SCIT Integrated Pest Management

Planning Department

What is Integrated Pest Management?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices to cause the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment. IPM is practiced by those who wish to stop or limit their reliance on pesticides to solve pest and weed problems, hopefully rendering pesticides as an avoidable last step in one’s pest or weed management plan.

General Information

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan (SCIT) has approximately 140,507 acres spread across two locations in Central Michigan. The Isabella Reservation in Isabella County and its Saganing District in Arenac County. About 520 Tribal members reside on the Saganing District of the Isabella Reservation. The Tribe also owns land in fee status in Iosco County with frontage on Tawas Lake.

The Isabella Reservation contains about half of the city of Mount Pleasant (total population around 25,000) and a significant amount of commercial agriculture within and surrounding the reservation. The tribe oversees 594 acres of agricultural land on the Isabella Reservation and 333 acres of agricultural land on the Saganing property. The Chippewa River (part of the Saginaw Bay watershed) is located within the boundaries of the Isabella Reservation. With extensive agriculture and the spraying of roadside ditches for woody vegetation, the SCIT is concerned about potential impacts of pesticides on water quality.

About

Pesticide use around the reservations is not well understood, but there are many settings where pests and pesticide use may occur. About 60% of the land use in and around the reservation is commercial agriculture, primarily for corn, soybeans, and sugar beets. Pesticide spraying for mosquito control occurs in the area occasionally. With extensive agriculture and the spraying of roadside ditches for woody vegetation, the SCIT is concerned about potential impacts of pesticides on water quality. The SCIT is developing a pesticide program to provide local support about Integrated Pest Management to limit the use of pesticides, general pesticide use, and applicator certification to better understand the potential impacts of pesticides on Reservation lands. The SCIT will now serve as the point of contact for members and non-tribal residents on reservation land who are pesticide users, including tribal staff, community members, and other applicators.

Importance of Pollinators:

Many types of plants, including fruit and vegetable crops, depend on animals for pollination. In addition to honey bees, many other types of animals pollinate crops and wildflowers, including wild bees, ants, beetles, wasps, lizards, birds, bats, and butterflies. We are concerned about declines in pollinator health and are working to protect bees and other pollinators from pesticide risks. Learn more about what EPA is doing to protect pollinators. The decline of pollinators can be contributed to some of the following complex interactions among multiple stressors including: pests, pathogens, and viruses; poor nutrition (due to loss of foraging habitat and increased reliance on supplemental diets); pesticide exposure; bee management practices (i.e. long migratory routes to support pollination services); and lack of genetic diversity. For more information, view Pollinator Health Concerns | US EPA

To view or download the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe’s Pollinator Guide, visit SCIT Pollinator Guide