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Plant Patrol Provides Rapid Response at Sand Pond
Quick action by volunteers associated with the Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed's "MilFoiler" program, the Tacoma Lakes Improvement Society (TLIS), and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has lessened concerns that Sand Pond in Litchfield, part of the Tacoma Lakes and 28-waterbody Cobbossee Watershed had been exposed to a potential infestation of variable leaf milfoil, one of Maine's "Eleven Most Unwanted" Invasive Aquatic Plants (IAP) identified by the DEP. On July 21, a boat exiting the Tacoma's public boat launch on Woodbury Pond was discovered to contain a small plant fragment believed to be variable leaf milfoil. Particularly concerning was the fact that previous inspections of the same boat on the July 21 (entering) and July 14 (entering and exiting) did not turn up any sign of the suspect plant. Prior to July 14, the boater had indicated that he had last visited Cobbossee Stream, one of the 25 bodies of water in Maine that contain a non-native invasive aquatic plant. On Tuesday, August 1, trained invasive Plant Patrollers Diane Clay and Buffy DeMatteis began surveying a section of Sand Pone where the boater indicated he had visited. On Friday, August 4, DeMatteis was joined by five additional volunteers and Karen Hahnel of the DEP who completed the survey. The group, organized by Friends Executive Diretor Bob Moore, consisted of two-person teams previously certified by the Maine Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants. The results of the survey were encouraging - no non-native invasive plants were found, supporting the opinion that the speciman found on July 21 was most likely left over from the boater's earlier visit to Cobbossee Stream, with the vegetation having become dislodged from the boat and trailer after previously being "wedged." The "rapid response" demonstrated on Sand Pond is a critical component of the State's efforts to limit the introduction of new infestations and reduce the spread of existing invasive aquatic plants. For more information about the rapid response on Sand Pond, the Tacoma Lakes Improvement Society, or the Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed, call | ||
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