Sand Pond Association

04/17/2021

Know someone who wants to be a paid lake host?

02/11/2021

Conservation Opportunity Fund   The mission of the Conservation Opportunity Fund is to provide funding for owners of small tracts of land who are interested in improving the wildlife habitat on their property. This program is an annual opportunity to support environmental stewardship and the ecolog...

12/30/2019

Very Sad.

GILSUM — The Gilsum Village Store will close its doors permanently Tuesday, for reasons not disclosed by the owner.

11/23/2019

Nice shout out to Sand Pond and our Lake Host Program.

2020 Connecticut Ms. Agriculture USA, Danielle Brochu visited Sand Pond in Lempster, New Hampshire at the start of the fall foliage season! Like many other ponds, Sand Pond is part of the NH Lake Host Program. Through this nationally-recognized aquatic invasive species education and prevention program, each summer hundreds of individuals trained as Lake Hosts inspect boats, trailers, and gear for hitchhiking plants and animals. This is a crucial part of maintaining the integrity and native ecosystems of these beautiful areas. Danielle encourages you to always check your boats and water gear for invasive species when traveling between bodies of water.

08/09/2019

In important reminder to get the lead out of your tackle box!

COLO 1987 Sennebec Lake – lead poisoning

Just two days after the heartwarming story of the loon chick who was rescued, treated, and returned to her waiting parents on Messalonskee Lake, we admitted this Common Loon from Sennebec Lake. We received a call that morning about a beached loon from someone at the Sennebec Lake Campground in Appleton. The caller described the loon as lethargic with labored breathing. We feared lead poisoning. Volunteer Christie Banow dropped everything to get the loon here as quickly as possible.

Our fear was confirmed. The loon's blood lead level was off the scale of our screening instrument, and an x-ray showed fishing gear in her gizzard. She died shortly after arriving. She is believed to be the mother of two chicks still on the lake, presumably/hopefully with their dad.

Maine has banned the sale of lead sinkers and jigs 1 oz or less, and 2 1/2 inches or less. But ingested lead fishing tackle is STILL the leading cause of death for adult Common Loons. We see them every year at Avian Haven. Because of the presence of a relatively new hook, the fishing gear ingested by this loon was likely a recent deposit in Sennebec Lake.

Keeping lead sinkers out of our lakes and ponds will increase the survival chances of our beloved loons. Please, if you still have lead fishing tackle, get rid of it. Find out how to do so safely here: http://fishleadfree.org/me/

Maine lead law info:https://www.maine.gov/ifw/docs/LeadLaw.pdf

More info: https://fishleadfree.org