Join the Memphremagog Watershed Association for their Annual Meeting on Thursday, Aug 25 at the Gateway Center in Newport, 5:30-7pm. Free and open to the public. Enjoy refreshments, get to know the MWA staff and board members, and learn about the Lake Wise program.

Alison Marchione, the Lake Shoreland Coordinator for the Vermont Dept of Environmental Conservation, will present about Lake Wise, a program that works to improve water quality by promoting lake-friendly landscaping and living practices on shoreland properties and beyond.

Lake Wise incentivizes property owners to make modifications to their property that are known to protect individual lakes and the health of the greater watershed. Lake Wise seeks to inform landowners that common lakeshore development practices, such as vegetation clearing, riprap, sea walls, and extensive mowed lawns, can lead to degraded conditions for aquatic habitat and negatively impact water quality. Moreover, these common practices can result in drastic losses of land and property to the detriment of the landowner.

Also, want to get your feet wet and help fight invasive species? On August 24 and 31st, MWA volunteers and Columbia Forest Products staff will be working together to cut down invasive Phragmites at Prouty Beach. If you are interested in helping, stop by anytime between 8am and 4pm. Bring water shoes or boots and clippers. Phragmites, also known as the common reed, replace native grasses, sedges and herbaceous plants. The plant provides poor quality habitat for insects, birds and amphibians. Fish populations that reproduce in wetlands and marshes inundated with phragmites suffer higher egg and juvenile mortality. The plant also exudes allelopathic compounds from its roots, causing root death of nearby native plants. MWA has been working on Phragmite management, along with partners like Columbia Forest Products and the Vermont Land Trust at Bluffside Farm, for many years in various locations along the shoreline in Newport and throughout the watershed.

About Memphremagog Watershed Association

The Memphremagog Watershed Association was founded in 2007 as an organization dedicated to the preservation of the environment and natural beauty of the Memphremagog watershed. Its mission is to inform and educate the public concerning issues related to the watershed.

Bevin Barber-Campbell
Executive Director
bevin@mwavt.org
970.214.8541
http://www.mwavt.org
PO Box 513
Newport, VT 05855