Bugs and Bulbs at Chief Plenty Coups

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Last winter, museum conservator Rita Kaunekas, and conservation technician Lynne Caine, prepared an Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPMA) for Chief Plenty Coups State Park. The plan identifies the routine work that the park will do to keep critters on the run. Since insects never disappear for good, an IPMA helps us keep after them efficiently. The plan is to use a freeze-thaw process of freezing the artifacts, then vacuuming them once they thawed to room temperature. Then spraying borid acid twice a year and introducing sage and cedar chips to the cases to detour the insects. Also this year, exhibit specialist Geoff Wyatt installed fiber optic lights in Plenty Coups’ museum display – replacing ancient fluorescent tubes. The lights – the first to be used in Montana--eliminated heat and ultra- violet rays that harm museum objects. CONTACT BILLINGS.