An advisory committee tasked with protecting Cape Pogue is urging the town to allow the use of pesticides in some cases in the name of conservation. 

The Cape Pogue district of critical planning concern advisory committee voted 6-3 on Dec. 9 to amend the language of the town’s zoning bylaws to allow the use of pesticides. The vote kicked the recommendation to the planning board, which last week passed the proposal to the select board.

Town bylaws have prohibited use of pesticides, herbicides and other poisons on Cape Pogue since 1989, but with growing concern for invasive species and non-native plants and animals that can harm the environment, conservationists argued pesticides can, at times, be the only option to stop their growth.

Matt Pelikan, the program director of BiodiversityWorks, drafted the new language as a member of the Cape Pogue advisory committee. He was appointed by conservation organizations on the Island to serve on the committee as an advocate for wildlife and spoke to the benefits of using pesticides as a management tool.

“We live in an era of accelerating global travel and global commerce that is moving species around the globe at an unprecedented rate,” he said. “We can expect the number of invasive species and the need to be worried about [them] to do nothing but increase over time.” 

In his profession, Mr. Pelikan added that there are some species where the only option is using herbicides or pesticides.

The amended bylaw will have to go before town meeting for approval.

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission began designating areas as DCPCs, or districts of critical planning concern, in 1977 to protect the Island’s most fragile landscapes from development.

The advisory committee for Cape Pogue is tasked with proposing wildlife management and recreational guidelines for the region, as well as advising the planning board on applications for special permits. The committees’ membership includes representatives from the board of health, The Trustees of Reservations, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, the conservation commission, board of health and state departments.

Darci Schofield, the Islands director for the Trustees, used the removal of invasive oriental bittersweet on the Island as an example of when pesticides and herbicides are needed over alternative methods. The vines, which can grow up to 60 feet long, serve no function on the Island and devastate the marshes. 

“Mechanically removing bittersweet, for example, causes more damage to the ecosystem because you have to disrupt the system so much,” Ms. Schofield said.

She also mentioned the invasive southern pine beetles devastating the red pines in Wasque. While non-chemical solutions would be preferred, Ms. Schofield said the bylaws shouldn’t rule pesticides and herbicides out. 

“If there’s a treatment there that could save those red pines, at least that would be ideal right?” Ms. Schofield said.

Committee member Charlie Blair said while he understands that invasive species pose a threat to Cape Pogue, he thinks allowing pesticides in any capacity is a bad idea. He grew-up on his father’s citrus farm in southern Florida and said he observed how pesticides, specifically DDT which was outlawed in the United States in the 1970s, poisoned the land. 

“I just can’t imagine why the use of pesticides would be accepted in the DCPC region in Cape Pogue,” Mr. Blair said. “It just goes against everything I can think of… poisoned wells, dead shellfish, dead finfish… Keep Cape Pogue as pure as we can, it isn’t worth the risk to kill some poison ivy or a few mosquitoes.”

Committee chair and Chappaquiddick resident Rachel Self said she is wary of allowing pesticides on the fragile landscape, but does not agree with banning them entirely. If the bylaws were to be amended, there needs to be an extensive verification process before projects get approved, she said.

“I’m okay opening the door to there being the ability to have it not be a blanket prohibition, but I feel very strongly that there needs to be significant steps,” Ms. Self said. “I appreciate wanting to have a door as opposed to just a box with no door, but I think it should be really hard to get the keys.”

Ms. Self voted against the proposed amendment alongside Mr. Blair and Mike McCourt, who also sits on the Edgartown planning board.