Mascoma Lake Association NEWSLETTER SPRING 2 016 eagle Update Milfoil Control: MLA Annual Meeting by Pat Carrier Can Synchronized and Speaker Swimming Help? saturday, July 23, 2016 by Martha Rich & David Kelman enfield Community Building It wasn’t exactly an Olympic-level Coffee @ 8:30 am • Meeting @ 9 performance, but Mascoma milfoil divers did get into their own version of by Allison Flint synchronized swimming late last sum - Our guest speaker at the annual mer. The idea was to conduct an inten - meeting will be Jim Gallagher from the sive harvest in three areas that had NH Dam Bureau to explore and discuss shown persistent infestations all season. the proposed hydro-electric project on At each site, divers first swam in parallel the Mascoma River which involves lines, spotting plants and looking espe - rebuilding our lake dam and building a new dam down the river. Jim will pres - cially for small seedlings. They marked ent the details and will be able to An adult pair of eagles continue to every plant they saw, and then swam answer any questions or concerns we spend time on Mascoma Lake. They back to dig them all. We mounted this may have. started visiting here three years ago aggressive underwater search to supple - Grafton Hydro has applied for and when they took over an abandoned nest. ment the surface spotting our weed- received a permit for this project allow - Throughout the year, the eagles have watcher volunteers have always done. ing for 3 years to investigate and devel - been spotted both on Mascoma Lake Since trying out this method, we’ve dis - op a construction plan. The permit does and Crystal Lake. covered that others have had the same not allow building yet, just pursuit. Last fall, a mottled juvenile eagle and idea: the Crescent Lake Association in During these 3 years, we may have the adult pair were observed feeding on Acworth/Unity also uses synchronized input into the effects of this project, both positive and negative, to Mascoma an animal carcass on the lakeshore. swimming to battle their invasive Lake, so understanding the issues is They would swoop down and feed. weeds. timely and important to our community. Sometimes one while the other two Thanks in part to the synchronized- I look forward to seeing you all at the waited patiently nearby, and at other swim cleanup, last summer’s harvest set annual meeting and on the lake this times two would feed together. a new record since milfoil control began summer! The 2016 mid-Winter Statewide count on Mascoma Lake two decades ago: of eagles in New Hampshire yielded 115 5,454 plants, more than twice the num - Bald Eagles. Of that total, 34 were ob- ber in 2014. (We count every plant we UFO? served on the Connecticut River south remove, whether it’s five inches or five (Unidentified Floating Object) of the Wilder Dam. feet long.) Of course, the higher count may reflect an increased growth of mil - foil, not just a more effective harvest. Overall long-term trends, the number We can’t be certain the synchronized of eagles counted in New Hampshire continues to double roughly every 10 diving will reduce infestation in our years (Statistics obtained from the NH lake’s most troubled areas, but we do Audubon Society): hope to see some results when we return to monitor those sites this year. It’s also 2015 110 eagles possible, after a mild winter and early 2005 55 eagles 1994 25 eagles spring, that milfoil will get a head start 1984 12 eagles and flourish in 2016. It’s hard to predict, but there’s one thing we know for sure: What a great success story for a bird our program must continue every year. that was on the endangered list. If not controlled, Eurasian milfoil forms dense stands of vegetation in the This spring they have spent time on water. Thick mats at the surface shade nest maintenance, transporting branches out native plants, reduce oxygen levels, New this year. to the nest. Then working hard to weave and impede boating. Milfoil can ruin A bright orange floating lite buoy the new materials into the established lakes. While we can't expect to eliminate to mark larger areas of milfoil invasion. nest. The pair certainly appear to be call - if you see them on the lake ing Mascoma Lake home. continued page 2: Milfoil stay away!! Milfoil , from page 1 this invasive plant, we can continue effective management. It's an effort we renew annually, and everyone can help. As current coordinators, we (David Kelman and Martha Rich) will be patrolling the water on the MLA pontoon boat again this summer, looking for the distinctive feathery stalks of the aquatic invader. We’ll drop orange-yellow foam-noodle mark - ers or the new orange buoys when we find plants. Local weed watchers will also monitor areas near their homes, place mark - ers, and report to us when they spot milfoil. The critical activity is harvesting: spe - cialized underwater weeding to remove plants without fragmenting and spreading them further. We’re especially grateful to the harvesting crews. Those 5,454 plants last summer were dug by 10 different enfield Boat Launch divers, who dove for a total of 162.5 hours, assisted by 8 different tenders and con - by Rick Sam veyed by 3 different captains. We appreciate whatever help you can provide; whether it’s keeping a lookout when you’re boating or fishing, monitoring your The Mascoma Lake Enfield public boat home waters, or participating in the harvest. Let’s work together to keep milfoil launch was originally constructed as a firmly under control and our beautiful lake open. For Milfoil Control, contact: Class VI road to access the lake in the Martha Rich & David Kelman [email protected] 802-233-9964 early 1960s. The Town of Enfield took over maintenance of the boat launch and parking area and ownership not long MiLFOiL MaPs after the initial construction. The launch Interactive maps that track patterns of milfoil growth over time are posted on the MLA was eventually paved to near the waters website. The maps allow you to filter data by any increment of time or number of plants edge. It required that tow vehicles enter harvested. You can zoom into any area for detailed information. the lake and boat propeller dredging The intensity map is at caused a section of the lake bottom to https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=17UoPCqzNAcYaMHt7ehG erode and add to the turbidity of the lake. 3UiNtmPAaXCNdtFodAnr-. It was quite challenging to launch a boat, The location map is at but especially to load a boat on a trailer https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1EpzYzsd- given the very irregular lake bottom sur - RFf2fAxVQe5jYxPedr2jV8VYGWYGHZlo. face. The new launch area includes a sta - You can also find the maps from the MLA home page by clicking on Lake Issues and ble ramp into the lake and improved then About Milfoil. At present, the maps include three years of data. parking area. The first phase of the project was to MiLFOiL CONtrOL: eVeryONe CaN heLP! remove several feet of soil from the park - • If you see an orange-yellow foam-noodle milfoil marker, or the new orange mark - ing area and replace it with crushed ers, please leave them where they are and avoid motorized boating near them. stone. This was followed by the installa - • If you think you see Eurasian Milfoil, let us know and we’ll follow up on suspect - tion of a cofferdam. Lake water was ed sightings. You don’t have to be an aquatic plant expert, just an alert citizen! pumped out to permit the lake bottom in • If you would like to monitor the water near your property on a regular basis as the launch area to be excavated without part of the “neighborhood water watch,” let us know. Your commitment as a watch - any of the disturbed material entering er would be to cruise your area from the shoreline to a depth of 12-14 feet when the the lake. The bottom material was lake is still and the sun is not directly overhead (usually early morning or late after - replaced with crushed stone and a cast- noon). We ask that you report at least once by July 15 and a second time by the mid - in-place reinforced concrete anchor was dle of August. We particularly need weed watchers on the 4A side from the Baited installed to support precast reinforced Hook to the head of the lake. concrete dock planks. The anchor plus • If you’re a SCUBA diver or want to become one, we welcome new divers. With the planks result in a 12 ft. wide by 46 ft. long state-approved training, it's easy to learn the techniques of proper milfoil harvesting. surface for trailers to back into the lake. The concrete is surrounded by stone on either side and beyond. A Brief Memory by Austin Flint The parking area is paved with asphalt, It was a perfect day to be on the water. The blue sky held occasional clouds which drifted includes painted lines to designate tow lazily to the horizon. There were four of us in the small aluminum boat. Karen Hambleton vehicle/trailer parking, and slopes in the stern with her son Evan, who seemed comfortable to be on the voyage, wherever we slightly toward the lake. A fabric lined, were going. Bill Martin was in the bow. He directed us to a floating marker up ahead, not far stone filled trench between the parking from shore.