Nantucket — The Nantucket Conservation Commission on Oct. 23 approved two habitat- and land-management permits submitted by the Nantucket Islands Land Bank: an invasive-plant treatment at 2 Massasoit Bridge Road and mowing, targeted sumac management and invasive-species control at the Land Bank’s Beachwood Farm property (39 and 41 Almanac Pond Road).

Both proposals affect buffer areas to bordering vegetated wetlands and lie within areas identified by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP) as priority or estimated rare-species habitat. Land Bank representative Liz Phelps told the commission Natural Heritage had reviewed both projects and issued determination letters approving them with conditions.

2 Massasoit Bridge Road (Cypress spurge): Phelps said the cypress spurge occurs adjacent to a parking area and in the maintained lawn near the trail access to Long Pond. The Land Bank proposed combining mowing with targeted application of a wetland-approved herbicide to control the invasive. Phelps said Natural Heritage approved the work “with no conditions” for this site presentation, and commissioners asked if the team had sufficient information to close the public hearing. The commission closed the hearing and later, in the public meeting portion, issued an order of conditions that grants the requested waiver and requires reporting and monitoring: herbicide use must be reported annually, applications must be by a licensed applicator, invasive material must be removed and disposed off property, and annual photographic monitoring is required until a certificate of compliance or permit expiration.

39–41 Almanac Pond Road (Beachwood Farm — mowing, grazing, sumac management): Phelps described Beachwood Farm as a Land Bank property acquired in 2020 that is managed for passive recreation and for habitat that depends on mowing and other disturbance regimes. She said native sumac is expanding and that the Land Bank’s alternatives analysis found that careful cutting combined with targeted wetland-approved herbicide application was the only feasible way to prevent the sumac from overtaking rare-plant communities. Phelps said NHESP reviewed the project and approved it with conditions; the Land Bank agreed to survey and flag rare plants before any herbicide application, protect flagged plants with hand work or covering, and to submit monitoring reports to NHESP and the commission.

Conditions and waivers: The commission’s orders for both properties include similar conditions: reporting the specific herbicide and quantity annually; licensed applicator requirement; removal and proper disposal of invasive material; annual monitoring reports with photographs; and a requirement to file a new NOI or amendment for supplemental plantings if the project shows less than 50% native regrowth within the first two years and six months. The commission granted a waiver under the town wetlands regulations (cited in staff notes as 390-3 h3 c) to permit limited vegetation management within specified buffer distances where staff and NHESP determined the work would not cause additional adverse impacts to the resource area.

Votes and procedure: Each application was closed at the public hearing following the Land Bank presentations. At the public meeting segment, the commission voted by roll call to issue the orders of conditions as drafted; recorded roll-call votes show unanimous approval for both orders.

Why it matters: The Land Bank’s properties are permanent open-space holdings; the commission said the management proposals aim to preserve distinct and locally rare vegetation communities that depend on continued mowing and targeted, careful invasive control. The conditions attempt to balance invasive removal with protections for rare species habitat by requiring pre-treatment surveys, hand protection of flagged plants, restricted application techniques if necessary and documented monitoring.

Speakers quoted or referenced in this article are participants in the Land Bank hearings and the commission’s public meeting recorded on Oct. 23.