Public invited to comment on state plan to manage protection of bees

Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has announced the meeting schedule for the Agency’s State Managed Pollinator Protection Plan. VDACS will hold seven meetings around the Commonwealth to give stakeholders an opportunity to provide input on the development of the plan.

VDACS’ development of a pollinator (bees) protection plan is part of a national effort by state and federal departments and agencies to reverse pollinator losses and help restore pollinator populations.

Virginia’s Pollinator Protection Plan is a voluntary, proactive approach which focuses on enhanced communication and coordination among agricultural producers, landowners, pesticide applicators and beekeepers as a means to further protect pollinators. 

The Virginia plan will be intended to reduce the potential for pesticide exposure to managed bees that are adjacent to, or near a pesticide treatment site. The Virginia State Managed Pollinator Protection Plan will not be intended to prohibit, eliminate, or further restrict the legal application of pesticides. 

The final plan will be developed based upon the input received from stakeholders and taking into consideration the feasibility and cost effectiveness of each component of the plan.

The purpose of the seven listening sessions is to: (i) provide an overview of the EPA’s guidance to state lead pesticide agencies in developing state pollinator protection plans, (ii) seek input from stakeholders on the critical elements that should be included in Virginia’s plan and (iii) provide an overview of the critical elements VDACS is proposing for inclusion in the State Managed Pollinator Protection Plan.

VDACS invites all interested stakeholders to participate in these listening sessions and provide comments related to the Virginia State Managed Pollinator Protection Plan. Meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the following locations for the listed dates:

Tuesday, January 26, 2016           John Barton Payne Community Room
2 Courthouse Square
Warrenton, VA 20186

Thursday, January 28, 2016           South County Library
6303 Merriman Road
Roanoke, VA 24018

Monday, February 01, 2016           Southern Piedmont Agriculture Research and Extension Center (AREC)
2375 Darvills Road
Blackstone, VA 23824

Wednesday, February 3, 2016         Virginia Department of Forestry
900 Natural Resources Drive
Charlottesville, VA 22903

Thursday, February 4, 2016           Tuckahoe Area Library
1901 Starling Drive
Henrico, VA 23229

Monday, February 22, 2016           Tidewater AREC
6321 Holland Road
Suffolk, VA 23437

Wednesday, February 24, 2016       Painter AREC
33446 Research Drive
Painter, VA 23420

Written comments may also be emailed to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or mailed to VDACS – Office of Pesticide Services, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond VA 23218.

For the purposes of the Virginia State Managed Pollinator Protection Plan, the term “managed pollinators” includes any species of pollinators that are managed by humans for pollination purposes, the production of honey, beeswax or other products.

The expectation is that mitigating the risk of pesticides to managed pollinators will also reduce risk to native bees and other pollinators as well.

The Virginia State Managed Pollinator Protection Plan will be limited to managed pollinators not under contracted pollination services at the site of application and includes both agricultural and non-agricultural (i.e. turf and ornamental pest control) pesticide applications as well as commercial and noncommercial beekeepers.

For additional information, please contact Liza Fleeson Trossbach, Program Manager, Office of Pesticide Services, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 804.371.6559 or contact Keith Tignor, State Apiarist, Office of Plant Industry Services, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 804.786.3515.