Mil-foiler Program

Our “Mil-Foiler” program is designed to prevent the spread or introduction of Invasive Aquatic Plants (IAP) like milfoil and hydrilla into the Cobbossee Watershed. Although Maine has largely been spared the devastating effects seen in other states, the “Eleven Most Unwanted” IAP’s are now in 32 Maine water bodies, including variable-leaf milfoil in our own Pleasant Pond and Cobbossee Stream. Two of the most aggressive IAP’s – Eurasian Water-milfoil (discovered in a Scarborough gravel quarry – Fall, 2006) and Hydrilla (discovered in Pickerel Pond, Limerick – Fall, 2002) are now in Maine waters. The short window of opportunity has closed fast and we must react swiftly and aggressively.

In 2003, we began our Mil-Foiler program by mailing 5 Postcards over an 8-week period to 15,000 Cobbossee Watershed residents. The post cards, produced and subsidized by J.S. McCarthy, accomplished our objective – awareness was raised dramatically by the shocking photographs of IAP’s in other states where they have taken over.

Today the Mil-Foiler program consists of a coordinated, 3-tiered approach for the entire 217-square mille Cobbossee Watershed: designed to keep existing infestations from entering non-infested waters while limiting futher impact where they already exist. 

1.  PREVENTION:  Recognized by the State of Maine as the "first line of defense" against invasive aquatic plants, inspecting water craft for "hitchhiking" plant fragments carried on boats and trailors is the first step in preventing infestations.  In 2009, Friend' s Courtesy Boat Inspectors completed over 9,000 inspections at ten public launch sites, 17 % of all inspections conducted in the state of Maine.  Since 2003, over 33,000 inspections have been completed in the Cobbossee Watershed, educating thousands of boaters in the process as well.   

In addition to the Courtesy Boat Inspection program, on May 25, 2006, the dedication of a pilot Boat Wash Station took place at the Norcross Point boat launch site on Maranacook Lake in Winthrop. L.L. Bean provided a 2-yr, $30,000 grant to spearhead the construction – other significant contributions were provided by the Boat U.S. Foundation and the Maine B.A.S.S. Federation; area businesses and contractors including Eco-Cycle, Jon Knowles Custom Sheds & More, DR Struck Landscape/Nursery, Lloyd Bryant Plumbing & Heating, Winthrop Electric and A.E. Hodsdon Consulting Engineers.  The Boat Wash Station is another tool in the fight against IAP's by encouraging boat owners to pay attention to unwanted plant fragments on thier boats when entering or leaving Maranacook Lake. 

2.  EARLY DETECTION:  If an invasive plant is discovered early, odds of controlling the infestation are greatly improved.  A grant from the Davis Conservation Foundation and support from local lake associations allowed us to establihs a Youth Plant Patrol (YPP) team in 2009; YPP members spent six weeks surveying and mapping 16 of the 28 water bodies of the Cobbossee Watershed for both native and non-native plants.  The program has become a model for others, and is an integral component of our annual invasive plant efforts. 

3.  PLANT CONTROL:  Varialble-leaf Milfoil exists in Pleasant Pond, Horseshoe Pond and parts of Cobbossee Stream; 32 water bodies in Maine suffer from an infrestation of a non-native aquatic plant.  Since 2005, buoy markers, hand removal and "milfoil mats" projects have had some success on overall removal results.  In December 2009 Pleasant Pond was one of seven "test bed" lakes to receive funding from the Maine Milfoil Initiative, a consortium that was awarded $500,000 from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to fight invasive milfoil in Maine.  The Friends are partnering with the Four Towns Watershed Association to build a operate a Diver Assisted Suction Harvester (DASH) unit that will be used to begin removing considerable amounts of variable milfoil from our waters starting this summer.  Check back for updates on this exciting new project! 

FMI regarding the Friends Mil-Foiler program, please contact Bob Moore