Author: Pam Kelly

 

Recently Pawtuckaway Lake Weed Watchers conducted their annual island trash pick-up on the weekend of Saturday December 3 and Sunday December 4.

For safety, volunteers don life vests, warm clothing, and waterproof shoes or boots and employ the buddy system because of potential danger in icy waters.

This year, the lake level dropped for the winter later in the season than usual.  But when the water level is low and before the snow comes, more of the shoreline is exposed, both around the lake front and the islands. That’s the best time to spot and remove some of the debris that has accumulated during the busy summer season.  Trash, items that have fallen from watercraft or washed off shores, the remains of fireworks displays, and other recreational items left behind by visitors are more visible when the water is low.  In the summer, currents wash this debris to the rocky island perimeters, where it is exposed to view in the late fall and can be collected.

Despite a cold stiff breeze, many of the Weed Watchers braved the elements and picked up trash on and around the islands. They reported less trash than they removed last year.  This annual event represents the PLIA’s commitment to protect and preserve the natural beauty the lake.  And, as if on cue, it snowed Monday, December 5, demonstrating that timing is everything.

 

Amy Smagula, limnologist and Exotic Species Program Coordinator at the NH Department of Environmental Services (NHDES), addressed the PLIA Board of Directors at its November 15, 2016 meeting.  She spoke about Pawtuckaway Lake’s variable milfoil infestation, offering information and outlining recommendations for its management in the near future.

Her plan of action included prevention, early detection, rapid response, and control efforts.  Amy spoke encouragingly about the fact that the infestation in Pawtuckaway Lake has been neither dense nor widespread so far, and advised the PLIA that its current campaign of containment and removal is a winning strategy that should be continued.

Amy cautioned, however, that variable milfoil is a formidable pest.  Even though no growth was apparent upon recent inspection of the lake by our Weed Watchers and NHDES biologists, it can lurk undetected to re-emerge in the early spring.  Milfoil can grow an inch a day in optimal conditions.  Further, it is capable of growing under the ice and is undisturbed by exposure to freezing temperatures and snow or frost.

Herbicide treatment is not recommended, as it must bond to actively growing plants to work and is only effective for about a 48 hour period.  For that reason, it is not a plan for prevention.  Due to the nature, location, and size of our infestation, Amy specifically said that herbicide treatment is definitely off the table.

Biweekly surveying of the lake by our Weed Watchers is recommended. Amy affirmed that the team who regularly patrolled the South Channel locating and marking milfoil growths this past season is crucial to the rapid response that NHDES certified divers have been able to provide.  The coordination of these efforts has thus far made it possible to eliminate new growths not long after they have been detected.

Curtailing boat and fishing traffic through the sensitive area of milfoil infestations near the State Park boat launch will remain a challenge, she acknowledged.  The real concern is that fragments broken off in the channel will be transported unknowingly to other parts of the lake where the weed may be harder to spot and will consequently spread.  In addition, engaging State Park personnel in education and awareness efforts will be a key component to our management plan.  She emphasized that our Lake Host Program must remain vigorous.

The Board expressed its appreciation to Amy for sharing her expertise and helping the PLIA address this situation in the most comprehensive and effective manner.  NHDES has been and continues to be our strongest ally in our fight to eliminate variable milfoil, offering its resources and assistance on a continuous basis.

In the coming 2017 season, the PLIA will be calling for assistance from its membership to join these efforts.  Please consider becoming a member, renewing a membership, or offering your time as a volunteer.  Further, we are looking for folks with PADI SCUBA diving credentials who are willing to take the State weed-control-diver-program training to help us with future eradication efforts.  For information, please contact PLIA Vice-President Tom Duffy at 603 303-3039, tom.duffy@verani.com .  Together we can win this battle!

 

On the crisp, Saturday fall morning of November 5, 2016, members of the PLIA assembled at the telephone substation near Seaman’s Point Road to pick up litter on the highway.  They have adopted and are responsible for cleaning up a stretch of roadway along Route 156, which they do twice a year.  PLIA Board member John Morin organized the team and PLIA member Steve White coordinated with the State to support the activity. The White family has its own stretch of Route 156 which it also patrols for cleanup.  Although the temperatures were frosty, spirits were high as friends and neighbors shared stories of summer adventures as well as plans for the coming winter, all while bagging cans, bottles, and other debris strewn along the road.  Community service can be fun!

Those who have been following reports from the PLIA are aware that invasive Variable Milfoil has been in the South Channel for the past two summers. Throughout this time, PLIA volunteers have been snorkeling the area to discover new growths, which they have marked so that DES divers can remove them. At one point, a local volunteer certified diver even donated his time to pull a lot of growth in early July.

As a result of the infestation, we have sent out notices and placed signs in the South Channel advising boaters to avoid the channel in order to minimize the possibility of fragmenting and spreading the milfoil. Currently, all known Variable Milfoil has been removed from the channel.

While it is very likely that the invasive milfoil has not been eradicated completely, the South Channel appears to be clear enough that boating can resume in the South Channel.

Consequently, the signs in the South Channel are being removed. In the spring we will resume searching the South Channel area for new infestations of milfoil and will send out notices and place the signs back in the channel if any new milfoil is found.

The PLIA would like to thank the people who went out of their way to avoid this area and recognize that their sacrifices and inconveniences played an important role in this effort.  As we know, it is impossible to stop all traffic through the South Channel, but we appreciate the efforts made by many boaters to avoid using it. We also appreciate all those who answered our call to spread the word, not the milfoil!