You can see LEA’s current milfoil control work on the state of Maine’s Aquatic Invasive Species Dashboard.
The 2024 field season for LEA’s Milfoil Control Program was incredible. Without facing the high currents and heavy storms of 2023 the crew was able to be out on the water almost every day this summer. With less funding than previous years our crew consisted of 14 divers. We started in-water work on June 1st, and continued until the frosty mornings of mid-October. We continue to focus our work on Long Lake, Brandy Pond, the Songo River, and Northern Sebago Lake including Frye Island, Sebago Cove, Kettle Cove, and the Northwest River.
Long Lake and Brandy Pond: After finding a large milfoil patch in Cape Monday Cove between Pine Point and Pitts Road in 2023 our Long Lake crew began the summer removing the 15 benthic barriers placed last season. After removing the barriers the crew continued to harvest and hand-pull this small cove regularly for the rest of the season. Unfortunately while surveying the larger Cape Monday Cove our crews found multiple singular milfoil plants as well as some smaller patches. We have placed two yellow milfoil buoys in the area with the most growth (between Pine Point and Pitts Road). Please use caution while boating through this area, check your propeller, remove all plants, and dispose of them before leaving this cove to help stop the spread. An early-September survey provided an alarming discovery of a large milfoil patch in the Plummers Landing area behind the wetland island. While our crews had harvested the area in July, much of it had regrown densely by fall. This will be a top priority in 2025. Our crew continued work in multiple long-term locations including Mast Cove, Bridgton Academy Cove, Salmon Point’s small marina, and Harrison Cove removing smaller patches and individual plants. In Brandy Pond we completed a survey of the entire shoreline and are happy to report that many places that had milfoil in past years were clear. Thanks to hard work in previous years, we only removed around 5 bags from Brandy Pond the entire summer.
The Songo River: LEA started milfoil removal in the Songo River in 2003. Thanks to regular tarping, harvesting, and surveying most of the main channel of the river is milfoil-free. This season we focused our efforts on the main channel and high-traffic areas like the Sebago Lake State Park boat launch. We also spent time in a few of the small coves that are popular spots for anglers. One challenge that our crews faced was removing the benthic barriers placed last season which had been covered in a thick layer of sediment from flooding that occurred over the winter. Normally, removing a benthic barrier is fairly quick and usually only takes two divers. However, because of heavy deposits of sediment, we had to spend a couple of days with most of our crew removing seven benthic barriers placed in 2023 that were underneath several feet of mud.
Sebago Cove: Where the Muddy River meets Sebago Lake was once a stream and wetland (the stream channel is easily visible when water is low). This area became flooded with the installation of the Sebago Lake dam but remains extremely shallow throughout. It is protected from high winds and waves that can ravage Sebago Lake, and unfortunately, sees many visitors looking for a protected spot to waterski and boat. This is troublesome because the cove is highly infested with milfoil, which boating can chop up and spread, and visiting boaters are sometimes not aware of the issue.
This season our crew focused on the high traffic areas of Sebago Cove. We started off in the Southern Channel, which leads into Sebago Lake. Our crew worked to clear the Southern Channel so that boats could pass through without driving through large patches of milfoil. We also focused on the Northern Channel which is in the most infested part of Sebago Cove. Unfortunately due to funding limitations we were not able to have a full time crew on Sebago Cove this summer, and had to split the time with a few other locations in Sebago Lake.
Northwest River: There has been milfoil in the Northwest River since at least the 1970’s. This cove has a busy public boat launch, a commercial marina, and many private landowners who call this protected inlet home. We have been working for several years to get huge monocultures of milfoil under control, and after laying hundreds of benthic barriers in the last several years, things are starting to become more manageable. We spent around a week working in the Northwest River this season, focusing on the main channel and the boat launch. While there is still milfoil in this cove, it is much better than in the past because of our continued work there.
Frye Island: We’ve been working at Frye Island for over a decade and have had such a positive experience with landowners however, the infestation continues to persist. A huge thank you to the Frye Island residents and thank you Roxy for surveying parts of Long Beach Marina and letting us know where the hotspots are located. On Frye Island, the crew worked in both Long Beach Marina and Quail Circle Marina for a week. To fight this persisting infestation, we laid 3 benthic barriers in Long Beach Marina. Our crew spent the rest of the week harvesting and hand-pulling in both marinas, and will remove the barriers that were placed in June 2025.
With less funding than previous years, our crew has shifted to three crews instead of four. To be the most efficient we are splitting the crews up into three locations, Sebago Lake, the Songo River, and Long Lake/Brandy Pond. We are doing our best to prioritize high-traffic areas in all of these waterbodies. On Long Lake and Brandy Pond we are trying to prevent the plants from getting a strong foothold in these waters. On Sebago Cove and the Northwest River we are trying to prevent milfoil from spreading further and inundating these areas. It is always difficult to spread limited resources over a large area, but we have made great progress in the past and hope to continue to be successful in our effort. If you think you see milfoil in your area please send a photo and location to morgan@mainelakes.org. We can’t do this without financial support from landowners, members, the Department of Environmental Protection, and funders- thank you for all your help!
