Plant Control
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Variable-leaf Milfoil exists in Pleasant Pond, Horseshoe Pond and parts of Purgatory and Cobbossee Streams; 33 water bodies in Maine suffer from an infestation 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. In 2010, the Friends built a Diver Assisted Suction Harvester (DASH) unit to manage the population of invasive plants in Cobbossee Watershed waters. The DASH's inaugural operating season in 2011 proved to be a lesson of trial and error as we learned the tricky business of removing variable-leaf milfoil from murky underwater habitats. Sporting a brand new outboard motor, the DASH is expected to begin it's operating season in early summer 2012. Check back for updates in the news area of our website on this exciting new project!
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