The 2012 ASHS Annual Conference

From 1999 until 2009, the Las Vegas Valley population grew from 500,000 to nearly 2.5 million. This created a challenge: to meet pest management needs with minimum impact on residents and the environment. As pesticide usage expands, concerns about their environmental effects also expand. This results in a need to increase community educational outreach. Pesticide training has traditionally been conducted as stand-alone programs for specific groups such as pest control operators, farmers and nurserymen.  The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Horticulture team looked at new clientele groups to target, such as Commercial Training Conferences, Master Gardener training, Prison Horticulture training, Invasive Weed management programs, and other community programs whose clientele and staff must also understand IPM principles.  Integrating IPM training into other programming reaches users effectively. It has proven successful in Master Gardener training by including a section on IPM and pesticide safety. A CEU training track was added to a large green industry training, which met a stated need from many landscape professionals. One important but overlooked group is those who work in areas other than horticulture. Employees and staff in other areas of organizations such as Las Vegas mega-resorts are now being targeted. This includes those who control funding.  Good educational efforts in a community such as Las Vegas encompass many partners and a diverse clientele.