Timpanogos Cave National Monument - Pests

Timoanogos Cave National Monument by National Parks Service

A pest is a population of organisms that interferes with the purposes of the monument such as protecting resources (natural or cultural) or visitor safety. Take packrats, for example, evidence in the cave would suggest that they have inhabited the cave for hundreds of years. However, they can get into trash cans, steal visitor's food, and create quite a scare. The packrats create unwanted effects and can be considered "pests." However, these "pests" need to be properly managed for they are important natural energy flow to substain the health of the cave's ecosystem.

The National Park Service uses Integrated Pest Management to control pests with little effect to the surrounding biotic communities. This approach is based on proper identification of a pest and a thorough understanding of the biology of the pest species being managed. Pests are managed only when damage reaches a pre-determined threshold, using a variety of treatments such as mechanical, physical, cultural or biological. Chemical treatments are used only as a last resort, and only when shown to be the most effective and least damaging method of treatment.

Integrated Pest Management would identify the importance of the packrats to the cave's ecology. These packrats should not be eliminated or moved, rather the solution to these "pests" needs to be applied to their unwanted, negative effects. Efforts to better seal trash cans, store food, and educate about the benefits, would be the Integrated Pest Management approach to solution pest problems while preserving the park's resources.