Welcome to the Washington State University Extension-Whatcom County IPM Project. In contract with Whatcom County, WSU Extension has committed to bring the fundatmentals of IPM to Whatcom County pest managing communities. This project is modeled after the Nooksack IPM Project. Please bookmark this page and visit regularly to see our progress. We look forward to your comments.

Thank you,

Craig MacConnell (Principal Investigator)
(Project Manager)

Introduction

Washington State University under contract with Whatcom County Cooperative Extension will develop, produce, and conduct research and educational efforts that further develop the attitudes, knowledge and skills necessary for the acceptance and adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. This project builds on the successes of the recently completed Nooksack Watershed IPM Project, which focused on IPM research and education for raspberry and apple growers. Using the Nooksack IPM Project as a model, efforts will continue to support IPM in these crops and will be expanded into other agricultural, as well as urban settings. It is expected that wide-scale adoption of practical IPM practices will help protect groundwater and surface water supplies in the county and protect other environmental resources including fish and wildlife.

Goals

• Continue to support on-farm research and education to facilitate further IPM development and implementation for raspberries and apples, the target crops of the recently completed WSU Whatcom County Nooksack IPM Project.
• Using the Nooksack IPM Project as a model, expand IPM efforts into other systems, which may include community settings (such as city parks and schools), other berry crops, landscape nursery. New directions will be selected based upon needs as determined through the advisory system.
• Develop, produce and conduct research and educational efforts that further develop the attitudes, knowledge and skills necessary for the acceptance and adoption of IPM practices in Whatcom County.
• Evaluation will focus on documenting changes in attitudes, skills, and behavior as well as contribution of resources from cooperators. Performance measures will also include number of research and educational efforts conducted and the level of participation in these efforts.