Once again summer is upon us, and once again, the PPA is requesting your help to protect and preserve our treasure. Inside the Newsletter, you will read about opportunities to help inspect boats entering the pond, survey pond plant life, measure the water quality, and maintain and expand the beautiful Headland Trail. There is a small and dedicated core of volunteers that is doing the work for everyone, and they would love even a couple of hours of your time. Please help if you can. Of course, if you can’t help in person, you can help with your wallet! The Parker Pond Association records count 263 households on our mailing list, of which 88 or 33% are active members, i.e., their PPA dues are paid. In addition, 40% of the active PPA members donate additionally to help fund the activities that protect and preserve the pond. Please keep your member-ship current, and please consider donating more than the modest $20 membership fee. The entire operating budget of the PPA comes from these dues and donations. These donations can be earmarked for particular activities such as Invasive Plant Inspection, Land Conservation and Dam Maintenance, or to a general fund that allows the PPA to use the funds where the need is greatest. As you will read in the newsletter, we had a close call at the boat launch last summer which was saved by an inspector paid for by your donations. Additionally, in 2009 the PPA had a successful fund drive to acquire stewardship rights of the recent addition to the Headlands Preserve. The chart below shows where donations are focused.
As summer approaches, air and water temperatures warm, days get longer, and black flies give way to dragon flies, I hope you will look at this summer as an opportunity to do something for Parker Pond so that it remains your treasure and a treasure for future generations. The PPA Executive Board is elected each year at the annual meeting. We are always interested in “new blood”, so if you are interested in becoming more involved in the PPA, please contact the members of this year’s Board Nominating Committee: Waine Whittier, Bill Rogers, or Lidie Whittier RobbinsJohn Linton, President
Happy Summer!
Our Annual Meeting will be held at the Mt. Vernon Com-munity Center in the village @ 5:00 Saturday, July 10th. Please bring a dish to share for a Pot Luck din-ner and visit with your Parker neighbors. Come and say "thank you" to the folks who are diligent in the protection and preservation of your water property. Our membership meeting should get underway by 5:45. Bring your concerns and your Parker Pond community support. I will be taking dues payments at that time if you haven't been able to mail your membership in yet. See you there, Deborah Dubord Membership Chair
Stewardship ReportI have seen the ice go out of Fellows Cove almost four weeks early and now sit looking out the front window in May watching the waves from a cold North wind splash the dock. Thankfully no snow was associated with the recent rains at this altitude.
The Parker Pond Headland Trail continues to have steady usage. The trail itself remains in good condition with very few blowdowns this winter. The blazes will be redone later this spring. Glen Hodgkins, member and former president of Kennebec Land Trust, has donated an additional 40 acres to KLT along the ridge south of the current property that extends to Fellows Farm Road. It does incorporate the old established logging road for good access to the current trail. A rough trail has been flagged that will incorporate the logging road and loop along the western boundary of the property to rejoin the current trail in a rough figure of eight shape. Highlights of this trail will be skirting an area that was recently logged to follow the natural regeneration of a forest clear cut and through more glacier “erratics”. Hope-fully KLT and PPA can get a rough trail blazed out and mapped early this summer.
The loons have returned to the Pond in earnest. They were quite noisy last night after the rain. I have seen a bald eagle but they did not return to the nest on the island in Fellows Cove this year and I believe the ospreys have retaken the nest. As you return to your camps and cottages on Parker Pond this summer, do come walk the Headland Trail and enjoy the solitude of the forest that we all have been able to preserve. Bill Rogers
30 Mile River Watershed Assn. Report
In 2009, our second year of operation, the 30 Mile River Watershed Association*:
· Performed over 900 courtesy boat inspections on eight lakes with 50 volunteers and five paid staff;
· Prevented a boat about to launch into Parker Pond from introducing invasive variable milfoil into the lake;
· Completed invasive plant surveys on eight lakes with 40 volunteers surveying 150 hours;
· Patrolled 125 hours on nine lakes, promoting environmentally friendly and safe lake usage;
· Conducted eight free camp road maintenance workshops to reduce road runoff;
· Hired our first executive director, Lidie Whittier Robbins;
· Initiated the formation of the Greater Minnehonk Lake Association;
· Led the first-ever 30 Mile River Paddle Trek, a full-day paddling event with 40 participants; and
· Raised nearly $44,000 – more than doubling our 2008 funding – including $19,000 in grants, $12,000 from individuals, and over $11,000 from our member towns, lake associations and land trusts.
Program areas:
Courtesy Boat Inspection Program: Courtesy boat inspectors (CBIs) are the “first line of defense” against invasive aquatic plants, preventing plant fragments found hitchhiking on boats and trailers from entering our lakes. See the Invasives Report below for more details on the work done on Parker.
Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP): Volunteers survey the lakes for any invasive aquatic plant infes-tations, striving to detect invasions early and im-plement a rapid response. We hope to have even more volunteers in 2010 to complete surveys of all major lakes in the watershed. See the invasives report below for more details on Parker
Lake Steward Program: Lake steward Adrien Polky of Fayette worked 125 hours across the watershed, and patrolled Parker in the red boat.
Camp Road Maintenance Workshops: In 2009, we began offering free two-hour field workshops by Clyde Walton to road associations and other private landowners in an effort to decrease road runoff and non-point source pollution. We will offer these again in 2010. Call Lidie Robbins at 293-2181 if you’re interested in participating and learning how you can make your road more lake-friendly. And you may be able to get some help doing it from the 30 Mile River YCC crew. (explained below).
30 Mile River Paddle Trek: In 2009, we hosted our first annual Paddle Trek, in which paddlers joined for all or part of a day-long guided trip along a section of the 30 Mile River. We will be hosting the 2nd Paddle Trek in August. Details will be available soon at www.30mileriver.org.
Youth Conservation Corps: In 2009, we received grant funding to begin a Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program as part of our work to decrease non-point source pollution and improve water quality in the watershed. This coming summer, a team of local youth will perform runoff and erosion control work on the lakeshores and other unstable sites in the watershed. Projects may be done for private landowners or municipalities and are based on a cost-share approach in which the YCC designs the projects and provides the labor free of charge; the landowner or town pays only for the materials. If you know of sites that could benefit from these services, please contact us. I am your representative to the Board of Directors, which meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at Kents Hill School. Meetings are open to the public. To become a volunteer, a supporter or to learn more, visit our website at www.-30mileriver.org or email
Parker’s leadership and financial support have been vital to the success of this organization. We thank you for helping to protect our valuable lake resources. Tax deductible contributions to the Parker Pond Association and/or the 30 Mile watershed Association will help do more to protect our lake and watershed, as will volunteer hours. Dan Onion
*The mission of the 30 Mile River Watershed Association is to preserve, improve and protect land and water quality in the watershed. Its members include: the towns of Chesterville, Fayette, Mount Vernon, Readfield, Vienna, and Wayne; lake associations on Androscoggin Lake, David/Basin/Tilton Ponds, Echo Lake, Flying Pond, Kimball Pond, Lovejoy Pond, Minnehonk Lake, Parker Pond, and Pocasset Lake; the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance; and the Kennebec Land Trust.
DAM REPORT
In late March we had several days of torrential rain, and the lake level was very high. On April 1st I had a visit from the State Dam Inspector, Tony Fletcher. He had been in the Farmington area looking at some dams in danger of going out and decided to take a look at our dam on his trip back to Augusta. He had always had some concerns about the capacity of the spillway to handle outflow in very high water.
We walked to the outlet together. It was roaring. Mr. Fletcher was able to see that the spillway was doing its job just fine and its capacity was more than adequate. He was sat-isfied. Then his attention turned to the dam itself. He told me he had visited it several weeks before. He considered our dam to be in good shape and was very pleased with the work we had done. I am grateful to Margaret and David Barrow for mowing the dam last fall and for keeping an eye on the dam throughout the year. Steve Cowperthwaite
INVASIVE PLANT PROGRAM
A Close Call for Parker – It’s Time to Get Involved! Last summer, Parker Pond had a very close call. On August 7, Sam Whittemore, an 18 year-old Courtesy Boat Inspector, showed up to work at the Tower Road launch to find a boater from New Hampshire getting ready to launch his boat with suspicious plants on the trailer and prop. In Maine, it is illegal to trans-port ANY aquatic plant, native or non-native, on the outside of a vehicle, boat, trailer or equip-ment. Sam spoke to the boater and learned that he had last been in Belgrade Stream, which is known to be infested with the invasive aquatic plant variable leaf milfoil. The boaters had heard of the threat of invasive plants, but weren’t con-cerned. Sam did a thorough inspection of the boat, removed several large pieces and frag-ments and the boaters launched. DNA testing confirmed that the plant was variable leaf milfoil. If Sam or another inspector hadn’t been there, this boater would have most likely launched his boat as it was, introducing an invasive species into the lake the 30 Mile River Watershed, which are not known to have any invasive aquatic plants. PPA partners with the 30 Mile River Watershed Association (30MRWA) to keep the lake free of invasive aquatic plants.
Paid and volunteer courtesy boat inspectors staff the public launch on summer weekends, Memorial Day-Labor Day. Last summer, paid staff and 12 volunteers worked over 250 hours performing nearly 400 inspections and educat-ing those boaters about the threats of invasive plants to our lake. We are always in need of more volunteers, and training takes only an hour. If you’re interested in becoming a volun-teer, contact 30MRWA’s Invasives Program Coordinator Alecia Tenney at 512-2309 or
The other component of our invasive plant prevention program is the Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP), in which volunteers survey the lake for any invasive plants. Last summer, 11 volun-teers surveyed 41 hours. This early detection work is critical to our efforts to keep the lake free of invasive plants, as was seen last fall when an invasive plant patroller from Damar-iscotta Lake found Hydrilla, a very aggressive invasive, growing in a cove on that lake. The DEP and the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program responded quickly to contain the infestation and survey the rest of the lake. They believe that finding this infestation early allowed them to keep it from spreading to other parts of the lake. To protect Parker Pond, we need as many sets of eyes as possible keeping watch for these invasive plants. This summer there are two free training opportunities for those who would like to learn how to identify these invasives and become a certified Invasive Plant Patroller. The first workshop, an Introduction to Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP), will be held on July 6, from 2:30-8:00 PM at the Mt. Vernon Community Center. This workshop is for all who are new to this work, as well as those looking for a refresher. It will provide an overview of plant identification along with the basics of how to conduct a survey. The second workshop, Survey Field Methods for Invasive Aquatic Plant Screening, is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, July 24, from 8:00-12:00 at the Minnehonk Public Beach in Mt. Vernon Village. This workshop is for those who have already attended the basic IPP training and would like some guided field experience before setting off to conduct an invasive plant screening survey. Both workshops will be conducted by the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program and are co-sponsored by the 30 Mile River Watershed Association and the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance. Registration information will be available soon at www.mainevolunteerlakemonitors.org or contact Alecia Tenney at 512-2309
Free Labor for Erosion Control Projects
The 30 Mile River Watershed Association (30MRWA) is seeking project sites for this summer’s Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) work in our watershed. The YCC’s mission is to pre-serve and improve water quality by addressing erosion and runoff issues on watershed pro-perty. The YCC provides all project labor free of charge; the landowner is responsible only for the cost of materials.To arrange a site visit, please contact 30MRWA Executive Director Lidie Robbins at
or 293-2181. We are available to look at specific problems or simply to review your property and suggest ways to reduce your impact on the lakes. All work is strictly cooperative with landowners and no sites will be identified for enforcement action. Our purpose is to encourage good stewardship of our lakes. Lidie Robbins
Parker Pond Association, 2009 Annual Meeting,July 25, 2009,Mount Vernon Community Center Meeting Convened: 10:50 a.m. following brunch. 33 attendees
I. Minutes of 2008 Annual Meeting read and approved.
II. Finances – Waine Whittier reported a net gain of $1,962 from the previous year. One half of the expenses of the organization were for direct programs and the other half was for administrative and corporate expenses, insurance and taxes. This financial report was unanimously accepted.
III. Dam Report – Steve Cowperthwaite reported that the dam is beginning to look like it used to (in other words it has “healed”). After 3 years of heavy snow and rains, it seems amazing to have had the 3-day window they had to do the work on the dam.
IV. Membership – Deborah Dubord reported that out of 260 property owners on Parker Pond, 50 are contributing members (20%). She noted that the most popular targeted donation choices have been for the Hodgkins parcel stewardship and invasive plants deterrence.
V. Newsletter and Website – Morg Henika wants updated addresses. The website has been active. Keith McKinley manages the website.
VI. Water Quality – Marty Arnold delivered the report on behalf of Deb Cayer. Marty, Fiora Arnold, and Deb Cayer are the water quality testers and are eager to train anyone who would like to learn. The last tests taken were in spring. The rain will contribute to heavy sedimentation this year. Marty announced that any road association or random group can schedule a workshop on camp road main-tenance with Clyde Walton, courtesy the 30-Mile River Watershed Association. Members are urged to encourage neighbors to join PPA and their road association, to be involved and to share responsibility for the quality and future of our waters. The question was raised as to whether Parker Pond Association has any in-fluence on towns and their enforcement of or-dinances and laws. Waine responded that it does not, except to the extent that individuals who are members become active in town business, through reporting to the CEOs, going to planning board, selectmen’s, and appeals board meetings. Dan Onion noted that develop-ment is the biggest water quality problem facing us; there might have to be a meeting of all the CEO’s of the watershed to focus attention.
VII. Lake Usage – Marty Arnold announced that he is resigning as the chair of the committee and Dan Onion will be taking over. Parker Pond Association has been involved with the Depart-ment of Conservation planning an island stew-ardship program for the state-owned islands in Parker Pond (all of them). Parker Pond Asso-ciation has the opportunity to become the official steward of these islands, maintaining them to state standards of safety and clean-liness.Three islands will be involved initially: Birch, Spruce and Bill Nurse Islands. Volunteer stewards are already identified, and more are being sought. The open question is whether this may encourage too much use of the islands, but in the end it appears that we are better off being involved and able to exert some control over what is actually state land. To the question of what sort of safety improvements this involves, Marty responded that right now anyone can do anything with no limits, and some things are dangerous. Hazardous debris will be removed, fire rings might be constructed, privies might be installed, but these things will be decided after further study. It does not seem that there are any plans for the state to identify or advertise the islands at this point. A comment was made that stewardship is a tricky thing to be involved in. The response from Marty was that we will not be the enforcers, but rather we will be the ones to call the enforcers with problems. The state will provide signage, Bureau of Parks and Lands. Dan Onion stressed that this will allow PPA to have a strong influence and voice in the process. Board members are urged to contact John Linton with any concerns they would like brought to the next meeting with the state (next weekend).
VIII. 30-Mile River Watershed Association/ Invasive Plants-The 30-Mile RWA incorporated 18 months ago. Its purview includes waters from the Androscoggin Deadwater to Kimball Pond. Its purpose is to educate the public and pro-tect the watershed. They have a 20%-time Executive Director (Lidie Robbins) and a Lake Steward (Adrian Polkey). A brochure is available. They are engaged in a membership campaign in which Leon Breslin visits water-shed residents at their docks to solicit ideas and urge membership in the organization. They are selling $7 maps of the watershed and $10 t-shirts. They have a $23,000 budget funded by towns and pond associations, are getting grants, and doing educational work.
Invasive Plant work they are doing involved 2 strategies: #1 - the Courtesy Boat Inspec-tions with 4 paid staff and volunteers. Mem-bers are urged to go to the 30mileriver.org website and schedule themselves to do boat inspectors. It is a great way to meet people, the training is easy, and promotes the lake. Call 293-4812 and talk to Susan Onion.
#2 – Invasive Plant Patrol – Last year they had 15 volunteers surveying different sections of the lake. The training this year is August 9, and a sign-up sheet is circulating. 30-Mile RWA received the 2008 Prevention Award from the statewide Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program.
August 15 is the date for the first annual Paddle Celebration Event, when participants will paddle their crafts from the chimney at Echo Lake to Tubby’s Ice Cream at the tip of Androscoggin Lake (16 Mi.). People will be on hand to help with the portages.
IX. Headland – Waine Whittier announced that the Hodgkins family has donated a 42-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Headland to the Kennebec Land Trust, and KLT has granted the conservation easement to PPA. KLT cannot sell the parcel. PPA agreed to donate $7,000 to KLT for stewardship and enforcement of the easement.
It was moved and seconded to grant to Sarah and Glen Hodgkins lifetime honorary membership in Parker Pond Association. This measure passed unanimously.
Bill Rogers noted that the Headland parcel now totals 139 acres. He has counted 3-4 cars visit-ing per weekend. Most comments provided have been positive. The trail has held up fine and no fires have been built, nor has there been any vandalism.
X. Loon Count – Marty Arnold has yet to collate all the routes to account for double counting, but it appears that there were 24 adults and one chick. Considering the water level, with is 18-19” higher than normal, this is good. The floating nest was the site of the successful hatching. The eagle baby never hatched.
XI. New Officers – The slate offered by the nominating committee passed unanimously,
With John Linton President, Jim Smucker V.P., Deborah Dubord Membership, Deb Cayer Water Quality, Lake Usage Dan Onion, Cyndy Stancioff Secretary, Land Stewardship Bill Rogers and Morg Henika Communications.
XII. Next Annual Meeting It was voted and approved that the next annual meeting will be July 10, 2010.The “California Distance” award was bestowed on Ed Sebelius; the “Bring Your Neighbor” award went to Bill Post, and the “Come Back as a Volunteer” award naturally went to Marty Arnold.
Meeting adjourned at 12:35 p.m.
Lake Usage Committee-Three island camp-sites are now completed on Bill's, Spruce and Birch Islands, all public lands. Our committee, expanded with volunteers (Steve Cowperth-wait,e, Marty Arnold, Waine and Lidie Whittier, Stefan Knust, Bill Post, Bill Dunham, and Debbie Cayer), groomed and placed State of Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands primitive toilets, picnic tables and signage. The signs encourage carry-in/carry-out and credits the Parker Pond Association with joint sponsorship with the state. Please report any perceived mis-use of the sites to Dan Onion, 293-2076. Encourage
people you meet there to join the Parker Pond Association. Dan Onion
