AUBURN — The Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program has received a grant from the Quimby Family Foundation. The grant will enable the VLMP to train new lake monitors and also provide ongoing technical support for hundreds of trained volunteers who monitor the health of Maine lakes.

The VLMP was honored by the Quimby Foundation at a luncheon for grant recipients on Sept. 27 in Freeport. Executive Director Scott Williams and VLMP Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants Director Roberta Hill accepted the grant on behalf of the VLMP and several hundred active volunteer lake monitors throughout Maine.

In a letter to the VLMP, Quimby Foundation representative Hannah Quimby stated that the foundation selected the VLMP to receive grant funding “because your goals and mission most closely align with our foundation’s funding goals. We are truly inspired by the work that you have been doing in the state of Maine.”

Formed in 1971, the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program is the longest standing citizen lake monitoring program in the U.S., as well as one of the largest. The program trains and certifies volunteers, as well as professionals, to monitor and collect information regarding the health of several hundred lakes throughout Maine.

Volunteers monitor indicators of lake water quality and they are trained to conduct screening surveys for invasive aquatic plants, such as Eurasian milfoil and hydrilla.

To learn more, visit www.mainevolunteerlakemonitors.org, e-mail [email protected] or call 783-7733.