Pollinator protection

Published in Capital Gazette on August 8, 2016

In response to “On the Bay: Beekeepers,environmentalists criticize state’s pollinator protection plan” (The Capital, July 20), I wanted to clarify a few points. Pollinator health is declining across the country, not just in Maryland. This decline puts the nation’s food supply — about one-third of which depends upon pollinators — at risk.

President Barack Obama directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to work with state agencies to develop Managed Pollinator Protection Plans (MP3) that mitigate risks to honey bees and other pollinators. In January, the Maryland Department of Agriculture partnered with the Keystone Policy Center and the University of Maryland to conduct a statewide multi-stakeholder summit to identify opportunities and barriers to pollinator health, particularly as they relate to sustainable food production. The summit convened 70 stakeholders, including state agencies, beekeepers, growers, pesticide applicators, landowners, and land managers.

Maryland’s Managed Pollinator Protection Plan, released on June 16, addresses some of those barriers identified at the summit and provides multiple practices that various bee-loving populations can use to improve pollinator health and habitat.

This plan is not the result of the Pollinator Protection Act of 2016 which passed theMaryland General Assembly earlier this year. The EPA is conducting a series of pollinator risk assessments of neonicotinoid pesticides. After EPA releases its recommendations, the department will review and update the State’s pesticide laws and regulations as necessary — and in accordance with the Pollinator Protection Act of 2016 to ensure they are protective of pollinators and consistent with federal law.

The department is working diligently on several fronts to improve pollinator health. Thank you for the opportunity to make this clarification.