What have we done for you lately?

Throughout 2008 the Boating Facilities Division:

• Secured a new access site, Mattawamkeag River Hand Carry Access, Island Falls, in 2008. This site is owned by the Town and was built with a grant from the Department of Conservation. In addition to the Town providing the site, they provided gravel from the Town quarry and in-kind labor to complete the work. The project was also assisted by a local Boy Scout who made the development of the site his Eagle Scout project. He assisted the Town with the design and permitting of the improvements. The site is located on Bog Brook Road about 1/3 mile from Rte 159, and includes a small gravel parking lot and concrete plank ramp to the river. This site will be added to our Google Earth maps soon.

• The Boating Facilities Division is currently designing five new access sites across the state. All five of these sites should be under contract and improved by late next fall.

The Boating Facilities Division completed the renovation of six boating facilities in 2008, extending their useful lives, making them more accessible to persons with disabilities and improving their storm water management facilities. In a few cases we expanded the size of the parking lots to improve capacities. These sites include:

• Sebasticook Lake, Newport - We replaced and extended the launching ramp to make it useable at lower water levels, expanded the parking lot to add 5 new paved parking spaces, paved and striped the existing lot to improve the utilization of that space. We also made one parking space reserved for persons with disabilities in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Finally, we installed a new concrete abutment to improve disabled access to a new boarding float system that will be installed this spring. Make-ready and tie-down areas were developed to make use of the site more efficient. This site is owned by the state and operated by the Town of Newport under a license agreement. The site is located off Elm Street about 4/10 mile from Rte 7.
• Long Pond, Mt. Vernon - We replaced the 30 year old ramp that had fallen apart from age and use. We fixed a power loading hole at the bottom of the ramp, regraded the parking lot and paved the launch ramp area. We added one parking space to make it accessible to persons with disabilities. We also replaced an old vault toilet with a new accessible portable toilet and made improvements to the stormwater management features on-site. This is a state-owned facility located off Castle Island Road about 2.3 miles west of Rte 27.
• Embden Pond, Embden - We worked with the Town of Embden to expand the parking lot from 4 spaces to about 18 parking spaces, including one reserved for persons with disabilities. The original parking lot was small as the state owned only a very small amount of land. However, the Town owned the undeveloped abutting property back from the lake and agreed to grant the state an easement to allow us to expand the site. We also replaced the boat ramp extended it into deeper water, and added a concrete abutment to improve the accessibility to a new boarding float system that will be installed in 2009. The original ramp was made of concrete planks which were subject to ice movement. We replaced them with ice resistant concrete panels. We hope to work out a three party agreement among the Departments of Conservation, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (who owns the original site) and the Town to turn over the operation of the site to the Town. The Town will operate the boating facility in conjunction with a Town-owned beach on an adjacent site. The site is located off Mill Road about 4/10 miles from Town Farm Road.
• Alford Lake, Hope - We replaced the old concrete plank boat ramp with a concrete panel ramp and extended it into deeper water. The old planks were prone to movement and damage by ice. The concrete panel design has been used by the Department on such sites and has proven to successfully withstand the enormous pressure of ice movement and thus reduce repair costs and disruption in service in the future. We improved the parking lot; paved a parking spot reserved for persons with disabilities and added a concrete abutment that will improve accessibility to a set of new boarding floats to be installed in 2009. This site is owned and operated as a public access site by the Knox County Fish & Game Club, and is located off Beaver Lodge Road about 7/10 miles from Rte 235 in Hope.
• Silver Lake (aka Mattakeunk Lake), Lee - We replaced the old, deteriorated concrete boat ramp, repaired the power loading hole at the end of the ramp, installed a new concrete abutment to improve accessibility to a new boarding float system that will be installed in 2009. We also improved the parking lot. Because we try to delay work on existing boating facilities until after the boating season, we ran out of time to complete the paving of the handicapped parking space due to the onset of winter. In the Spring will be back to complete the work. This site is owned by the Town of Lee and is located off Coles Landing Road about 4/10 miles from Arab Road.
• Moose Pond, Bridgton - This was a project initiated by The Bass Federation of Maine who worked with the Town of Bridgton, Lakes Environmental Associates and the Oxford County Soil and Water Conservation District to complete the design and permitting of the improvements. We responded to a request from the Town of Bridgton to provide a grant for materials and additional funds to effect the improvements. We replaced the old 10 ft wide concrete plank ramp with a new 20 ft wide one. Unfortunately, this is an old "traditional" boat ramp that is developed along the side of Route 302 and there was not enough room to provide any off-street parking. As a result, parking is along this busy roadway shoulder and it was not possible to make accessible parking available. The site is located right on Rte 302 about 5.3 miles from Bridgton Center.
  

Other Accomplishments:

• We have been working with several other state agencies and an advisory panel of non-governmental organizations to update our Strategic Plan for Providing Boating and Fishing Access to the Waters of the State.
  

• We are also excited about a project just completed. Mapping of our state-owned and state-assisted recreational boating facilities on Google Earth. This has been a joint effort between our agency and the Department of Environmental Protection, whose staff has already developed expertise in placing geographic information on Google Earth. Users are able to search for boating facilities by water body name, county, town or by "flying" around in Google Earth. They can also get driving directions to any site and print directions as well as maps.