Dear Friend of IPM,





We are writing to update you on

the financial future of the Northeastern IPM Center. As you may know, we have

been federally funded for nearly a decade through a competitive USDA grant. The

president's budget for fiscal year 2011 does not include funds for Regional IPM

Centers or any of the other programs in a special USDA line known as "406

Integrated Programs."





Additionally, the newly created

Agriculture Food and Research Initiative (AFRI; formerly NRI) recently announced

its grants program and the Requests for Applications make very limited

references to integrated pest management (see

http://www.nifa.usda.gov/funding/afri/afri.html ).





You have supported IPM in the

past and we value your commitment to integrated pest management in the region

and nationally. If you are in a position to voice your opinion about the benefit

of integrated pest management and the Northeastern IPM Center, we encourage you

to do so now.





For public employees,

scientists, university staff, Extension educators, and others:

Request that regional IPM

coordination and support, and specifically IPM Centers, be included in the next

AFRI RFA by writing to

[email protected] . In

your comments, please specify the RFA to which you are responding (e.g., the

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Foundational Program RFA or any of

these other RFAs: Global Food Security, Sustainable Bioenergy, Food Safety, or

Climate Change). Talking points about the Northeastern IPM Center are below. We

also encourage you to forward this email to relevant networks, as

appropriate.





For those in private

industry, community members, growers, pest management consultants, members of

nonprofits, and others:

Express your views to your

elected representatives in Congress. Committees are meeting now. IPM Centers

could be funded either through a restoration of USDA's 406 Integrated Programs

line or through a specific category in AFRI. Below are talking points and

information about Congressional House and Senate Agriculture and Appropriation

Committees, respectively, including the websites where you may share comments.

Please also forward this email to your networks, as appropriate.





Our unique strengths have helped

us to nurture integrated pest management in the region and beyond. We would

welcome an opportunity to continue serving in this capacity. Best

wishes,

Carrie Koplinka-Loehr,

Co-director



T A L K I N G P O I N T

S

Northeastern IPM Center: Small Investment, Big Impacts

WHAT WE DO

o Protect

food supplies and communities. We stay in touch with people's needs and fund

30-40 IPM projects each year that focus on important pest problems.

o Make the

most of public resources. We help organizations to build on each others'

success. An independent review team found that IPM Centers show an impressive

use of limited resources to maximize output of projects. In 2006 that review

team advised USDA to use IPM Centers as a model for future

programs.

o Engage

partners. We serve as a hub where growers, scientists, consumers, government

personnel, businesses, and environmental organizations can work together for

practices that reduce risks to the environment and human health.





KEY

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Helping urban residents

combat pests. We coordinate a national project to reduce pests in public

housing. With funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, we've

already taught 200 maintenance and property staff how to manage pests in and

around their buildings, and hundreds of tenants are receiving training as well

(see our video at

http://www.stoppests.org/for-residents.htm ). Collaborators on this project include

HUD, USDA, EPA, and nearly two dozen agencies and IPM

consultants.

Helping growers protect the

environment. Our Center partnered with USDA's Natural Resources Conservation

Service to train nearly 400 growers, NRCS staff, and Extension educators in

practices that minimize environmental impacts and improve crop yield and

pest control ( http://northeastipm.org/nrcs.cfm ). Farmers who attended the workshops plan

to increase their use of IPM and conservation practices.



Enhancing sustainability

in the marketplace. We collaborate with industry to give IPM growers

improved access to markets. The Eco Apple working group helped to boost the

market for IPM-grown apples in New England, with sales in 2008 of $1.9 million

( http://www.redtomato.org/ecoapple.php ). We work with SYSCO, a worldwide food

distributor that has urged its suppliers to actively support more sustainable

environments in the production of food.

Sharing IPM knowledge with

the world: nearly 3 million hits on our website since 2007.

Through

http://northeastipm.org/

we've reached more than 120,000 visitors. Our most popular tool? The IPM

Resources Database containing thousands of science-based IPM publications and

information sources.



Promoting sustainable

home landscapes. The Northeastern Community IPM Working Group, funded for

years by our Center, focuses on growing green lawns with minimal pesticides. The

group placed 150 posters on Maryland buses and displayed landscape posters at

the U.S. Botanical Gardens in Washington, DC., where they reached nearly 100,000

visitors.

Connecting people who have

great ideas. Our Center supports the International IPM Symposium with

planning, financial assistance, and facilitation. In 2009, more than 700 people

from nearly 30 countries attended this event, where they exchanged practical

tools and expertise. The Vegetable IPM Working Group, with funding from our

Center, awarded 20 IPM Travel Grants, reaching at least 5,000 stakeholders about

IPM practices.



More information

at

http://northeastipm.org/ http://northeastipm.org/ House Agriculture Appropriations Committee members from the

Northeast:

Hon. Rosa DeLauro

(Chair) CT http://delauro.house.gov/contact_form_email.cfm

Hon. Maurice Hinchey

NY http://www.house.gov/hinchey/contact/



Senate Agriculture Appropriations

Committee members from the Northeast:

Hon. Jack Reed

RI http://reed.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Hon. Arlen Specter

PA http://specter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm

Hon. Susan Collins

ME http://collins.senate.gov/public/continue.cfm



Senate Agriculture Committee members

from the Northeast:

Hon. Patrick Leahy

VT http://leahy.senate.gov/contact/

Hon. Kirsten Gillibrand

NY http://gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/

Hon. Robert Casey, Jr.

PA http://casey.senate.gov/contact/



House Agriculture Committee members from

the Northeast:

Hon. Tim Holden (Vice

chair) PA http://holden.house.gov/

Hon. Glenn Thompson

PA

http://thompson.house.gov/contact/index.shtml

Hon. Kathleen

Dahlkemper PA http://www.dahlkemper.house.gov/

Hon. Frank Kratovil

MD http://kratovil.house.gov/

Hon. Scott Murphy

NY http://scottmurphy.house.gov/

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