Page
1
Membership
Inspections
Board of Directors
Coming Events:
o Plant a Shrub Day
o Light Up the Lake
o Boat Parade
o Fishing Derby
Page 2
Annual Meeting
Lake News:
o Membership Dues Rate Change
o Scrapbook Project
o Volunteers and Items Needed
o "Loon I.Q."
Page 3
Lake Enhancement
Page 4
President's Corner |
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Lake
Enhancement
Paraphrased from The Press Herald...
Report: Greater urgency needed to combat milfoil
...Public warnings
Last summer the state passed out 160,000 brochures to the public warning about the dangers of milfoil, and toll takers on the Maine Turnpike handed out 20,000 flyers to boaters entering the state. Large warning signs were posted at 32 border crossings around the state.
The Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program, based in Turner, trained 250 “plant patrollers” who roamed the state's lakes looking for milfoil problems. And the Lakes Environmental Association ran a pilot volunteer boat inspection program that interviewed boaters at roadside stops and launch ramps.
Bouchard (Roy, of Maine Department of Environmental Protection) hopes to have another inspection program this year, but this time boaters will be approached only at launch ramps. The roadside method was inefficient, he said.
“We may put people back at the York rest area again,” Bouchard said. “That might be cost-effective to do because we got anywhere from 40 to 100 boater contacts a day just from people who stopped there.”
There will also be more shoreline surveys and volunteer plant patrolling in conjunction with local lake associations.
“We'll be doing a lot more site evaluations of places that actually have the plants,” Bouchard said, “and there are a few projects where we're actually trying to remove them, mostly using divers.”
Lowell (Peter, of the Lakes Environmental Association in Bridgton) said the Lakes Environmental Association will be looking for ways that local municipalities can augment the state program, especially through the use of more volunteers.
“We see the state program as a huge benefit, but there aren't enough dollars in state government to solve this problem,” he said. “We need to all participate in it.”
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Notice to Boat Owners!
Please note this change in the
annual boat registration process:
By recently passed State of Maine law, all motorized watercraft on inland waters must now display a “Lakes and Rivers Protection” (Milfoil) sticker.
This sticker is to be purchased at a cost of $10 for residents and $20 for non-residents when boats are registered each year.
This law will be enforced for the benefit of Maine lakes and boat owners who do not purchase and display these stickers will be dealt with accordingly.
The Towns of Acton and Shapleigh are mandated by the state to comply with this new law and would appreciate the understanding and cooperation of boat owners during the boat registration process.
Thank you. |
From The Sanford News, March 7, 2002:
Wardens mull milfoil sticker law;
Boaters to face some stiff fines
YORK COUNTY- Local boaters who anticipate cruising area lakes this summer should plan on purchasing Maine's new Milfoil sticker, or risk a hefty fine.
The Maine Warden Service is looking for a way to insure that boaters comply with the new sticker law designed to combat invasive plants from getting a foothold in the state's lakes.
State officials anticipate that only 40% of boat owners on inland waters this summer will comply with Maine's new sticker law that raises money to combat milfoil and other invasive plants.
Col. Tim Peabody, who heads the Maine Warden Service, told a milfoil summit in Augusta on March 1 that town clerks and agents who sell hunting and fishing licenses, and will now have to sell the Milfoil stickers, have no way to compel people to buy them.
By a one-vote margin, the Legislature last year approved the program, with sticker prices set at $10 for residents and $20 for non-residents.
Anyone who launches a boat into a lake or river that does not display the triangular green and blue sticker faces a fine of up to $250.
Fines for launching a boat that is contaminated with invasive plant fragments or in a quarantined area range as high as $5,000.
Peabody says he and his wardens will meet this week to discuss how to enforce the sticker law and what to do when people are spotted in a boat that lacks a sticker.
According to Peabody, options could include ordering violators off the water, issuing a warning, and allowing wardens to carry stickers that would be sold to people who don't have them.
The new law commits money from the sticker program to hire up to six new wardens to enforce it, but Peabody says he doesn't expect to raise a lot the first year.
In addition to ensuring that boats display the new stickers, wardens will be expected to be on the lookout for boats and trailers that are carrying invasive plants.
Peabody estimates that there are 129,000 boats registered in Maine with 120,000 of them being used for recreational purposes.
He also estimates that 40,000 boats from other states are used in Maine waters.
The sticker revenue is divided between the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, which includes the warden services. DEP will get 60% of sticker revenue, with the DIFW getting 40%.
The money that is raised will be used to pay for DIFW's enforcement and education efforts, and DEP's monitoring of Maine lakes to watch for infestations.
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