Conditions and Status of Maine's Lakes (Auburn, Turner: lease, credit, houses)

[ribbets]

Didn't want to hi-jack a couple of other threads( Moosehead Lake ) or go off subject.
Conditions,clarity,depth, acreage and many other pertinent information can be found at www.pearl.maine.edu and
www.mainecola.org
If you own waterfront on a lake or pond then the cola site is very usefull, but can also be very controversal to some beliefs on lake management.

[Maineah]

Many of the larger lakes in the southern and western part of the State are totally out of control in the summer months. You risk being swamped by some yahoo in a overpowered ski boat every time you go for a paddle. Wake erosion is not just a myth. Heavily used lakes suffer from wake erosion exposing tree roots and washing soil into the lake. I'd be all for speed limits and horsepower limits on all Maine lakes. If you want to drive like he77 in a boat there's a big ocean out there which will accomodate you nicely.

[Fern435]

We are learning more about the responsibilities of owning land (in Maine!) with water. This will help.

Ribbets or Maineah, could you elaborate on the controversial beliefs of lake management?

Not trying to start trouble (that's true for most days!), but I'm pretty new to some of the history. Thanks!

[ribbets]

www.ftwa.org very sad can't blame the farmer he's doing whats been done for generations.
but what about the camp owners ? lots of tax income.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Fern435

We are learning more about the responsibilities of owning land (in Maine!) with water. This will help.

Ribbets or Maineah, could you elaborate on the controversial beliefs of lake management?

Not trying to start trouble (that's true for most days!), but I'm pretty new to some of the history. Thanks!

There are some people who believe all Maine lakes should be off limits to motorized boating, camps should all have composting toilets and grey water tanks instead of private septic and leech fields. Some even believe swimming in a lake is a bad idea. Much of the damage has already been done with regard to building around these lakes and ponds. It's hard to undo what has already been done. Water quality surffers, noise is a problem as are drunken speeding boaters, jet skis, and party boats. Many of these small lakes are just plain overused. There has been no regulation per se with them and they continue to suffer from the effects of over use, irresponsible camp owners, and little to no regulation of watercraft. Outfits like Mainecola and pearl try to keep folks informed and aware of the impact of over use , road building and maintenence, runoff, fertilizers, erosion etc. It's an uphill battle as generations of these camp owners are content with the status quo.

[Sunday1]

I grew up on a small (90 acres) spring-fed lake in Washington about 45 minutes east of Seattle and as the cliche' goes, "life was good." No motorized craft allowed -- lots of canoes and rowboats trolling slowly at sunset for perch and bass on warm summer nights...great swimming, etc. I've been trying to find some lakes like that in southern maine to visit during our upcoming trip to secure a house to lease, but am not finding anything. Is there no such thing? I kind of had it in my head that there would be at few if not several lakes like that (without motorcraft) in southern to midcoast Maine - but I'm now thinking I was mistaken. ???

[ribbets]

Bear Pond near Turner,Buckfield comes to mind.
Lake Auburn Auburn
the www.maine.gov site has a listing in the DIFW dept. listing about 8 pages of lakes and ponds where no motors are allowed

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I received an award from the DEP for monitoring our lake quality for 15 years. Now that the pine pollen has all blown ashore with the waves I can see my Secchi disc 23 to 27 feet down around noon on a clear day. There are a lot of superstitions about lakes and water. There are a lot of people who twist and bend data fragments to support their particular agendas. Sure, there were mistakes made by good people who didn't realize the long term effects. During the "broiler boom" there were chicken barns ringed all the way around China lake on every hill top to take advantage of the breezes because it was hot in the 1940s. (It's cooler now.)

The runoff from those chicken barns put so many nutrients into China Lake that the lake starved for oxygen. The lake was green with algae. China Lake is coming back. I mention that lake because it is so often used to raise an alarm every time some private landowner uses his own property.

Most natural lakes in Northern Maine have a berm along the shore. It drops off to a wet area just back from the berm. Those berms were not built for foot paths along the shore, though many are used for just that purpose today. The berms were and are caused by ice. Ice on a lake surface expands as it freezes. When a mile of ice drops to 20 below it expands a lot. It pushes against the shore with great force and it moves gravel, trees and stumps further back onto the land. This has happened for thousands of years. It's difficult for our elderly to get over those berms. Today's boats wash away some of those berms and restore the lakes to their original natural contours. Isn't nature wonderful?

[ribbets]

I can remember back in the 70's when Sabbatuss Lake was so covered with weeds and algae that you couldn't water-ski on it. Which was accredited to the hen houses on the northern end of the lake.
Seems to have been cleaned up considerable since then.

[American girl]

Originally Posted by Sunday1

I grew up on a small (90 acres) spring-fed lake in Washington about 45 minutes east of Seattle and as the cliche' goes, "life was good." No motorized craft allowed -- lots of canoes and rowboats trolling slowly at sunset for perch and bass on warm summer nights...great swimming, etc. I've been trying to find some lakes like that in southern maine to visit during our upcoming trip to secure a house to lease, but am not finding anything. Is there no such thing? I kind of had it in my head that there would be at few if not several lakes like that (without motorcraft) in southern to midcoast Maine - but I'm now thinking I was mistaken. ???

While Graham Lake allows motorized craft they are as few and far between as you could hope for. The lake is shallow, man made and underwater denizens (stumps) quickly foil speed boaters. A half dozen of us have pontoon boats and putt putt up and down the lake, which is very large. Last fourth of July we spent a half day fishing and saw just one other motorized boat. There are a couple of jet skis but we rarely see them.