In the last Newsletter we described the work
being done by the Long Range Management Plan subcommittee, the end result
being a document which will include historical information about Tripp
Lake, the “state of the Lake” (water quality), maps, special natural
features, growth in the watershed, invasive species and other potential
threats and, lastly and most importantly, how we intend to manage and
protect the lake in years to come.
The last part of the document is the most important:
gathering input from public meetings, compiling results of surveys and
determining which problems are most vital to address. This portion has
consumed numerous meetings and at this point, is not yet complete.
However, the results will soon be in and the document completed by
year’s end. Our goal is to
have the document printed before Christmas, and distributed shortly
afterwards. Copies will be
given to TLIA and will also be available at several convenient locations
for anyone in the watershed.
You will soon be receiving a copy of the list of
watershed concerns and recommended actions, compiled by Roberta Hill.
You will have an opportunity to comment on our suggestions, and it
is critical that you take the time to read the document and reply
thoughtfully; your responses
will have a direct effect on the future of Tripp Lake.
Apathy would be our biggest threat.
After years of work, which included a Watershed Survey in 1996 and
a three-year follow-up project (#319, the portion of the Clean Water Act
which addresses Non-Point Source Pollution), we will be faced with how to
continue our work. The
long-range management plan will help us develop a strategy for protecting our lake. Some of the
options we’ve identified include submitting an application for an
implementation grant, forming a Youth Conservation Corps or providing
educational workshops for property owners in the watershed.
Please let us have your input!
Thanks to the following subcommittee members who have
given generously of their time: Roberta
Hill of Land and Water Resource Management Associates, Chair; Jessie Mae MacDougall
of the Department of Environmental Protection; Art Dunlap, Code Enforcement Officer for Poland;
Nancy McCann of Tripp
Lake Camp; Gerri
and Bill Tinkham and Babs
Shapiro representing TLIA; Phoebe
Hardesty of Androscoggin Soil and Water Conservation District.
Other contributors include Fergus
Lea of Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments,
Joyce Crane and Linda Laskey, TLIA.
