Friends of Lake Garfield is dedicated to the health, welfare and enjoyment of Lake Garfield for all in Monterey to enjoy. In recent years the State and the Town have lent emotional and financial support to our mission. That’s the good news! But, along with that support comes the need for greater financial support from FLG and Monterey residents.
YOU MAY MAKE THIS DONATION IN MEMORY OF OR IN HONOR OF A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER.
OR MAKE CHECKS OUT TO FRIENDS OF LAKE GARFIELD
Please include name, address and email address and mail to:
Friends of Lake Garfield, PO Box 355, Monterey, MA 01245
Friends of Lake Garfield is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization.
Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent of allowed by law.
Friends of Lake Garfield (FLG) was formed over 50 years ago and has been a non-profit organization since 2015. We must rely and depend on member donations to accomplish our mission of maintaining the health, welfare and enjoyment of Lake Garfield.
Lake Garfield is a slice of heaven on earth which benefits the town and its full-time residents and second homeowners and visitors. We are blessed to have this very special lake in Monterey, but we cannot afford to take Lake Garfield for granted. Therefore, FLG continues its commitment to partnering with our members, the Town, the town LGWG (Lake Garfield Work Group) and the State to accomplish our goals. However, we cannot do so without the sustained financial support of our members and the community.
To better understand what FLG does and why we urge you to join our membership and donate to our cause, we share the following summary of FLG activities and accomplishments that donations support and sustain:
1. We have consistently done monitoring of lake health thru annual surveys and testing by a lake scientist to assure its safety for public enjoyment.
2. We survey and monitor and take actions to mitigate invasive species from our lake. Fortunately, we do not have zebra mussels. Unfortunately, we do have milfoil, an invasive weed species that will continue to spread and threaten the health of the lake unless it is diligently and consistently monitored and mitigated. FLG advocated with the State and Town to approve and help fund DASH (diver assisted suction harvesting) of the milfoil in the spring and fall annually. DASH has made significant progress in reducing the presence of milfoil as a method of control, but it MUST continue, or the milfoil will continue to spread further and threaten lake health.
3. Weeds in general, and milfoil, thrive on nutrients, phosphorus, etc. These nutrients that mostly enter the lake from the watershed (streams) during periods of heavy rain and snow melt. The FLG have worked with the town and state to mitigate the storm water runoff by supporting grant applications and with matching funds with the town to obtain funding to place retention devices and rain gardens to help reduce phosphorus levels in the lake.
4. With global warming, cyanobacteria blooms (which thrive on phosphorus) have become more and more common. Some forms of cyanobacteria can be toxic to animals and humans. FLG does summer weekly monitoring of cyanobacteria to monitor the lake health and safety for swimming and water sports.
5. The FLG partners with the town and we have several FLG members participating in the LGWG and we continue funding to lake projects. We also partner with the EPA on cyanobacteria monitoring and the Western Mass LARA (Lakes and Ponds Association).
6. We provide educational information to our members and the public through our website.