Through Lakes Conservation Corps, students get close-up view of milfoil battle

LACONIA — The five students from Laconia High School enrolled in the Lakes Conservation Corps program this summer got a first hand look at the latest methods of controlling variable milfoil, the invasive aquatic plant choking lakes and ponds, on the shore of Lake Opechee this week.

The six-week program is administered by the New Hampshire Lakes Association in partnership with the Laconia School District and funded with a grant from the Samuel P. Pardoe Foundation. Students are introduced to the stewardship of natural resources by undertaking projects to ensure the quality of surface waters by restoring and enhancing shorelines and watersheds.

This year Robert DeMoule, Danielle Daub, Marissa Wiltshire, Janessa Mingo and Shelby Robertson, all of whom participated in the program last year returned for a second stint. Wiltshire said they have spent part of their time as "Lake Hosts," checking vessels for scraps of milfoil at the boat launches on Water Street and Messer Street in Laconia as well as at Glendale in Gilford. They have also been what Robertson called "gardening" by planting vegetative buffers to forestall erosion of shorelines and ran gardens to capture stormwater.

The students devote 20 hours a week to the program, working five hours a day for four days. They are paid for their time. Five of the 20 hours are spent learning about natural resources and how to conserve and protect them. Deb Williams, a paraeducator at Laconia Middle School who works with the students, said "we want to educate this generation about all the beauty around them." She said that she was especially encouraged that the current crop of students chose to pursue the program for a second year. "Whether they want to come," she said. "That's how I judge. We have a real good group."

This week milfoil was on the curriculum and the students spent a morning with John Jude of Aqualogic, a Gilford firm that employs hand and suction harvesting to control the growth and spread of milfoil. Jude brought his pontoon boat, rigged to support divers and harvest milfoil, to Lake Opechee. He described how divers, using the machinery on the boat, removed milfoil by suction harvesting milfoil then took the students on to the lake where he and his divers began mapping and marking the infested areas. Jude is among several contractors bidding for a contract let by the Lake Opechee Preservation Association. The lake was treated with a chemical herbicide — 2, 4 D — in 2010, but milfoil has returned this year.

"We're learning how to keep our lakes clean," said Mingo, who added that she has enjoyed being around the water during a very hot summer.

CAPTION: Laconia High School students enroilled in the Lakes Conservation Corps listen as John Jude of Aqualogic explains how milfoil is harvested by divers working from his boat equipped with a suction harvester. From left to right, are Shelby Robertson, Janessa Mingo, Danielle Daub Robert DeMoule, paraeducator Deb Williams of Laconia Middle School, and Marissa Wiltshire. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Michael Kitch)