SOUTHAMPTON – Frustrated by the Japanese knotweed invading your land? The town’s new conservation agent, Nicolas Pietroniro, knows how to get rid of the fast-spreading invasive species.

“This is a plant with a natural range (of) volcanic hillsides, so it’s very strong,” Pietroniro said. “Perseverance, cutting and not letting it spread, is my recommendation. When you cut it … if you cut one stem it puts up two. It is doable, but it’s very difficult.”

Pietroniro, already a part-time conservation agent in the town of Becket, grew up in Feeding Hills and attended Westfield State University. He learned about the difficulties of knotweed eradication while interning at Westfield River Wild and Scenic Committee. A specialist in wetlands preservation, he finds that educating homeowners about the importance of preserving water environments is one of his primary duties.

It’s essential to protect wetlands, Pietroniro said, “because of what we call the ecosystem services they provide. Wetlands are responsible for recharging our groundwater, which includes our public drinking, private drinking and well water supplies.”

With more people come new water demands, so pollution of water sources may have dire consequences for the future growth of a town. Wetlands double as ecological filters, Pietroniro said, and often trap pollutants that would otherwise penetrate into wells or damage more sensitive ecosystems. In this time of increasingly wild weather, wetlands help with flood control and may limit the worst of storm damages.

“As we fill in more wetlands we see more flooding, more overflow of streams. In general, they are incredibly important as a wildlife habitat,” Pietroniro said. “They are probably the most important…ecosystem we have, for wildlife, just due to the amount of species diversity, both plant and wildlife, that you can find there.”

The most common problem the new conservation agent finds are homeowners who don’t know they’re doing work “somewhere that’s jurisdictional,” governed by conservation restrictions or protective designations. Violation of a conservation restriction can bring a hefty fine or significant costs for remediation, which homeowners hope to avoid.

Ecosystems are fascinating and Pietroniro is always interested. He sees his place in the meeting room as well as the swamp. He appreciates how the local and state regulatory measures work together to protect our water.

“I like working with ConComs and the Wetlands Protection Act,” Pietroniro said, “because those all work to either directly preserve land, or ensure that, as we develop and continue to grow, we keep (environmental concerns) in mind.”

Pietroniro can be reached through the Conservation Commission’s page on the town’s website.
Also facing the Conservation Commission is an Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation (ANRAD) for 116, 118 and 120 East St. No alterations or work are scheduled at this time, on the property, but the owner, Christine Canton, sought to have wetlands defined on the three building lots.

According to Canton’s application for an ANRAD, there are no vernal pools on or near the lots, but there are wetlands. One wetland lies along the eastern boundary of the property and empties through a culvert under East Street, into Tripple Brook. The second wetlands lies in the northwest corner of the properties.
Tripple Brook is adjacent to the acreage, to the south. A 200-foot riverfront area was established to protect the stream bank.

Ecological Resource Consultants, Inc. delineated the wetlands and stream bank on Sept. 17 of this year. The ANRAD was discussed at the commission’s meeting on Nov. 7.