Pleasant Mountain and the East Trails at Shawnee Peak Ski Area overlooking Moose Pond
In the shadow of Pleasant Mountain, the Lakes Environmental Association (LEA) held its 2011 annual meeting at Camp Winona on Moose Pond in Bridgton. Executive Director Peter Lowell opened the meeting by saying, “It’s been a really great year.”

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These are some highlights of the year:
–The John Chase case on Long Lake in Naples, which was the most egregious land use violation Peter has seen in 41 years of LEA’s history, brought land owners, the Naples Selectpeople and LEA together.
–Bridie McGreavy, Teacher/Naturalist at LEA for ten years, resigned when she received a full scholarship for a PhD program at the University of Maine. Sarah Morrison  was hired to join Mary Jewett as Teacher/Naturalist and they make a wonderful team.
–A cadre of volunteers completed the Bob Dunning Bridge at Pondicherry Park, which opens the 66 acres in downtown Bridgton to all.
–At the state level, many legislative proposals were made that would have weakened environmental standards, but LEA and other organizations put a lot of effort into working through the political quagmire and were rewarded with watching government work as it should. Changes were made to Maine’s Environmental laws where changes were called for.
–A bill put before the legislature to close Songo Lock because milfoil was discovered in the lower portion of Songo River was defeated much to the dismay of LEA. Local marinas were happy with this decision. LEA, the marinas and local chambers ended up creating a partnership to pool ideas and resources. Because the LEA Milfoil crew had done such a great job cleaning this invasive aquatic from Brandy Pond and upper Songo River, they had the time to focus on the lower river.
–Amy Tragert, longtime water tester, and her team continued to test 37 lakes and ponds throughout the region.
–Educators Mary Jewett and Sarah Morrison hosted the Hey You! Cruise aboard the Songo River Queen for sixth grade students, summer Place Camp at Holt Pond, and the Kaplan series of talks and guided walks. They also developed a 125 page curriculum guide to help other educators use Pondicherry Park as an outdoor classroom.
–Assistant Executive Director, Colin Holme, continued his clean lake check-up, and GIS mapping programs.
–Roberta Scruggs, Membership Coordinator, continued to produce newsletters and a variety of other tools to share the good (and sometimes not so good) news about the local watershed.
–Owners of the Freedom Cafe in Naples offered their space for LEA, the Greater Bridgton Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce and the Sebago Lakes Chamber of Commerce to open an information booth.
—1,200 families, individuals and businesses continued to show their support of LEA, which doesn’t rely on state or federal grants to fulfill its mission.
After awards were presented including to the Volunteer of the Year, Julie McQueen, and Person of the Year, Amy Tragert, new board members were announced and officers elected.
Finally, Peter shared a vision for the future of LEA. Looking forward ten years, he and the board are considering the establishment of a Lake Science Center. “The Lakes seem stable,” Peter explained, “but we’re concerned about the slow decline of water quality.” A committee will spend time further exploring the concept and the membership was encouraged to join the committee or at least share ideas and thoughts. Updates will be available on LEA’s Web site. Some components of the center currently being considered are Research and Education; Partnerships with colleges, universities, school districts, private schools, foundations, municipalities, state agencies and other non-profits; and a Campus including the Main Street office in Bridgton, as well as a lake research center, field outposts and field study sites.
Stop by the LEA office at 230 Main Street in Bridgton for more information. And to learn more about lakefront property on Moose Pond in West Bridgton, Denmark and Sweden, click on the green box above.