One frosty morning the now leafless deciduous trees across the lake were covered with frost, while the evergreens were not.
(Quinibeck shoreline, about 8 am. November 12th, 28°F.)
Archive for November, 2009
Lake Fairlee in the Off Season
Friday, November 13th, 20092009 Grant Report
Thursday, November 5th, 2009[what follows is a portion of the report we file each year with the Vermont DEC as a condition of their grant in support of Lake Fairlee's milfoil program]
Summary of Program Activities
Even from our first look at the lake in the late spring, the milfoil grew aggressively this year. We continued to employ the same methods we have used for the past several years, but were able to remove less milfoil this year than last. This was primarily caused by two factors. First, we faced declining funding from both private donors and from our State grant, which allowed us to employ the divers for three weeks less than last year. Second, more than half of our 2008 dive crew did not return, and our progress was impeded by the need to replace several crewmembers during the season.
During the summer it became apparent to many of us that this year the milfoil seemed to be out of control to an extent not previously seen. We are aware that this can be due to numerous factors, including cyclical population fluctuations, variation in sun and water temperature from year to year, as well as the effects of our harvesting program. We began a series of meetings with owners and other interested parties to consider the possibility of using an herbicide to treat the milfoil in Lake Fairlee. After consultation with the State, we invited two companies licensed to chemically treat Vermont lakes to come look at our problem and give us their recommendations. This led to our decision to employ Lycott Environmental, Inc., to conduct a comprehensive survey of aquatic species in the lake. At the time of this report we are working with Lycott to prepare an application for a permit to use triclopyr in Lake Fairlee late next spring.
The attached map shows the lake, and areas where we employed the following methods this year.
Hand pulling was employed at many locations around the lake. A total of 361 divers’ “catch” bags were filled and removed. Each bag holds slightly more than one cubic foot, but they are filled under water, and not packed as densely as the material which is suction harvested. In any case, this amounts to more than 13 cubic yards of milfoil removed.
Suction harvesting was also employed at several locations. A total of about 1230 cubic feet, or about 45½ cubic yards, was removed. See the section titled “Amount of Milfoil Harvested” for discussion of how this was calculated.
Bottom barriers were moved in late August this year. Again this year limited resources required us to lay off our divers before we wanted to, leaving some barriers in place for a second season.
Disposal: This year one of our divers had written a business plan and received a mini-grant to demonstrate of how harvested milfoil might profitably be composted and sold as fertilizer. For most of the summer he hauled the milfoil three miles to a field where it was allowed to compost. After work he would tend the compost piles, checking their internal temperature and turning them. He had intended to package the product in 50 lb. bags, but in the end he sold the entire quantity to a local farmer for use on his fields. For the first few days and last few weeks of the season we disposed of the milfoil as we had in previous years, by piling it across State Route 244 from the boat ramp. As usual, local gardeners and farmers removed it for use in their gardens almost as fast as it accumulated.
Program detail
This year the dive crew worked from May 18th through September 3rd. They worked Monday through Thursday every week, including Memorial Day. Only occasionally did the weather or their equipment keep them from their primary activities, and they took advantage of those opportunities to perform maintenance and catch up with other support tasks.
Volunteers provide the administrative backbone of our operation. Members of the Board of Trustees have taken on significant operational responsibilities, in addition to their management role. The Treasurer did hours of office work including handling incoming mail, making deposits, managing the payroll, and filing tax and employment records. The Milfoil Program Director met with the divers several times each week to review progress and plan strategy. He drafted the grant application and the requests for permit modifications required by the State. He also created the educational “blog” on the Association’s website. Another trustee took responsibility for the Greeter program, which educates boaters entering and leaving the lake at the State boat ramp. Some undertook the significant fundraising required to support our effort. This requires letter writing, stuffing, and mailing, and individual solicitations. Finally other trustees managed an annual membership dinner and a benefactors’ cocktail party to thank and cultivate our supporters. In the face of the controversial decision to explore the “chemical option,” trustees stepped up and took leadership roles in the ensuing discussions.
This year funding from the state decreased, as did support from local residents and friends. This might be attributed in part to the economy. It is also certainly due to the disaffection of those members who have decided that we ought to be seeking to use chemicals because our present methods are not doing the job.
Many people donated in-kind services, including the use of boats, equipment storage, and office equipment. These are detailed in a later section.
Our equipment inventory can mostly be best described as “well used.” Fortunately the dive crew is experienced and competent with field repairs, and seems to be able to keep the aluminum boats afloat with duct tape and epoxy, and the outboards running without the help of outside mechanics. We continued to have trouble with our outboards this year, which slowed down our operation on more than one occasion. This ought not be a surprise, considering their age and condition. We made improvements to the pontoon boat, which we use for both suction harvesting and bottom barrier operations. Our bottom barriers and silt screen are still serviceable.
Our supplies consisted mostly of air tank refills for the divers and gas and oil for the boats. There were also a few trips to the hardware store and the marine supply for hardware and rope and repair parts.
A much more detailed explanation of many of our program activities can be found on our blog at http://lakefairlee.org. There one can find greater detail about the mechanics of our suction harvesting and bottom barrier operation as well as photographs of the lake and of the divers at work.
2009 Finances
Thursday, November 5th, 2009This year the Lake Fairlee Association again was faced with declining revenues. We received support from only about 70 donors this year, compared with about 100 last. One possible reason for this is the withdrawal of support by contributors who think that we should be using chemicals to treat the milfoil, following neighboring Lake Morey’s recent success. Support from the three towns stayed constant. Grateful thanks to the citizens of Fairlee, Thetford, and West Fairlee.
This year’s income: (numbers are rounded off)
dues and donations $41,500 43.5%
state of VT $42,000 44%
three towns $12,000 12.5%
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total income $95,500
Our divers this year agreed to work without a raise, which seemed fair in the present economy, and they worked a shorter season. Insurance went up a little, as did gasoline costs. Other expenses stayed much the same as previous years.
salaries $62,500 72%
benefits $8,200 9%
equipment and repairs $1,000 1%
supplies (air, gas) $3,900 4%
insurance & workers comp. $5,400 6%
lake survey $4,000 5%
misc (including bookkeeping) $1,700 2%
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total expenses $86,700
We were left with a surplus of $9,000, which we will carry forward to next year. $7,000 of this was received after the end of the season from the towns of Fairlee and Thetford, who make their contributions after they collect their property taxes in October.
Further explanation of just what is included in each category can be found in the post immediately following this one.
2009 Greeter Program Report
Thursday, November 5th, 2009This is the third year of our Greeter/Education initiative at the boat launch. After two years of attempting to “man” the launch with a short, and ever diminishing, roster of revolving volunteers, the Lake Fairlee Association Board decided that we needed to budget for a paid greeter this summer. This would improve the educational benefits by maintaining some quality control: a consistent, well-informed message would be delivered in a consistently non-threatening way and hopefully, the logs would be more complete for more accurate data collection. Administratively, having a paid greeter we could count on would simplify things: there would be one training session at the beginning of the season rather than a quick overview with each new volunteer, and it would eliminate the constant angst of trying to schedule volunteers during busy summer weekends. We were fortunate enough to find a mature finish carpenter/law student, Aaron Gilbert, who grew up going to camp on the lake, lives locally and is a scuba diver by avocation. His wife is on the Thetford Conservation Commission, and they are both committed to preserving Lake Fairlee.
Program Details
The Board had budgeted for 14 weekends, including the 3-day holiday weekend of Labor Day in September. However, due to an unusually wet summer, our greeter worked on only 21 Saturdays and Sundays, starting the first weekend in June and ending on the Monday of Labor Day. He worked at the launch a total if 91 hrs., making personal contact with boaters (most likely 2 or more people/boat) from 209 different vessels ranging from canoes and kayaks, sail boats, recreation boats and fishing boats. Aaron gave each boater the following handouts:
- The Lake Fairlee Association Fact Sheet (1.5 pgs. of information that has been culled from the past three years of Greeter Workshop Presentations at the DEC in Montpelier)
- Instructions for washing boats
- A map if Vermont bodies of water, with specific locations of invasive species
- A map of N.H. bodies of water with specific locations of invasive species
- A “STOP AQUATIC HITCHIKERS!” sticker from the U.S. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Service to put on each boat trailer hitch as a reminder to check their boats when leaving a body of water, and to wash thoroughly.
Greeter Logs
Aaron conscientiously completed the Greeter Log each day he was at the ramp. The data he collected revealed a few interesting facts.
- Boaters from 8 of the vessels were unaware of invasive species
- He found milfoil on 5 boats as they left Lake Fairlee, thus preventing Eurasian Milfoil to hitchhike on these boats to another body of water.
- 11 boats, which had not been washed after being on another body of water, entered Lake Fairlee. In reality, this number could be higher, since boaters (through our education and other lake’s programs) know it is preferable to say their boat has been washed.
- The “unwashed boats” came from other bodies of water that have known invasive species (ie., 6 from lake Morey, 2 from the CT. River, 1 from Mascoma Lake).
- The majority of boats coming to Lake Fairlee that were last on other bodies of water came from either Lake Morey (27 boats) or the CT River (31 boats).
- 5 boats came to Lake Fairlee after being on Lake Champlain where they have more invasive species than Eurasian Milfoil.
- 4 boats came from Hall’s Pond in Newbury, VT where variable-leaf milfoil has been discovered recently.
- The boaters who were most interested in our Greeter Program came from Lake Champlain, the Androscoggin River in Maine, the Bay of Fundy (!), Groton Pond, and Harvey Lake. All of these boaters were keenly aware of the issue of invasive species and came from lakes or rivers where there are already strong prevention programs at work, and/or they have state laws mandating the washing of boats.
Training for Boating Counselors
The Lake Fairlee Greeter Program extended its spread prevention awareness this summer to the 5 summer camps on the lake. A workshop was coordinated with Leslie Matthews of the DEC at the beginning of the summer. Boating counselors from two of the camps attended the workshop, listened to the presentation and received handouts to bring back to the camps to “spread the word” to their camp community. A folder of handouts was personally delivered to the three camps which were unable to send counselors to the workshop explaining the importance and relevance of spread prevention in their boat departments. Efforts will continue next summer to more fully engage these three camps.
Overall, the board feels that the greeter program makes an impact each summer. In a perfect world we would have a greeter at the launch daily, from Memorial Day through Labor Day, delivering a powerfully cogent message to instill a “wash before you float” ethic within each boater. More importantly perhaps, we would have a wash station nearby and state sanctions imposed on boaters to enforce following such an ethic.