Good Morning!
Rainy day, not much going on, but I have lots of e-mail to catch up on. So here we go.

Message from Pam Hebert:

I want to update JPA members regarding our aquatic nuisance program. I presented a brief report at the Spring meeting which I will summarize and also received some excellent suggestions which I intend to implement. Thank you !!!

I attended a workshop sponsored by the VT Department of Environmental Conservation in Waterbury on May 30^th. According to their inventory Vermont has 811 lakes and ponds, 747 or 92% of which do not have Eurasian Water milfoil. 290 lakes are greater than 20 acres in size (Joe’s Pond has 396 acres) and 229 or 79% do not have Eurasian water milfoil.

Two other major invasive plants in VT are zebra mussels and water chestnuts. Zebra mussels have been confirmed in only Lake Champlain and Lake Bomoseen and water chestnut in 17 lakes. Joe’s Pond is considered low risk for both these invasive plants. We have the third highest diversity of native aquatic plants in the State.

Another invasive species which is being carefully watched and may be introduced into lakes as baitfish is rusty crayfish. They can consume twice as much food as native crayfish and are identified by black bands at the ends of their claws and red spots on their shells. Baitfish should be acquired only from a VT approved bait dealer and a receipt provided stating they are a licensed dealer.

Please contact me at 684 -3655 if you would like more information.

Thanks, Pam. You do a great job and we all certainly appreciate that you are on the front line, protecting our beautiful Joe's Pond.

We have had a couple more additions to the comments page (see home page of www.joespondvermont.com) and I'm hoping it will prove to be a useful tool for those of you who may wish to express an opinion. You can remain anonymous by simply not including your name, or in the case of at least one writer, using an assumed name, or just go ahead and use your own name - as you please.

I just had another message from Pam Hebert. She wants to find someone local, if possible, to supply baseball type hats for the workers who greet people at the fishing access. The caps would need to have inscriptions on the front like, "Joe's Pond Greeters" - do you know anyone who does this type of work? Let Pam know, (684-3655) or get in touch with me and I'll reach Pam.