Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

Pesticides federally registered for use against vertebrate pests are listed and discussed. Although the number of registered pesticides appears substantial, most are chemicals of questionable utility (e.g., naphthalene, mineral oil, bone oil, and sulfur dioxide), and are not considered as viable alternatives to more typical pesticides. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) as amended is described in relation to vertebrate pesticides. Reregistration of all currently registered pesticide products, as now required by FIFRA, is discussed. Through cancellation and suspension procedures, known as Rebuttable Presumption Against Registration (RPAR), the Act authorizes the removal from the market of registered products purported to cause unreasonable adverse effects. The author discusses pesticide labelling, application certification, Experimental Use Permits (EUPs), and emergency use and state restrictions. Regarding vertebrate pest control chemicals, the author views some of the inter-related positive and negative impacts of amended FIFRA and as enforced by the EPA as follows: 1. Land managers will be forced to absorb more losses caused by vertebrate pests due to the lack of chemical tools and higher costs of fewer pesticides. 2. Higher costs are inevitable; the cost of bringing a new chemical on line has risen from $1 million in 1956 to $8 - $10 million. 3. Research & development and registration time-frames of new chemicals have doubled, leaving much less time to achieve a profit under 17-year patent protection. 4. The probability of finding new vertebrate pest chemicals is extremely low. 5. A trend toward usage of less toxic or persistent products is in progress, even if effectiveness and low cost are sacrificed. 6. The recognized need for highly selective and safer products presents a cost and registration quandary. The author concludes that the pendulum of public emotion regarding pesticides has swung from blind commitment to all forms of progress to another extreme. The pendulum has not yet swung back to a position many of us consider reasonable.