Thurston County adopted an Integrated Pest and Vegetation Management Policy (IPM) [PDF] to provide guidelines for County personnel who are involved with operations and provide advice related to pest and vegetation management. The County defines integrated pest management (IPM) as an approach to pest and vegetation control that utilizes regular monitoring to determine if and when treatments are needed. The approach emphasizes physical, mechanical, cultural, and biological tactics to keep pest numbers or vegetation problems low enough to prevent intolerable damage, annoyance, or public safety hazards.

Since the adoption of our IPM policy, the County has experienced many pest problems and has successfully controlled them using much less chemical control than we would have with past practices. Our IPM policy has provided a direction that encourages understanding pest problems better so chemical control methods are less necessary and pest control is more successful. We have taken our pest research and have produced a great deal of information that was originally intended for internal use by the County, but have reformatted much of it for home owners and land managers.

Additionally, the County has requirements for Integrated Pest Management Plans for certain land development or land use projects which are located in areas where the drinking water sources are vulnerable to contamination.

The following links divide our IPM information by users: Thurston County Departments, Developers, or Homeowners and Land Managers.

Glossary of IPM terms:  (click for link)

For additional information about Thurston County's IPM program, or if you have question about the IPM content found within these pages, please contact Patrick Soderberg at 360-867-2586 or by Email.