Background of the Pesticide Reduction Program

Originally an element of the City's Environmental Management Program, and now being maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation, the goals of the pesticide reduction program are to eliminate the use of the most potentially hazardous herbicides and insecticides and to reduce overall pesticide use.

The City of Seattle manages over 110,00 acres of public land, of which 12,000 acres are highly developed and managed grounds including greenhouses, specialty gardens, roadsides and medians, golf courses, and hundreds of miles of electrical transmission right-of-way.

Grounds staff, who have been practicing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for over 20 years using pest prevention and mechanical and cultural methods in landscape maintenance, were involved from the inception of the program. This resulted in a widely accepted approach that stretched our idea of what was possible and provided staff with other tools as well as the freedom to try things that might not work. Employee driven innovations have resulted in the elimination of Tier 1 insecticides and herbicides and a reduction in overall pesticide use.

Pesticide Program Policy and Development

Environmental Management Program Chemical Use Policy (Doc 32KB)

Landscape and Grounds Management Policy (Doc 27KB)

Landscape and Grounds Management Guidelines (PDF 994KB)

Pesticide Reduction Strategy Document (Doc 68KB)

Pesticide Use Fact Sheet (Doc 44 KB)

Tri County Integrated Pest Management Policy

Pesticide Signage Standards (Doc 22KB)

Standard Sign Example (Doc 27KB)

Pesticide Product Review Process

Exception Requests - Herbicides (PDF 101KB)

Exception Requests - Insecticides (Doc 27 KB)

Exception Request Process (Doc 35KB)

Exception Request Form (Doc 34KB)

Pesticide Tier Tables (Excel 250KB)    

  Guide to Tier Tables (Doc 15KB)

Preliminary Evaluation of Pesticides Used by the City of Seattle - Phillip Dickey, Washington Toxics Coalition (PDF 71KB)

Pilot Projects

Compost Tea Trials - Final Report (PDF 712KB)

Experiments with Compost Tea and Mycorrhizae Applications (Doc 60KB)

Green Lake Shoreline Restoration Project (Doc 20.5KB) 

    & Signage (Doc 175KB)

Green Lake Shoreline Restoration Project Progress
     - A slide show 

Heat Alternatives - Cost Analysis (Doc 30KB)

Steam Heat Weeder (Doc 62KB)

Vacant Property Reclamation (13 KB)

Zero Maintenance Landscape Circles (13.5  KB)

Pesticide Free Parks

List of Pesticide Free Parks

Pesticide Free Parks - A slide show

Links - Government

City of Seattle Natural Landscaping Program

Alternative Pest Control Practices for City of Seattle Grounds Managers Submitted by the Green Gardening Program (Doc 89KB)

King County Pesticide Strategy

King County Dept of Natural Resources

King County Noxious Weed Program

King County Local Hazardous Waste Program Safer Gardening

San Francisco Integrated Pest Management Program

Sustainable Landscaping - EPA Region 10

Washington State Department of Agriculture (Pesticide & Fertilizer Info)

Washington State Pesticide & Environmental Stewardship

Links - Other

Northwest Natural Yard Days

Seattle Tilth

Extoxnet - Fact Sheets for Some Common Pesticides