Request

Electronic

Newsletter

Today.

Email:

friendsofwilsonlake@gmail.com

May 2014

Volume 7 Issue 2

Friends of Wilson Lake

Inside this issue:

Anniversary 2

Boating Safety 4

Annual Meeting 6

Legislative Front 7

COLA —Name Change 9

Celebrate

Comments and suggestions

are always welcome.

Contact: Wynn Muller

friendsofwilsonlake@gmail.com

Help us spread the word.

Click on this link to :

“Like” Friends of Wilson

Lake on Facebook.

“Save the Date”

2014

Annual Meeting

Sunday

July 20th

1:00 pm

Kineowatha Park

Please Note: In the email

version of our

newsletter—all blue text

when clicked onto—will

open specific website

pages and/or an email.

Happy Anniversary Friends of Wilson Lake

We are so pleased to be celebrating our 25th anniversary with all of our friends this year. To commemorate this event, we have joined the digital age. Susan Atwood has designed a magnificent new web site for Friends of Wilson Lake

which shares our mission, our achievements, programs, articles and a wealth of information. Photo “Galleries” include fantastic photos of Wilson Lake and of

our Annual Meetings 2011, 2012 and 2013. There is a page devoted to the LakeSmart program titled “Becoming a Lake Steward”. Visitors to the site are able to request membership, subscribe to our newsletter and soon will be able

to make donations online. The site features our "Corporate Members" – just click on their logo or ad to link to their websites. We look to the website to be

an online resource, to help educate us about protecting and preserving the quality of the lake and how we can all make a contribution to ensure Wilson Lake is here for all the generations to come. The site is very visual and user

friendly. You can visit the site at www.friendsofwilsonlake.org.

We encourage your participation by asking for your ideas, stories, and

photographs which you think would enhance our website. Send all

correspondence to our new email address: friendsofwilsonlake@gmail.com

Page 2 Celebrate

FOWL 25th Anniversary Happenings

In the past 2 newsletters I have talked about some of the plans to commemorate our 25th birthday. Here we will elaborate on the ideas as

they are developing.

Our History Committee comprised of Mary Ryan, Justy Nazar, Tony McLaughlin and Holly Windle have put together a concise timeline of the growth of our organization with many pictures and news clippings of events along the way. Some of these already appear in the website material and many more will find their way there after the summer events have passed. They will have this material for display at our annual meeting July 20th at Kineowatha Park, also at the Blue Berry Festival boat ride area and at our Celebration Open House (see below). They are still looking for any pictures or clippings that you might have of activities of FOWL over the past 25 years. Do you have pictures of David Prince Scholarship winners at the Mount Blue awards event? Do you have pictures of students doing boat inspections at the boat launch or pictures of volunteers planting erosion controls at the foot of the lake? Perhaps you may have some pictures of the watershed survey done in 1994 around the lake area. These are intended to elicit some ideas about what we are seeking. They are not all inclusive. Anything else that you might consider, please send to us at P.O. Box 560 and indicate on the back if you need it back. You may also bring photos to Wilson Lake Inn and Susan

Atwood can scan them.

Our Float Committee of Judy Landry, Justy Nazar, Jen McEntee and Martie Martin have come up with some wonderful ideas. Our float is being designed as Wilson Lake complete with kayaks and perhaps some other lake inhabitants. How will they do this? Guess you will need to come to the parade at the Blueberry Festival to find out. Or better still, send us an email at: friendsofwilsonlake@gmail.com and volunteer to help with the float. We are still trying to locate all past CBI boat monitors or Scholarship winners who might be willing to walk with the float in the parade. We will have a nice present for them. The parade starts on Saturday August 2nd at the Bass building on Weld Road (be there by 8:30) and continues to the foot of the lake at about

10:00am.

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Celebrate Page 3

Celebrating over 100 years of excellence!

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continued from page 2

25th Anniversary Happenings

Finally, our Celebration Committee of Sandy Muller, Susan Atwood, Sharon Rainey, Lyn Jellison and Rob Lively is planning an open house at the Wilson Lake Inn under a tent out back. We will invite all past officers, members, and corporate members to make an appearance. We plan on providing a wine and hors d’oeuvres throughout the event. Also planned is an exciting session of “story tell-ing” of historical events around the lake. If you have some great stories or know of someone who does, please send us an email at: friendsofwilsonlake@gmail.com or call Sandy at 645-3716.

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CALENDAR (Click here to view online calendar)

May 23rd, Memorial Day weekend starts our Courtesy Boat Inspection program. Please call me if you want to help at 645-3716. Non-resident milfoil stickers are $20 and can be purchased online at:

https://www10.informe.org/webshop_ifw/index.php?Submit=View+Details&c=25&p=5933&storeID=2

June 3rd, David Prince Memorial Scholarship awarded at Mt Blue High School

June 28th, Maine Lakes Society Annual Conference, 8:30 am Colby College, Waterville

July 19th, Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Conference, 9:00 am The Great Outdoors, Turner

July 20th, FOWL Annual Meeting, 1:00 Kineowatha Park, Reunion Bldg. Bring a chair and your favorite

potluck. All are welcome.

August 1st & 2nd, Wilton Blueberry Festival, FOWL will again offer free boat rides at the landing on Friday

25th Anniversary Celebration

Sunday, August 26, 2014

Wilson Lake Inn

Page 4 Celebrate

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Boating Safety—Starts with Knowledge

Boating Safety – starts with knowledge of boating laws

Each year we are asked questions about boating safety. What are the laws? What age does one need a PFD? How far from the shore does one need be before moving beyond “Headway Speed”? Here is a summary of the boating safety laws. Most of us know them but it is al-

ways good to have a refresher.

They are not intended to be complete, but have been extracted from the Boating Laws booklet. They have been reviewed and approved by Warden Kris MacCabe. For a complete listing, please go to: http://

www.maine.gov/ifw/laws_rules/boatlaws.htm.

Prudent watercraft operation creates a safe environ-ment for all the people on the lake. The operator of a watercraft must consider the effects of the wash or wave created by their craft. Imprudent boat operation effects shoreline erosion, water front piers, floats and other property; as well as the birds and animals nesting along the shoreline. Be a good neighbor; obey the boat-

ing laws and regulations.

Speed Regulations

“Water Safety Zone” or “No Wake Zone”, a watercraft may not be operated at a speed greater than “Headway Speed” within 200 feet of the shoreline of a mainland or island. “Headway Speed” is defined as the minimum speed necessary to maintain steerage and con-trol of the watercraft while the craft is mov-ing. There is an exception to this “No Wake

Continued on page 5

Page 5 Volume 7 Issue 2

SITEWORK CONCRETE CAPENTRY

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Zone” in that a watercraft may enter this zone to pick up or drop off a water skier. However, in doing so, it is the responsibility of the operator not to endanger any person or property. I will never forget being an-chored and fishing with my two young boys when a ski boat came directly at me with everyone looking at the skier to the rear. We were only saved by the skier

falling before the boat reached us.

Boating and Alcohol

Any person who operates or attempts to operate any watercraft while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs or both could be found guilty of criminal violation. A Law Enforcement Officer, who has probable cause to believe a person may be operating while intoxicated, will ask that person to submit to a blood-alcohol test. A level of 0.08% or more by weight of alcohol in that person’s blood is

considered a criminal violation, just as in driving an automobile.

Imprudent or Reckless Operation of a Watercraft

A person is guilty of “Imprudent Operation” of a watercraft if the person, while operating a watercraft engages in prolong circling, informal racing, wake jumping or other types of continued and repeated activities that harass another person. “Reckless Operation” means that it is illegal to operate a watercraft

Page 6 Volume 7 Issue 2

in such a way as to recklessly create a substantial risk

of serious bodily harm.

Harassing of Birds or Animals

It is illegal to operate a watercraft in such a way as to harass wild birds or animals so as pursue, molest, drive or head any wild birds or wild animals. We have all heard we are not to molest the loons. That applies to all wild animals and birds. In this context, molest means to interfere with in any way that the animal or

bird appears to be frightened or distressed.

Personal Flotation Device (PFD)

Before getting underway it is the responsibility of the operator of the watercraft to verify that there are ap-proved PFD’s for each occupant of the watercraft. They must also be age and size correct for the passengers on the craft. It is mandatory that each child 10 years of age and under must wear an ap-proved PDF while on board the watercraft. Also, anyone operating a personal watercraft (jet ski, etc.) or being towed on water skis, tubes or other similar devices must be wearing an approved PFD device. Note: Boat cushions are not approved PDF devices. Should a Warden stop you, the passengers may be asked if they know where the PFD’s are on the watercraft. You may also be asked to display a horn,

fire extinguisher, throwable devise and paddle.

Ages for Operation

When operating a motor craft of more than 10 horse-power, a person under the age of 12 must be under the immediate supervision of a person in the boat of at least 16 years old. Anyone under the age of 16 may not operate a personal watercraft (jet ski or similar) and anyone between 16 and 18 must demonstrate they have completed an approved education course or are accompanied by one over 18 years. Any water-craft towing one on water skis or similar device must have a person in the watercraft of at least 12 years of age in addition to the operator to continually observe

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Boating Safety continued from page 5

FOWL Annual Meeting - Sunday, July 20, 2014 1:00 PM at Kineowatha Park, Reunion Bldg.

For many of us the FOWL annual meeting has become one of the highlights of the summer. We have members who plan their trip to Maine around it. It is a great time to visit with friends that we may only see on occasion and enjoy a wonderful potluck meal – and the meal is really good. We have a brief meeting and a

short presentation of FOWL activities. This year the plan is to focus the discussion on our history.

What do you need to do? Simple, bring your favorite potluck and a chair to sit on. We do have plenty of picnic table seats, but many prefer their own seating arrangements. We will provide a desert and beverag-es. As you enter Kineowatha, take your first right and the Reunion Building is just ahead to your left. Non-

members are welcome, so please feel free to bring house guests as well. You will enjoy it!

Page 7 Volume 7 Issue 2

I asked Senator Saviello to describe the legislative action that took place at this past session. There were 4 bills that impacted lakes that were considered that Tom describes be-low. I have left his description in tact as it gets into the creative legislative process. In summary, act LD1616 provided additional funding for milfoil control while LD1697 provided funding for Maine Lakes Society to administer the LakeSmart program and Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program for analyzing data and also to the Maine Joint Environmental Training Coordinating Committee to imple-ment water pollution control and protection. Both these bills passed and were signed into law. However, it is the unique way in which they came about that tells the story.

Nothing is easy in the sphere of legislation. Below are Senator Saviello’s words.

LD 1616: An Act To Fund Invasive Species Prevention and Control: This bill would have increased the fees collected for watercraft operating on inland waters of the State by $7 for residents and establish-es a $35 fee for nonresidents. It also would have directed the Department of Environmental Protection to establish a program within the department that uses the revenue from the increased fees to work on re-moving invasive aquatic plants that exist in lakes of 10,000 acres or more in area. The department would also be directed to establish a long-term management program to prevent future infestation of invasive aquatic plants.

It was amended in committee to increase the fees collected for watercraft operating on inland wa-ters of the State by $5 beginning in 2015. This amendment also would have increased the lake and river protection sticker fee for nonresidents by $5. It would have directed that the revenue from these in-creased fees be directed to the Invasive Aquatic Plant and Nuisance Species Fund established within the Department of Environmental Protection beginning in 2015. Finally, this amendment eliminated the pro-posed invasive aquatic plant removal and long-term management programs within the Department of Envi-ronmental Protection and the proposed nonresident registration fees that are contained in the bill.

The amendment also struck the emergency preamble and emergency clause and adds an appropriations and allocations section.

The final bill was amended to retain the emergency preamble and emergency clause in the bill. It removed from Committee Amendment "A" the provisions that increase fees for watercraft operating on the inland waters of the State and for lake and river protection stickers. It increases from 60% to 80% the per-centage of present fees dedicated to the Invasive Aquatic Plant and Nuisance Species Fund in the Depart-ment of Environmental Protection and reduces from 40% to 20% the percentage of these fees dedicated to the Lake and River Protection Fund in the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. It requires the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to use at least 20% of the money in the Invasive Aquatic Plant and Nuisance Species Fund for eradication activities. It allocates funds from the Inland Fisheries and Wild-life Carrying Account, General Fund account within the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to the Lake and River Protection Fund in an amount equal to the reduction in funding to the Lake and River Pro-tection Fund caused by the reduction in the percentage of fees dedicated to the fund for the current bien-nium.

This bill passed as amended.

LD 1694: An Act To Improve the Water Quality of Inland Waters was introduced by Representative Dennis Keschl and Senator Saviello. This bill would have appropriated $100,000 annually to the Department of Environmental Protection to provide $80,000 to the Maine Lakes Society in its implementation of the

Legislative Front – from Senator Tom Saviello

Page 8 Volume 7 Issue 2

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LakeSmart program and $20,000 for the purpose of analyzing the data gathered by the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program.

This bill was a result of a meeting with the Lake Society and the Representative and Senator. It was “killed” by the committee and incorporated into LD 1744. LD 1744 originally DID NOT have funding for LS and VLMP programs.

LD 1744: An Act To Protect Maine Lakes: This bill originally was written to address many of the “so called “deficiencies in the DEP Lakes program. This bill amended the laws governing the Lakes Assessment and Protection Program. It would have prohibited the application of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and soil amendments within 25 feet of fresh surface waters. It would have established goals for developing a photographic record of the shorelines of lakes. It directs the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture, Con-servation and Forestry to develop training for municipalities relating to the laws regulating shoreland zoning. It also would have directed the Department of Environmental Protection to:

1. Develop an environmental leader certification program for landscape contractors;

2. Fill vacant staff positions;

3. Evaluate options and develop a strategy for reducing risks to lake water quality from camp roads, logging roads, driveways and boat launches; and

4. Evaluate the LakeSmart program. The bill was amended in committee. This amendment, which was the majority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, replaced the bill and adds an emergency preamble and an emergency clause. It amends the laws governing the Lakes Assessment and Protection Program. It creates a prohibition on the application of fertilizers within 50 feet of the normal high-water line of a great pond, with excep-tions for persons involved in agriculture or applying fertilizer to establish or restore vegetation to stop, slow or remediate shoreline erosion or damage. It made a one-time appropriation in fiscal year 2013-14 of $70,000 to the Department of Environmental Protection to provide $40,000 to the Maine Lakes Society in its implementation of the LakeSmart program, $20,000 for the purpose of managing and analyzing the data gathered by the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program and $10,000 to the Maine Joint Environmental Training Coordinating Committee in its de-velopment and implementation of water pollution control, water quality protection and other environmental

Legislative Front continued from page 7

Volume 7 Issue 2 Page 9

training programs.

Legislative Front continued from page 7

This bill was amended again. This amendment amended Committee Amendment "A" in the following manner: 1. It amends the provision regarding the education and technical assistance that must be provided by the Department of Environmental Protection in implementing the Lakes Assessment and Protection Program; 2. It amends the prohibition on application of a fertilizer near great ponds by changing the distance from the high-water line within which the prohibition applies and by removing the exception for persons applying fertilizer to stop, slow or remediate shoreline erosion or damage; and 3. It removes the appropriations and allocations section. Funding for Lake Smart and the Voluntary Lakes monitoring Program was moved to LD 1679. The Governor vetoed this bill and the veto sustained. The amendment no longer funded the two important Lake Programs and was less restrictive than the Committee bill. LD 1697 An Act To Appropriate Funds for the Ongoing Operation of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy funded the LS and VLMP work. WHAT you say!!!!! Yes this bill became the legislative vehicle to fund the two programs. The amendment summary changed the title of the bill and, in addition to the funding provided to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in the bill, provides funding to (see number 2) : 1. The Department of Economic and Community Development to support the code enforcement officer training and certification program; 2. The Maine Lakes Society to manage and analyze certain data to assist with water pollution control, water quality protection and other environmental training programs; 3. The Department of Education for HIV prevention training and education; 4. The Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Revenue Services for 3 positions to allow the bureau to address tax collection cases; and 5. The Department of Corrections for 3 months of contracted clinical staff to a mental health unit at the Maine State Prison. This amendment also transfers funds from the Gambling Control Board in the Department of Public Safety to the General Fund. The good news Representative Keschl and Senator Saviello were able to pass this as a continuing

COLA has changed its name to Maine Lakes Society

The organization we knew as COLA (Council of Lake Associations) last year changed its name to the Maine Lakes Society. This was done to acknowledge that there are 6000 lakes in Maine but only about 200 of them have active lake associations. This enables the group to represent all those other lakes as well. The Maine Lakes Association actually represents one body that comprises to sub agencies – COLA and Maine Lakes. I mentioned last year that COLA had taken on the responsibility for the LakeSmart program that is mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter. That was done since it was felt that a non-governmental agency would be in a better position to administer this program than the Department of Environmental Protection. The Maine DEP created this program in 2003 and FOWL adapted it that same year. You may know that Wilson Lake is one of only a dozen or so Gold LakeSmart lakes – meaning that over 15 % of our

lake front properties are designated as LakeSmart.

The Maine Lakes Society annual meeting will be held at Colby College on Saturday, June 28th. The topics are “Measuring Impacts to Preserve the Value on Lake Communities” and “Conservation Success Stories.” There will also be sessions on: “Using Dogs to Track Septic Pollution,” “Using Facebook to Build Capacity,” “Winning a Fight Against Milfoil,” and “Implementing Best Management Policies.” Sandy and I will attend and you are welcome to accompany us. Give me a call at 645-3716 and we can car pool. They also have a great raffle with prizes from Wilton – Calzoliao Pasta Co. and Wilson Lake Inn. You can

find this raffle online at www.mainelakessociety.org.

FOWL

PO Box 560

Wilton, ME 04294