Tag Archives: mosquitoes

Speak up for Smarter Mosquito Control: More Science, Less Spraying

Late summer means crisp days and cooler nights, swinging back into routines, and savoring the last juicy tomatoes of the season. It also still means mosquitoes, and more rainfall can lead to an uptick in the number of shallow pools that make ideal mosquito breeding territory. Mosquitoes are a public health risk, since they spread diseases like West Nile Virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) to humans. But managing mosquitoes can and should be done in ways that protect both human AND ecological health. Read on to learn more about what’s being done and how you can help. 

Mosquito spraying can have unintended consequences for beneficial species like bees.

Planning for Mosquito Control in Massachusetts

Last year, the Massachusetts legislature created the Mosquito Control for the 21st Century Task Force, on which Mass Audubon serves, to review and recommend updates to the state’s outdated mosquito control program. The state also commissioned a report summarizing current mosquito control practices. The report confirms that there is no quantifiable evidence that current practices, which include routine spraying of pyrethroid pesticides, are effective in reducing mosquitoes or mosquito-borne diseases. Pyrethroid pesticides use chemicals that are highly toxic to bees, fish, and many other beneficial species, and pose health risks to people too.

Despite the lack of data on effectiveness, the report claims that reducing spraying could increase cases of WNV and EEE. This analysis is deeply flawed, and fails to address the economic, ecological, and human health impacts of these toxic chemicals. 

Currently, Massachusetts’ mosquito control spraying program happens on an opt-out basis, meaning communities and/or landowners must proactively submit requests to have their properties excluded from chemical spraying. But just because a request is made doesn’t necessarily mean it will be met — the state recently denied requests from 11 communities to opt-out of chemical spraying, and has indicated that the standards for municipalities and landowners to opt-out will be made even more stringent next year. If you are growing food or pollinator gardens without pesticides, you may be subjected to spraying if the program continues in this direction.

Another Path Forward

There are more effective ways to reduce the risk of WNV and EEE. These include personal protection measures, eliminating artificial breeding areas like discarded tires, and restoring wetlands and rivers to increase access by fish and other mosquito predators to natural breeding habitat. Nature-based solutions can also have the added benefit of strengthening resilience to climate impacts like flooding. 

The state is accepting comments through September 17 on their report on current mosquito control practices. You can urge them to improve these practices by submitting a comment today – encourage them to put the state’s resources to better use by employing mosquito control methods that are rooted in ecological restoration, rather than statewide spraying as the default.  

Through science-based, ecological restoration approaches, we can still meet our goals of reducing the danger of disease, while also strengthening the nature-based solutions that we know are a win-win for our climate and communities.

The Beacon Hill Weekly Roundup – May 26, 2020

(wetland photo credit: Julie Archibald)

Get the Facts About Ecosystem Services

Beyond its intrinsic value, nature provides measurable benefits to people by offering solutions to some of our biggest environmental problems. Our new set of five fact sheets takes a deeper look at the financial and health benefits of ecosystems like forests, wetlands, and urban green spaces.

Climate Central

→ Gulf of Maine lobstermen turn to kelp farming in the face of climate crisis
→ Clean energy job losses are mounting – Mass Audubon and others weigh in

Mosquito Spraying Bill Update

Good news: the mosquito control bill that posed damaging changes to natural lands and public health has been redrafted. Thanks to everyone that submitted testimony or contacted committee members – advocacy around this bill made a big difference.

Learn About Net Zero Planning

Mass Audubon supports H.3983, state legislation that lays out a road map for Massachusetts to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Our climate change program director is moderating a virtual conversation on the bill next Thursday – sign up today!

Supporting Stimulus Funds for Public Lands

Mass Audubon joined partners in urging Congress to fund programs that benefit wildlife and restore public lands in future COVID-19 stimulus bills. We advocated for conservation programs that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and provide benefits to people, communities, and the environment.

MVP Toolkit: Public Health and the Healthcare Sector

As Massachusetts’ Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program grows, so do the range of needs of participating cities and towns. The state has created guidance for understanding the intersections between public health, the healthcare sector, and climate change, and for developing projects with health-related co-benefits.

Stop Mosquito Spraying from Going Too Far

Update 7/23/2020: The revised bill has been signed into law by the Governor.

We’ll now be following its implementation closely through the state’s Mosquito Control for a 21st Century Task Force, which will include advocating for statewide reform of Massachusetts’ approach to mosquito control to improve environmental and public health practices.

Update 6/8/2020: The Joint Committee on Public Health has approved a completely redrafted version of the bill by a unanimous, bipartisan vote.

The revised bill no longer allows the Reclamation Board to override all state laws, and creates a task force to review and propose updates to the state’s mosquito control system, based on science.  It also includes notification and reporting requirements for aerial or other wide-scale pesticide applications. Mass Audubon supports these proposed revisions, and now the new bill is headed to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing for further approval.

Thanks to everyone that submitted testimony or contacted committee members – advocacy around this bill by conservation groups and others made a big difference. While this redraft marks progress, we are also still hoping to see additional changes.

Loosening regulations around mosquito spraying could have impacts on our wetlands and water supplies

Original post: A bill is moving through the state’s Joint Committee on Public Health that could be damaging to Massachusetts wetlands and wildlife, and counterproductive to public health concerns.

An Act to Mitigate Arbovirus in the Commonwealth (H.4650), proposed by Governor Baker, aims to address mosquito borne disease, but it goes much too far. The bill would exempt the State Reclamation and Mosquito Control Board from all state laws and allow them to conduct mosquito eradication measures anywhere in the Commonwealth.  This proposed change is based on a determination by the state Department of Public Health (DPH) that there may be a threat of mosquito borne disease somewhere in the state in the next year, but this is too vague a standard to result in such drastic measures.

The way the bill is written, there is no minimum threshold for these actions to kick in, no opportunity for input from affected communities or landowners, and no expiration date.  The Reclamation Board would be exempt from all state laws, including Massachusetts’ Open Meeting Law, Public Records Act, and environmental laws like the Endangered Species and Wetlands Protection Acts.

Mass Audubon supports the recommendations of the national Centers for Disease Control  and US Environmental Protection Agency calling for a science-based mosquito-borne disease management program, with the goal of protecting public health while minimizing environmental and human health risks associated with some types of mosquito control. Spraying of pesticides to control adult mosquitoes is the least effective, and most environmentally damaging, method.

Reform is needed for mosquito control in Massachusetts, since our existing systems are antiquated and fragmented. But this bill won’t achieve those reforms, instead giving more clout to the existing broken systems.

The proposed legislation is of particular concern at a time when many people are seeking to reduce their exposures to chemicals. More and more people are growing their own food and managing their yards and gardens with minimal or no pesticides, both to protect their own health and for the benefit of wild pollinators, which are in serious decline.  This bill would eliminate landowner’s rights to be excluded from routine pesticide spraying.

Monarch butterfly (Photo: USFWS)

Mass Audubon is opposing this bill at the State House and encouraging the Public Health Committee to reject it.

You can help by opposing the bill too.

Contact the Joint Committee on Public Health and let them know that this bill is too broad, putting wildlife and water supplies at risk, and that it lacks transparency by not providing a role for local boards of health or environmental groups.

All testimony must be submitted by email to [email protected] and [email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, May 11.

Please include “PUBLIC HEALTH TESTIMONY” in the subject line of the email, and include the name, title and organization (if applicable), address, and telephone number of the person submitting testimony.

Thank you for speaking up!

The Beacon Hill Weekly Roundup – January 27, 2020

Another Look at Cars and Carbon

This Op Ed from Mass Audubon’s advocacy director takes a deeper look at the Transportation and Climate Initiative. You can still support this regional effort to reduce carbon pollution from cars and trucks.

Climate Central

→ Governor Baker commits to making Massachusetts net-zero by 2050
→ The state has updated its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, and is on track to meet its 2025 goal
→ New Yale report finds climate change will be a voting issue

Climate Bills up for State House Debate

This week, a package of new climate change bills will be debated in the state Senate, an effort that also aligns with the state’s net-zero by 2050 goal. We support these proposals, and encourage the inclusion of offshore wind to achieve their goals.

Protecting US Waters

Last week, the Trump administration finalized a rule to remove federal protections for a large percentage of US streams and wetlands. We opposed this environmentally-damaging change when it was first proposed, and several states including Massachusetts are expected to file lawsuits.

Share Your Thoughts on Mosquito Spraying

Last year, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) occurred across a record portion of Massachusetts, resulting in a high volume of aerial pesticide spraying by the state. Mass Audubon and the Massachusetts Rivers Alliance are collecting input from watershed and environmental groups to share with the Department of Public Health.

The Beacon Hill Weekly Roundup – August 26, 2019

Photo credit: NOAA; NOAA; NASA

One More Way to Help Wildlife

Here’s another way you can help stop the recent federal Endangered Species Act rollbacks! Join our Coalition in asking your congressperson and senators to pass legislation restoring the ESA.

Offshore Wind Update

This week, the state will release public bids received for their second-round procurement of up to 800 MW of offshore wind energy. The final selection, to be made by the end of the year, should bring the state to its goal of 1,600 MW.

Climate Central

→ The Amazon is burning: a deeper look
→ 100-year floods could soon happen annually in parts of US
→ 10 Democratic presidential candidates will participate in CNN’s climate crisis town hall

Photo credit (R): MA DPH

State Reviewing SMART Solar Regulations

The state Department of Energy Resources (DOER) is looking for input on their SMART solar program. Following their initial review of the existing program, DOER is holding stakeholder meetings to share their results and collect feedback.

New Local Leadership at EPA

Welcome to Dennis Deziel, EPA’s new Regional Administrator for New England. Dennis brings over 20 years of federal government experience to the position, and we look forward to working with him.

Mosquito Alert

This summer is an unusually high-risk year for the mosquito-borne disease Eastern Equine Encephalitis, or EEE. While you’re enjoying the outdoors in these waning days of summer, be sure to take precautions. Learn more and see the most recent risk map.