Reflections On The Lake
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"August 31, Thursday - The sun is slipping upward and it shines on the distant shore. Lake mist blankets the water-I paddle through a haze not unlike a scene from the Phantom of the Opera. As the sun climbs higher, it dissipates the mist and water is clear for the return trip home." Stephen Soreff, MD |
| The First Phragmites Expedition of 2008 |
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| Written by Steve Soreff and Peggy Tucker, Weed Watch Captains | |
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The first Phragmites Expedition of 2008 was on July 26, 2008. This marks salvo in the 2008 Phragmites War. The assault force comprised of a three pronged movement. The flagship pontoon vessel captained by Gary St. Pierre departed from its Dolloff Landing base at 0900 hours. The team consisted of Peggy Tucker, her daughter Mandy, her cousins Chuck and Witney and Steve.
This battleship was joined by Ed Kotowski’s pontoon boat accompanied by his daughter Sara and cousin Jordan which moved out form the Lamprey harbor. They motored to the Phragmites site to the left of the Twin Island. There they were joined by Bob and Marie who canoed over. Gayle Kenney and Jen Fernald kayaked over. Therese Thompson kayaked over. So for this historic and epic battle , the Weed Warriors had arrayed a small army of 14 willing, smiling weed pullers. With that many troops we quickly gained the complete removal of the Phragmites there. You’ll recall this area was hit last long. The reoccurrence was huge. But as the before and after photos demonstrate we did a great job this year. However, the pulling adventure was not without incidents. Marie cut her finger on the Phragmites shaft. Several of us did mis-steps on the rocky base and slipped into the lake. In the end we filled one canoe with phragmites along with two bags of rhizomes. It was neat; several weeds were pulled which included the rhizome tips.
Flushed with good feelings and high spirits the armada of two pontoon boats and three kayaks sallied forth to the site on the right side of the North Lake somewhat before the town beach. In the words of Borak in the movie, “great success”. The area was dramatically down from last year’s assaults. Two things accounted for that gain. The initial pulling had been very effective and the several forays after draw down by Gary, Peggy and Steve had attacked the rhizomes, bases had been productive.
To complete the triple play we moved our traveling road/water show we went to the area to the right of the twin islands. This area was hit hard last summer. Again, that pulling had been so successful then that only a few Phragmites were visible. Here Stephan Landry joined us-after he had motored and kayaked over from Neal’s cove. A good time was had by all. To join us in the next foray contact Steve at 895-6120 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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PLIA Mission Statement
The Pawtuckaway Lake Improvement Association (PLIA) is a Private, Non-Profit Organization formed to monitor and act upon environmental and safety issues in the Pawtuckaway Lake Watershed area. The PLIA also provides education, information, recreation and other services to its members.
The Association routinely conducts water quality sampling under the New Hampshire Volunteer Lake Assessment program of the State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Other activities (sailboat races, fishing derbies, etc.) may be coordinated by the Association, but are funded by program participants.
