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Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Groups ask state to close milfoil-infested boat ramp
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ORONO — Owners of lakefront property in Maine are asking state officials to close a milfoil-infested boat ramp on Messalonskee Lake in Belgrade. The Maine Congress of Lake Associations, made up of more than 150 lake associations and individuals, held its annual meeting at the University of Maine on Saturday. Discussion of invasive plants such as milfoil and hydrilla dominated the daylong session attended by about 75 people, most of whom own lakefront property in Maine. "We really need to take the initiative so our lakes remain healthy," said Cindy Esty of Glenburn. "Lakefront property owners must take the responsibility to educate themselves and others about these issues. If we don't care about our lakes, who will?" Margaret Shannon, the associations' executive director, urged members to write Gov. John Baldacci and three state commissioners to seek the temporary closure of the Route 27 boat ramp, one of three public access points to the lake, to keep milfoil from spreading. Shannon prepared a fact sheet that read: "Since the documented identification of variable leaf milfoil at this site in 1998, these invasives have spread rapidly through the channel, making transport of milfoil from this site to other Maine lakes likely." According to the property owners' group, data collected at the site last year showed that 42 percent of boats exiting the lake carried plants. Maine's milfoil law allows temporary closures of boat launches in cases where watercraft threaten to worsen or spread the infestation. So far, no boat ramps on Maine lakes have been closed. But officials have gated the public launch on Pickerel Pond in Limerick, where hydrilla has been found.
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