THE US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ACTS TO PROTECT OUR POLLINATORS AND OUR WATER
The USF&WS issued a policy statement that they will only permit agricultural practices that contribute to protecting fish, wildlife, and the ecosystems that support them by 2016 on National Wildlife Refuge land. The service’s Biological Integrity, Diversity and Environmental Health policy is based on management that restores or mimics natural ecosystems.
To effect this policy they are phasing out the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that are linked to large scale bee deaths, and also GMO or genetically engineered crops. This is because most of these crops are engineered to be resistant to pesticide and depend on widespread use of herbicides to kill everything but the GMO crops. The everything else being wiped out is the natural habitat that many beneficial insects, including bees and butterflies, need to survive. Seeds treated with neonicotinoids are also prohibited because the pesticide persists in the plant.
A refuge manager can submit a proposal to use a neonicotinoid pesticide in a limited, localized, application if they feel that there is no other recourse, but the Pesticide Use Proposal is subjected to strict review.
Many refuges are currently being managed in this manner, so they believe the other refuges will be able to do this without hardship.
The National Wildlife Refuge system covers 144,000 square miles of land and water.
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