Governor pursues a bee-friendlier Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS - Gov. Mark Dayton is seeking to extend a little “Minnesota nice” to the state’s declining honeybee population by issuing an executive order Friday limiting certain pesticides that harm them, a step advocates said positions the state as a leader in protecting pollinating insects critical to the nation’s food supply.
In making the announcement at the Minnesota State Fair, the Democratic governor stressed the importance of pollinators to the state’s $90 billion agriculture industry.
The class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids is one of several factors that have been blamed for falling pollinator populations, along with parasites such as mites, diseases and poor nutrition. About one-third of the human diet comes from plants pollinated by insects, and honeybees do about 80 percent of that.
“We want to work cooperatively with user groups,” Dayton said at a news conference. “We’re not trying to ban anybody’s practices or businesses, but there’s a lot more we can do — all of us — more sensibly, with better awareness, to protect the pollinators.”
Dayton’s order directs the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to require verification that any application of neonicotinoid pesticides is necessary because of imminent threats of significant crop losses. It also creates a task force to study issues affecting pollinators and to recommend longterm solutions.
The governor also ordered state agencies to lead by example on the 8 million acres of land they manage statewide. Those steps will include turning highway rights-of-way into better habitat, with more of the kinds of plants pollinators crave. Neonicotinoid-treated plants and pesticides will be prohibited in the 40acre State Capitol complex, and pollinatorfriendly plants will be included in the Capitol’s landscaping plan.
The order incorporates most of the recommendations from a special review that the state Agriculture Department conducted of neonicotinoids. But some of Dayton’s proposals require legislative approval, including giving the state authority to regulate neonicotinoid-treated seeds. Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson said about 80 percent of seeds planted today are treated with the insecticides.
University of Minnesota bee expert Marla Spivak said the governor’s order “puts Minnesota miles ahead of all the other states in our nation. … I honestly don’t know a farmer, a nursery operator, a grower, a pesticide applicator, that wants to kill a bee or monarch while they’re controlling their crop pests.”