[Pollinator] Xerces beefs up pollinator protection

Mon Apr 21 16:58:23 PDT 2014

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*Xerces beefs up pollinator protection*

Created on Monday, 21 April 2014 14:26 | Written by Jennifer
Anderson<http://www.pamplinmedia.com/component/contact/contact/>

*[image: by: PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE - Don Sturm holds a strand
of year-old black raspberry plantings at his Corbett farm.]*

*by: PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE - Don Sturm holds a strand of
year-old black raspberry plantings at his Corbett farm.*

*Four years ago, Don Sturm had a conundrum. *

On his four Portland-area farms he had acres of black raspberries -- highly
prized for their super antioxidant properties -- that weren't yielding much
of a crop. They're one of the hardest berries to pollinate since bees
aren't as attracted to them.

So Sturm began working with an outreach worker from the Portland-based
Xerces Society to convert the unused parts of his fields into wildflower
meadows, which are prime habitat to attract bees and other pollinators.

Even with as little as half an acre of meadow planted, the result was
magical: a 30 percent higher yield of black raspberries.

"My hope is to get it higher than that, by putting in more native
pollinator plantings and possibly bringing in more bees," says Sturm, a
third-generation farmer. "Pollination is a real key with berries. The more
bees you have, the more production there is."

At Sturm's Corbett farm, his wildflowers will start to bloom in May. The
black raspberries will show in July for their three-week-long season.

"There's a vital role in what we do," he says.

Oregon produces 3 million pounds of black raspberries each year, supplying
98 percent of the worldwide market. Each year, Sturm harvests about 100,000
pounds of those black raspberries -- 3 percent of the world market -- which
he freeze-dries and grinds into powder.

[image: by: PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE - The Xerces Society of
Portland is working with farmers and others to protect bees. Legislation
that would have banned some insecticides that are harmful to pollinators
failed to make it through the 2014 legislative session, but Xerces
officials say they plan to try again to get the legislation passed.]

*by: PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE - The Xerces Society of Portland
is working with farmers and others to protect bees. Legislation that would
have banned some insecticides that are harmful to pollinators failed to
make it through the 2014 legislative session, but Xerces officials say they
plan to try again to get the legislation passed.*

Ninety percent of those sales go to cancer patients across the country. In
its freeze-dried and concentrated form, the antioxidants are six times more
potent than any other berry, Sturm says.

University studies of his berries are underway, and some have shown that
the berries slow the growth of breast, cervical, colon and esophageal
cancers.

Come late spring, Sturm's farms are lush with new habitat: everything from
the yellow and white Douglas meadowfoam, pink sea blush, purple lacy
phacelia and bright California poppies.

He uses herbicides for weeds, but does not use insecticides on his crops,
since his berries have to be clean for use as "nutraceuticals."

Instead, he practices integrated pest management -- using minute pirate bugs
to control the spotted wing drosophila, the berries' biggest pest.

"We're trying to treat our native pollinators as well as we can," Sturm
says. "We try to stay away from anything that hurts the bees."

Scott Black, Xerces Society executive director, is looking forward to more
successes like at Sturm's farm. In the next few years, Xerces' goal is to
get a million acres of pesticide-free habitat restored. "I think it can be
done," Black says. "I really believe we have a movement happening."

*Nurseries block pesticide bill *

Until then, the folks at the Xerces Society are focused on adding the meat
back into a pollinator protection bill passed by the Legislature in
February.

The original version of House Bill 4139 would have restricted the use of
pesticides known as neonicotinoids, which conservationists say are highly
toxic to pollinators. It would have required people to obtain a license
before using neonicotinoids, and read information on pollinator protection
to get the license.

"We find it common sense," Black says. "We feel it's the minimum we should
do."

As amended and signed into law, however, the bill creates a 10-person task
force charged with studying the issue and what's been done in other
jurisdictions.

[image: by: PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE - Corbett farmer Don Sturm
grows black raspberries that are often used for treatments of cancer
patients. His farm is among many in the region helping pollinators by
avoiding insecticides and other harmful chemicals.]

*by: PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE - Corbett farmer Don Sturm grows
black raspberries that are often used for treatments of cancer patients.
His farm is among many in the region helping pollinators by avoiding
insecticides and other harmful chemicals.*

The Oregon Association of Nurseries was the primary opponent. Jeff Stone,
the association's executive director, submitted testimony that "the science
is dubious that banning this class of chemicals would have any positive
effect."

Conservationists liken that tactic to the same used by Big Tobacco or in
climate change debates.

"We don't have a smoking gun either way," says Mace Vaughan, Xerces
pollination program director, about the ongoing studies on neonicotinoids.

"There's no evidence this is truly safe," Vaughan says. "But the studies
that are used now to demonstrate the use of these products on the landscape
is safe is based on treatments to an acre or two. The honeybees are
foraging over 25,000 acres."

Oregon conservationists don't want to wait years for the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency to take action restricting neonicotinoids, Black says.

There is much cause for alarm. "Fifty-four percent of the honeybees died
last winter in Iowa," Vaughan says. "To me that indicates there's a risk we
need to be thinking about."

_______

*Scott Hoffman Black*

Executive Director

     The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Chair

     IUCN Butterfly Specialist Group

*The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation*

628 NE Broadway, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97232, USA

sblack at xerces.org<https://webmail.integra.net/src/compose.php?send_to=sblack%40xerces.org>

Tel: (503) 232-6639 ext. 101

Toll free: 1-855-232-6639 ext. 101

Cell: (503) 449-3792

Connect with Xerces:
*xerces.org <http://www.xerces.org/>*          *Facebook
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Xerces-Society/193182577358618>*
*E-newsletter <http://www.xerces.org/enewsletters/>*          *Twitter
<https://twitter.com/xerces_society>*

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international
nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of
invertebrates and their habitat.

To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work, please
visit www.xerces.org.

Buy our best-selling book:

*Attracting Native Pollinators. Protecting North America's Bees and
Butterflies
<http://www.xerces.org/announcing-the-publication-of-attracting-native-pollinators/>*
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