Association to Preserve Cape Cod

What I'm Thinking...

Clear as Day

by Andrew Gottlieb, Executive Director

Some things, say world peace, curing cancer, or affordable healthcare are really complicated, while many others are thought to be, but really aren’t. The questions about the wisdom of local initiatives to empower towns to control the application of pesticides and fertilizers are an example of something simple that gets characterized as complicated.

Excess nutrients, from stormwater that contains fertilizer runoff, are a documented source of water quality decline on Cape Cod. Pesticides applied to the ornamental lawns, trees and shrubs kill most things they come in contact with, including beneficial insects and pollinators and not just the advertised single species. We pay a high price in environmental quality for the green lawns and insect-free environments that people seem to want to impose on the landscape.

So far, the story is pretty straight forward and simple. It starts to seem messy when one realizes that communities lack the authority to self-determine and define how much, if any, fertilizers and pesticides to allow. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has usurped this local control and placed all regulation of pesticides and fertilizers in the hands of the Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR). To be generous, DAR has a statewide view of regulation that fails to take into account the unique hydrogeology of the Cape and has set standards that are inadequate to protect the natural resources of Cape Cod. I hear a lot that given DAR's preemption, towns should not bother to try to pass these local rules. In fact, many people who oppose limits claim the jurisdiction issues are just too confusing to make trying even worth it.

Where some see confusion, we see a clear path. Towns should absolutely express their preferences for fewer nutrients and pesticides in the environment through Home Rule petitions passed at town meeting. While unlikely to break through unified opposition of the landscape and chemical industries to obtain legislative approval, enough towns stepping forward and demanding action may finally get DAR’s attention.

APCC is committed to working with towns and the state to hammer out a subset of pesticide and fertilizer rules that are specific to, and protective of, Cape Cod. To make that happen, we all need towns to step forward and state their desire for a cleaner environment.

It’s all actually pretty simple.

APCC in the field...

"This is Anthony, APCC intern with the cyanobacteria monitoring program, taking GPS coordinates of the vegetation plots last Thursday at the Barnstable Great Marsh. It's so exciting to be able to take interns and colleagues from other programs at APCC out into the marsh! It was a beautiful day and we got the coordinates for all 24 of our transects. We will use this data to keep track of where the plots are in the marsh and to correlate elevation data to these locations. Subtle differences between plots in elevation and location within a tide-shed can impact the vegetation growth we see at each of our plots. It is important to have the whole picture when monitoring these plots—monitoring is repeated in subsequent years so that any significant changes can be quantified." - Eliza Fitzgerald, APCC restoration technician.

APCC is completing this work under contract to Mass Audubon with funding provided by the MA Department of Fish and Game In-lieu Fee Program.

APCC Supports 2023 Falmouth Town Meeting Wastewater Article

Pesticides and Your Pooch.

A 2013 study found that dogs exposed to lawn care chemicals can have a higher bladder cancer risk. And once contaminated with those chemicals, dogs can pass these chemicals to their owners, children, and other pets in the house. You don't treat your lawn? Excellent! But does your neighbor? Drift or walking your dog on treated lawn edges can still be factors in your pet's health.

From the Xerces Society - The Risk of Pesticides to Pollinators

The Down Side of Bug Extermination

by John Hutchinson

The engine roared while Freddie sprayed

An oily mixture which dismayed

The insects all around the yard—

Too late for them to be on guard

For this concoction coated all

That fly or jump or creep or crawl.

So, trapped beneath a film of death,

They couldn’t move or take a breath.

“Oh no!”, the bugs and birdies cried.

“These guys are spraying pesticide

Upon each flower, plant and leaf.

It’s causing us despair and grief.”

The birds all clamored, “Tweet. Tweet. Tweet!

There’ll be no bugs for us to eat!

Caterpillars, lightning bugs,

Earwigs, aphids, garden slugs,

“Moths and ants and butterflies

Have met a pitiful demise.

Farewell to pastirma mosquito

And our bee and ant burrito.

“Ladybugs and spider mites

No more will suage our appetites,

And our daily breakfast treat’ll

Be no longer wasp or beetle."

Thus, with insect-life departed

From the yard, the broken-hearted

Birds, no longer finding fare,

Left this place for…anywhere.

They’re headed for another home

Where their insect meals can roam

Free of pesticides and oil

That’s sprayed atop the trees and soil.

Behind remains a habitat

Unfit for bird or toad or bat.

There’s been an insect sacrifice

So that a yard can look real nice.

Perfect flowers and lime green leaves

Are favored by those insect thieves

Without a thought of what goes on

Above and underneath their lawn.

Listen or read Margaret Roach's interview with Doug Tallamy about fall clean up with ecology in mind.

It's worth repeating. Please, leave the leaves and here's just one reason why.

Mourning Cloak, Nymphalis antiopa

There are dozens of butterfly species in the U.S. that depend on the leaf layer for some part of their life cycle. Skippers spend the winter as caterpillars under the leaf layer, but most, including the tiger swallowtail, spend their pupal stage under fallen leaves. However, the mourning cloak, pictured here, is one of only a few butterflies that overwinter in the leaves as winged adults.

Mourning cloaks find refuge within the leaf layer, where the leaves act as insulation to keep out the frost. This unique strategy means that they are often the first and last butterflies spotted in these shoulder seasons.

Mourning cloaks seek out tree sap, fermenting fruit and, occasionally, nectar. This diet, which isn’t as reliant on summer flower nectar as many other species, likely plays a crucial role in their ability to tough out winter as adults. (Source.)

Incidentally, the mourning cloak caterpillar's host plants are tree species: willows, elm, poplars, birch, and hackberry.

An APCC publication - Guidelines for Cape-friendly Landscapes

The Guidelines gives homeowners steps they can take in the design and maintenance of their properties that will support pollinators and birds, manage stormwater, conserve water, and protect the Cape's water quality.

This 40-page booklet is beautifully illustrated by Marcy Ford with content that is easily digestible and supported by numerous resources for additional learning.

We've enjoyed creating it and hope it will help you with ideas to help you steward your piece of Cape Cod and maybe foster an environmental ethic in the decisions we all make in our own managed landscapes. Get your copy here—and maybe one for a friend?

We are partnering with several retail shops to make this publication more widely available: Brewster Bookstore, Birdwatchers General Store, Crocker Nurseries, Wellfleet Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary, Cape Abilities Farm, Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, the Lavender Farm, and Sea Howl Bookstore.

If you are a retailer and would like to sell this publication at your store, contact Kristin at kandres@apcc.org.

You can view the book's content as a pdf on our website.

Pollinator Spotlight - Hover Flies

What looks like a little bee, might really be a hover fly. These little flies are also called flower or syrphid flies and are beneficial pollinators— not just for moving pollen, but for the roles their maggot (the larval stage) assumes in the garden.

There are numerous species in the Syrphidae family and the larvae of each have their own food preference, from eating dead plant material that aids in decomposition, to being predators of aphids and thrips—helping to keep the ecological balance.

The Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod is a group of organizations promoting native plants and pollinator-friendly land care practices to create a boat load of safe oases for our native bees, butterflies and a whole host of other pollinators that are crucial to the health of our ecosystems. Join us! It's easy. There are no fees. You just need to pledge to ADD native plants, SUBTRACT a little lawn, AVOID yard chemicals, especially pesticides, and LEAVE the leaves. And, help us spread the word. If you wish, please get on the map to show your support of pollinators!

APCC is still looking for an important part of the team...

Cyanobacteria Science Coordinator: APCC seeks an experienced project manager to manage the sample analysis, interpretation, and reporting of results for APCC’s Cyanobacteria Monitoring Program. The cyanobacteria science coordinator is responsible for ensuring the overall scientific quality of the program through oversight of sample collection, analyses, interpretation, and reporting of monitoring results, and communicating results and other information to municipal officials, agencies, organizations, and the public in an accurate clear manner. The position is fulltime, year-round, salaried with benefits. For the full description, click here. To apply, email a cover letter and resume to Dr. Julie Hambrook at: info@apcc.org