NEWS
Leverett Conservation Commission meeting to be held on Monday October 4 at 7 pm.
(We're hoping this will be the last reschedule. Thanks for your patience)
A link to the virtual meeting can be found here: https://leverett.ma.us/g/40/Conservation-Commission.
Among other business, this will be a continuation of the Public Hearing on the Leverett Pond Weed Management NOI. We hope to have the final habitat report in hand by then and may even have a presentation by our habitat consultant. Also, it's not too late to send a letter of support to the Committee:
Background: We are concerned the Commission may not consider aggressive milfoil infestation of Leverett Pond a serious ecological issue. One Commission member even considers invasive plants to be benign or beneficial. Of the options considered, our best action at this time is to urge FLP members and community members at large to send letters supporting our NOI to the Commission. Attached please find a letter template prepared by a fellow FLP member. It does an excellent job arguing in favor of weed management using effective practices. We urge every FLP member to read this letter, edit for their own purposes and email to: concom@leverett.ma.us and cc to: selectboard@leverett.ma.us sometime before ConCom’s next meeting on October 4 at 7:00. pm. We also strongly urge everyone to attend this virtual meeting and speak in favor of the FLP Notice of Intent.
P.S. Please pass this along to your friends and neighbors and anyone else you know who values Leverett Pond.
To the Leverett Conservation Commission:
I am an enthusiastic supporter of Leverett Pond and care deeply about this wonderful natural treasure in the heart of our town. I want to see it persist as a resilient, healthy ecosystem.
The current process around granting permits to control aquatic weeds on the pond is of great concern for me. I understand and appreciate that public comment is an essential part of any regulatory process in a democracy, and that you are exercising your due diligence in hearing comments that oppose FLP’s application. But a permit process also needs to make determinations based on science, not on pseudo-science and bias. Opponents should not be able to hold up the process while the problem on the pond increases. “No action” on the weeds in the pond could spell the end of Leverett Pond as we know it.
This commission supported construction of a new dam at the pond, which FLP undertook in part at the suggestion of the commission several years ago. They understood then that other methods besides, or in addition to, herbicides were needed to control milfoil and other invasive species. This year’s permit requests are intended to take a multi-pronged, science-based approach to the problem — including possible winter drawdowns, raking by hand and machine, and targeted and low-dose herbicide applications when needed. I support this integrated pest management approach and hope that the commission will see its way clear to approval of FLP’s applications as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
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