Vineyard Team Named PESP Champion by EPA
 
TEMPLETON, CA – Central Coast Vineyard Team (CCVT) was one of 13 organizations recently named a 2004 “PESP Champion” by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for outstanding efforts in pollution prevention and pesticide risk reduction under the EPA’s Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP). The PESP is a voluntary program established in 1994 that forges partnerships with pesticide users to implement pollution-prevention strategies and reduce the environmental and health risks associated with pesticide use. PESP began with 16 charter members, and now has 147 members representing various industries across the nation.

We’re really pleased to receive this kind of recognition on a national level,” said CCVT Executive Director Kris O’Conner. “It really speaks to the innovation and commitment of our founders, board, and members. Thanks to their dedication, we’ve been able to take what was a visionary idea ten years ago and make it a reality.” “CCVT is being recognized for its positive points system (PPS), which serves as the basis of a program aimed at grower self-assessment, education, and adoption of a reduced risk systems approach to vineyard management,” according to the EPA. “This grower group is demonstrating continued progress in outreach and education, developing and implementing a system for documenting grower progress in adopting sustainable winegrowing practices, and for its biologically-integrated farming system.”

Michael McDavit, Acting Chief of the EPA’s Policy and Regulatory Services in the Office of Pesticide Programs also praised CCVT’s approach to outreach and education, noting that the group “is very creative and approaches problem-solving from a positive perspective. I’m impressed by CCVT’s ability to influence behavior among members in a purely demonstrative manner, leading by demonstrating and illustrating rather than by mandating or coercion.”

Overall, the 2004 PESP Champions were recognized for their use of several integrated pest management (IPM) strategies to reduce the environmental and human health risks associated with pesticide use, including: sampling to accurately determine pest population levels, training and demonstrating IPM practices, employing cultural practices such as crop rotation or removing food and habitat for structural pests, controlling or managing pests through biologically based technologies, applying less toxic or reduced-risk pesticides such as insect growth regulators, and using conventional pesticides only when absolutely necessary. Virtually all of these elements are represented in CCVT’s self-assessment Positive Points System.

For more information about CCVT, contact them at (805) 369-CCVT (2288), 835 12th Street, Suite 204, Paso Robles, CA 93446, www.vineyardteam.org.