-6pm
Tuesday, May 10: 4-6pm
Wednesday, May 11: 4-6pm
Thursday, May 12: 4-6pm
Friday, May 13: 4-6pm
Saturday, May 14: 9-12 and 1-5pm
Sunday, May 15: 9-12 and 1-5pm

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