Chapters 1 - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Management Alternatives
Implementing the IPM Plan would involve using methods based upon effectiveness, cost, and
minimal ecological disruption, which considers minimum potential effects to non-target species
and the refuge environment.
Under the IPM Plan, pesticides may be used where physical, cultural, and biological methods
or combinations thereof, are impractical or incapable of providing adequate control,
eradication, or containment. If a pesticide is necessary for use on the Refuge, the most specific
(selective) chemical available for the target species would be used unless considerations of
persistence or other environmental and/or biotic hazards would preclude it. In accordance with
517 DM 1, pesticide usage would be further restricted because only pesticides registered with
the USEPA in full compliance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA) and as provided in regulations, orders, or permits issued by USEPA may be applied
on lands and waters under refuge jurisdiction. The types of pesticides that can be used on the
Seal Beach NWR are also limited to those products available for sale in the State of California.
Before a pesticide product can be sold or offered for sale in California, is must be approved and
registered by the State’s Department of Pesticide Regulation.
Environmental harm by pest species would refer to a biologically substantial decrease in
environmental quality as indicated by a variety of potential factors including declines in native
species populations or communities, degraded habitat quality or long-term habitat loss, and/or
altered ecological processes. Environmental harm may be a result of direct effects of pests on
native species including preying and feeding on them; causing or vectoring diseases;
preventing them from reproducing or killing their young; out-competing them for food,
nutrients, light, nest sites or other vital resources; or hybridizing with them so frequently that
within a few generations, few if any truly native individuals remain. Environmental harm also
can be the result of an indirect effect of pest species. For example, decreases in native
pollinator diversity and abundance may result from invasive plant infestations that reduce the
availability and/or abundance of native upland plants that support native pollinator species.
Environmental harm may involve detrimental changes in ecological processes. For example,
invasive nonnative plant species can outcompete and ultimately replace native species of forbs
and shrubs, altering the function of the historic plant community. Environmental harm may
also cause or be associated with economic losses and damage to human, plant, and animal
health. For example, invasions by fire-promoting nonnative grasses that alter entire plant and
animal communities can also increase the frequency and intensity of wild fires, which in turn
increases fire-fighting costs and threats to adjacent developments.
The IPM Plan proposed for implementation on the Seal Beach NWR is provided in Appendix
C. Along with a more detailed discussion of IPM techniques, this documentation describes the
selective use of pesticides for pest management on the Refuge, where necessary. Throughout
the life of the CCP, with the exception of mosquito-related pesticides, all pesticides proposed
for use on the Refuge would be evaluated by the IPM Regional Coordinator for potential
effects to refuge biological resources and environmental quality. The results of this evaluation,
including the potential effects of each product, would be documented in “Chemical Profiles.”
Chemical profiles have already been completed for those pesticides that are currently being
used on the Refuge and are available for review in Attachment B of Appendix C. Only those
pesticides that are likely to result in only minor, temporary, and/or localized effects to species
and environmental quality based upon non-exceedance of threshold values in Chemical Profiles
would be approved for use on the Refuge. In all cases, best management practices would be
implemented during the handling and application of pesticides, and in some cases, nonexceedance
of threshold values may be achieved through the implementation of additional
Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Environmental Assessment 3-25