1.  What are the long range goals of the board?

 The current Board members seek to transition to an Integrated Pest Management plan for controlling mosquitoes.  This method addresses all aspects of the mosquitoes' life cycle and environment with an emphasis on primary prevention and using least toxic and most targeted methods.  This means spending more of our efforts eliminating potential breeding sites by helping people improve irrigation practices and improve drainage as well as clean up potential container sites.  If there is no standing water, there will be no chance for mosquitoes.  The next most important effort is to monitor and control the breeding sites we can't eliminate - stock ponds, natural wetlands, riverside pools, etc.  We use products that target mosquito larvae specifically and are safe for livestock, fish, and other wildlife.  If we are diligent, very few mosquitoes will "escape" to adulthood and fly.  Although it is impossible to eliminate all mosquitoes, if we know about and treat every breeding site, it will significantly reduce the adult population to a much safer and more tolerable level.  Unfortunately, in the North Fork Valley, we have many more sites than in most regions because of our flood irrigation practices and high water table.  Building on the work of previous years and our more sophisticated mapping techniques, we continue to locate new sites on a weekly basis.  However, we suspect there are still many more as yet unidentified, and even one untreated site can breed thousands of mosquitoes over the season.  Until we have mapped and managed all the sites, we will have escapes, which will live to adulthood to bite, bother, breed, and spread disease.  Each community sets its own threshold for when and whether to spray pesticides to kill adult mosquitoes.  Some never do unless there is an outbreak of disease.  Others, as ours has done in the past, spray routinely as a matter of course.  However, as concerns about pesticide resistance and chemical exposure have grown, routine spraying is becoming increasingly rare and is no longer recommended even by the companies selling the products and equipment needed to spray.  IPM includes adult surveillance by live trapping and identifying of adult mosquitoes throughout the target area to determine whether there are outbreaks that need to be addressed.  With good site management, outbreaks should be rare and spot spraying more effective.  Although our area will be challenging to manage, in the long run IPM practices should result in fewer mosquitoes and less disease.  Allowing larvae to reach adulthood is dangerous, as even if we were calendar spraying as before, we'd be giving the mosquitoes a week's head start to spread disease, and even the most effective spraying programs are estimated to control only half the adult population.  We will continue to work with the Health Department to target any outbreaks of infected mosquitoes to help protect the public.

2.  How can I learn more about West Nile disease?

Click on the links at the bottom of the left column.  Colorado's Fight the Bite Campaign has great information and even more links to explore.  Prevention is the key, and mosquito control is only part of it.  Avoid going out at dusk and evening.  Wear long sleeves and pants if you do, and be sure to use a good repellent.  The CDC recommends products containing DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus.  Other products may work but do not generally last as long.