WHO? Anyone who is committed to maintaining the pristine conditions of our beautiful lake that is free from invasive weeds, so far.

WHY? Invasive aquatic plants have been a problem in lakes in NH and ME for several decades. Variable milfoil is by far the most widespread. This plant is found in portions of Lake Winnipesaukee and numerous other bodies of water in our area. It takes only a small portion of this plant to take root in our waters. Wildfowl can also spread these invasive plants. Other problematic species include fanwort, hydrilla, water chestnut, Eurasian milfoil and curly- leafed pondweed. Early detection of invasive aquatic plants ensures the most effective control. Once an invader is well established, eradication is extremely difficult and costly, if not impossible.

An Annual Newsletter for Volunteer Weed Watchers

Published by the New Hampshire Department
of Environmental Services, Summer 2009

Download the 2009 Weed Watchin' Newsletter.

The Weed Watcher program continues to be very successful.  We now have 65 active volunteers covering nearly all of the shoreline including the Scribner River.  We are proud to say that our lake continues to be free of any exotic weeds. This is particularly good news since several of our neighboring lakes are infested with milfoil.  These lakes include Belleau, Balch, Winnipesauke, and Wentworth.

September 2006

Amy Smagula, the Exotic Species Program Coordinator at the NH Department of Environmental Services, has confirmed through DNA that the plant removed from Great East Lake this summer was variable-leaf milfoil.  She has told us that other lakes that have found only one plant and removed it have remained free of milfoil years later, so we are hopeful that the vigilance of our weed watchers will keep our lake free of invasive species in the future.

July 21, 2006

GELIA Lake Host Tessa Venell found a piece of Eurasion water-milfoil on a jetski and removed it before it could get into the lake.  The jetski came from Lake Bomoseen, a lake with an Eurasian water-milfoil infestation in Vermont.  Congratulations Tessa and thanks for your watchfulness.
To learn more about Eurasian water-milfoil click here.

July, 2006

GELIA would like to congratulate expert Weed Watcher Carol Lafond on her discovery of what appears to be variable milfoil. Carol routinely snorkels the cove at the Maine boat launch and spotted the single plant which was then pulled. Amy Smagula, NH DES Exotic Species Program Director, examined the specimen and is fairly certain that it is the dreaded variable milfoil but has sent it out for conclusive DNA testing.

Click here for excellent pictures of variable milfoil on the Maine Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program website.  If you click on the pictures you can see an enlarged version.  Note the redish brown color of the stem.  This is one of the ways to distinguish this plant from some of the similar looking plants native to our lakes.  The plant found in Great East was in about 4 feet of water and had not reached the surface, so there was no flower on the plant.