CABOT – The membership of the Joe’s Pond Association (JPA) express their opinions about the continued application of the herbicide Porcella-COR at the annual spring meeting on May 23.
After the regular business meeting, JPA Eurasian Watermilfoil Management (EWM) Management Committee (EWMMC) member Rob Stewart related a case history of Upper Saranac Lake in New York, which has successfully managed an EWM infestation since 2014 without any herbicide treatment but by hand pulling. The JPA EWMMC plans to proceed cautiously in its management approach to both minimize the use of herbicides yet ensure that EWM containment gains achieved in 2025 are not lost.
Members at the meeting were assured that the EWMMC’s goal is to reduce the current infestation (for which at least one more ProcellaCOR treatment may be necessary) to a level at which non-chemical treatment practices alone can maintain an equilibrium relationship, that sustains traditional uses of Joe’s Pond, for the foreseeable future.
The membership, by voice vote, overwhelmingly approved this management approach.
The decision on whether to apply an herbicide treatment in 2026 will be deferred until the results of a contracted aquatic vegetation survey are available in mid-June. If the JPA elects to move ahead with an herbicide treatment this year, it will proceed only after an Annual Treatment Plan is approved by VT ANR, under our current Aquatic Nuisance Control Permit, and we have complied with all public notice requirements.
A comprehensive source of information about ProcellaCOR is available on the Joe’s Pond Association website at joespondvermont.com/
Barry Cahoon is the JPA Eurasian Watermilfoil Management (EWM) coordinator. This article ran previously in the June issue of the Cabot Chronicle.
