The Friends of Forge Pond

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The Friends of Forge Pond

We are a non-profit organization helping maintain/preserve Forge Pond in Littleton/Westford, MA.

We are dedicated to protecting, preserving and enhancing Forge Pond (Littleton/Westford MA) and to fostering the mutual cooperation of its bordering communities. (For the other Forge Pond in Granby, MA, see https://facebook.com/forgeforever or https://friendsofforgepondma.org/)

03/17/2026

The drawdown was successful this year (got down 4.5+ ft plus a good freeze). The lake is already coming back up a lot (2.5+ ft) just from the rain and melting snow. (We have not even closed things at the dam yet.) We will be doing that in the next week or so as we need the lake back up to the regular level by April 1st. We are waiting for the ice to clear first. Abutters should make sure they have no winter items left on the exposed shoreline. ...it may be in the water already!

10/07/2025

Just a reminder that FoFP will be starting the annual drawdown of the lake level soon. Per the Order Of Conditions we must start by Oct 15th. But since we are already down a little over a foot from the nominal level, we will be doing the requisite start very minimally/slowly. Around the start of November we will notch things up so we can be drawn down by Dec 1st. Of course unpredictable excessive precipitation can always mess with the best laid plans :-). So start thinking about getting the boat out or making sure it does not end up beached hard as the water goes down :-).

09/08/2025

Come one, come all to our early fall ice cream social! ...

03/17/2025

After a fairly successfull drawdown season, we will begin refilling the lake soon. If you have anyting on the exposed shoreline, make sure it is secured so it does not float away when the water comes up.

10/08/2024

The Friends of Forge Pond will once again be drawing down the lake level for the winter in an effort to control invasive plants on the shoreline. Our Order Of Conditions dictates we start by October 15th. We will start then, but slowly at first. (The lake is already 8 or so inches below the normal level.) We will accelerate the drawdown rate starting in November. We target a 5ft drawdown but have never accomplished that due to outflow limitations and unpredictable/excessive precipitation. We will do our best to get the most effective drawdown as possible.

The drawdown is also a time for abutters to do work on their shoreline. But be sure to discuss all work with your town's Conservation Commission and obtain any permits as needed!

Please feel free to reach out if you have any concerns.

09/01/2024

Please join the Friends of Forge Pond at our upcoming...

Ice Cream Social !!!

When: Saturday, September 14, 2024 (rain or shine, will be indoors if needed)
Time: 2 – 4 PM

Where: 59 Matawanakee Trail Littleton MA (Steve & Becki Hadden)

Come meet with others interested in Forge Pond
and build your own ice cream creation!

08/19/2024

The removal of invasive and nuisance plants in Forge Pond by Eco-Harvesting will start this Monday, August 19. This procedure uses a pontoon-like boat to collect plants into a storage hopper. The plants are then unloaded to a trailer on shore and taken away for composting.

The funding for this year's harvesting is greater than last year's -- provided by the Littleton Clean Lakes Committee and the Westford Healthy Lakes and Ponds Collaborative. This increased funding will allow more plants to be removed than last year. However, regulations impose a limit on how much material can be removed, so harvesting will stop when that limit is reached.

This work had been planned to be done earlier in the summer, but permitting for some of the other Littleton lakes has delayed the scheduling.

Thanks,
Friends of Forge Pond

07/02/2024

Hope everyone enjoys their 4th of July on the lake. There will be lots of activity so be watchful of others if you are on the water. I assume the annual boat parade will be happening at 6:00 sharp on Thursday. (FoFP does not organize this.) I imagine there will be some private fireworks displays happening on the water over the holiday weekend to enjoy. Keep them safe!

06/17/2024

You are cordially invited to the Friends of Forge Pond Annual Meeting on

Tuesday, June 18, 2024 at 7:00pm

Reuben Hoar Library, in the Sturtz room

35 Shattuck Street, Littleton, MA

We will discuss activities and ongoing projects taking place on the lake.

Beat the heat in the climate controlled Library!

Hope to see you at the meeting on the 18th!

-- The Friends of Forge Pond Board of Directors

06/01/2024

Attached is a bathymetric map of ForgePond. You can see the depths in intervals of 5 ft. After the drought a couple years ago, weeds are now growing in depths up to 10-12 ft. From the map you can see that covers a large area of the lake. The weeds are already reaching the surface. They are heavy. You don't want to be running your motorboat thru those weeds for several reasons:

1) Per state boating rules, you are supposed to stay more than 150 ft from shore when cruising more than headway speed (very slow). E.g., I know in front of my place (on the southeast side), the weeds go out to 150ft from shore! So keep your distance from shore per boating regulations and to avoid the weeds.

2) Running your motor thru the weeds rips them into many fragments. Most of these weeds are invasive (e.g, milfoils) etc that spread through fragmentation! So driving though them will only make the weeds worse!

3) You can seriously damage your engine running through heavy weeds. They get wrapped around the propeller and impeed it. They can plug the engine water inlet holes needed to cool your engine and cause overheating.

So please keep all motor boat traffic *WELL OFF* the shore to avoid the weeds.

Address

Littleton, MA

Website

https://friendsofforgepond.yolasite.com/

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