FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Freedom — July 22, 2005 — What makes Ossipee Lake special? In addition to being a great place for fishing and boating, it has one of the highest concentrations of significant natural resources in the state, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

To increase the public’s awareness of that distinction, Ossipee Lake Alliance has expanded its website to include a section on the lake’s unique features at www.ossipeelake.org/specialplaces.

Alliance executive director David Smith says that the lake’s preserved open spaces help keep Ossipee Lake one of the state’s most desirable places to visit and live.

“The first thing people notice is the stunning backdrop of the mountains, and the second thing they see is how much open space there still is on the lake. You can find great scenery on other lakes, but our preserved land helps make us unique.”

Ossipee Lake’s open spaces are more than just unspoiled shorelines. For example, biologists and archeologists who have studied state-owned Ossipee Lake Natural Area at Long Sands have documented globally rare plant communities and artifacts that are between 8,000 and 10,000 years old.

The Alliance’s new webpage includes a history of the Long Sands property and contains a summary of some of the state and federal studies that have been conducted at the site since the late 1960s.

“The Long Sands preserve alone puts Ossipee Lake on the map,” Smith says. “Now people can read some of the findings that make it one of the most important properties listed in the state’s Natural Heritage Inventory.”

Long Sands is not alone in its distinction. The adjacent Heath Pond Bog is a federally-designated National Natural Landmark, and The Nature Conservancy’s Ossipee Pine Barrens preserve contains rare birds and moths and is the finest remaining example of a once-plentiful habitat that is now rare in New England.

“Do an online search for the Ossipee Ring Dyke and you’ll find educational travel tours that specialize in bringing people to our area from around the world to learn about our natural resources,” Smith says.

“While we think of the lake primarily as a recreational resource, it’s also much more than that.”

In the coming months the Alliance will expand the Special Places webpage to include additional notable locations on and near the lake, Smith promises.