Lake George Association E-news March 2011

Transcription

1 Trouble view ing this ? Click here to see it in a brow ser. Lake George Association E-news March 2011 IN THIS ISSUE... An update on the West Brook Enviromental Park Asian Clam Rapid Response Task Force unveils eradication plan Lake George Stewards report, 2011 summer job openings Please CLEAN up the ICE before it MELTS! New $45,000 gift to West Brook Conservation Iniative Water levels are high LGA benefits from a major technology upgrade LGA's new FACEBOOK page Plans for Environmental Park Move Forward verticalresponse.com/ /a2a8e4e516/ 1/6

2 snow beginning in mid-february has temporarily stopped the progress. Construction of the stormwater treatment complex on the south parcel of West Brook continued throughout the first part of winter. The contours of the retaining ponds and wetland areas are taking shape where Charley s Saloon once stood! Lots of Meanwhile, a consulting firm has been selected to plan, design and develop the environmental park: ELAN Planning / Design / Landscape Architecture, PLLC. As the recipient of a federal Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP) grant, the village of Lake George will now negotiate a contract with ELAN. Next, a series of public outreach sessions will collect input from community groups, stakeholders, neighbors, and the general public. Our ultimate goal? A state-of-the-art, environmental park that will be held up as a demonstration project nationwide! Asian Clam Rapid Response Task Force Unveils Eradication Plan This past August, the Asian clam was discovered in the south end of Lake George. The Lake George Asian Clam Rapid Response Task Force (LGACRRTF) Eradication Plan was released last week. Implementation of the plan will begin in April. The long-term threat the Asian clam poses to the Lake's environment and ecology is more serious than any aquatic invader we have faced before. We don't want to follow in the footsteps of Lake Tahoe, where action was delayed for a number of years. Tahoe's area of infestation rapidly increased from a just few acres to over 200 acres. Extensive clam beds and accompanying algal blooms now dominate what were once beautiful and clear bays. (See picture at left, courtesy of Brant Allen, UC Davis.) Lake Tahoe is past the point where eradication is possible. They have spent $1.4 million, only to manage and control clam populations, not to eradicate them. In Lake George, the primary infestation area is 4.74 acres running largely along the village shoreline from Pine Point to the English Brook delta. (See an aerial photo here.) This is one of busiest areas in Lake George, with over 750 rental units and 150 boat slips. A secondary area of 3.31 acres may have smaller populations of Asian clams; this area requires more testing. The LGACRRTF Eradication Plan. verticalresponse.com/ /a2a8e4e516/ 2/6

3 1. An area of 2.58 acres will be suction harvested. This includes areas around docks and ten feet from the shoreline. Suction harvesting will begin as early as possible in April and will be completed in May. 2. Six-hundred benthic barrier mats will be installed on the lake bottom over a 3.25-acre area. The mats will be installed over a three-to-four-week period after ice-out. Benthic barriers will overlap the areas that are suction harvested by five feet. 3. Once proper installation has been certified, mats will be left of the lake bottom for 45 days. Removal will begin in late June and will take two to three weeks. How can Asian clams harm Lake George? They can: - Promote algal blooms. Asian clams excrete high amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus from the sediment and make it readily available to algae. - Facilitate more invasions. Asian clam shells provide a hard surface and a supply of calcium for zebra mussels. - Clog pipes and litter beaches with dead shells. As the clams die, their shells pile up, and can clog pipes or cover sandy beaches. - Lake Outcompete George native Stewards mollusks Lake Report George and has 2011 a great Summer diversity Job of Openings native mollusks that grow slowly and can live for decades. They aren t equipped to compete with fast growing Asian clams for food and space. We have released a report for the public with findings from the 2010 Lake Steward program. We also announced our job openings for the 2011 season... see the application information. The Lake George Lake Steward Program is a critical part of protecting the water quality of Lake George and preventing the spread of invasive species between waterbodies by boaters throughout the Lake Champlain Basin and the Northeast. While dozens of different aquatic invasive species reside nearby, only four are currently found in Lake George. In 2010, Lake Stewards were posted at four launches around Lake George: Norowal Marina, Mossy Point, Hague Town Beach and Rogers Rock. Lake Stewards inspected a total of 2,538 boats at these sites, and educated boaters about the threats of Eurasian watermilfoil, zebra mussels, curly-leaf pondweed, and the Lake s most recent invader, the Asian clam. Thirty-six samples of Eurasian watermilfoil were removed during the season. Nine samples of curly-leaf pondweed were found, three samples of zebra mussels, and five of water chestnut, an invasive that is not currently found in Lake George. The Lake Stewards program was funded in 2010 by the Bolton Local Development Corporation, the towns of Hague and Ticonderoga, the Lake George Park Commission, the Helen V. Froehlich Foundation, and the NYS Department of State with funds provided under TItle 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund. The program was originally conceived by the Invasive Species Task Force of the Lake George Watershed Coaltion and is currently coordinated by the LGA. Please Clean Up the ICE Before It Melts verticalresponse.com/ /a2a8e4e516/ 3/6

4 ICE-OUT will be coming soon! We'd like to remind Lake George winter sports enthusiasts to use extreme caution if you choose to go out on the ice at this time of year, and to make sure to clean up the ice as you leave. As of March 15, all shanties were to be removed, in accordance with Dept. of Environmental Conservation regulations. Carry On, Carry Off is an essential environmental motto for all ice fishermen, snowmobilers, skaters and others who travel out onto New the $45,000 ice. When Gift to it s West cold Brook and the Conservation ice is two-feet Initiative thick, can be easy to forget that the ice is only temporary. Anything left on the ice eventually ends up in the lake after ice-out. J. Buckley Bryan Jr., recent past president of the Lake George Association, has given a gift of $45,000 to the West Brook Conservation Initiative (WBCI) in Lake George. This gift brings Bryan s investment in the project to $107,000, making him the second largest individual donor. Currently under construction on the former Gaslight Village property, WBCI is currently the Lake's largest lake saving project. Once completed, the stormwater treatment complex will redirect stormwater from Route 9 into settling ponds, marshlands, and a gravel wetland, effectively treating one of largest sources of pollution to the Lake s southern basin. Water Levels are High After one of the snowiest winters on record, the Lake George Park Commission is prepared to manage higher than normal lake levels. They have already opened the floodgates at the LaChute River, which normally do not open until April 1. By releasing water earlier than usual, the Commission hopes to avoid flooding and reduce damage to docks, boathouses and shorelines. "The land's capacity to discharge inflow greatly exceeds the capacity of the outlet to collect water," said Mike White, the executive director of the Lake George Park Commission, in a recent Lake George Mirror article. The outlet can drain down the Lake by only one inch per day. LGA Benefits from a Major Technology Upgrade Thanks to recent donations from Microsoft, Adobe and J. Buckley Bryan Jr., the Lake George Association has new upgraded software, computers and a new audio-visual system in its conference room, that will enhance our membership events and public workshops. In many ways, information is at the heart of what the LGA does, says LGA executive director Walt Lender. Key to our mission is providing accurate and timely information to project partners, local businesses and municipalities, as well as to the residents, students, members and visitors we serve. This investment in more efficient operations is essential to our ability to protect the Lake." LGA's new FACEBOOK page - "LIKE" us! verticalresponse.com/ /a2a8e4e516/ 4/6

5 The LGA has a new FACEBOOK page and invites you to "LIKE" our page, comment on posts, and recommend topics for discussion!!! Check out the great photo galleries. We'd like to start one with the theme "A MILLION WAYS to LOVE and ENJOY Lake George." Send us your favorite Lake George photos, so we can get started. Do you know a LAKE HERO? Someone w ho follow s lake-friendly practices, or helps the Lake stay clean, clear and beautiful? Let us know, so we can honor them! 2011 LGA Calendars Almost as GORGEOUS as the LAKE itself! Tw elve beautiful Carl Heilman photographs. Cost is $15. ($18 if shipped.) Proceeds benefit LGA lake-saving projects. Call to order. Lake George Association PO Box 408 Lake George, NY w w w.lakegeorgeassociation.org People protecting the Lake since 1885 Click to view this in a browser If you no longer wish to receive these s, please reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line or simply click on the following link: Unsubscribe Click here to forward this to a friend Lake George Association, Inc. PO BOX 408 Lake George, New York US Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy. verticalresponse.com/ /a2a8e4e516/ 5/6