Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, the Lakes Environmental Association (LEA) in Bridgton may be getting older, but it’s also getting better, according to Executive Director Peter Lowell.
In his 34-year tenure, Lowell has seen both the organization and the country grow in their understanding of lake science as they learn more about what keeps water habitats healthy and what threatens them.
In 1970, the nation was just beginning to respond to the alarm sounded by the environmental movement. Western Maine answered the call by founding the LEA in Naples in May of that year.
For 35 years, the LEA has operated under the belief that, according to their Web site, “people will protect Maine’s lakes if only they realize how valuable and fragile they are.” For their first project, in 1971, they presented research that demonstrated the effects of development and municipal discharges on Long Lake, causing the communities of Bridgton and Naples to ban phosphate detergents.
As the group grew, so did the acceptance of their cause, locally and nationwide. The 1970s saw the passage in Congress of the Clean Water Act and, in Maine, the Shoreland Zoning law, which required special zoning requirements for all land falling within 250 feet of any body of water.
Though a number of court battles ensued, the new regulations changed forever the way people care for their lakes and streams.
In the 1980s, after years of campaigning, the LEA succeeded in their fight against Bridgton’s antiquated sewer system, which drained directly into Stevens Brook and, ultimately, into Long Lake. According to Lowell, “It was the single biggest pollution source in the whole region.”
Also in the ’80s, the group, along with others from the area, helped to dissuade the Department of Energy from using the Sebago region for a high-level radioactive waste dump.
While people have a greater appreciation today of many environmental issues because of heightened awareness as well as visible or tangible evidence, the LEA still finds it difficult to communicate the gravity of the unseen problems facing Maine’s waterways. These include the negative effects of mercury, dioxin, and acid rain.
They continue to do regular water testing for 37 area lakes in order to catch changes and begin to correct any problems before water quality is adversely affected. The number of tests they perform every year on lakes in this small area of Maine is greater than the total number done by the state.
Part of the LEA’s work consists of consulting with landowners as part of their Clean Lake Check-up program. The free service, offered for the past 15 years, has helped as many as 60 landowners a year with advice on erosion problems, landscaping, and on new construction and addition projects.
Similar to a program offered by the Portland Water District to Sebago Lake watershed property owners, the LEA’s check-up is meant to supplement, not to compete.
“We have choreographed ourselves with the Water District and provide each other mutual support,” said Lowell. “We stay out of their areas but we carry weight on a lot of lakes that feed Sebago.”
But the piece they recognize as key to the preservation of Maine’s liquid resource is their education program. For more than 10 years the group has focused on educating Maine’s children about lakes and lake science. Bridie McGreavy heads the program, reaching about 450 children in area schools. She also hosts a two-week camp for children, ages 7 to 11, at the Holt Pond Preserve.
This preserve, however, is not only for children. The 600-acre parcel provides a place where both children and adults can encounter nature up-close and personal. This special place is the joint effort of LEA and its partner, Loon Echo Land Trust. The Holt Pond Preserve is an open classroom for the hundreds of people who visit each year.
As the LEA celebrates all of its accomplishments of the past 35 years, it also looks to its future. One concern that Lowell expects will remain a serious issue is that of milfoil.
This year, the organization received a grant from the Libra Foundation to combat this invasive water plant. On Wednesday, the group spread a 30-by-60-foot-tarp along the bottom of a section of the Songo River, where the milfoil problem is severe. The barrier will remain for two months and is much preferred to hand pulling.
“The future is probably fairly bleak if you apply strictly logic to it,” said Lowell, speaking about milfoil. “I’m a little more hopeful than that. The awareness that’s been raised in the last three years makes me optimistic.”
Lowell says awareness is 90 percent of the solution, a solution that includes teaching people that something as simple as throwing an anchor into an area containing milfoil is a way to spread it.
It is important for people to know not to pick any plant they believe may be milfoil because it can spread easily if it’s not picked correctly. Instead, they should call the Portland Water District or the LEA and someone will come identify it.
Even with the threat of milfoil and chemical hazards to Maine’s waters, the Lakes Environmental Association is positive in its outlook. With more than 1,000 members, along with established programs and an ever-increasing body of lake science understanding, the LEA plans to continue to be a leader in the fight to protect the quality of Maine’s water.
On August 6, they will sponsor the first Milfoil Day, with the help of a host of volunteers. August 5 is their annual meeting, which will be combined with a cookout and a cruise on the Songo River Queen. And they have a full schedule of additional summer events, available on their Web site, www.mainelakes.org.
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