
Milfoil and your Maine real estate lake property, waterfront cottage or second home are a bad mix.
Not only does it affect your property value, but milfoil is an plant that spreads like wild fire if a boat prop, a float plane pontoon drops a slip off in your Maine lake, waterfront camp or cottage location. Milfoil is in Southern Maine lakes and luckily Aroostook County is four hours away from where the state has discovered the milfoil infestation.
Here is a list of Maine lakes, ponds where aquatic evasive Milfoil infestation is known. Six Maine groups are working to aggresively address variable leaf Milfoil, and The Maine Congress of Lakes (COLA) is one of the lead intiators on the drive. Southern Maine lakeshore values where variable leaf milfoil is found have seen property value declines due to the milfoil.
Lake Arrowhead in the town of Limerick added a provision for a 10% devaluation for those properties with heavy off shore milfoil infestation.
Maine’s neighboring New Hampshire where I read on line there are 58 lakes infected with milfoil, it is reported the variable leaf milfoil plant is taking over one to three lakes a year in the Granite state.
Here is more about the problem in New England’s milfoil growth in lakes, ponds. I am president of the Drews Lake Property Owner’s Association and we have had kept track of our lakes “health” monitoring temperatures, visibility, vegetation growth. Since 1947 Drews Lake had a dam to control the water levels and make a fish spill way. But back in the 1980’s when the dam when in to disrepair and the state was happen to let the association have it for $1, we have rebuilt the dam, written grants for soil erosion and put thousands and thousands of dollars in to silt control, revegetation along the shoreline. If you asked a Maine lake, pond, river what gets it the most angry it would gurgle lawns. Ones with weed and feed, lots of phosphorous and soil erosion because all the trees have been removed, and water can race to the lake, bring along lots of nutrients, top soil, debris that flows directly in to the water.
This Maine Lake Volunteer Monitoring Lake Group’s milfoil infestation graphic shows the extent of monitoring going on around the state, and where the known infestations are currently.
Milfoil is serious stuff and if you are thinking of buying Maine lakeshore, waterfront real estate, you need to make milfoil one of the top questions. Keep this graph to target the Known problem lakes. Luckily, Northern Maine, Aroostook County has no milfoil infestation problem. Partly due to education about how easy it is for a prop to bring in the infestation from an infected lake. Also with less people, less activity the lakes in Northern Maine don’t get “the traffic”, abuse and as much presure as other recreation lakes down state do that are closer to Boston, population centers.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers
207.532.6573
Email info@mooersrealty.com