This is the third of a four-part story to recap a virtual symposium conducted by Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group on “Strategies for Managing Invasive Plants: Assess, Remove, Replace, and Restore.”

Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG) hosted its 2022 virtual symposium with the theme of “Strategies for Managing Invasive Plants: Assess, Remove, Replace, and Restore” in early November.

The full-day webcast took place from 8:30 am to 4 pm. It featured multiple sessions that covered terrestrial and aquatic invasive plant topics. Part 1 and Part 2 of coverage from The Newtown Bee can be found online.

Session four’s “Limitations: Legal and Practical” presentations started with Darcy Winther of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s (DEEP) Inland Wetlands Management Program. She focused on Connecticut’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act.

“My presentation is going to focus on this law as it relates to the management and removal of invasive plants,” Winther said.

For some background, she said the law was passed in 1972 and can be found in the General Statutes of Connecticut section 22a-36 through 22a-45.

“An important part of this law is its legislative finding,” Winther said. “At the start of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act, the Connecticut Legislature laid out the reasons for enacting the law. This finding is extensive, and it notes that inland wetlands and watercourses are an indispensable and irreplaceable natural resource … it also recognizes the importance of providing an orderly process to balance the need for the economic growth of our state and the use of its land with the need to protect its environment and ecology.”

She highlighted that each municipality is responsible for carrying out the act and regulating activities affecting the resources through its agencies. In Newtown it is the Inland Wetlands Commission that does this job.

Winther gave Connecticut’s inland wetland definition as “Land – it doesn’t say anything about water. Land, including submerged land, which consists of any of the soil types designated as poorly drained, very poorly drained, alluvial, or floodplain.”

Her presentation described a watercourse as “rivers, streams, brooks, waterways, lakes, ponds, marshes, swamps, bogs and all other bodies of water, natural or artificial, vernal or intermittent, public or private.”

When it comes to regulated activity for these areas, the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act states, “Any operation within or use of a wetland or watercourse involving removal or deposition of material, or any obstruction, construction, alteration or pollution, of such wetlands or watercourses, but shall not include the specified activities in section 22a-40.”

Winther said there are multiple uses that are allowed and listed in Subsection A, which “include farming and forestry, and uses incidental to the enjoyment and maintenance of residential property.”

Within those categories, though, there are some specific activities that do require permits, so people should contact their town prior to conducting activities.

“Most invasive plant management activities are going to probably fall under Subsection B … nonregulated activities include the conservation of soil, vegetation, water, fish, shellfish, and wildlife; the conservation activity may be the removal or management of invasives. The language is broad and might not always be clear what might be occurring,” Winther said.

With that in mind, she said that the person or group proposing doing the invasive plant management or removal should inform the municipal’s inland wetlands agency about the activity to be sure and to share why the activity will restore the character of the area.

At the end of Winther’s presentation, she said that DEEP offers a free online Municipal Inland Wetlands Agency Comprehensive Training Program.

“While it is tailored for municipal inland wetlands agencies, anybody can take it,” she said. “The course examines key sections of the law, it reviews important procedures for conducting agency business, and the course also discusses resource restoration techniques, stream crossing guidelines, site plans, and much more.”

For questions, Winther can be contacted at darcy.winther@ct.gov.

Coastal Resources

Brian Golembiewski, of the DEEP Land & Water Resource Division’s (LWRD) Enforcement Section, was the next speaker. He discussed DEEP’s coastal regulatory programs.

He specifically highlighted the Structures, Dredging, and Fill Act; Tidal Wetlands Act; Water Quality Certification of the Federal Clean Water Act; Federal Coastal Consistency of the Coastal Zone Management Act; and the Connecticut Coastal Management Act.

“These programs require DEEP to administer and implement to protect Connecticut’s coastal resources and water bodies, including but not limited to Long Island Sound, tidal wetlands, inter-tidal flats, beaches, and watercourses,” Golembiewski said.

He specified how each program relates to invasive plant control and management.

Golembiewski summarized his final thoughts, stating, “In investigating complaints of violation within tidal wetlands, LWRD Enforcement Section has observed several sites where we believe the removal/cutting/spraying of invasive plants appears to have had adverse impacts to the tidal wetlands.”

He listed a variety of adverse impact examples that his department has seen, including how herbicide applications to eradicated Phragmites has left marshes with no vegetation at all.

“We have concerns that invasive plant removal activities are being conducted without consideration of ‘need’ to apply aquatic pesticides, whether there is a better alternative management measure to meet the goal and whether DEEP should require a final performance standard for tidal wetlands post-treatment (a ‘no-worse’ condition),” Golembiewski’s slide detailed.

Management Practices

Following Golembiewski’s talk was Harry Yamalis from DEEP LWRD’s Technical Resource Section. He presented “Best Management Practices for Invasive Weed Control in Coastal Habitats.”

He explained that there are three methods to control invasive weeds: biological, which can include using insects or animals, such as goats, to eat the weeds; physical, which involves cutting or pulling the weeds; and chemical, which is the application of manufactured herbicides.

Yamalis focused on the chemical method and emphasized the importance of always following the herbicide labels as instructed.

Property owners can use retail herbicides on their own properties, but some kinds of chemical methods will need state-licensed applicators and/or state permits.

“When in doubt, ask … ask if you are unsure. Mistakes can be costly in terms of time wasted, monetary fines, and unintended harm to wildlife and their habitats,” Yamalis said.

He suggested people visit DEEP’s website to review the Pesticide Management Program and Natural Diversity Data Base (NDDB).

“We encourage you to contact us anytime with questions you might have before starting your projects,” Yamalis said.

Concluding Session Four of the virtual symposium was Rob Topliff of Manchester Parks and Recreation. He was joined by members of his department for a table talk presentation about “Managing and Balancing the Roles and Expectations of Municipalities and their Residents.”

For more information about CIPWG and to access symposium handouts from the speakers, visit cipwg.uconn.edu/2022-symposium.

Reporter Alissa Silber can be reached at alissa@thebee.com.