INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT PLAN
WEIR FARM NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

Natural Resources Report NPS/NER/NRR-2006/008

William E. Currie, Director, International Pest Management Institute

P.O. Box 474
2149 Skyline Drive
Ash Fork, Arizona 86320-0474

August 2006

U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Northeast Region
Boston, Massachusetts

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Executive Summary

This Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Plan for Weir Farm National Historic Site (WEFA) in Ridgefield and Wilton, Connecticut provides basic pest management guidelines to help preserve the stored cultural museum resources, structures and park grounds, and assist in protecting the health and safety of park staff and visitors. As new information and IPM methods will develop over time, this plan should be reviewed and updated periodically.

The Superintendent is responsible for pest management at the site and designates a site IPM coordinator to implement the IPM plan. The IPM coordinator will work with the Chief of Maintenance, Chief of Cultural Resources and others in the implementation as outlined in NPS-77 (Natural Resources Management Guidelines).

Any use of pesticides at WEFA will be in accordance with Servicewide policies as found in NPS-77. All pesticides used in the park will be applied by or under the direct supervision of a state (Connecticut) certified pesticide applicator. All pesticides used in the park by residents, contractors, special use permittees, agricultural issues, or non-NPS personnel will conform to NPS policies and guidelines, and will be approved before use. It is the goal of WEFA in compliance with NPS policy to use low-risk pesticides, if necessary, that will accomplish desired objectives.

At the end of each year, the WEFA IPM coordinator is to compile a list of the pesticides applied at the site (on NPS IPM software PUPS) and forward a copy of that report to the Northeast Regional Support Office.

Descriptions and low-risk pest management methods of museum and other pests potentially present in WEFA structures, displays and landscapes are described. The site has pest concerns about museum pests, bats, wasps, carpenter bees, mice, rats, spiders, camel (cave) crickets, voles, wood-destroying organisms, powderpost beetles, carpenter ants and exotic invasive plants. Preventive methods such as exclusion, sanitation and habitat modification are described, as well as direct actions such as trapping and the use of directed pesticide applications. Inspections and monitoring of pest populations and conducive conditions will determine the extent of pest presence and direct pest management actions.

The staff of Weir Farm National Historic Site are committed to the implementation of the IPM approach for those pests threatening the site resources and the health and safety of park visitors and staff.

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pdf file 1
Body of the report (1 MB)

pdf file 2
Appendix I: Pest Profiles through Public Health Pests (3.1MB)

pdf file 3
Appendix I continued: Landscape Pests through Appendix IX: Vendors (1.7MB)