WHO WE ARE
Contoocook Lake at Sunrise Looking Northeast from Thayer Road
* The Contoocook Lake Area Preservation Association (CLAPA) was formed in August 1969 as a non-profit 501c3 organization, to preserve the natural beauty and surrounding area of Contoocook Lake and it’s watershed.
* The State of New Hampshire owns the lake and maintenance falls on local volunteer efforts. Contoocook Lake is located in Jaffrey, NH and Rindge, NH.
* Public boating access to the lake is off of County Road and there is a public beach maintained by the town of Jaffrey at the Eastern end of the lake adjacent to Squantum Road.
* Four season lake activities are available to all residents and visitors, including fishing, power boating, kayaking, sailing, canoeing, paddle boarding, water skiing, tubing, ice fishing, snowmobiling, ice skating and snow shoeing.
* CLAPA is not a property owners association, but a membership group, open to all who have a common goal to protect the environment and well being of Contoocook Lake. If you are not a member of CLAPA, please consider joining by going to our membership page.
* The State of New Hampshire owns the lake and maintenance falls on local volunteer efforts. Contoocook Lake is located in Jaffrey, NH and Rindge, NH.
* Public boating access to the lake is off of County Road and there is a public beach maintained by the town of Jaffrey at the Eastern end of the lake adjacent to Squantum Road.
* Four season lake activities are available to all residents and visitors, including fishing, power boating, kayaking, sailing, canoeing, paddle boarding, water skiing, tubing, ice fishing, snowmobiling, ice skating and snow shoeing.
* CLAPA is not a property owners association, but a membership group, open to all who have a common goal to protect the environment and well being of Contoocook Lake. If you are not a member of CLAPA, please consider joining by going to our membership page.
2026 Member
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2026 Member
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Our Mission
CLAPA’s common goal or mission is to protect the environment and well being of Contoocook Lake and it’s watershed including;
- Reduce and eliminate the spread of the invasive aquatic plant, variable milfoil.
- Preservation of lake water quality.
- Provide education for safe lake use to all residents, members and visitors.
- Work with the State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) to help sustain a high quality of life for all citizens by protecting and restoring the environment and public health in New Hampshire.
- Reduce and eliminate the spread of the invasive aquatic plant, variable milfoil.
- Preservation of lake water quality.
- Provide education for safe lake use to all residents, members and visitors.
- Work with the State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) to help sustain a high quality of life for all citizens by protecting and restoring the environment and public health in New Hampshire.
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Lake Appreciation Day Social Saturday June 6, 2026
Dear Fellow CLAPA Members,
With the New Year now with us, I wanted to share a few highlights of the CLAPA year just passed and point out some things to look forward to.
We ended the year with 165 dues paying members, a CLAPA record! Thank you all for being a part of our efforts to preserve and protect our lake. Looking ahead to the coming year, here are a couple dates to mark on your calendars for next summer:
Next, I’d like to recognize and thank our two newest Board Members, who joined the Board this summer and are already making great contributions. Mark LeBoeuf has volunteered to take the lead on our milfoil mitigation efforts and has also offered to serve as Coordinator of the Lake Host Program that we plan to put in place next
summer. Nancy Amato has volunteered to be CLAPA’s representative to the “Lake Advocates Network”, working in partnership with NH Lakes to advocate for lake-friendly policies.
Thanks also to member Paul Zhitomi for offering to take over maintenance of CLAPA’s website. Paul will be looking into making some improvements to the site, so keep an eye on the website at www.contoocooklake.org for that.
Our milfoil chemical treatment this past summer was a resounding success. Post-application surveys found essentially no milfoil in the treated areas. Nonetheless, the fight against milfoil is a never-ending battle. Mark has already obtained approval for a grant from NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) to support any needed diving work next summer. But we expect/hope that the need for next summer, if any, will be relatively light.
As I mentioned, we will be initiating our Lake Host Program next summer. Our efforts to do so this past summer fell short due to unforeseen circumstances, but we’re committed to making this happen next summer. Some of you volunteered to serve as Lake Hosts this past summer, and perhaps you’ll consider stepping up again. We’ll be sending out more details about this program and a call for volunteers in the Spring.
Lastly, following the success of the Lake Appreciation Day and Loon Paddles last summer, we’re considering adding additional events to the CLAPA summer repertoire. We asked for suggestions at the Annual Meeting, and would like your feedback on which of the following options would be of interest to you:
- Boat races (kayak, canoe, sail boat)
- Sunset Social (rafting our boats together on the lake)
- Progressive Dinner
- “Bring a pie and say goodbye” (season-ending gathering with desserts)
Please send me a note at [email protected] with any feedback on these ideas, or which one sounds of most interest to you.
The Lake has been a winter wonderland so far this season, so let’s hope that the great early season winter weather continues for another couple months. And for those of you who consider that a grim possibility, fret not, the loons will be back before you know it.
Best Regards to All,
Mike Golibersuch
CLAPA President
With the New Year now with us, I wanted to share a few highlights of the CLAPA year just passed and point out some things to look forward to.
We ended the year with 165 dues paying members, a CLAPA record! Thank you all for being a part of our efforts to preserve and protect our lake. Looking ahead to the coming year, here are a couple dates to mark on your calendars for next summer:
- Saturday June 6 – 2nd Annual Lake Appreciation Day picnic. We hope to build onthe success of last year’s event and make this an annual celebration.
- Saturday August 15 – Annual Meeting, once again in the Woodbound Inn Ball Room. (And we promise to have a better video projector this time!)
Next, I’d like to recognize and thank our two newest Board Members, who joined the Board this summer and are already making great contributions. Mark LeBoeuf has volunteered to take the lead on our milfoil mitigation efforts and has also offered to serve as Coordinator of the Lake Host Program that we plan to put in place next
summer. Nancy Amato has volunteered to be CLAPA’s representative to the “Lake Advocates Network”, working in partnership with NH Lakes to advocate for lake-friendly policies.
Thanks also to member Paul Zhitomi for offering to take over maintenance of CLAPA’s website. Paul will be looking into making some improvements to the site, so keep an eye on the website at www.contoocooklake.org for that.
Our milfoil chemical treatment this past summer was a resounding success. Post-application surveys found essentially no milfoil in the treated areas. Nonetheless, the fight against milfoil is a never-ending battle. Mark has already obtained approval for a grant from NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) to support any needed diving work next summer. But we expect/hope that the need for next summer, if any, will be relatively light.
As I mentioned, we will be initiating our Lake Host Program next summer. Our efforts to do so this past summer fell short due to unforeseen circumstances, but we’re committed to making this happen next summer. Some of you volunteered to serve as Lake Hosts this past summer, and perhaps you’ll consider stepping up again. We’ll be sending out more details about this program and a call for volunteers in the Spring.
Lastly, following the success of the Lake Appreciation Day and Loon Paddles last summer, we’re considering adding additional events to the CLAPA summer repertoire. We asked for suggestions at the Annual Meeting, and would like your feedback on which of the following options would be of interest to you:
- Boat races (kayak, canoe, sail boat)
- Sunset Social (rafting our boats together on the lake)
- Progressive Dinner
- “Bring a pie and say goodbye” (season-ending gathering with desserts)
Please send me a note at [email protected] with any feedback on these ideas, or which one sounds of most interest to you.
The Lake has been a winter wonderland so far this season, so let’s hope that the great early season winter weather continues for another couple months. And for those of you who consider that a grim possibility, fret not, the loons will be back before you know it.
Best Regards to All,
Mike Golibersuch
CLAPA President
Annual Letter
August 2024
Dear Fellow CLAPA members,
As you may have heard, at the recent CLAPA Annual Meeting I was approved to take over the role of CLAPA president. I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce myself and share a few thoughts about CLAPA.
But before I do that, on behalf of all of us I want to thank Frank Battaglia for his 5 years of exemplary service as our group’s president. When Frank decided to step down and he and the CLAPA Board asked me if I would take his place, my biggest concern was whether I’d be able to live up to the high bar of dedication and leadership that Frank had established. Fortunately, Frank plans to continue to be an active member of the CLAPA board, most notably continuing to spearhead CLAPA’s important work to control the spread of the invasive species milfoil in our lake.
As for me, my wife Jane and I moved to our waterfront home on the lake a little over two years ago, fulfilling a long-time dream to spend our retirement years on the water. We feel like we hit it out of the park when we selected Contoocook to fulfill that dream. We are year-round residents and enjoy snowy days and walks on the ice-covered lake almost (but not quite) as much as we enjoy the summertime here.
As a bit of a loon groupie, I was especially happy to see Contoocook blessed with a loon chick this summer for the first time in current memory. I trust many of you have enjoyed watching and listening to this handsome family as well. It’s a reminder of how important CLAPA’s mission of preserving the health of our lake is, so all can continue to soak in nature’s beauty like this for many years to come.
As you know, with your support CLAPA engages in many initiatives to further that mission, including:
We are blessed with a very dedicated group of 13 members currently on our board, but there is always room for more help. Please consider whether you might like to volunteer in some capacity, large or small. Perhaps you’d like to join in to help with one of the efforts listed above, or perhaps you have some new idea for preserving and protecting our lake that you’d like to pursue. Either way, we’d welcome your involvement.
For those of you who will be leaving the lake in the coming months for your winter retreats, enjoy the warmth. And for the rest of you, perhaps I’ll run into you wandering around in the middle of the icy lake this winter.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions or comments, or if you would like to learn more about how you can become involved in our group’s efforts
Best regards to all,
Mike Golibersuch
President CLAPA
As you may have heard, at the recent CLAPA Annual Meeting I was approved to take over the role of CLAPA president. I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce myself and share a few thoughts about CLAPA.
But before I do that, on behalf of all of us I want to thank Frank Battaglia for his 5 years of exemplary service as our group’s president. When Frank decided to step down and he and the CLAPA Board asked me if I would take his place, my biggest concern was whether I’d be able to live up to the high bar of dedication and leadership that Frank had established. Fortunately, Frank plans to continue to be an active member of the CLAPA board, most notably continuing to spearhead CLAPA’s important work to control the spread of the invasive species milfoil in our lake.
As for me, my wife Jane and I moved to our waterfront home on the lake a little over two years ago, fulfilling a long-time dream to spend our retirement years on the water. We feel like we hit it out of the park when we selected Contoocook to fulfill that dream. We are year-round residents and enjoy snowy days and walks on the ice-covered lake almost (but not quite) as much as we enjoy the summertime here.
As a bit of a loon groupie, I was especially happy to see Contoocook blessed with a loon chick this summer for the first time in current memory. I trust many of you have enjoyed watching and listening to this handsome family as well. It’s a reminder of how important CLAPA’s mission of preserving the health of our lake is, so all can continue to soak in nature’s beauty like this for many years to come.
As you know, with your support CLAPA engages in many initiatives to further that mission, including:
- Milfoil Control. Working in cooperation with the state, we hire divers several times each summer to remove milfoil from the lake.
- Water Quality Monitoring and Advocacy. We periodically measure the presence of various undesirable elements in the lake, try to work with local and state agencies in efforts to improve water quality, and look to educate local residents on best practices to preserve and promote lake health.
- Collaboration with other lake conservation organizations. We cooperate with two important state-wide conservation groups, the Loon Preservation Committee and New Hampshire Lakes, including placing a nesting platform and signage to protect our loons, and supporting efforts to advocate for our state representatives to pass lake friendly legislation.
- Lake Host Program. We are currently looking into the feasibility of initiating a Lake Host program next summer in cooperation with NH Lakes. This is a program that conducts voluntary inspections as boats enter the lake at the boat launch, looking for and removing any invasive species they may be inadvertently carrying.
- Administration. Many of our board members devote their time to the many administrative tasks of running an organization like ours, including financial management, communication, record keeping, membership, and fund-raising activities.
We are blessed with a very dedicated group of 13 members currently on our board, but there is always room for more help. Please consider whether you might like to volunteer in some capacity, large or small. Perhaps you’d like to join in to help with one of the efforts listed above, or perhaps you have some new idea for preserving and protecting our lake that you’d like to pursue. Either way, we’d welcome your involvement.
For those of you who will be leaving the lake in the coming months for your winter retreats, enjoy the warmth. And for the rest of you, perhaps I’ll run into you wandering around in the middle of the icy lake this winter.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions or comments, or if you would like to learn more about how you can become involved in our group’s efforts
Best regards to all,
Mike Golibersuch
President CLAPA
Going Forward
During 2024 the CLAPA Board and membership will focus on:
- Continued reduction of variable milfoil throughout Contoocook Lake.
- Finding support for a Lake Host Program.
- Creating a greater awareness to local residents, businesses and township departments of the need to support and assist CLAPA’s efforts to preserve the natural beauty and quality of Contoocook Lake and the surrounding area.
- Continued reduction of variable milfoil throughout Contoocook Lake.
- Finding support for a Lake Host Program.
- Creating a greater awareness to local residents, businesses and township departments of the need to support and assist CLAPA’s efforts to preserve the natural beauty and quality of Contoocook Lake and the surrounding area.
Meetings
Annual Meeting Minutes
Board Meeting Minutes
| February 3, 2026 Meeting |
| October 18, 2025, Meeting |
| March 29, 2025, Meeting |
| May 19, 2025, Meeting (Zoom) |