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Community Group Leads Effort to Eliminate Pesticides in Lawrence, Kansas Park
The Pesticide Free Parks Project, a community group, pushed for a pesticide-free program in the parks in their city
by Mary Ann Deuth, Dandelions Unlimited Volunteer
In May, 2005, the Lawrence City Commission requested that the Parks and Recreation Department select a park to conduct a pesticide-free pilot program for one year. The department selected Watson Park in downtown Lawrence. During that time, the department used non-pesticide products to manage weeds, insects and fungi in the park. In addition to Watson Park, Parks and Recreation began to manage thirty-three other parks as pesticide free. Marie Stockett, a member of the Recycling and Resource Conservation Advisory Board, coordinated a volunteer network to help manage these spaces with weeding flower and shrub beds.
At the board meeting in May, 2006, Marie asked the board to submit a letter in support of continuing and expanding the Pesticide Free Park Management program in Lawrence. The Board and the community group were pleased with the progress made by the city in supporting and developing the successful and beneficial program. Not only does the Pesticide Free program create a healthier environment for citizens, children, animal companions and wildlife, but it has been implemented without placing a financial burden on the city.
There were conflicting reports from Marie's report and the Parks and Recreation Department. Marie quoted a memo from the Parks and Recreation Department stating that it could maintain thirty-three secondary parks and one high profile park without impacting its budget, but then claimed that staff labor tripled during the first-year pilot program and they could not afford to add the eighteen remaining high profile parks to the program because it could not afford the hand labor to weed. Parks estimated that staff would cost $57,600 a year, fuel would cost $1,000 (much more now in 2008), one truck $16,000, and weed eaters $1,800.
Marie presented data from the Watson Park two-year pilot project that showed community volunteers maintained the beds and that the labor needed was not excessive. There were about 60 to 70 volunteers with varying degrees of participation. They also used community-weeding events, and some groups adopted beds to maintain the parks. The labor needed the second year was less when the Parks Department added more mulch in the beds. The volunteers also began weeding earlier in the season so the weeds did not grow out of control. Marie questioned the Parks Department claim that labor need tripled because there were no accurate records kept. It is understandable and probably true, that the department has difficulty finding people who will do the manual pesticide-free maintenance consistently and for low salaries. Another problem is the athletic fields, which need to be maintained at a high level of appearance: green, watered and weed-free with a smooth surface. That type of condition has not worked well with non-toxic products.
Marie recommended that the Parks Department try harder with methods of keeping weeds from growing such as heavy mulching, rock or scrape lime and similar alternatives, rather than letting weeds grow, then spraying with chemicals which only kill the surface. Then the roots remain to grow another crop of weeds, which necessitates more spraying. A good example of this ineffectiveness is the Bermuda grass in Watson Park. Before the pilot program, the department sprayed the infestation every three weeks and it not only did not die, but spread.
The Pesticide Free program has received overwhelming community support. At the board meeting, Marie was handing out flyers at the for an "Edible Weed Fest" to be held in June, 2007.
Sources
City of Lawrence Recycling and Resource Conservation Advisory Board , May 10th, 2007, meeting minutes
Pesticide-Free Parks: Multimedia Reporting/Bradford, Tyler Waugh Archives
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