Freedom – July 18, 2008 – Paid professional divers have been removing milfoil from the lake for several years, but for an even longer time volunteer divers have been doing their part to help keep milfoil in check.

Thanks to new regulations, however, volunteer divers must be certified in milfoil removal by the state just as their professional counterparts are. While it’s a beneficial learning process, it’s one that requires a trip to Concord for classroom training.

Now, DES has agreed to offer the certification training on the lake if four or five local divers sign up. One diver is already on board and is hoping a few more will join him.

The state course is designed to teach the knowledge and skills needed to identify, document and safely remove the noxious weed and dispose of it properly – and having volunteer divers supplement paid professional divers is beneficial. On near-by Lake Wentworth, volunteer divers sweep the lake on a regular basis rather than just once annually, a process not unlike the regular weeding of a garden.

The DES course costs $149, and non-diving volunteer tenders – people who man a milfoil collection boat – can take the course for free. If the course is taught here instead of Concord it will also have the advantage of additional milfoil being removed from our lake during the training.

Interested divers should contact Ted Aldrich at 603-446-3375 and mention the Ossipee Lake course. More information can be found online by clicking this link.