Tonto National Monument Integrated Pest Management Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect

Summary
Throughout the history of the National Park Service (NPS) maintaining the balance between resource protection, visitor safety, and pest management has been an ongoing challenge. Pests create public health hazards around the cliff dwellings, various buildings, the picnic area, and park trails at Tonto National Monument (TNM). Animals nesting within prehistoric walls and burrowing through prehistoric floors have damaged irreplaceable archeological features. Africanized honey bees building hives in crevices adjacent to the cliff dwellings are posing a serious threat to park staff and visitors. The Cliff Dwellings are the primary attractions at the monument. Frequent closures of the dwellings due to bee activity have an adverse impact on visitors who have driven many miles to visit the monument and experience the cultural resources. A structured, interdisciplinary approach to pest management is necessary for the long-term preservation and protection of natural resources, cultural resources and the people that enjoy them.

This Integrated Pest Management Plan and Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect outlines alternative vertebrate and invertebrate pest management strategies that are based on the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) using control techniques including some or all of the following: mechanical, cultural, chemical, and biological treatments. This document evaluates two alternatives. The no- action alternative describes the current strategy of using limited mechanical treatments. The second alternative would use a full range of integrated pest management techniques.

Document Content:

Tonto National Monument Integrated Pest Management Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect   (1.3 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.