PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

Public Announcement
From the Maine Department of Environmental Protection­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
17 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333-0017­
DEP Considers Using Herbicide to Control Eurasian Milfoil
in Salmon Lake
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts:
July 17, 2009 Paul Gregory 287-6961/557-2140
Donna Gormley 592-2032

(AUGUSTA)--The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is looking at administering herbicide in a cove at Salmon Lake in Belgrade to control the spread of Eurasian Milfoil.

The DEP is holding a public meeting on July 22nd at 7pm at the Union Church in Belgrade Lakes to discuss the eradication efforts of the past year and reasons for taking this next step.

“The DEP divers meticulously went about the task of hand weeding the cove, and installed lake bottom barriers in an attempt to stop the spread of the invasive plant,” says Paul Gregory, an Environmental Specialist with the DEP. “The Eurasian milfoil is very aggressive and despite our efforts is rebounding such that the rest of Salmon Lake and downstream waters, namely Great Pond, now face an increased risk of infestation. “

The Eurasian milfoil in Salmon Lake was first reported to DEP last August by a summer visitor. Within a week DEP divers began removing plants and continued dives into late last September.

This year DEP conducted five dives which resulted in the removal of 325 plants – that’s more than twice what was found and removed last year. Other efforts to control the invasive plant include restricting access into the cove by boaters, extending Courtesy Boat Inspection hours at a nearby public boat ramp, and installing nets at the cove’s mouth and outlet to capture plant fragments in an effort to prevent them from spreading and taking root outside the cove.

“If Eurasian Milfoil is left unchecked it is capable of displacing native plants and altering the lake’s habitat,” says Gregory. “Given the situation, we feel appropriate use of herbicide will provide the most effective means available to prevent its spread and allow us better opportunity to control this infestation manually.”

The only other known Eurasian water milfoil infestation in Maine exists in a small private pond in Scarborough.

time for a buffer zone??

BRCA Conservation Corps

The Corps's mission is to reduce sources of pollution in our lakes (Great, Long, Snow/Messalonskee, East, McGrath, North, Watson and Ward Ponds, and Salmon Lake). Founded in 1996 by BRCA, this self-sustaining summer program has completed more than 494 erosion-control projects on all seven Belgrade Lakes in the watershed. Each summer a project director oversees two full-time crews of high school students and crew leaders. Projects like Peninsula Park in Belgrade Lakes Village have helped the conservation raise local awareness of erosion issues.

The BRCA Conservation Corps is seeking candidate sites for its work on an ongoing basis. The Corps will do hand work such as planting trees/shrubs, stabilizing eroding shorelines (riprap), stone lining of eroding ditches and building waterbars and turnouts on roads and drainage ways. Labor will be provided free of charge; landowners will pay for materials and any permit fees. If you know of an eroding site that needs stabilizing, let us know. The Corps Director and the Watershed Program Coordinator are available for on-site consultations about how your property may be affecting water quality in our lakes. Call us at 207-495-6039 or fill out a site assessment form (PDF*).

Every spring the BRCA Conservation Corps seeks energetic, committed, responsible students to perform physically demanding outdoor work.

• Positions are open to high school students age 16 or older, who are capable of performing physically demanding outdoor labor on a daily basis.
  Preference for applicants from Belgrade, Oakland, Rome, Sidney, or Smithfield.
• 35 hours/week beginning in late June and running for seven weeks.
• Must provide own transportation to job sites and be willing to carpool when possible to sites around all seven Belgrade Lakes.

Interested applicants should send a brief application letter consisting of their name, address, phone number, Social Security number, age, grade, names and contact information for three references, description of previous job experiences and/or school activities, and an explanation of why they are qualified for the job.

Send applications to:
BRCA Conservation Corps
P.O. Box 250
Belgrade Lakes, ME 04918

brcacc@gwi.net
(207) 495-6039

summer sunset

about the lake

Messalonskee Lake, Maine

Also known as: Snow Pond, Nine Mile Pond

Locations

• USA > New England > Maine

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Messalonskee Lake: Map & Description

Messalonskee Lake, also known as Snow Pond and Nine Mile Pond, is located in the Belgrade Lakes Region of Central Maine. The 3,510 acre lake, the second largest of the Belgrade Lakes, is approximately 9 miles long and is the result of continental collision and glacial scouring. Its size was increased after it was dammed in 1905 to provide waterpower to Oakland's Cascade Woolen Mill and several factories in the early 20th century. Its average depth is 33 feet with a maximum depth of 113 feet.

While power boating is permitted on Messalonskee Lake, the lake suffers from a problem with aquatic plant life (milfoil) and therefore has become a popular destination for paddle boating, canoeing, and kayaking. Because of its unique habitat and conditions, the lake is considered one of the better places to view plants and wild animals, and binoculars are a must for an afternoon boat ride. The flora and fauna are abundant, ranging from singing bullfrogs and proud bald eagles to carnivorous pitcher plants. Black terns, a rare sight in Maine, also nest on the lake and any visitor will be awed by their beauty.

Fishing is a popular activity on Messalonskee Lake. Anglers can wile away the hours fishing for American eel, crappie, trout, bullhead, pickerel, fallfish, shiner, salmon, bass, pike and more.

While popular for its fishing, the lake is also known for its birding and scenic landscape. Whether observing nature in a canoe or kayak from the water or taking advantage of hiking trails, you will be in awe of the quiet peacefulness of the area, giving you unique and wonderful opportunities to catch animals in their element: foraging for food, bounding through the trees and sleeping in knolls. Don't forget your camera!

Messalonskee Lake: Statistics

• Lake Type: Natural Freshwater Lake, Dammed
• Surface Area: 3,510 acres
• Average Depth: 33 feet
• Maximum Depth: 113 feet

Ice Fishing Frensy

Ice Fishing Frenzy is 'still rock 'n' rolling'

B

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OAKLAND -- It started as a small winter outing on one lake.

But that was 18 years ago.

Today the Children's Ice Fishing Frenzy is just that -- a frenzy. A good one, though.

As in about 200 children spread among seven lakes in the Belgrade chain, experiencing a sporting activity that is quintessentially Maine.

"This activity really fits the Belgrade Lakes," Oakland Recreation Director Eric Seekins said. "I'm not sure you could do it in Portland, but it works for the Oakland Recreation Department. Originally, it was born out of my own interest in the outdoors and now, 18 years later, it's still rock 'n' rolling."

By Friday afternoon, the deadline to sign up, Seekins had nearly 200 children registered for what this year will be a Super Bowl Sunday event.

For most of its history, the Ice Fishing Frenzy was held on Messalonskee Lake alone.

Seekins added six more Belgrade Lakes -- Salmon, McGrath, North, Great, East and Long -- when he realized that many families had lodges or ice shacks on one of those ponds.

By expanding the venue, many families can stay warm fishing on their home ice.

"It makes it easier for the families with young children," Seekins said.

Participants can start fishing any time they wish, but they have to bring their fish to Atwood Elementary School to be weighed between 3 and 5 p.m.

Prizes are awarded in the following fish categories: white perch, yellow perch, pickerel, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, black crappie, brown trout, splake, brook trout and northern pike.

And then there are the prizes for pre-determined mystery weights, as well as prizes through special drawings and a special prize for the largest fish.

No child, moreover, leaves without receiving a certificate of participation.

"Everybody," Seekins said, "will walk out of there with something on Sunday. All they have to do is show up at the school."

Seekins will be among the participants or, rather, he will be on a lake watching his children, ages 7 and 4, try to hook a big one.

It's important, he said, to let your children learn what ice fishing is all about.

"If (ice fishing) is not passed on to the next generation," he said, "we are going to lose it, and this is a nice, friendly way do to it."

ice fishing in Maine

Tips For Ice Fishing in Maine

There is very little to debate when it comes to ice fishing; people either love it or hate it. But in states like Maine, there is a long tradition of ice fishing, and many people that ice fish can't wait for winter to come so they can get on the ice and enjoy this sport.

But if you’re new to ice fishing in Maine, it is important to get an understanding for what this sport is all about before charging out on the ice. This article will cover the basics of starting out in ice fishing. Who knows, you may even find out that you love the adventure of getting out and catching some big Maine fish.

The first rule of ice fishing is somewhat obvious, but it cannot be overstated enough. Always make certain that the ice your fishing on is safe. A good rule to follow is to wait until there is a minimum of 6 inches of ice on a lake or pond before attempting to fish on it. There are also different types of ice, and it would be wise to get familiar with all of them before heading out.

"Black ice," is a name given to ice that is mostly clear, and contains only air bubbles thoughout it. Black ice is considered to be more safe than the deceivingly-named, "white ice," which is not as clear, and contains melted snow that has been re-frozen over and over. In general, ice fishing beginners should stay away from white ice.

Another good rule is to always test the ice before setting up and fishing. You can often test the ice by the shore, you should drill a couple of holes in the ice close to the shore where the water is not as deep. This will help you to get a good idea of how much ice there is and the quality of it. Another good idea is to ask other fishermen about the quality of the ice and its thickness.

When choosing a spot to fish, you should look at getting some ice fishing access maps that can be available online for lakes and ponds in Maine. These will help to give you a better idea of the depth of a pond or lake that you intend to fish, and hep suggest locations to set up your base camp for fishing. It's also good to note that you need not go out into deep water to catch fish. Many experienced ice fishermen rarely risk going out beyond 6 or 7 feet deep. As a first timer, it is a good idea to stay closer to the shore anyways, and you can be confident that it is just as easy to catch some fish.

Another rule of ice fishing is to never go ice fishing on your own. You should always take a friend when you venture out to go ice fishing. This is important for safety reasons, and it can also make your entire experience much more enjoyable. Another good idea is to let your family or friends know where you will be fishing and at what time you plan to be done.

Ice fishing in Maine can be a great winter pastime, and a way to pass those long, dark winter evenings, but remember, when it comes to ice fishing, safety should always come first.

BOWDOINHAM, Maine - The morning is sunny; the river is frozen. Snowmobiles and four-wheelers whisk us over the smooth ice and snow a couple of cold miles to Jim McPherson's secluded shanty on the Cathance River, a tidal tributary of Merrymeeting Bay.

The shack looks like a kindergartener's drawing of a house. It is about 10 feet square with a front door, a peaked roof, a few windows, and a pipe chimney blowing wood smoke. McPherson, who lighted the stove, has already come and gone. Inside it is warm as a sauna.

Open the door and step up from the ice onto a plywood floor that stops short of the side walls to make room for rectangular holes that have been slashed out of the frozen river with a chainsaw. Above these gaps hang a dozen or so lines attached to a 2-inch-by-2-inch beam. Nudge the beam, and it jigs the hooks.

We bait the lines with pieces of sandworm and lower them into the river where they hang, weighted with lead sinkers, some closer to the surface, some closer to the bottom.

Maine's coastal rivers usually freeze just after Christmas. Sportsmen drag their handmade shanties onto the ice. The fish to catch are smelts - tiny, sharp-toothed, silver-sided relations to salmon and trout. Fresh out of the water they smell like cucumber. Breaded with cornmeal, fried in butter, dipped in tartar sauce, and eaten off the bone, they are a superlative snack - fish to gush over.

In the winter smelt come with the tides day and night. They summer along the coast in shallow water close to shore. In fall they move up into the estuaries and winter under the ice. In spring, when the ice melts, they wiggle up the brooks to spawn - but for now all is frozen and the fishermen are waiting, lines ready, tall tales in the air.

Around Bowdoinham there are a handful of smelt camps that can be booked by the tide - little smelt villages, where for less than $50 each group gets a shack complete with wood stove, fishing lines, folding chairs, and newspaper-wrapped packets of bait. Bring your own beer.

McPherson, 54, big and bearded, has made a living from the bay and its rivers all his life. He has fished for eels, hunted ducks, and rented houseboats. For about 20 years he has maintained Jim's Smelt Camps, a cluster of ice shacks just upriver from the little Brooklyn Bridge on Route 24 in Bowdoinham.

Until sometime in March McPherson and his crew will work the camps 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In and around a shack by the road they cut firewood, watch television, cook at the snack bar (griddled hamburgers and fried potatoes), smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, plow, pack bait, stoke the stoves.

Shack renters come at all hours: old men in the morning to fill five-gallon buckets with fish; college kids during the day to gawk, drink beer, and make cellphone videos to post on Facebook; rockers at night with giggly women and boom boxes.

McPherson also keeps an upriver camp at what is known as town farm turn. "I'm the smelt chaser," he says. "That means I go where the smelt are." The camp, "for serious fishermen only," is more secluded, more expensive, and offers better fishing. After some slow fishing in the cluster by the bridge we pony up for the champagne lounge - $25 a person instead of $15.

It's worth the extra dough. Our lines start twitching a minute after they hit the water. We bend down and tug the lines out of the water. Smelt! The fish are a few inches long - shiny and squirmy, bright eyed and iridescent. To honor local tradition we bite heads off the first fish and spit them out. The still wriggling bodies go into a bucket.

For nearly four hours the lines do not stop moving. The haul is mostly smelt, big females and small males, but toward the end of the tide we pull in some white perch as well. We work the lines like puppeteers, pull fish off hooks, throw fish in buckets, and empty full buckets into a giant trash bag on the snow outside.

We fry fish for lunch in a cast-iron pan on top of the woodstove. We drink beer. We eat chips. Thick steamy vapor comes up from the cold water. The floor is wet from flapping fish. We step outside the shack, wearing T-shirts, squinting in the glare of the sun, hearing nothing but the groaning of ice, seeing just crows, and trees, and ice.

About 2 p.m. the tide turns, and McPherson arrives to pick us up. We pull the lines, squeegee the floor, and shut down the stove. The trash bag is full of fish, probably 50 pounds of perfect little silver icicles. Again, we bomb over the frozen ice. The sky above is blue, the wind burns our faces and feels so good.

Later, we fry fish for supper.

Jonathan Levitt can be reached at www.jonathanlevitt.com.

Be safe out there

Even in dead of winter, ice safety a must

Even though we're deep in the dead of winter these days, ice can still be tricky $ as a couple of visitors found out last weekend.

Dennis Belmonte, of Middleton, Mass., was riding with a group of three other snowmobilers on Sunday when his sled crashed through thin ice near North Twin Dam not far from Millinocket. It was the same area where a man from Connecticut was killed last spring when snowmobiling onto thin ice.

As a result, the Maine Warden Service for the second time this season is issuing a reminder to outdoorsmen to use extreme caution when going onto ice, "particularly in areas near bridges, thoroughfares, culverts and wherever else there may be currents flowing underneath as ice in these areas may be very thin or non existent."

All the proof you need in telling how serious thin ice can be is in a snowmobile sitting at the bottom of 30 feet of water.

"There are certain locations in the state that never freeze," said Major Gregory Sanborn of the Warden Service. "Locals usually know about these. Unfortunately visitors do not.

"Recreationalists not familiar with a particular body of water need to use extreme caution. Never follow a track just because it's there. Also, be aware of any moving water, such as inlets, outlets and culverts."

It takes colder temperatures to freeze water in culverts, inlets and outlets because it is in motion, Sanborn said.

"Areas of moving water never freeze to the point of being safe to cross or ride upon," Major Sanborn said.

Safe ice conditions cannot be assumed, even though most of Maine's lakes and ponds are currently frozen over. Recent snowfall covers the bodies of water, which both slows the freezing process and masquerades treacherous spots.

* * * * *

Tips for Ice Safety

* Never guess the thickness of the ice. Check it.

Check the ice in several different places using an auger or some other means to make a test hole and determine the thickness. Make several, beginning at the shore, and continuing as you go out.

* Check the ice with a partner.
If something does happen, someone is there to help you. If you are doing it alone, wear a lifejacket.

* If ice at the shoreline is cracked or squishy, stay off.

Watch out for thin, clear or honeycombed ice. Dark snow and dark ice are other signs of weak spots.

* Avoid areas with currents, around bridges and pressure ridges.

Wind and currents can break ice.

* Parents should alert children of unsafe ice in their area, and make sure that they stay off the ice.

If they insist on using their new skates, suggest an indoor skating rink.

* If you break through the ice, remember the following: don't panic, don't try to climb out immediately, reach for solid ice, lay both arms on the unbroken ice and kick hard to lift your body onto the ice. Once on the ice, roll to safety.

by Travis Barrett

loons make comeback

January 20, 2009

Loon population rebounds nicely

Good news from the dead of winter: Maine's loon population is on the rise.

According to a press release from Maine Audubon, after two years of declining numbers, the 2008 state loon count showed that loons are rebounding across Maine.

Over a thousand citizen-scientist volunteers helped conduct the 25th anniversary of the Maine Loon Count last July. Surveying 332 lakes and ponds across Maine one morning, the group recorded more than 2,000 loons.

There were 2,083 adults and 184 chicks in all.

"We were worried that there would be a drop in the adult population for an unprecedented third year in a row," said Susan Gallo, Maine Audubon wildlife biologist and director of the Maine Loon Project. "The bounce back is a relief and puts the population back on a healthy track."

The estimate of southern Maine's chick population for 2008 was 265, a drop from 2007's nearly record high of 422. Swings in the chick population are typical from year to year, but the population has remained stable over time.

While weather conditions stayed mostly favorable for loons leading up to 2008's count day, consistent rains in the weeks after may have had a negative impact on survival rates. With enough heavy rain, lake levels can rise enough to flood nests on the shore.

The 2009 count is scheduled for July 18.

"The record number of volunteers participating last summer was a pleasant surprise," said Gallo. "People's enthusiasm about the loon count no matter how old they are is always amazing