Turf Update —
Be a Part of the Solution
By Meta L. Levin
Recently Bob Mann, Director
of State and Local Government Relations for the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP), scheduled a field trip for 30 EPA scientists. As he recounted during his presentation to attendees at ILCA’s Turf Education Day (TED), he and his colleagues had spent time meeting and developing relationships with EPA officials who are tasked with regulating the use of pesticides. It was disconcerting to find that, although the officials understood the chemistry, the environmental impact, how to register the product and generate a label, “they don’t understand how it’s used.”
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So, he invited them to learn in the field, as it were. “Last week in Virginia, we took 30 EPA scientists, all from the office of pesticide program, and taught them about lawn care,” he says. Granted, because of his job, Mann has greater access to officials than the majority of people. The important message here is that he did not sit back and bemoan the situation, he did what he could do about it. You can, too. One of the easiest, but effective, things to do is donate to the ILCA PAC,
says Scott Grams, ILCA Executive Director. “We keep an eye on regulatory issues and monitor changes.” The PAC fund allows ILCA to make discrete donations to key lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Which is, in part, why Mann is a strong believer in becoming involved at the state association level, i.e. ILCA. “Educate yourself,” he says. “Become networked. Peer groups are a boon to any industry.” State associations invest time, money and effort in tackling issues, such as the workforce situation, head on.
Meeting with EPA officials regarding pesticides, Mann realized, “they don’t
understand how it’s used.”
The Landscape Contractor December 2019