Guest Post: When killing grasshoppers kills native bees

Editor’s Note:  At Environment America, our focus is on creating a greener, healthier world. We share our progress and campaigns on this page. From time to time, we’ll post observations from others. This one caught our eye because it’s both deeply green and thoughtfully pragmatic. The views expressed in guest posts do not necessarily represent the position of our group.

For more than 50 years, Xerces has worked to protect invertebrates, “the little things that run the world.” This work is not always easy.  Sometimes, we’ve needed to take a firm stand, because undervaluing and killing off these little things for human benefit and convenience has long been the norm.

Recently, Xerces (together with the Center for Biological Diversity and Advocates for the West) won a lawsuit against a federal agency and their widespread pesticide spraying program across the western U.S. Here is the story, and what this victory means for wildlife conservation.

Grasshoppers and katydids are a vital part of the ecosystem

Let’s start with the insects at the center of the issue, native grasshoppers and katydids. Across the western U.S., there are hundreds of species of these insects, which come in many shapes and colors. 

Many live in the same grass- and shrub-filled rangelands that ranchers use to feed their livestock. Because some grasshopper species and one katydid (the Mormon cricket) can potentially compete with livestock for plants to eat, the federal government applies insecticides to kill these insects, at taxpayer expense on public lands, and with inadequate consideration for the many types of wildlife affected.

The federal grasshopper suppression program, led by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), sprays pesticides and drops poisoned bait from planes across hundreds of thousands of acres (sometimes millions!) each year. Spray areas frequently include public lands with sensitive environments and conservation purposes. These pesticides are toxic to not just grasshoppers, but bees, butterflies, and other insects, which have no way to avoid the sprays. To make things worse, APHIS sprays tend to coincide with peak insect activity. For years, Xerces has been advocating for more sustainable solutions.

Like so many thorny issues, viewing grasshoppers solely as a problem is short-sighted. A huge number of grassland birds — from songbirds to raptors — rely on grasshoppers for food. Spiders and other invertebrate predators, as well as many mammals and reptiles, also eat grasshoppers. Grasshoppers can actually boost plant growth when they feed on plants that are slow to decompose, and some grasshoppers consume weeds. In fact, of the 400+ species of grasshoppers native to Western rangelands, the vast majority do not cause economic damage to rangeland or farms.

Going forward, pest management techniques must go beyond pesticides

For years, Xerces Society has engaged in good-faith efforts to bring our concerns to the leaders of APHIS. Ultimately, together with the Center for Biological Diversity and represented by Advocates of the West, we went to court. We learned a few weeks ago that we won this lawsuit.

According to the court, because APHIS “ignores any pest management techniques other than the application of pesticides,” it violated the law, failing its duty under the Food Quality Protection Act to use integrated pest management techniques (IPM). IPM is an approach to managing pests that combines biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks.

Effectively, the court decision will help APHIS move away from an unsustainable reliance on pesticides, and actually broaden the tools available for grasshopper management. APHIS acknowledged in its 2019 Environmental Impact Statement that, instead of pesticides, non-chemical preventative techniques are the best grasshopper management strategies, but then failed to develop a plan for incorporating these into its program.  

Other techniques can include denser grass and less bare ground to keep “problem” grasshoppers under control.

Ranchers and farmers need options other than pesticides to handle grasshopper outbreak

Because Xerces works with ranchers and farmers every day, we recognize that grasshopper outbreaks can sometimes cause hardship to producers. 

Currently, affected ranchers have few options offered by the government other than chemical treatment. The insecticides used by APHIS are a threat to the many insects important for ranching, such as native pollinators and decomposers. These tiny but mighty animals can actually enhance livestock’s diets, by helping nutritious plants reproduce, and breaking down manure into useful nutrients for new growth.

Federal pest management strategies must consider sensitive habitats and wildlife

The court also ruled that APHIS must do a better job of assessing risk to sensitive environmental resources. For example, portions of the American West are home to approximately 1,000 species of native bees, many of which are declining. But APHIS has continued to spray within the habitats of  at-risk species like the Western and Morrison bumble bees. Throughout, APHIS has ignored many effects of their program on wildlife and other sensitive environmental resources such as recreational areas, drinking water sources, and culturally important areas.

We’re pleased with the outcome of this legal challenge and believe it strikes the right balance. Our goal is to curtail widespread use of toxic pesticides on public lands, and find more sustainable solutions. This decision will help to reshape the federal grasshopper management program into one that better supports everyone: ranchers, farmers, and wildlife.

This story was originally posted at the Xerces Society blog site on 8-29-24 and has been lightly edited.