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NLA Hopes to Foil Milfoil Invasion

August 01, 2011 - Norway — A recent report on invasive aquatic plants has caused concern about the future of Norway's Lake Pennesseewassee.

Susan Jacoby of the Norway Lakes Association (NLA) calls it "the most frightening thing I've seen in a long time. They're in Sebago. They're in Thompson. They're coming closer and closer to Norway."

Jacoby was so concerned about the prospect of seeing Pennesseewassee infested that she and other members of the NLA are trying to establish a preventive program that will rely on volunteer watchdog efforts.

Thompson and Sebago have fallen prey to an invasive species called variable milfoil.

Once established in a waterway, the plants spread like, well, weeds.

"They are not native to this part of the U.S.," said John McPhedran, an expert with the state's Bureau of Land and Water Quality. "They don't have the same checks on their population."

Allowing an invasive species to establish itself can be a big mistake.

Just ask Scott Bernardy, the Environmental Director at Thompson Lake Environmental Association (TLEA). He's spent the better part of the last three years battling a milfoil invasion, and the job is not even close to being finished.

"Those who have it on their property know exactly the damage it can have on the recreational value of the water," said Bernardy.

What might start as an isolated plant in a remote corner of the lake can turn into a full-blown infestation.

"It looks like a jungle of plants that you can't paddle through without getting your oar wrapped up; you can't swim through without it getting wrapped around you; you don't even want to walk through it if you can avoid it," said Bernardy.

The plant was first documented in Thompson in 1975. Previous efforts to combat it were scattered and mostly conducted by individual landowners trying to clear their own patch of shorefront.

"It continued to expand at an exponential rate and changed the dynamics of the lake," said Bernardy.

Norway is already responding to the threat by taking a proactive approach. On August 6, the NLA is asking members of the public to step forward to participate in a training session that will help them to combat the threat.

Jacoby hopes that attendees will consider being a part of the larger effort.

She plans to organize a boat patrol that will spend time on the lakefront, monitoring boats for possible problems and helping to educate boat owners about steps they can take.

The group will have no enforcement capacity, but Jacoby said that simply alerting boat-owners to the issue should be enough.

"Hopefully, people will want to preserve the lake they're boating on," she said.

McPhedran confirms that such a program can significantly reduce the risk of an infestation.

"That's an excellent step toward reducing the likelihood of spread to the lake," he said.

Bernardy can attest to the cost and trouble of battling an established population.

The TLEA is in the middle of a six-year, $200,000 effort that will reduce, but not eradicate, the milfoil from Thompson's waters. If they are successful, future efforts will be focused on one "humongous" population, and regular maintenance of shorelines.

Methods of fighting are varied.

"It's not one size fits all," said Bernardy.

The equipment and methods used in the eradication efforts sound like they came from the overactive imagination of a 12-year-old.

Sea scooters are ridden across the bottom of the lake, while a kayaker patrols from above. Weighted tarps are dropped over dense green jungles, smothering tons of plants.

Snorkelers attack the survivors by hand, sometimes working in conjunction with a pontoon boat that has been outfitted with a mining dredge pump. The plants are sucked up a large hose and brought to the surface for disposal.

When an area is cleared, a goal that can take months to achieve, there is always another section to tackle.

Jacoby says that it's far better to act before the plants arrive.

"Once they come, they're very expensive and difficult to eradicate," she said. "It's the slow death of the lake."

The training session will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 6, at the Little Red School House in Norway.

Matt Hongolz-Hetling, Advertiser Democrat, August 2011


Lakes: Pennesseewassee Lake
Regions: Sebago


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