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February 2015

Volume 8 Issue 1

Friends of Wilson Lake

Inside this issue:

Friends of Wilson Lake

2015 FOWL Membership Drive – Still Only $12.00 a Family!

Our winter newsletter is always special since it is our membership drive. We are very pleased to report that we saw an increase from 267 members in

2013, to 294 in 2014, while our corporate members remained at 25. This is a reflection of your good efforts in renewing your membership, becoming a new

member, or encouraging others to join.

Our membership was also given a boost by our town-wide mailing of the FOWL brochure that was sent in conjunction with FOWL’s 25th anniversary in 2014. We are pleased to report that 32 new or renewed members came as a result

of the mailing. It also generated donations of over $500, which nearly covered the $600 cost of the mailing. We believe that when you consider the good will of letting every house in Wilton know what we at FOWL are doing,

it was a most beneficial mailing.

A membership renewal form is included with this newsletter.

Membership is still only $12.00 per family for 2015! It is hard to

imagine greater returns from such a small investment.

Continued on page 2

Membership cont. 2

Harmful Algal

Blooms

3

Milfoil Summit 8

Membership List 9

Your comments are

encouraged.

Contact: Wynn Muller

friendsofwilsonlake@gmail.com

Help us spread the word.

Click on this link to : “Like”

Friends of Wilson Lake on

Facebook.

Visit our Website: click on links below:

25th Anniversary photo gallery

Impact of Climate Change on Lake Near You

Learn more about LakeSmart program

Check out our business members

Page 2 Friends of Wilson Lake

Membership continued from page 1

Choose to recover close

to home!

When you need rehabilitation therapies, choose Sandy

River Center for Healthcare and Rehabilitation in

Farmington. With physical, occupational and speech

therapists available seven days a week, you’ll get the

recovery support you need without going to a different

community. By calling in advance of any planned surgery,

you can reserve a spot in our separate rehab unit.

Our open visiting hours and Genesis environment make

visits from family, friends–even your dog–much easier!

Call today for more information or a tour of our facility.

Sandy River Center

778-6591

With your membership you help support FOWL’s ongoing work:

Maintain the pristine water quality of Wilson Lake, a “jewel” of Wilton

Help enrich Wilson Lake’s social and economic benefits for the community, and for you as a resident

Sponsor The Milfoil Boat Monitoring Program to keep invasive plants out of Wilson Lake (See the related article below on the Milfoil Summit later this month)

Secchi disk readings are taken twice a month to maintain a constant record of the clarity of Wilson Lake

FOWL recently purchased a meter that records the dissolved oxygen and temperature of the lake at various depths; indicators of the status of the lake’s health

Free boat rides offered during the Blueberry Festival

Sponsor The LakeSmart program that seeks to limit phosphorus-containing runoff into the lake (see the article below on the physical hazards of certain algal blooms)

In the past we have worked with the Franklin County Soil & Water Conservation to reduce erosion at Kineowatha Park, and developed the Demonstration project to show how this was done

Worked with Soil and Water Conversation to reduce erosion at the foot of the lake

Planted Rugosa roses near the Canal Street Bridge to curtail erosion

Present a yearly environmental scholarship to a graduating Mt. Blue senior

Sponsor an education program on Lakes and Loons in conjunction with Biodiversity Research Group for our third grade classes

Conduct the annual loon count for the Audubon Society in July

Maintain a FOWL information kiosk at the boat launch

Host an Annual Member Meeting at Kineowatha Park (1:00 p.m. July 19, 2015). Around 70 attended last summer. You are most welcome!

Distribute a newsletter three times a year that keeps you abreast of news and information regard-ing Wilson Lake. It also includes news about work-shops and seminars that impact lakes in our state and region

Maintain our website—Click on link to visit site: www.friendsofwilsonlake.org

Please check this out for more benefits.

And the list goes on and on!

INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES

Structural Steel Fabrications

1148 Main Street Jay, Maine 04239

Tel.: (207)645-2581 Fax: (207)-645-2894

Friends of Wilson Lake Page 3

Celebrating over 100 years of excellence!

437 Wilton Road Farmington, ME 04938

207-778-3354

Membership continued from page 2

With your membership you support these efforts, have a

voice at the table, and meet and work with like-minded

people in preserving our lake. Your support and your

ideas are wanted, needed, and most welcome!

If you know someone in town who is not on our list of

members, please let them know that FOWL does good

work and is a worthwhile group to join. If you are not so

inclined, please let me know of these people and I will

add them to our newsletter mailing list. They might then

just be encouraged to join.

We are highly dependent on your generous donations in

addition to your membership contribution. Please join

our members in rounding up your membership to $25, or

$50, or even $100. Through your generous support we

frequently generate twice the revenue through donations

as from memberships.

Please complete and return the membership renewal

form included with this newsletter.

Nezinscot Farm Store Store Hours

Thursday & Friday: 6am- 6pm

Saturday & Sunday: 7am- 5pm

284 Turner Center Road Turner, ME 04292

207.225.3231

Gourmet Items— Organic Breads—Cheese-Cured Meats

Shop Online: www.shop.nezinscotfarm.com

Web site: www.nezinscotfarm.com

Yarn

Woolens

Harmful Algal Blooms, excerpts from article by Linda Bacon of Maine DEP

Continued on page 4

I had always thought that algal blooms were merely of concern to the aesthetic quality of our lakes and

the well being of the aquatic inhabitants. Apparently, there are serious human health concerns as well.

The article below is extracted in part from the Fall 2014 “Water Column” of the Maine Volunteer Lake

Monitoring Program (MVLMP). The article is quite lengthy and contains considerable references to tech-

nical scientific terms. I have attempted to reduce it to its highlights and mitigated most of the jargon.

Here goes!

Algae are organisms that convert sunlight into biomass. They are found in rivers, lakes, ponds, streams,

oceans and even on snow, soil and puddles. They operate at the bottom of the food chain and are essen-

tial to higher forms of life. In general, algal populations are controlled by light and nutrient access,

Page 4 Friends of Wilson Lake

Harmful Algal Blooms continued from page 3

Our LakeSmart Program is designed to show us how

to keep harmful phosphorous and other pollutants

out of our lake.

For more information on LakeSmart

visit our website:

Our LakeSmart Program

particularly the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorous.

In most Maine lakes, phosphorous concentrations con-

trol the density of algal populations. This density ul-

timately determines transparency measured by Secchi

disks. When the transparency falls below a level of 2

meters due to the algal population, the lake is con-

sidered to be supporting an “algal bloom”. China

Lake, northeast of Augusta, is frequently given as an

example of lakes with algal blooms. However, East

Pond in the Belgrade chain also experiences “blooms”

as shown in the picture below from Google Earth.

Note that East Pond on the right with the algal bloom

blends in with the surrounding foliage, while North

Pond on the left shows a distinctive shore line.

Lakes experience a seasonal succession of major

groups of algae. In early spring, diatoms that do well

in cold water dominate the water column. Generally,

spring diatoms are followed by greens or

Chlorophytes. Blue-green populations in late summer

follow these. Blue-greens are well adapted to be

fierce and effective competitors. Their growth is fa-

vored when nutrients are plentiful – especially

phosphorus. They thrive when lake water

temperatures are at their highest and sunlight is

plentiful. They take advantage of calm periods in

the lake. These blue-greens were originally consid-

ered algae, but they now appear to be more closely

related to bacteria so they are technically considered

as photosynthetic bacteria. They produce toxins Continued on page 5

Page 5 Volume 8 Issue 1

Conservation District

O: 778-7249 C:212-6109

Making Conservation Work For You! Environmental Education/Technical Assistance

Workshops & Training Sessions

Topographical & Soil Maps/Trout Sales

107 Park Street Farmington, ME 04938

www.franklincswcd.org

info@franklincswcd.org

Harmful Algal Blooms continued from page 4

Continued on page 6

known as cyanotoxins. In most areas of the country,

when blue-green populations reach high densities, it

is referred to as a Harmful Algal Bloom or HAB be-

cause there is the possibility that the bloom will pro-

duce cyanotoxin.

Let’s put this into perspective. Maine considers any

lake that has a Secchi disk reading of less than 2

meters as having an open water nuisance algal

bloom. Maine has about 30 lakes that support such

blooms each year and another 15 to 20 that have

occasional algal blooms. To the best of our

knowledge, the cyanotoxin production in these

nuisance algal blooms is low, but some may become

HAB.

This is where we encounter serious concerns. As

stated above, these HAB can produce toxins known

as cyanotoxins. Cyanotoxins fall into two toxin

classes: Hepatotoxins and Neurotoxins.

Page 6 Volume 8 Issue 1

Harmful Algal Blooms continued from page 5

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Continued on page 7

As the names suggest, the former concerns the liver

and the later the nervous system. The most toxic

variant of Hepatotoxin is Microcystin-LR that can

cause sever symptoms lasting for hours or even days.

This toxin has been implicated in deaths of livestock,

pets, birds, fish and even some humans.

The most severe type of Neurotoxin (affecting the

nervous system) is Anatoxin-a and referred to as the

“Very fast Death Factor.” It acts in a similar fashion

to carbon monoxide and can be a cause of death.

Symptoms include muscle twitching, decreased

movement, collapse, cyanosis, convulsions and

death. Another cyano-neurotoxin known as BMAA

also has long-term effects and is thought to play a

role in ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and perhaps Alz-

heimer’s, MS and Parkinson’s. A great deal of re-

search is being conducted in New Hampshire where

there are ALS clusters situated near lakes that sup-

port blue-green algal blooms.

New England states respond to HAB’s in a variety of

ways, issuing advisories based upon surrogates for

toxins such as Secchi transparency and chlorophyll

concentrations. Maine has no specific response at

this time. New Hampshire posts lakes with advisories

and has a well-established HAB program. The United

States does not have a standard for microcystin in

drinking water, but expects to issue guidelines in

2015. The World Health Organization does have

standards for drinking water that will be considered

by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in

Page 7 Volume 8 Issue 1

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Domestic and International Health Insurance & Bonds

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Fax: (207) 778-945

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Harmful Algal Blooms continued from page 6

Photo by Susan Atwood

determining the new guidelines.

Maine has no direct standards partly because the

ecological factors that cause toxin production in a

blue-green bloom have not yet been well identified.

However, during the summer of 2014, the Maine

DEP Lake Assessment Section gathered additional

data to better characterize Central Maine lakes as

part of a regional effort led by EPA. When results

are available, they will be shared with our FOWL

members. Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Pro-

gram (VLMP) hopes to expand the routine lake mon-

itoring effort to test results beyond transparency

readings through use of an app being developed for

smart phones. Stay tuned!

Remember, we do not currently have any algal

blooms in Wilson Lake, so you need not worry about

enjoying our lake throughout the summer months.

We must still work to maintain this pristine quality

of our lake for future generations.

Page 8 Volume 8 Issue 1

844 Us Route 2 E

Wilton, ME

YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD AUTO PARTS DEALER

(207) 645-3532

Milfoil Summit – February 27th at USM in Lewiston

Keynote Speaker – Chandler Woodcock, Commissioner, Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife

Photo by Susan Atwood

Each year the state kicks off the spring season with a Milfoil Summit that provides the

status of our constant fight with invasive plants and efforts to control their spread.

This year it will be held on February 27th at USM in Lewiston. The event runs from

8:30 to noon with many representatives from governmental agencies and volunteer

organizations such as FOWL. This year’s program is not finalized, but IF&W Commis-

sioner Chandler Woodcock from Farmington will be the Keynote speaker. This will be

the 15th summit held in Maine. Last year’s event mentioned that only 1% of Maine

lakes are known to harbor invasive plants, while nearby states of Connecticut and

Massachusetts show infestation in 60% and 34% respectively. Our efforts are working.

Last year’s keynote speaker was representative Michael McClellan of Raymond who

spoke on his efforts of preparing and sponsoring bill LD 1626 which was an act to pro-

vide additional funding for invasive plant mitigation through an increase in the milfoil fee. His talk was

most informative and it was interesting to see how the bill evolved through both chambers and how it was

finally amended to remove the increase in fees, but instead reassign a greater portion of the current fees

to this purpose. You can read more about this legislation in our May 2014 Newsletter beginning on page 7,

in an article by State Representative, Tom Saviello. You can find this at our website at: http://

www.friendsofwilsonlake.org/newsletter-1/

All in all this will be a most interesting meeting and it only takes up your morning. Should you have an

interest in attending please contact me at: friendsofwilsonlake@gmail.com. We will have members at-

tending and can help arrange for your transportation.

Page 9 Volume 8 Issue 1

FOWL

PO Box 560

Wilton, ME 04294

170 Main Street

Jay, ME

207.897.0900 800.848.3688

Serving Franklin County and the local communities.

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