25 - IPM Education at a State Correctional Facility

Abstract: Typically, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is thought of being conducted in residential areas and natural habitats mosquitoes and other vectors can be found. What is not typically thought of is a state correctional facility. The Utah State Correctional Facility (USCF) moved locations from an urban, developed area to an undeveloped wetland habitat and became operational in the summer of 2022. The relocation of the USCF meant it was now within the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District’s (SLCMAD) jurisdictional boundary and the concerns regarding mosquitoes became almost immediately apparent. West Nile virus is one of the most common mosquito-borne diseases Utah sees each year in both mosquitoes and humans. To address the mosquito concerns and provide a learning opportunity to correctional staff and inmates there, SLCMAD proposed a mosquito education and outreach program along with a fish rearing program, using a native Utah fish called the Least Chub, Iotichthys phlegethontis. This presentation will discuss the details and progress of the programs thus far.