Meeting to Focus on Keeping Invasive Plants Out of Hancock County Lakes
Contact: Laura Wilson, Cooperative Extension, 207-581-2971; Nick Houtman, Dept. of Public Affairs, 207-581-3777
ORONO– Hancock County residents with lakeshore property are invited to attend a meeting May 14, 9 to 11 a.m., at the Ellsworth City Hall to discuss the threat of invasive aquatic plants in lakes. Laura Wilson, water quality scientist with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and one of the meeting organizers, says she is hoping for representation from every lake and pond in the county.
The Hancock County Invasive Plant Working Group has been formed by Extension in cooperation with the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District, Acadia National Park, the Union River Watershed Coalition, the Hancock County Planning Commission, the City of Ellsworth and the Branch Pond Association.
The group intends to carry out educational efforts about invasive aquatic plants such as Eurasian milfoil. Such plants can be spread by contaminated boats and other means. Once established, they drastically alter the ecology and water quality of a lake.
Lake shore residents with concerns about plants in their lake can also drop off plant samples for identification at the Hancock County Extension office, 63 Boggy Brook Road in Ellsworth, 1-800-287-1479.