Lake Sunapee's Lake Host Program

The Lake Host program at Lake Sunapee was originally established in 2000 and Hosts were called Launch Site Monitors. Unlike today, many plant fragments were removed from boats and trailers. Currently, this program is administered by the New Hampshire Lakes Association, a non-profit organization devoted to protecting NH water bodies, and managed by individual lake associations.

The Lake Sunapee Lake Host program covers all five public ramps on the lake and usually consists of nine or more Hosts.

Lake Hosts are on duty from May through September and perform courtesy boat inspections while educating boaters and the public about how to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive plants and animals. Any plants or animals found on boats and/or trailers are removed and disposed of by the Lake Host.

Educational materials and lead-free fishing weights (swapped out with ones made from lead - courtesy of LSPA) are also provided as needed. 

Season Statistics

In 2018 Lake Hosts performed 4319 courtesy boat inspections. The following charts (scroll down) display the number of watercraft inspections performed in 2018 by Lake Hosts per ramp and where some of the boats visited from outside the state of New Hampshire. The “other” category includes boats from Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey, Virginia and Nova Scotia. The bottom graphic shows the number of boats that were last used in a water body harboring at least one known aquatic invasive species (AIS). Regionally, NHDES discovered variable milfoil in Angle Pond located in Sandown but they are hopeful they got it all through diving. More concerning news was the discovery of fishhook water flea in Lake Champlain, NH.  Click here to learn more about AIS.