29
Sep
After Celebrating Public Lands Day, People Call for Practices Safe for Health and Environment
(Beyond Pesticides, September 29, 2025) With the theme “Our Home Outdoors,” the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) launched National Public Lands Day this past Saturday—defining this year’s event as follows: “Our public lands are more than just places to visit—they are woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. From the trails we hike to the parks where we gather with family and friends, these spaces are our collective backyard, our shared front porch, our natural playground.” At the same time, people are asking their local governments whether they are using petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers on their parks and playing fields that are known to threaten the health of children, pets, wildlife, and the environment. Beyond Pesticides led a nationwide action to “Tell your local officials to make your parks organic.”
For those engaging with their local elected officials and parks departments, Beyond Pesticides, through its Parks for a Sustainable Future program, offers technical support to transition parks to organic land management through analysis of soil health, development of a plan to improve soil biology to cycle nutrients for healthy plants, training of staff to implement the organic plan, and ongoing consultation for plan adjustments when necessary. Organic systems focus on building organic matter and microbial life in the soil to solubilize nutrients for plant uptake, eliminating the use of petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides and increasing plant health and resilience.
Through this program and with supporters, including the Parks for a Sustainable Future program, Beyond Pesticides has assisted local leaders in converting the following parks and recreational areas exclusively to organic practices. Last month, as a part of a nationwide push to stop the use of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers, the City of Excelsior, Minnesota, joined Kansas City, Missouri, and dozens of communities across the country to begin its organic transition of demonstration sites on city park land. In addition, Beyond Pesticides has worked with dozens of communities to adopt land management policies in jurisdictions of nearly every state in the country. The goal is to create models that show the viability and cost effectiveness of organic management systems that eliminate petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers that contribute to the current health crisis, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency.
Beyond Pesticides invites people nationwide to become a Parks Advocate. The organization advises the following actions:
- For residents who live in a community that is one of a growing number across the country that has taken action to protect people and environment by adopting organic policies and practices in its public spaces, please take this opportunity to thank community leaders. However, be aware that the pesticide industry is seeking to take those policies away from you.
- For communities that have not yet taken action to protect its residents and environment by adopting organic policies and practices in its public spaces, please tell them how much you want them to do so. ℹ️ In the event that your local mayor is not in the system and/or you receive an error message that reads “Please provide a valid residential address,” we invite you to copy/paste the sample message below and send an email with a personalized message!
- Create pesticide-free yard space. Educate the community with a Beyond Pesticides “Pesticide Free Zone” Sign. Please share pictures of organic yards or local parks with Beyond Pesticides and explain why they are so important.
Sample Letters:
Thank you letter to community leaders (Please personalize):
Thank you so much for implementing pesticide-free, organic policies and practices in our parks and public places! I love to spend time in our parks, knowing that I will not be exposed to toxic chemicals. It is great to know that toxic chemicals will not run off from our public spaces into streams and other water. It is wonderful to know that flowers in our parks can provide nectar to pollinators who face so many threats these days.
As I celebrate National Public Lands Day, I thank you on behalf of our local community.
Letter to community leaders for organic policies (Please personalize):
When I learned about how many communities protect their citizens and local environment by transitioning to organic landcare in parks and other public places (https://www.bp-dc.org/tools-for-change), I asked why we can’t do the same in our own community.
Pesticides used in parks, playing fields, and other public places threaten our health—especially that of our children, who are closer to the ground and have greater exposure. Pesticides and chemical fertilizers run off, finding their way to streams. They also threaten pollinators, who are at risk from multiple threats.
Communities no longer need to figure out how to do this alone. Beyond Pesticides’ Parks for a Sustainable Future (https://bp-dc.org/sustainable-parks-land-care-training) program aims to bridge the gaps resulting from staffing constraints and tight budgets, allowing communities to pilot the transition to organic land care on two public sites. As we celebrate National Public Lands Day, I urge you to email (mailto:[email protected]) or call Beyond Pesticides at 202-543-5450 to get started.
Thank you.
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
