COTATI, Calif. -- A controversial mosquito program is stirring up a swarm of opposition in Marin County.

Jim Wanderscheid, manager of the Cotati-based MarinSonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District, says he has a mandate from the state to carry out a mosquito control program that includes the possible use of pesticides to guard against West Nile virus.

While he was discussing the issue on a public affairs program on radio station KWMR in Point Reyes on Wednesday, anti-pesticide demonstrators -- carrying signs with slogans such as "There Are No Safe Poisons" and "Your Pesticides Poison Our Land, Air, Water" -- gathered outside.

"Their trucks are not going to be allowed out here because we'll stop them," vowed Donna Sheehan, one of the protesters. "We're just going to lay down in front of them. It's not going to happen, period."

Later Wednesday night, Wanderscheid and three of his staff faced a contentious standing-room-only crowd at a meeting of the Bolinas Public Utility District board.

He was grilled, challenged, interrogated and lectured for 2 1/2 hours until, worn down, he said, only half-joking, "I should have stayed home."

Since last year, 69 birds, including 18 in Marin County, have died from West Nile, the latest nearby Jan. 3 in Santa Rosa. But no humans have been affected.