Massachusetts Creates Pollinator Protection Plan

The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture has taken the direction to states contained in President Obama’s 2014 Memorandum Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators seriously and developed the Massachusetts Pollinator Protection Plan. 

In a letter explaining the plan, John Lebeaux, the state’s ag commissioner, wrote, “This plan is designed to improve the overall health of pollinator populations by providing stakeholders with a set of voluntary guidelines that facilitate communication, collaboration and recommendations of best management practices.”

The process leading up to this final document began in 2014 and the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) and the New England Pest Management Association (NEPMA) were among a group of stakeholders that participated in the development of “best management practices.” 

Included in the Massachusetts Pollinator Protection Plan was the recommendation that pesticide applicators follow BMPs for using pesticides “in a way that minimizes the risk to pollinators.” One of the recommended BMPs for pesticide applicators is NPMA’s Pollinator Protection Best Management Practices.