|
October 2022 Newsletter from the 30 Mile River Watershed Association
Photo of Parker Pond by Trisha Cheney
| |
On Nov 8th, Vote for the Environment | |
|
The November 8th Midterm Elections are quickly approaching. Voting is one of our greatest democratic rights, so get out there and make your voice heard this November!
Vote for the environment!
Whether it's warming lake temperatures that increase algae growth and harm fish or severe rain events that wash soil and other pollutants into our lakes, the threats from climate change are very real at a local level. The health of our lakes and ponds depend on your votes.
Ask your candidates where they stand on climate change. The consequences of carbon emissions are happening now, and we cannot delay action anymore. Your grandchildren and children will thank you.
| |
Votes Are In! 2022 Photo Contest Winners | |
|
CONGRATULATIONS to our Summer 2022 Photo Contest winners!
- Fun Times at the Lake: Nancy Turner (1st) & Sue Knorr (2nd)
- Watershed Wildlife: Matt Degnan (1st & 2nd)
- Spectacular Scenes: Ned Van Woert (1st) Jennifer Lummis (2nd) & Sue Knorr (3rd)
- Flourishing Flora: Jessica Smith (1st)
To see the the full images, visit our website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
| |
The "View": Is Yours Protecting the Lake? | |
|
Living with a waterfront view is just one way that lakefront residents feel close and connected to their lake. The “view” is meant to celebrate the magical place you call “camp” (or, for the lucky ones, “home”), but what if you found out that your lake view was hurting the lake you most admire?
In order to protect both water quality and wildlife, it is important to preserve and maintain naturally vegetated shoreland areas around the lake. Maine’s Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act requires municipalities to adopt land use regulations for all areas within the shoreland zone (250 feet). Shoreland zoning ordinances also include limitations for the disturbance, cutting, or removal of vegetation within 100 feet of a lake, and 75 feet of streams and wetlands. Here are some of the general guidelines for clearing vegetation in the shoreland buffer zone:
-
Existing vegetation less than 3 feet in height (including ground cover, leaf litter, and the natural forest duff layer) CANNOT be cut, covered, or removed, except to provide for a footpath.
- A winding footpath, no more than 6 feet wide, is allowed for each shorefront lot or per every 200 feet of shoreline owned. The path should be meandering, so runoff is more likely to be trapped by vegetation and natural depressions within the buffer.
- Openings in buffer vegetation that have naturalized with woody vegetation cannot be re-cleared.
-
Click HERE to read the full list on our website!
| |
Boat Inspection Season Wraps Up | |
|
Last weekend we wrapped up another successful season of courtesy boat inspections. From May 27th through October 15th, our paid staff and volunteers conducted 2,584 inspections during 1,849 hours! This year’s team of 10 volunteers made a big impact, volunteering 183 hours throughout the season. Although it is rare for our inspectors to find an invasive species on a boat or trailer (none were found this season), all it takes is one fragment to start an infestation and ruin a lake, and we never know when that will be - so every hour makes a difference!
Photo: Volunteer Todd Hemphill conducts an inspection at Flying Pond
Thank you volunteers!
| |
Androscoggin Lake
Jim Van Cott
Minnehonk Lake
Jan Arminio
Tom Arminio
| |
Flying Pond
Todd Hemphill
Bill Murphy
Wendy Oakley
Bob Thompson
| |
Parker Pond
Maggie Chadwick
Karen Nadeau
Susan Tinguely
| |
Many thanks to Franklin Savings Bank (FSB) for providing a grant to 30 Mile again this year. FSB, a locally-owned bank, supports the community in many ways and we are grateful to be recipients of their generosity supporting our work for clean and healthy lakes.
|
|
Welcome to the Board, Doug & Tom! | |
|
Doug Frantzen
Doug is Echo Lake’s representative on 30 Mile’s Board of Directors and is Vice President of the Echo Lake Association. Doug has been coming to Echo Lake since he attended a boys camp there in the ’60’s. He lives in Falmouth, Maine during the winter and has had a camp on Echo Lake since 2003. After a 40+ year career working for an Employee Benefits company based in Portland, Maine, Doug retired in 2018. Since then, he has had the good fortune of spending all of his summers full-time on Echo. Doug and his wife Kelly enjoy all that Maine has to offer, including hiking, biking, water and snow skiing and kayaking.
| |
|
Tom Arminio
Tom represents the Greater Minnehonk Lake Association (GMLA) on 30 Mile’s Board. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Naval War College, Tom spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy in a variety of challenging assignments at sea and ashore, retiring as a Captain in June 2001, then moving to the private sector. Tom and his wife, Jan, live part of the year in Mt. Vernon on Minnehonk and part of the year in Carlisle, PA. Tom has been dedicated to the health of our lakes for several years, volunteering for courtesy boat inspections, coordinating invasive plant patrols, and serving as one of the Directors of the Greater Minnehonk Lake Association (GMLA).
Visit our website to read full bios for all our board members!
| |
Support 30 Mile! Your gift today will make a difference in protecting our lakes from phosphorus pollution, invasive species, and other threats. Find the giving level that works for you. | |
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram! | | | | | |
