Ossipee—November 6, 2024—Ossipee officials plan to post ‘no trespassing’ signs on Loon Island to protect the property and its wildlife from boaters, according to reporting in the Conway Daily Sun.

The precise language of the signs and the fine for violating the order have not yet been worked out.

The town bought the tiny island from Kevin and Deborah Randall, whose plan to install nine boat slips at the site was opposed by lake residents and conservation organizations.

The $250,000 purchase was made possible by a trust fund for the acquisition of conservation land established by long-time lake property owner George Eisener.

The island, a prominent loon nesting site, has been damaged by years of illegal use by boaters. At one time fully forested, the southwest side of the island has become barren, with litter and use of the woods as a bathroom cited as ongoing issues by the previous owners.

Enforcing the ‘no trespassing’ order will fall to Ossipee’s Police Force, but the town lacks a boat to provide access to the site, and the state’s Marine Patrol officers don’t have jurisdiction over land. Leavitt Bay property owners have offered to work with the town on its enforcement challenges.

“I think everyone on Ossipee Lake wants to thank you,” Broad-Leavitt Bay Association Secretary Gloria Villari told the Select Board, per the Sun’s reporting.

Earlier this year, conservation money from the Eisener Trust was used to acquire 31 acres of waterfront on the Bearcamp River at 220 Newman Drew Road, a purchase with public access in mind.

The purchase would increase “the potential enjoyment of the river,” per the town’s news release, and the combined acreage would allow “modest improvements” to be made at the town’s adjacent land at 250 Newman Drew Road, the town said.