LAWPC's Upcoming Events

Volunteers play a critical role in protecting Lake Auburn and the surrounding watershed. In sharing their time and expertise, volunteers help us track changing conditions, engage community members, and keep the watershed clean. We currently have a number of open volunteering opportunities, and are looking for community members to join us! Check out a few of the available roles below, and head to the volunteering page on our website for more options and detailed information.

Plant Inventories: Help track the richness and range of plant species on LAWPC parcels! Inventory data will help LAWPC maintain the health of native species, plan for invasive species removal, and provide live staking host plants. 

Materials Creation: Share your design skills or scientific know-how by helping us create educational materials about watershed health and management! This role can include developing educational pamphlets, writing articles for our newsletter, and designing informative illustrations.

Trail Monitoring: Be our eyes on the ground by reporting your observations and promoting responsible trail use to others! If desired, trail monitors may also complete small trail maintenance projects such as trimming back vegetation or picking up litter.

Fishing Line Collection: Love wildlife, fishing, or a litter-free lakeshore? Help monitor the fishing line collection tubes stationed around Lake Auburn! These tubes are used by local anglers to dispose of their used fishing line, and help protect birds and other wildlife from getting entangled.

Clerical Assistance: Help our small staff increase capacity by assisting with clerical work! This is a great role for folks who enjoy checking things off a list, or those who enjoy the flow of repetitive tasks. Typical projects include general office organization, filing, and mailing preparation.

Volunteer Reflections

With our focus on volunteering in this edition, we asked some of our volunteers to reflect on the summer season:

"Monitoring the tubes continues to be a bright spot for me. Far more discarded line found in tubes [...], in contrast very little line is turning up on the shore. The Bad? Tubes are frequently used for assorted trash: cigarette butts, small fishing equipment packages etc. Larger items like beverage cans and larger plastic containers often block the tube entrance for additional deposits and can be difficult to remove. Hooks are occasionally still attached to line and present a danger to volunteers. The Ugly? Dirty diapers are most often left on the ground but have occasionally been stuffed into the tubes!"

-Rob Crosby, fishing line collection & loon monitoring volunteer

"I miss watching loon parents and chicks. I am in awe of them. I hope the female grows stronger and will be healthy enough for the annual migration, and return in the spring. Meanwhile, I will continue to get on the water as often as possible and keep tabs on the pair."

-Susan Beane, loon monitoring volunteer

*For context: A female loon in the area had a fishing hook embedded in her foot this summer, making it difficult for her to dive for food. The situation was being monitored by volunteers, along with staff from Maine Audubon and the Biodiversity Research Institute, but fortunately a capture was not necessary as the loon was able to work the hook out herself! While the loon pair did not mate this season due to the injury, we are hopeful that they will return and mate again next year. The efforts of anglers and volunteers to properly dispose of fishing waste are incredibly important in helping to prevent wildlife injuries like this one!

Adventure Exchange with Androscoggin Land Trust

We wrapped up another great summer of events with Androscoggin Land Trust! Over the course of the summer, we explored a number of local trails -- Mount Apatite, David Randcourt Trail, Pettengill Park, and the Tot Lot – and paddled on the Basin, Little Wilson Pond, and the Nezinscot River. This event series has been a wonderful way to bring community together, spend some time outside, and explore our connected watersheds, and we are so grateful to all who joined us!

A huge thank you to our event guides, partner organizations, and community members who joined us for events this summer! Check out the events page on our website to see what else we have planned.