Conservation Commissions

PUBLICATIONS:

Outer Cape Conservation Commission Directory

What are Conservation Commissions?

What is their authority?
What do they really do?
What do they want from applicants?

What you need to know.
What you need to do.
When to ask for help.
Where to ask for help.

What will happen at your public hearing?
Can your project be turned down?
How to protect your rights.
How does the process continue?

Choose the best performing erosion control system for your site. Double staked straw bales should be used in down slope areas. Hay should be avoided because it may introduce non-indigenous seeds. Innovative bio logs are one foot in diameter, made by wrapping jute netting around loose straw. The netting is secured with ground staples. They are low impact, low cost and perform well on side slopes. Silt fencing should be pressed into the ground four to six inches, using a lawn edger. Stakes are then driven in next to the fencing, every six feet and the fencing is stapled to the stakes. This creates tension which helps the fabric perform. Choose 24″ high fabric. After edging in, there is still plenty of height for performance. Digging to install silt fencing is labor intensive and creates other problems.
Using silt fencing that comes three feet high is asking for trouble. Are we expecting three feet of water? We already know what will happen to three feet of fabric in the wind.

Proper posting of Commission issued Order of Conditions is respectful and often required in local by laws. Posting provides an opportunity for site workers to be aware of performance standards.

Talilla Schuster staples laminated Order of Conditions to plywood. These will be posted on the job site to provide notice of compliance and a ready reference for the special conditions necessary at each phase of construction.

Before the Conservation Commission meeting, commissioners are required to make an inspection of your site. Make sure your site is staked before they arrive, no matter how difficult it may be. They need to see how your proposed project relates to the resource area they have to protect. Clearly marked and flagged stakes will make reading your site a stress free experience.

Yellow flags can be used to mark structural elements of your proposal. A green flag beneath indicates the stake is for Conservation Commission review. When local By laws require additional flagging of resource areas or buffer zones, easily identifiable pink or red flags should be used. These marker stakes are usually thirty or fifty feet apart and should be double flagged. A green flag should be tied beneath the others to indicate the marker is for Conservation Commission review. If the same color flag needs to mark two areas, use double flagging for one area and triple flagging for the other, always with the green under, for identification. Limit of Work (L.O.W.) lines should be double flagged green for easy visibility.

Flagging identifies unique site components. Each site should have a flag key readily available for confirmation.

When frozen ground stymies stake driving, steel bar and sledgehammer may be needed to create holes for stakes.

Straw and not hay should be used on site. Hay is full of non-indigenous seeds.

Excavation materials cause most on site violations. Construction planning should calculate the amount of backfill required. That pile should be stored beyone the buffer zone and covered (with erosion control). Remaining excavated material should be removed from the site to avoid down slope (wetland) erosion problems.

Get rid of 36 inch silt fencing. Use 24 inch material from now on. Wind problems on the Outer Cape create multiple performance failures, which contribute to serious erosion.

Avoid installing silt fencing by excavating. That only generates more erosion potential next to the area you are trying to protect. Just use a lawn edger to insert the fabric 4-6 inches into the ground.

Using lawn edgers to quickly install silt fencing gives this rarely used tool new life.

Properly installed erosion control systems will meet performance standards for resource areas. This system incorporates animal by passes.

Improperly installed erosion control systems are an insult to the Conservation Commission process.