Notes:

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Here are our bedrock purposes:

(1) Protecting Foster's Pond and its entire watershed is what our lake management program is all about.  Components of this program are the most expensive thing we do.

(2) Preserving and maintaining our 150-year-old dam, without which there wouldn't be a pond.  That's the most time-intensive activity - it takes a lot of volunteer hours, and Mother Nature seems to always have a surprise or two in store.

(3) Foster's Pond isboth a public resource and a fragile resource.  And we need a wide public involved and invested in protecting it.  As many of you know, Foster's Pond is a so-called "Great Pond", meaning that it is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In tight economic times, however, that doesn't mean that the Commonwealth actually takes care of it.  It really is up to us.

(4)  The FPC is itself a land-holding conservation organization. We own the dam and The Point at the end of Pomeroy Road, and we may receive donations of more land in the future.  I will be talking about one such donation that's presently in the works from our sister organization, the Foster's Pond Improvement Association.  And I'll also be talking about two Town acquisitions - one that's just been completed, and another that may come to fruition in the coming months.