There have been a number of acronyms, such as IPM, EMP,and UST, floating around for several years, and different groups or professions have given them different names and meanings. For instance, IPM can mean Integrated Pest Management or Integrated Plant Management and EMP could mean Environmental Management Program or Esoteric Maintenance Project. You have to be careful when using the acronym that it is the correct one for what you are trying to accomplish or get across to someone else.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach or strategy for managing pests at tolerable levels. IPM is a program basically consisting of:

1) closely monitoring plants and insects to determine their stage of development and pest severity;
2) if necessary, implementing a correctly timed plan of action to control the pest with a biological or least-toxic chemical and;
3) evaluating whether the desired results were achieved, readjusting the control plan if appropriate.

A goal for such a program might be to use fewer pesticides (reduce by x% or x pounds) while maintaining or improving the quality of turf, trees, flowers, or whatever you are relating the program to.

Anne R. Lest Leslie, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), defines IPM as, "The coordinated use of pest and environmental information with available pest control methods to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage by the most economical means and with the least possible hazard to people, property and the environment." The use of synthetic pesticides is under attack by the public, and the EPA is tightening up restrictions on use of these chemicals as they can have a negative impact on the environment and the health of humans and wildlife. Chemicals are becoming more costly and pests are developing resistance to many commonly used products. Therefore, it is important to carefully analyze the impact of chemicals used.

The Environmental Management Program (EMP) is a new program instituted by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) in response to the complex training needs of golf course operations today. The environmental impact of golf course maintenance practices has attracted increased scrutiny from the general public and governmental regulatory agencies. The scrutiny has led professional golf course superintendents to demand up-to-date training on environmentally-safe practices. The EMP consists of six distinct specializations:

* Integrated Plant Management (IPM)
* Golf Development
* Underground Storage Tanks (UST)
* Employee Safety and Right-to-Know
* Water Quality and Application
* Storage, Disposal and Recycling

Golf course superintendents may choose to complete one or more of these specializations, each of which is composed of a series of relevant course work. A comprehensive examination is administered at the close of each course, and strict attendance requirements are enforced. Each of the courses carry CEUs of varying amounts.

The following course work for the Integrated Plant Management (IPM) Specialization of the EMP was developed through the collaboration of subject matter experts, golf course superintendents and GCSAA curriculum specialist:

1. Environmental Considerations in Golf Course Management (1.4 CEUs)
2. Introduction to Integrated Pest Management (1.4 CEUs)
3. Turfgrass Stress Management (.7 CEUs)
4. Scouting, Sampling and Monitoring Golf Course Pests (.7CEUs)
5. Implementing Strategies and Plans for Turfgrass Environmental Systems (.7CEUs)
6. Options and Their Application in Pest Management (.7CEUs)
7. Construction and Renovation IPM (.7 CEUs)
(Total of 6.3 CEUs)

This is a very comprehensive training approach for this specialization and upon completion of the course should provide participants with a good background for the examination.

The course work required for the Underground Storage Tank (UST) specialization of the EMP is not quite as extensive as that

required by the IPM specialization as noted below:

1. Environmental Considerations in Golf Course Management (1.4 CEUs)
2. Protection of Water Resources (1.4 CEUs)
3. Underground Storage Tank Selection and Installation (.ICEUs)
4. Underground Storage Tank Monitoring and Record Keeping (.7 CEUs)
(Total of 4.2 CEUs)

Both of these courses, as well as several others in the EMP, would be useful to members of the Parks and Natural Resource Management Section. Therefore, it is recommended that the appropriate Section Committee investigate the possibility of joint sponsorship of these outstanding educational opportunities with the Illinois Chapter of the GCSAA. Many public golf courses have personnel who are members of GCSAA and are familiar with the EMP. Whenever possible we should be working cooperatively with other professional organizations such as this to utilize available training materials which are applicable to our needs.

For more information on GCSAA's Environmental Management Program, contact GCSAA/EMP, 1421 Research Park Drive, Lawrence, Kan. 66049-3859, (913) 841-2240.

About the Author
Robert D. Espeseth is an Associate Professor and Recreation Resource Specialist in the Office of Recreation and Park Resources, Department of Leisure Studies at the University of Illinois.

Editor's Note: The following comments were excerpted from a commencement speech delivered by IAPD Executive Director Ted Flickinger at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, on May 12,1990. These comments were submitted by Robert D. Espeseth as a supplement to his article which begins on page 21.

...in addition to (other)...values, I hope each of you will make a commitment to the environment and leave the world a better place for the generations that follow.

Twenty years ago, we celebrated the first Earth Day. Twenty years ago, when most of the graduates here today were at an early age in life, the environment was not a household word. But, there were plenty of environmental problems facing our nation and the world....But, we reacted. We developed, in the 1970s, a series of laws.(The Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act, The Safe Drinking Water Act). We began to curb pollution.

Then, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a new wave of pollution inundated America. This time, the symbols were the skull and crossbones, signifying poison. Love Canal, Times Beach, and many other areas were discovered to be highly toxic. Again, we enacted laws. (Such laws as the Toxic Substance Control Act, the Resource conservation and Recovery Act and the Super Fund).

In the late 1980s and now into the decade of the 1990s, we are facing the problem of what to do with nuclear waste. We face the problems of massive oil spills. We continue to pollute our ground-water and lakes with pesticides and other toxins...

Unfortunately, many people in the world today have still not made the connection between the health of the planet and the health of the person. The time for all of us to come to the aid of the planet Earth is now. The environmental time bomb is ticking away. But, you can make a difference.

We cannot continue to dump our sewage and industrial waste into the seas and oceans. We cannot continue to ship waste on ocean barges to developing countries, insulting other people and leaving the impression of the Ugly American. We should not do to other nations what we are unwilling to do to ourselves. We must lead by example. We must lead through education and technology. You can speak out and speak up as future leaders and political or environmental activists. You can make a difference.

Another concern is the population explosion. If current birth rates hold, the world's present population of 5.1 billion people will double again in 40 more years. The population explosion creates a growing demand for the shrinking natural resources.

The United States continues to be a major degrader of the planet. Our cars and factories pump hundreds of millions of tons of chemicals into the air each year, contributing to atmospheric pollution such as the greenhouse effect, global warming and acid rain. We are not leading by example. You can change all this.

We have the power to do something about pollution. We also have the power to destroy the Earth. We face environmental threats of unprecedented proportions.

Twenty-seven million acres of tropical forest are cleared each year. The loss of our tropical forest threatens to extinguish, forever, one-fourth of the current plant and animal species by the end of thiscentury. Time is running out. Extinction can come quickly and extinction is forever.

Why should we care about the fate of these forests that are thousands of miles away? Not only do these forests provide food and shelter to at least half of the world's species of wildlife, these tropical forests are also the world's largest pharmaceutical factory.. .the sole source of life-saving medicines like quinine, man's most potent weapon against malaria. Hundreds of thousands of people owe their lives today to these precious plants, shrubs and trees. What would we do without them? The Rosy Periwinkle is an endangered tropical plant. But, who cares? I hope we all care because this plant is the source of the effective anti-leukemia drug used today.

Who needs nature? I can tell you that every one of us needs nature... for food, health and scientific innovation, for the prevention of floods, droughts, epidemics and other natural disasters. And, of course, we need these places for our wildlife, our plants. We need them for recreation and for renewal and inspiration. And, yes, we need these places for survival.

We must realize that we cannot damage one species without affecting others, including ourselves. The first rule of an orderly world is equilibrium. If the world is man's house, then he must put his house in order.

Solutions can be found in the halls of education, in our park districts and forest preserves. Educators and nature interpreters can make a difference. You graduates in education and recreation can integrate an environmental message into your everyday curriculums and programs.

The Exxon oil spill was a teachable occurrence. In physics, you could study how wind patterns played a role in the spread of the oil. In chemistry, your students could learn how oil and water interact.There are thousands of examples that can be used in the classroom and in your park and nature interpretation programs. Research has shown that most students have formed their environmental attitudes by the time they reach the eighth grade. You graduates in recreation and education can have tremendous influence on these young people. But, we must first dispel the notion that human beings are somehow independent from the rest of the natural world. If we don't kill off that misconception, it will surely kill us.

I hope by the year 2000 we will look back to the 1990s as a turn-around decade. In the 1990s perhaps as never before, human fate rests in human hands. Few periods in history have presented such clear choices between promise and peril. What legacy will you passon to future generations?