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Summertime in the BelgradesContentsfor Printing Article Summaries |
Biting the Herbicide Bullet
by Esther J. Perne Two informational meetings, roughly 250 concerned residents and vacationers armed with questions and suggestions, 325 plants handpicked since May 2009 (twice the number of last year), and 30 days to appeal the Notice of Intent that has been filed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to apply the pesticide 2,4-D to the outlet cove (Kozy Cove) in Salmon Lake. It was just a matter of time, everyone agreed, before Maine would be faced with the aggressive aquatic plant Eurasian milfoil, which has already infested the other 47 "lower" states. According to the Notice of Intent, Eurasian water milfoil is a submersed, rooted, perennial whose stems can "top out" in 6.1 meters (18 feet) of water, and is most often found in water 0.5 to 3.5 m (2-7 feet) deep. It spreads by regrowth from plant fragments, stolons, and root crowns. Fragments may be created by human and animal activity, but also by "auto-fragmentation." It is winter-hardy, and will spread by transport of fragments from one water body to another by boats, vehicles, and water currents. The Eurasian water milfoil in Salmon Lake, discovered in 2008, has not responded to Maine's Primary Rapid Response Plan of hand pulling and benthic barriers. The cove is too full of stumps and rocks for the latter. The unprecedented State decision to allow only restricted use in the cove has been moderately effective. The current response plan is to treat the infestation with an herbicide. There are reasons for the decision: if the infestation is not dealt with effectively, Salmon Lake will serve as a locus to spread Eurasian water milfoil throughout the Belgrade lakes and beyond. Although this is a new strategy in Maine, the use of chemicals is considered a tool in conjunction with other techniques. The goal, according to a DEP spokesperson, is a one time chemical treatment, then a return to hand pulling.
In making this decision, the Maine DEP and the Maine Board of Pesticides Control have researched an overwhelming and highly scientific quantity of data available from other states that have used herbicides as well as data relating to 2,4-D — all available to the public on the DEP website. In advising lakefront property owners, businesses, vacationers, and users, the DEP is being far more conservative than the product requires. But still, a herbicide in a Maine lake? According to Keith Gazaille of Aquatic Control Technology Inc., the Massachusetts-based company that will apply the 2,4-D, conventional thinking about herbicides has changed. Early detection, early management is the key. There's a lot to be learned from people who have gone through the process. He also comments that the State of Maine is in the best possible position with good legislation and good funding. Other states, such as Massachusetts, that have been applying herbicides for over three decades are just now passing laws. Additionally, he points out, two public meetings are more than what most states have. Most have none.
The end of August appeal date is closing in; almost two weeks have gone by since the last public information meeting. DEP representatives, as busy as they are, and as pressed for time to treat the Eurasian water milfoil, are still holding meetings and answering concerns on a resident by resident basis. This week, a biologist from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will walk the stream between Salmon Lake and Great Pond to get a perspective on organisms. Soon they will go door to door with a specific timetable. No one can say, satisfied with the Rapid Response Program or not, that there has not been sufficient notification of its activities on Salmon Lake. For more information, see "Eurasian Milfoil Control in Salmon Lake" on the DEP website. | |||
