9069-R4_ML&P_LSLA_2024_SummerNewsletter_Web

Invasive Plant Species Program (aka Milfoil) Program Status Pam Wilkinson & Tim Greer

2024 Invasive Hybrid Variable Leaf Milfoil Removal Summary

found a new spot while extracting from Pine Island which expanded to Hill Island. South of Lyons Point reaped 63 bags. We found a small number of plants in new areas-Crow Island and a spot southwest of Lyons Point. We had a report of milfoil in Hidden/Lost Canal which was inspected during a DEP visit with Denise Blanchette and John McPhedran. It is an area that boats are not able to get into but water flows into the lake. We are not able to get into the area for removal and benthic barriers would be impossible due to the muck. Further discussions are taking place with the DEP on how to remediate this area. Unfortunately, Mumford Cove (our original invasive milfoil spot) rebounded in the middle of August with 30 bags extracted in one day and a total for the year of 55 bags of milfoil removed. The combination of these 55 bags and 8 bags in other various spots in Section 5 gives a total of 63 bags. On August 12 th , we moved to the Lower Lake and stayed until September 25 removing 146 bags of milfoil before the season ended. Sheldrake Cove on the west shore notoriously has had the most milfoil in the lake. We grapple with why. It could be that it is shallow, the chemistry in the substrate encourages growth and a stream that we are testing for possible increased phosphorus, and bacteria counts could be encouraging growth. The east section of the Lower Lake doubled with the amount of milfoil removed from the previous year. It is obvious that the program needs to continue into late September and, if possible, into October. So long story short, the milfoil counts rebounded due to a hot summer, algae that hovered on the bottom making it difficult to see and remove we still found four new areas and three areas that expanded. We feel that after rechecking, returning, regrooming, the lake was left in the best condition possible. Our invasive milfoil militia team will return with a vengeance in 2025.

L ittle Sebago Lake Association’s invasive hybrid variable leaf milfoil program began earlier in 2024 due to favorable weather conditions. We started with our “get together” meeting to go over the plans to prioritize where to go first based upon last year’s activities, how to fill out the daily reports, mapping, how to use the GPS on the boat and safety protocols. We started removing invasive milfoil in the Lower Lake in Windham, first in the shallow coves and other shallow areas in the lake before the July 4 th boat traffic could chew up the plants. In the Lower Lake we removed 68.5 bags in the month of June. The early warm weather was favorable for bountiful growth. The 2023 rainy season didn’t encourage the plants to grow enough to be seen. One theory is that the milfoil remained on the bottom over the winter, allowing it to root and then grow with the favorable warm sunny conditions. The operation transitioned north to the Middle Lake and then to the Upper Lake and Narrows. The Upper Lake area produced 13 bags in July, 7 bags in August and 1 bag in September. Returning for one more recheck resulted in 2 new areas being found, one behind Goff Island found based on a property owners report. The Middle Lake totaled 78.5 bags for the year. North of Lyons Point had 15.5 bags with a new area found by Roberta Hill while performing a vegetative survey located behind Grape Island / Morrill Shore with 12 plants. This will be rechecked in 2025. We Coordinators Pam Wilkinson and Tim Greer (Background-Diver Jim MacNaught, Crew Sheryl Barnard & Geoff King)

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