BY GEORGE FJELD
BRANDON–The regular meeting of the Otter Creek Watershed (OWB) Board on February 16 was attended by invited guests from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture: Steve Dwinell, Director of Public Health and Agricultural Resource Management Division, and Patti Casey, Environmental Surveillance Program Manager. Dwinell, in his first year in Vermont, ran mosquito control in Florida most of his career. He’s now responsible for the regulatory framework, tech support, and oversight of insect control in Vermont. Casey, who is also a talented singer/songwriter, is charged with helping with mosquito surveillance and administering grants to the insect-control districts. There are only two such districts in Vermont: OCW and Lemon Fair.
Dwinell described the district’s task as control of the mosquito population to keep it at a tolerable level. Surveillance is the key issue and control measures are only employed when the population is at or will be above the tolerance limit. The OCW has a permit for larvicide application that will continue until 2025. The adulticide permit will need to be renewed this year. He’s looking to work with the district to develop the permit application and conditions of adulticide use.
Dwinell went on to say that mosquitos’ primary blood-meal necessary for survival comes from birds. High levels of mosquito population can greatly impact bird populations. Humans are only innocent bystanders/victims in the mosquitos’ survival. Routine treatment to control mosquitos is not necessary; larvicides and adulticides are only used when the population gets to a high enough level to impact human comfort. Some areas cannot use larvicide and therefore need to use adulticide. Forested areas are the most common examples in our area.
Approval of the publishing of an updated trifold brochure was passed. An annual budget of $236,329 was also approved.
The meeting began with public comment from Wayne Rausenberger, who stated that the watershed has 16,000 acres of wetland and receives $4.38/acre of grant for larvicide. No aerial spraying has occurred for 3 years. Only about 30% of the wetlands are accessible from land. This was acknowledged by the board. The board refused to hear questions from Rausenberger after the presentation by Mr. Dwinell.
NOTE-No Spray Zone requests must be made/renewed annually before April 15th. Requests received after April 15th will be honored, but there could be a delay between receipt of the request and marking the property, which could result in the property being sprayed. For further information about adulticiding activities or No Spray Zone requests please contact the OCW at www.ocwicd.com/adulticide-program or call 802-247-6779.
