Freedom—July 2, 2025—DES has released 80 photos from its April site visit to Wabanaki Campground, offering a look at the environmental violations the state says must be corrected.
The site visit was prompted by allegations by neighbors and conservation groups of shoreline damage from tree removal, runoff into the lake, and dozens of unapproved structures in the 250 ft. state-protected shoreland.
Campground principal Mark Salvati has said he intends to address the issues as part of his plan to convert the Ossipee Lake property to a cooperative owned by as many as 77 shareholders. A conversion requires that the property be in compliance with all state and local regulations.
One of the photos released by the state shows an RV with multiple decks in a scraped-out shoreline lot. Other pictures show shoreline damage caused by last year’s removal of trees and vegetation.
Perhaps the most startling photo shows a culvert under a campground road draining water into a ditch containing an electric pedestal connected to an extension cord draped over an above-ground pipe propped up by a cinderblock.
Multiple unapproved decks attached to a trailer on a scraped-out waterfront lot at Freedom’s Wabanaki Campground. Photo: N.H. Department of Environmental Services
The campground’s neighbors said they welcomed the state’s intervention after town officials ignored or downplayed their complaints about the business.
Freedom’s Conservation Commission last year failed to obtain support from the Select Board or the Planning Board after recommending that the campground be required to implement a professional stormwater management plan.
DES notified Salvati of the complaints against him in January, and in March he submitted a Shoreland Permit Application, telling the agency he was “in the process of obtaining a stormwater management plan for a proposed “subdivision” filing with the Freedom Planning Board.”
After the state’s April 18 site visit, DES issued two letters citing “unpermitted areas of impact within the protected shoreland,” including “decks present on the majority of campsites observed without permits or prior authorization.”
Among the state’s requests for additional information for the permit application was to provide a calculation showing that the size of the proposed accessory structures can meet state regulations by not exceeding 7.5 sq. ft. per linear foot of shoreline.
An electric pedestal and extension cord are seen in a drainage ditch at Ossipee Lake’s Wabanaki Campground. Photo: N.H. Department of Environmental Services
Other requests involved calculations of woodland buffers and the restoration of environmental damage. DES said this week that Salvati met the June 27 deadline for providing additional information and the agency is reviewing it.
Decks in Focus
Although much of the public’s attention has been on the environmental impact of runoff into the lake, it is the large number of unapproved decks that stand out in the state’s photographs, raising questions about how so many violations could have remained under the radar of town officials for so long.
Public records show at least 63 decks are attached to RVs and other structures, 38 of which are in the town’s shoreland protection zone, which, at 300 ft., is more restrictive than the state’s 250 ft. setback.
None of the decks have building permits, per town records. Decks inside the state’s protected shoreland represent a double violation, as they lack state approval as well as town approval.
Salvati said last year he did not know that decks required permits. Town officials told Ossipee Lake Alliance that Salvati is responsible for the infractions, but they declined to say who legally owns the decks. No fines have been issued.
Meanwhile Freedom’s Zoning Officer approved eight building permit applications for new RVs and decks in May. Salvati submitted the applications in April, listing Wabanaki Campground Conversion LLC as the owner.
Three of the eight building permits were issued in the name of campers, while five others were issued in the name of the Elmer and Janice Franson Trust.
One of the permits for the Franson Trust is for an RV and deck on Lot 41, which is inside the town’s 300 ft. setback, an apparent conflict with the town’s position that no decks are to be built inside the shoreland buffer while the DES proceedings play out.
The Lot 41 approval is for a 300 sq. ft. deck attached to a 288 sq. ft. trailer.
Zoning Officer Bryan Fontaine did not respond to a request to comment on the discrepancies between the building applications and permits, or to identify the regulations the town is using to determine the permitted size of decks attached to RVs and trailers.
All of the DES photos may be downloaded from this link.
Trees and vegetation were stripped from the shoreline last year. Photo: N.H. Department of Environmental Services
Thanks go to the folks who pursued this egregious horror.
Might be time to check out your Planning and Select board members for not doing their due diligence.
Wabanaki will be allowed to do whatever they want, and no one can stop it, as long as they don’t pursue a “co op” conversion.
“Public records show at least 63 decks are attached to RVs and other structures.” No decks are “attached” to RVs in any of those photos, nor on site.
Every place on the lake looks like this in April.
Interesting comments here. Some people are missing the point. Re: “attached” decks, they are “accessory structures” in the eye of DES, whether physically “attached” or legally “attached” to the primary structure, which is the RV or trailer. But the main point is that they are illegal. In regard to “every place” on the lake looking like Wabanaki, I think Totem Pole, Cody, Calumet and other Wabanaki neighbors would disagree. The owner says he’s committed to addressing what’s not right before the place is converted and run by a committee. Let’s hope so!