For Release: Wednesday, November 23, 2011
DEC's Vincent Palmer Honored By Cornell Cooperative Extension
Receives Award for Outstanding Cooperation On 4-Poster Tick Management Study
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Special Assistant to the Commissioner Vincent A. Palmer received the 2011 Cornell Cooperative Extension Outstanding Cooperator award in recognition of his efforts in advancing the New York State 4-Poster Tick Management Technology Study. The award was presented on November 16 at Suffolk County Community College's Eastern Campus in Riverhead.
"It is gratifying to see Vincent Palmer recognized by Cornell Cooperative Extension," DEC Region One Regional Director Peter A. Scully said. "This award recognizes his outstanding leadership, during difficult economic times, which saw this important study through to completion despite numerous obstacles. This study developed data that will help DEC determine if this tick control device can be used safely on Long Island in a manner that protects humans from tick-borne diseases."
"The approximately $1.4 million study would not have been completed but for the financial support Vincent Palmer helped procure, the many community meetings he attended providing detailed technical and factual information, and his authoritative and responsive representation of the Department that gave the communities confidence to continue in their support of the work, said Dale Moyer, associate executive director for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County. "His dedication to openness was exemplary among public servants and helped all involved to understand the basis for decisions that were made over the course of the Study. We recognized Vincent Palmer for his exceptional support of and assistance to Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and the communities of Shelter Island, Fire Island and North Haven in facilitating the 4-Poster Deer and Tick Study."
In April 2011, DEC announced the findings of the 2007-2011 New York State 4-Poster™ Tick Management Technology Study, which was presented in a final report prepared by Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County.
The study was designed to examine technical wildlife management and health concerns expressed by DEC and NYS Department of Health (DOH) relative to the use of a device that controls blacklegged (deer) ticks and lone star ticks that feed on white-tailed deer. The five-year study cost $1.4 million and involved a consortium of federal, state, and local agencies, academia, and private interests.
DEC wildlife biologists and pesticide specialists are now studying the report, and will use their findings to determine the appropriate course of action relative to subsequent use of this technology. Use of the device in New York would require DEC authorization for both the professional use of the devices and for the use of bait to attract deer.
The study used approximately 60 4-Poster™ Deer Treatment Devices on Shelter Island and approximately eight devices on Fire Island. The 4-Poster™ Deer Treatment Device passively applies a dose of permethrin-based 4-Poster™ Tickicide to deer when they visit a strategically placed device to obtain corn bait.
According to the New York State Department of Health (DOH), permethrin is widely used as an insecticide on numerous food/feed crops, livestock and livestock housing, buildings, indoor and outdoor residential spaces, on pets, and for community-based mosquito control.
As indicated in the final New York State report, researchers observed that tick levels in 4-Poster treatment sites significantly declined compared with the control site from 2008 to 2009, and in most cases from 2008 to 2010. A number of other studies outside of New York State have shown reductions in tick populations (all stages of development - adult, nymphal, and larval)measuring greater than 90 percent, and as much as 100 percent. Results from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Northeast Area-Wide Tick Control Project, which did involve a New York State treatment site, demonstrated the effectiveness of 4-Poster™ technology with efficacies against nymphal blacklegged and lone star ticks ranging from 60.0 to 81.7 and 90.9 to 99.5 percent, respectively.
Mr. Palmer has worked for the DEC since 1978 and has managed DEC's Nassau and Suffolk pesticide control program since 1981. During this time frame, he authored regulations regarding the use of termite control pesticides, prepared the West Nile virus regulatory response manual and is currently directing the development of the Draft Long Island Pesticide Use Management Plan.
The overall goal of the Draft Pesticide Use Management Plan is to prevent adverse effects to human health and the environment by protecting Long Island's groundwater resources from pesticides contamination while continuing to meet agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional pest management needs.
