Twice a year, PLIA volunteers gather to spend an hour fanning out along both sides of Route 156 between the signs bearing our name on them. Spring and fall, volunteers in reflector vests scan the roadside, collecting and bagging trash. It is a program of which the PLIA is very proud, and is one way we are able to give back to the community. Plus, believe it or not, we have fun in the process!
On Saturday, October 14, the PLIA had the biggest turnout ever for trash pickup along the highway! Truly a perfect example of the adage, “many hands make light work”. We had the entire strip of highway under our responsibility clean in record time and had a nice visit with friends and neighbors at the same time.
Thanks to all who volunteered!
The Cox Conserves Heroes Award, in recognition of the volunteer work that Neil Santos has been doing to search for variable milfoil in Pawtuckaway Lake, has already benefitted the PLIA with a $5,000 grant. This is your chance to vote for Neil and increase the chances of an additional $5,000 award if he gets more votes than the other two finalists in this program.
Pawtuckaway Lake Improvement Association member Neil Santos has been nominated as a 2017 Cox Conserves Heroes finalist for the Boston area for his volunteerism. Of course, Neil is already a hero to us because he created the milfoil snorkel patrol that has devoted hundreds of hours in search of variable milfoil in Pawtuckaway. Cox Conserves Heroes is a national awards program that honors and celebrates environmental volunteers across the country. Please read the story on their website at 
On July 9, 2017, PLIA volunteer Neil Santos and his team of Weed Watcher snorkelers and divers traveled up to the boat launch in Fundy to search for milfoil. They started at the launch and snorkeled their way down the stream about 2/3 of the way to the black marker where the stream opens up. The visibility was extremely poor. Close to the launch there was considerable sediment in the water due to the boat traffic/ launches but even downstream the amount of tannin in the water made it difficult for sunlight to penetrate and kept the visibility to 2-3 feet at best. Fortunately, Fundy is quite shallow and, even though they could not see very well, they had good confidence that they would have spotted any significant patches of milfoil. They saw a good deal of bladderwort, native milfoil, and grasses but were happy to report that they did not see any invasive milfoil. Thanks to diligent boaters and especially to the Lake Hosts!
Every year, to celebrate our nation’s birthday, the PLIA organizes a boat parade around Pawtuckaway Lake on July 4th. People decorate all kinds of boats – from pontoons to kayaks to power boats to jet skis – with patriotic or fanciful themes, and congregate at the north end of the lake for our annual parade.
The morning mist glides just above the water’s surface
So far PLIA volunteers John Hudson, Jim Kelly, and Neil Santos have conducted three snorkeling sessions in the area near the State Park Horse Island boat launch in the South Channel. They have found several small milfoil plants that were marked for removal by NH DES divers on June 9. A larger milfoil plant in the area of the red and white buoy was found by the certified scuba-diving relative of a lake resident, but subsequent attempts to locate it again have not been successful. This effort, and underwater searching in general, has been hampered by the murky conditions due to the amount of pollen suspended in the water. Underwater visibility has been less than 4 feet, but should improve in the next few weeks as the pollen settles to the bottom. The Search Team should then be able to get a better assessment of the overall milfoil situation in the South Channel. Their activities in the South Channel will continue throughout the summer and NH DES divers will return periodically to remove any milfoil plants that are found. Several additional snorkelers and scuba divers have expressed an interest in helping with these efforts and more assistance is always welcome.
