The following letter was sent to area newspapers:

To the Editor:

Almost all of the boaters at Ossipee Lake Natural Area cooperated with the state’s new shoreline restrictions during Labor Day weekend. We were not surprised.

Ever since DRED put the historic site on its list of environmentally endangered properties in 2003, we have been telling the agency that boaters would stay in the water if the state told them why it was necessary.

The fact that it took DRED four years to stop the damage by suspending use of the shoreline and just one week for the boating community to comply with the ruling says a lot about this issue and why it has been so difficult to resolve.

The next steps are important. DRED has promised a management plan for the Natural Area by next summer. This will be a complex task, and we believe the agency needs to start the process now to be able to meet that objective.

Boaters can also help. Those who have accepted the new rules should encourage compliance by the small number of boaters who have not. This is truly a case where a handful of individuals can easily overshadow the actions of the majority, and state monitoring will continue through drawdown.

We have always said that preservation and low impact recreation can go hand in hand at the Natural Area if common sense, communication and cooperation prevail. We will continue to work toward that goal.

David Smith
Ossipee Lake Alliance
Freedom