A growing group of elected officials this week raced to stay ahead of a state plan that could allow large-scale commercial wind farms to built within three miles of the Vineyard’s southern shore, with little or no oversight from Island regulatory agencies, including the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

Gov. Deval Patrick is aggressively promoting the development of green energy technologies in separate initiatives: the draft Oceans Management Plan, which outlines areas to build large-scale commercial wind farms, and the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act, which would streamline approval of land-based wind turbines around the state.

The Oceans Act was signed into law last year; rules and regulations are still being formed in a draft plan that is on a fast track. Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian A. Bowles is expected to sign the final plan by the end of the year.

One provision of the plan would allow the state Energy Facilities Siting Board to supersede local zoning as well as the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, the regional planning agency created by an act of the state legislature some 35 years ago with broad powers to regulate development. This marks the first time that the commission’s authority has been trumped by another state agency.

Acting separately, the Dukes County Commission and Chilmark selectmen moved to formally ask the MVC to create a district of critical planning concern (DCPC) around the Island shoreline in the hope that it might derail, or at least slow down, the fast-moving state wind initiative.

Under its enabling legislation the commission has the power to create districts of critical planning concern (DCPC). The creation of a DCPC triggers an automatic building moratorium for a year while rules are developed for the area of special protection.

In a letter to the commission this week, Chilmark selectman J.B. Riggs Parker suggested that the state plan threatens rare and endangered birds, valuable fishing grounds and scenic vistas.

“The state is imperiling these irreplaceable assets with its various plans to overrule the MVC and local zoning boards in connection with windmills on land and sea which we fish and view. The members of the selectmen signing below ask the MVC to exercise the powers it has to adopt regulations and immediately promulgate DCPCs and whatever else is required to protect our waters,” Mr. Parker wrote.

At their meeting on Wednesday, the county commission voted to send its own letter to the commission requesting a DCPC.

Chairman Leonard Jason Jr. said the county and the six Island towns should join forces to create a unified front in response to the state wind initiatives. He also said the state has left the Island little time to respond to the Oceans Management Plan, which was released in late June.

“To say this was fast-tracked is an understatement. It feels like we are being run over by a steam train,” Mr. Jason said. “If you ask me [the state] didn’t protect our interests . . . we were the last ones to the table.”

County manager Russell Smith noted that Rhode Island is moving forward with plans to build large-scale wind turbines in federal waters farther out to sea, which are harder to spot from the shoreline.

“They are going with an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach. You don’t see the these things, but they still produce wind energy,” Mr. Smith said.

At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Tisbury selectmen, chairman Tristan Israel said he found it “startling” that waters off Martha’s Vineyard had been singled out as the only place on the whole state coastline suitable for commercial scale wind generation.

He too said Island towns should work quickly toward a unified response and not abrogate responsibility to Boston and suddenly find themselves without a voice in the siting of a large scale wind farms. He suggested that the town obtain legal advice, or else run the risk of “things getting rammed down the community’s throat.”

Oak Bluffs selectmen at their meeting on Tuesday urged members of the public to sent letters to the Energy Facilities Siting Board with comments or concerns about the Oceans Management Plan.

“If we don’t stand up and we don’t speak out we will effectively have nothing to say about this,” selectman Kerry Scott said. “It’s going to be too late very soon.”

MVC executive director Mark London said he has asked commission attorney Eric Wodlinger to research whether creating a DCPC around the Island shoreline would have an effect on the state wind initiatives.

“We are exploring all the options right now, but remember the commission is a creation of the commonwealth. I can’t speculate on the legal questions about [a DCPC] but I can say we should make an argument [to the state] that the Island should retain some form of local control over these [wind] projects,” Mr. London said, adding:

“All decisions about [wind turbines] should not be made in Boston.”

Mr. London said commission staff is working on a wind facility siting plan for the land and water. He said he expects the commission to take a formal position on the Oceans Management Plan in time for a state public hearing on the plan on the Island on Sept. 23.

He agreed that time is of the essence; written comments on the plan must be submitted by Nov. 23 and a final plan is expected by Dec. 31.

Some believe that the Oceans Management Plan fails to include comprehensive data about the migratory bird population here, including Susan Whiting, a noted ornithologist who writes a weekly column for the Gazette. Ms. Whiting said the state did not do enough research on the Island bird population when drafting the plan. Nantucket was excluded as an area for wind turbines because of it is a breeding ground for the long-tailed duck. But Ms. Whiting said that Noman’s Land and Cuttyhunk — which have been designated as the only two areas in the state for commercial wind turbines under the plan — are vital breeding grounds for the long-tailed duck.

She also cited a report from the executive office of energy and environmental affairs ocean planning habitat work group dated Nov. 26, 2008, which said Penikese island and Noman’s Land were the only two areas in the commonwealth where the endangered leaches-storm petrel are known to breed.

“This is right here in their report, but I guess they just ignored it. I have to ask: were they reading a different report when they put this plan together?” Ms. Whiting said.