Introductory Remarks to McAlister's Letter to the Editor

This Friday marks Candlewood Lake's 83rd birthday.

I felt it fitting to raise awareness levels of the mounting challenges to its health, welfare, and vitality -- challenges that must be addressed if we are to pass a healthy-lake legacy on to our children.

The threats are real, they are serious, and they are now.  The prescription includes effectively combating existing and, importantly, preventing future incursions by foreign, invasive species.

Our current defenses are inadequate.  Unless significantly 'shored-up' and sustained by all agencies and parties responsible -- including Lake area residents and users -- we invite a dramatic decline in the Lake's well-being that could be irreversible.

Part of the solution is recognizing that the Lake is not self-sustaining and that its welfare is the responsibility of each of us. Only be accepting that responsibility and taking an active role can we make the difference between a vibrant, living and vital resource and one destined to never regain its prime.     Pasted below is a Letter to the Editor that I would appreciate your running on the occasion of the Lake's birthday, Friday, 9/28. _ Jim McAlister, Chair Candlewood Watershed Initiative (CWI)

This is a link to McAlister's letter to the editor on Candlewood Lake.