February 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 35

Seven Steps Your Agency
Should Take Now
overgrown areas and, most recently,
the establishment of pollinator meadows. If GBHs are prohibited, park
agencies have few alternative choices
except to use herbicides like 2,4-D,
" the most dangerous pesticide you've
never heard of, " according to Natural
Resources Defense Council. While it
may be just as or more toxic than glyphosate, 2,4-D could be the next likely choice for many park agencies that
no longer can use glyphosate as an
herbicide to control aggressive weeds
and invasive plant species.

out on a 90-degree day, hiking through
invasive vegetation using a backpack
sprayer. " Education is the best way to
minimize risks, " Lewis says. " If you
are employing the person who uses
the chemical, you have a responsibility for giving employees the education
and equipment on how to use it safely. " Some lawsuits have been brought
against institutions [that] gave employees the duty to apply GBHs and
then left them untrained and, therefore, unprotected, she says.

Safety Considerations
for Park Workers

Can Organic Herbicides and
Other Measures Replace
Glyphosate?

One of the most important considerations regarding the use of GBHs
is the safety of the public and park
workers who apply it. In practice,
park and recreation employees who
intend to apply pesticides must become certified pesticide applicators
under the classification of " public
agency applicators. " To become
certified, employees must first be
registered with state departments of
agriculture, complete a training program, and then work under already
certified applicators for a year. Maintaining certified status requires annual testing and annual recertification.
The burden for day-to-day employee safety mainly falls on the agency
to practice safe storing and handling
of herbicides and to provide safety
training under individual certified
applicators within agencies to train
and monitor those working under
their certification. This is a critical
agency responsibility since the least
trained and experienced applicators
at park and rec agencies may often
be those most at risk of exposure to
harmful pesticides. One supervisor interviewed says that it can be difficult
to ensure that all employees applying
GBHs use all appropriate personal
protection equipment when they are

Agencies looking for alternatives to
GBHs are trying a variety of alternatives, including organic herbicides.
Grace Dietsch, a biologist at Five
Rivers MetroParks in Dayton, Ohio,
says that their horticulture team
uses orange oil, a weed torch and
horticultural-grade vinegar to kill
weeds in landscape beds and indoor
plant displays. Bakker says Seattle
Parks and Recreation have tried
horticultural-grade vinegar herbicides, but they are harsh on equipment and unpleasant for applicators
due to the fumes.
Park and rec maintenance supervisors point out that weed control
without glyphosate will be much
more expensive, less effective and require greater commitments of staff
time. Many also fear an inability to
contain invasive weed species that
are destroying native landscapes and
crowding out native wildflowers essential to pollinators and ecosystem
health. Most agree, however, that
nothing beats using volunteers to pull
up weeds manually in spot locations,
but it depends on the number and
willingness of your volunteers.
Weed control scientists are exploring promising new technology, which
includes the use of drones to precise-

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Commit to a system-wide re-evaluation of your
entire weed control and landscape maintenance
program.

Develop an agency-wide or intergovernmental
procedure to evaluate your current applications of
glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) and alternative methods to control weeds in your park landscapes.

Review your internal safety training program, giving special attention to your protections for workers who apply GBHs. Perform spot inspections to
improve your training program.
Look at alternatives to glyphosate and test safer, less toxic methods. These can include flame,
hot foam, organic herbicides, manual and mechanical control, and, seriously, goats.
Evaluate the circumstances and occasions that
you need to use glyphosate as a last resort and
justify such uses.
Consult with peer agencies, such as public
works and transportation departments, to evaluate alternative methods.

Look to the future. The time may come, sooner
than you think, when your governing body, mayor
or city council institutes a ban on the use of
glyphosate. Are you prepared?

ly locate and map noxious weeds in
fields, autonomous vehicles that can
provide microdoses of herbicides in
spot applications, electrocuting weeds
with a zap of electricity and laser-pulse
treatments on roadside weeds. None
of these technologies, however, are
ready to bring to scale yet.
Every agency takes pride in the appearance of its parks, and there are
often high expectations by the public
on what a " beautiful park " should
look like. In a future without GBHs,
there is no question that parks will
look different, and our perceptions of
what constitutes beauty will need to
evolve. Managing expectations will
be a challenge, but creating healthier,
safer parks is a goal that the public and
every park and recreation employee
can support wholeheartedly.
Richard J. Dolesh (rdolesh@nrpa.org).

W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G | F E B R U A RY 2 02 0 |

Parks & Recreation

February 2020 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2020 - Parks & Recreation