What happens on your property affects the lake—whether you live along the lake or miles from it. New Hampshire’s LakeSmart Lake-Friendly Living Program helps ensure future generations inherit a lake with a healthy future. And the best part? The lake management practices that New Hampshire uses are applicable to nearly every lake in the country. LakeSmart is an education, […]
lake management
Lake Management Made Simple
The North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) created a wonderful newsletter that describes simple, concrete steps you can take in your home, yard, and community to protect your lake. The purpose of the newsletter is to help you better understand the fascinating things that you may not know about your watershed & lakefront property and […]
3 Tips to Keeping Your Lake Healthy
A Buffer of Native Plants Preserving a natural buffer of native plants is one of the best ways to protect a lake. Shoreline plants filter sediment and chemicals from runoff, provide food and shelter for fish and wildlife and can slow or prevent shoreline erosion. Shade from overhanging shrubs and trees can keep waters cool […]
The Importance of a Shoreline Buffer for Lakefront Homes
What is a Shoreline Buffer? In the simplest sense, a shoreline buffer is a vegetative zone along the shoreline of your lakefront home. The presence of plants along the shore buffers or protects the lake by keeping erosion at bay and by filtering contaminated water and/or excessive nutrients that would otherwise enter that body of […]
10 Steps to a Healthy Lakefront Property
Take care of your lakefront property and it will take care of you. Here are 10 tips for a healthy lakefront property: 1. Don’t feed your lake: reduce or eliminate lawn fertilizers, and don’t fertilize your lawn unless a soil test says so. 2. Leave or create at least a 20-30 foot buffer strip between the lake […]
The Origin and Nature of Lakes in Massachusetts
The lakes in Massachusetts were created in two principal ways: by glacial activity approximately 12,000 years ago or by damming streams or small lake outlets, most of latter occurring during the early industrial age of the country for water power. In many respects, lakes are like people. They are born, grow older and die, with […]