Integrated vegetation management the exploration of a concept to application

With the seminal "Position Paper" issued (first released as an internal working paper format in the early 1990s) by the member utilities of the New York Power Pool entitled "Application of Integrated Pest Management to Electric Utility Right-of-Way Vegetation Management in New York State" the phrase Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) was utilized, defined, and described in detail as being a more functional term. This IPM/IVM Position Paper described how many commonly accepted Integrated Pest Management (IPM) precepts (tactics and program elements) are incorporated into contemporary electric transmission right-of-way (ROW) vegetation management programs in New York State. As a result, the acronym IVM has since become synonymous with ROW vegetation management and is now used throughout the industry as an ambiguous descriptive term for virtually all ROW vegetation management activities. Unfortunately, the term IVM means different things to different people. The deployment of herbicides to achieve many of the goals and objectives of an authentic IVM program needs to be based upon the appropriate principles and practices of the much more rigorously established IPM body of knowledge. In order to gain scientific credibility and regulatory and public acceptance the entire concept of IVM (as a distinct subset of IPM) needs to be thoroughly "thought out" so that all it's various assumptions and premises are easily recognized and the benefits to be derived from the application of IVM are transparent to all. This paper will attempt to evaluate the original IPM/IVM Position Paper and focus on the rationale for the changes that have been made (and those that haven't) in the revised 2000 edition of this IPM/IVM Position Paper. The concepts espoused in this IPM/IVM Position Paper have now been subject to nearly 10 years of application experience and thus a more detailed understanding of how well the various ROW vegetation management practices qualify under the rubric of commonly accepted IPM (IVM) principles is needed.