Many people have asked where the stickers can be purchased. They can be purchased both online and anywhere that sells a Maine Fishing license or boat registration. Last year the Countryside Corner store on Rt 109 in Acton carried them.
We have been given the word that this year, Maine wardens will be ticketing any boat operating in Maine waters without a sticker. For the past two years they were instructed to educate boaters but are now planning to hand out tickets.
For questions about the sticker program please go to: Maine DEP
Maine Takes Immediate Action to Address Eurasian Watermilfoil
(AUGUSTA)- - Stressing that "Maine is out front on this," the state's
Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Dawn R. Gallagher today
announced an immediate plan to combat the state's first confirmed detection
of Eurasian Watermilfoil. An infestation of this aggressive aquatic plant
has been identified in a Scarborough gravel quarry. The DEP's rapid response
plan includes water draw down already underway. Dredging, herbicide
treatments or the combination of these actions are likely in the coming spring.
"We were the last state in the lower 48 to be free of Eurasian Milfoil,"
said Gallagher. "Now that it's here, I want a thorough and aggressive response."
In addition to undertaking control strategies in the 28-acre private quarry,
the DEP will contact residents and businesses in the area to determine all
possible sources of introduction. The DEP will also seek help from local
lake associations and the Maine Department of Conservation's Natural Areas
Program to increase surveillance of area ponds, lakes and streams.
First reported to DEP in late October by the quarry's landowner, the presence of
Eurasian Watermilfoil has been verified by Don Cameron, a botanist with the Natural
Areas Program. DEP estimates this infestation to be at least five years old and has determined that it is well established throughout the quarry.
The quarry is private and offers no boating, swimming or fishing-the most likely
routes of plant invasion in Maine lakes and ponds. "Without the usual suspects,
DEP biologists are already surveying the outlet stream and nearby waters to determine whether the plant is isolated to this quarry," said Commissioner Gallagher.
Never detected before in Maine, Eurasian Watermilfoil (scientific name: Myriophyllum spicatum) is a stubborn and fast-growing invasive plant that degrades water quality by displacing native plants, fish and other aquatic species. This plant also forms stems reaching up to 20 feet in length that cause fouling problems for swimmers or boaters when introduced into recreational lakes and ponds.
Eurasian Watermilfoil is able to dominate fresh water ecosystems quickly
when fragmented by boat props and by way of buds and surface runners. The
aquatic weed also tolerates a wide range of environmental conditions including
low light levels, high or low nutrient waters, and freezing temperatures. For these
reasons, Eurasian Watermilfoil can not only out-compete native aquatic plants, it
can infest a lake more aggressively than Variable-leaf Milfoil, the most common
invasive plant established in Maine.
Efforts to prevent, detect and manage aquatic invasive plants are made possible by
boater participation in the Maine Lake and River Protection Sticker program.
Roberta Hill
MAINE CENTER FOR INVASIVE AQUATIC PLANTS
Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program
24 Maple Hill Road, Auburn, ME 04210
phone/fax 207-783-7733 mciap@mainevlmp.org http://www.mainevolunteerlakemonitors.org
Some articles of special interest to the Wakefield lake communities were passed at the Wakefield annual town elections on March 9th, 2004
Residents approved, by a vote of 468 to 167, Article 15 which added $20,000 to the Invasive Species Expendable Trust Fund established last year. The money is to be appropriated through undesignated fund balance and no money is to be raised through new taxation.
Also aproved by a vote of 410 to 232 was Article 22: To stop the Town from spreading salt on road surfaces in the R-2 (residential shoreline) zone of our zoning code.
