Ever wonder what those plants growing at the end of the dock are? Could you identify variable milfoil if it took root along your shoreline? How about those shrubs growing along the property line -- are they native to New Hampshire or alien species transplanted here from abroad?

The answer to these and many other questions about the plants that grow in and around our waters are found in a new -- and free -- publication put together by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Titled "A Field Guide To Common Riparian Plants of New Hampshire," the full-color document is available online from the DES site.

More than 70 plant species are described in the text, with additional live specimen scans and habitat photos.

Do you sometimes offer your lakefront home to family or friends for a weekend or a week's vacation? Do you rent your property to people who may not be familiar with lakeside living?

Have you ever wished you could post a brief list of Do's and Don'ts for family and visitors to encourage lake-friendly behavior and discourage activities that may be detrimental to water quality? If so, the Lake Wentworth Association has just what you've been looking for.

Entitled "Your Household Can Help Protect Our Lakes," it's a one-page list of steps that we can all take to limit the amount of phosphorus entering our lake's waters. As the publication notes, phosphorus is a lake's worst enemy. It greatly accelerates the rate at which a lake ages -- that is, becomes clogged with weeds and algae.

A new project directed by the University of New Hampshire is attempting to determine whether biological agents found in the upper Midwest may be of some help in controlling variable milfoil in New Hampshire. The effort, funded with $225,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency, brings together Jeff Schloss, director of the Center for Freshwater Biology at UNH, with Dr. Garrett Crow, a professor of Botany at the school, and researchers Eyualem Abebe and Scott Garnett of the Hubbard Center for Genome Studies.

The UNH project is one of seven in the state intended to evaluate milfoil control and funded with a $1 million grant obtained by Senator Judd Gregg. The money is being managed by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

The university project is the only one that will study the use of biological agents – in this case, round worms or nematodes – to manage milfoil. In addition to Wentworth, the study will include five other lakes in New Hampshire and an equal number in Wisconsin and perhaps Minnesota.