The latest and greatest newsletter is now available. It is full of all types of information about programs etc. that will be occurring around the lake as well as other interesting facts and tidbits. You can check it out by clicking here. Enjoy!
Author Archives: Jon Samuelson
Septic Evaluation of Septic Risk – RFQ
Septic Evaluation of Septic Risk to Province Lake RFQ
The Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance (AWWA) has been awarded funding from NHDES, through a grant from Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, for implementation of the “Province Lake Watershed Management Plan Implementation Phase 1: Addressing High Priority Actions and Building Local Capacity” project. Province Lake lies in Wakefield and Effingham, NH and Parsonsfield, ME and is listed on the NHDES 303(d) list as impaired for Aquatic Life Use due to high levels of phosphorus and chlorophyll-a and for Primary Contact Recreation due to recurring cyanobacteria blooms.
AWWA invites interested contractors to submit qualifications for the development of the “Evaluation of Septic System Risk to Province Lake” program. The selected consultant will work closely with AWWA, the Province Lake Association, NHDES and other project stakeholders to evaluate high risk septic systems within the Province Lake watershed.
For the full project description and to download the RFQ, please visit: Evaluation of Septic System Risk to Province Lake RFQ 2015
Request for Qualifications: Province Lake Road Management Plan
The Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance (AWWA) has been awarded funding from NHDES, through a grant from Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, for implementation of the “Province Lake Watershed Management Plan Implementation Phase 1: Addressing High Priority Actions and Building Local Capacity” project. Province Lake lies in Wakefield and Effingham, NH and Parsonsfield, ME and is listed on the NHDES 303(d) list as impaired for Aquatic Life Use due to high levels of phosphorus and chlorophyll-a and for Primary Contact Recreation due to recurring cyanobacteria blooms.
AWWA invites interested contractors to submit qualifications for the development of a Road Management Plan for Bonnyman Road and Route 153. The selected consultant will work closely with AWWA, the Province Lake Association, NHDES and other project stakeholders to implement surface water quality restoration tasks within the Province Lake watershed.
For the full project description and to download the RFQ, please visit:
http://awwatersheds.org/province-lake-road-mgmt-plan-request-for-qualifications/
Who Were Those Blue Shirts on Aug. 23rd?
If you were out and about on the morning of August 23rd, you may have seen a bunch of people walking along Rte 153 with blue shirts on .. so who were they and what were they doing?
On that sunny morning, members of the Province Lake Association (PLA), Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance (AWWA), and concerned citizens in the area took to cleaning up the RT-153 beach at Province Lake. The cleanup began bright and early on Saturday morning as volunteers set out along the Rt-153 beach, picking up every piece of trash and debris they could find. Items found ranged in size from cigarette butts to signs, and over 2,400 pieces of trash were removed, resulting in 273 pounds of garbage being taken to the dump.
Yes we did use a household scale to weigh everything!
Some of the more disturbing items found on the beach were the 19 soiled diapers, 10 pieces of animal waste (i.e dog poop), and a used tampon. Sadly, we expected the hundreds (if not thousands) of cigarette butts picked up along Rt-153, however the most astonishing thing we found were the hundreds of remnants of fire crackers. Little bits and pieces of plastic, paper and cardboard littered the beaches from Fourth of July and other celebrations. The chemical issues with fireworks fired over lakes have been discussed before, however we were all surprised by the physical effect their casings leave on the landscape. The sheer amount and variety of trash on the beach is a sobering reminder of the need to increase the value of the lake in the minds of those who enjoy it.
The PLA beach cleanup was a resounding success this year, and we hope it becomes a lauded tradition on the lake as the summer winds down. With a bit of hard work, we might just find ourselves picking up less and less trash each year.
Special thanks to volunteers: Pete Dinger, Neil Rowe, Lorna Connelly, Ashley Connelly, Linda Schier, Donna Davis, Larry Moody, Carl Davis, Don Harrison, Rick Zani, Kathleen Zani, Phil Colburn, Marylyn Colburn, Kathi Healey, Loretta Campbell, Peter Campbell, Mindy-Schumann Vye, Tucker Vye, Jon Samuelson and Sam Wilson. Thanks for coming out on a Saturday morning to make Province Lake a better place to visit and live!
The Volunteers … or most of them.
Annual Meeting Watershed Presentation Available!
For those that could not attend the annual meeting on July 19th, the link below is the presentation that FB Environmental gave as the final watershed plan. Minutes from the meeting will be posted soon.
Province Lake Final Watershed Plan Presentation July 19 2014
Beach Clean Up
Grab your family, friends and neighbors and join in the Rte 153 Beach Clean Up on August 23rd. This will be a great opportunity to spend a short amount of time helping your lake and involving/teaching your kids too. Although it is a long beach, it shouldn’t take too long, so come out and support the Watershed Plan. See attached for more info and sign up.
Baby Eagles and an Article about Loons
Thanks to some great photography from the Nickerson family, I can share with you some photo’s of two baby eagles that were in the nest along Point Road. One photo only shows one baby in the nest and the other shows the two of them on a limb .. see below. These were taken over the last couple of weeks and I am guessing they may have flown the coup by now.
Also, a fellow member forwarded the below article about Loon’s that has some good information that you should share with families and friends.
A recent NH Union Leader Story:
July 02. 2014 7:30PM
Loon activists urge boater holiday caution
DAN SEUFERT
Union Leader Correspondent
MOULTONBOROUGH — Loons may be protected by the government, but loon preservation specialists say lots of disruption and death of young birds occurs over holiday weekends.
“People see the loons, and they want to get closer because they are cute, or they don’t see them at all and they hit them crossing the lake,” said Harry Vogel, senior biologist/executive director of the Loon Preservation Committee.
This July 4th weekend, the committee is asking people to play it safe when it comes to loons on New Hampshire lakes and ponds. Vogel said boaters should stay at least 150 feet away from adult loons and their chicks.
“People may or may not see them when the loons cross the lake. We’re asking boaters to keep a close eye on what’s ahead of them,” Vogel said.“Also, when boaters see them in coves, remember that the parent loons have full-time jobs to do, and anything any of us do to disturb what they are doing can cause problems, maybe even deaths.”
Loons, a threatened species in New Hampshire, are protected by state and federal laws from hunting or harassment.
The Loon Preservation Committee was created in 1975 in response to concerns about a dramatically declining loon population and the effects of human activities on loons.
Its mission is to restore and maintain a healthy population of loons throughout New Hampshire, to monitor the health and productivity of loon populations as sentinels of environmental quality, and to promote a greater understanding of loons and the larger natural world.
For more than 35 years, the Loon Preservation Committee has undertaken state-wide monitoring, research, management and outreach to preserve loons and their habitats. The committee has a large grassroots network of more than 1,500 members and volunteers.Last year, the Loon Preservation Committee recorded 157 loon chicks hatched, but nearly a quarter of them did not survive, Vogel said.
Vogel also urged anglers to use non-leaded sinkers and avoid poisoning the birds.The Legislature has ruled that all lead sinkers under 1 ounce must be replaced with non-lead sinkers by 2016.
WILLIAM CARTER said:
The use or sale of lead sinkers weighing one ounce or less is already illegal in New Hampshire, as is the use or sale of lead jigs (weighted fishhooks) less than one inch long.
See pages 10 and 11 of Fish & Game’s Freshwater Fishing Guide for 2014, which is on line at:
http://www.eregulations.com/
What will change June 1, 2016, is that it will become illegal to use or sell lead jigs more than one inch long.
See the law at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.
If you are hosting or meeting visitors from other states who will be fresh-water fishing in New Hampshire, don’t let them be caught unaware, and help protect New Hampshire’s loons.
July 4, 2014 10:48 am
PLA Boat Parade Is Back!
A fellow laker has offered to organize the PLA Boat parade … it has been several years since we have had the fourth of July boat parade, so it is nice we are going to give it another go.
The parade will be this coming Saturday the 5th of July and will start at 1:00 over near the Province Shores Campground.
So, get the kids and family together and get your boat all decked out and meet up over near the campground … its a great way to show your lake and American spirit.
Watershed Action Plan Q&A Document Available!
The Q&A doc we created based on the input from several members and other area folks in regards to the Watershed Action Plan can be viewed by clicking the link below. The draft version of the Action Plan was created at a meeting in mid January. In order to get input from those not able to attend the meeting we gathered comments, questions and suggestions via phone and e-mail. Thanks to all that contributed. Some of the comments/suggestions resulted in edits to the action plan and the attached is the answers to the questions that came in. Several questions were similar, so the wording may not be exactly what an individual had asked as we tried to consolidate them. As always, any further comments, questions, suggestions or concerns you may have in regards to the Watershed Plan or anything else are always appreciated. There will be more coming in regards to the Watershed Plan specifically as we look to have the final report ready for the Annual Meeting on July 19. Here is the link:
Save the Date and Help Needed
We hope many of you can attend the Invasive Species event described in the attached. I believe most of you are aware that invasive species (particularly milfoil) can get into our lake and are already in some of the area lakes. Milfoil can grow in waters as deep as 16 to 17 feet (the maximum depth of Province lake). If it ever gets into Province Lake, we could never get rid of it. The milfoil issue is as much of a concern as the cyanobacteria blooms we have been having.
Even if you can’t attend the June session, we need your help to keep invasive species out of our lake. The PLA has a lake host program to inspect boats during peak hours at the launch ramp. We can’t afford paid lake hosts to cover the ramp all the times, so volunteers willing to inspect boats, even for a few hours over the summer, would be helpful. We also have a weed watch program that could use more volunteers to help inspect the lake once a month. More importantly, we need someone to be the weed watch program coordinator. Coordinator duties include: assuring we have a volunteer for each section of the shore, and getting regular feedback from those people.
Please, please, please .. if you are willing to help, the PLA and our Lake need you. To volunteer or discuss any of the above please e-mail president@provincelake.org or call 207-200-3234