Category: Lake George

Lake George Association Executive Director, Walt Lender (right), handing Lake George Park Commission Executive Director, Dave Wick (left), a $30,000 check.

In the first year of a new era in Lake George water protection, the Lake George Association has followed through on its commitment to provide necessary financial support for the Lake George Park Commission’s Mandatory Boat Inspection Program.

Following the Park Commission’s recent adoption of permanent regulations for the Mandatory Boat Inspection Program, Lake George Association Executive Director Walt Lender presented Park Commission Executive Director David Wick with a check for $30,000 – the first installment of the LGA’s three-year commitment.

“Aquatic invasive species pose a serious threat to the waters of Lake George and can cause significant detrimental impacts to the ecology and economy of the Lake George Park,” Lender said. “Having worked with the Park Commission for decades, we know this investment made by the LGA on behalf of its members and donors is going to be put to good use to protect Lake George’s water quality.”

The LGA is one of a number of organizations – nonprofits and municipalities – to share the costs of the program so that trailered vessels arriving at Lake George can be inspected to ensure they meet the “Clean, Drained and Dry” standard and be decontaminated if necessary at no charge to them.

The Park Commission’s two-year pilot boat inspection program that concluded in 2015 successfully processed 48,081 boats through the seven inspection stations and decontaminated 2,895 vessels.

As far as the LGA is concerned, that’s 2,895 very good reasons to support the Mandatory Boat Inspection Program.

The LGA’s investment of $30,000 in the Lake George Park Commission’s Mandatory Boat Inspection Program follows on the announcement earlier in the spring that the Lake George Association is doubling its investment in milfoil removal in 2016 – to $100,000 from $50,000.

The milfoil removal project is coming into the third year of a three-year intensive effort to remove as much milfoil as possible in Lake George. That project also includes nonprofits and the Lake George Park Commission.

The Lake George Association is the guardian of Lake George water quality, and has been for more than 130 years. Founded in 1885, our membership is composed of thousands of residents, visitors and business owners who help the LGA with our mission to protect Lake George from the perils that face modern lakes.

The Lake George Park Commission voted today to make its boat inspection program permanent. The vote came after a two-year trial period and after accepting public comments on making the program permanent. Read more in the Post Star.

The Pinnacle, on the lake’s west shore in the town of Bolton, is one of the many trails highlighted in the LGLC’s new pocket guide. (Click image to see larger view.)

The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) was recently awarded a $3,000 grant from the Glens Falls Foundation in support of its Hike Lake George campaign.

The Hike Lake George campaign was launched in 2015 in order to promote the parks, preserves and trails managed by the LGLC as important recreational and economic assets throughout the Lake George region. The Foundation’s grant will enable the LGLC to expand the campaign’s reach by increasing its presence in regional publications and media outlets.

The LGLC is a non-profit land trust that works to protect the water quality of Lake George through land conservation. These efforts also result in the establishment of parks and preserves that are opened to the public; the LGLC currently manages 18 parks and preserves that are open to the public year-round or by special request with nearly 35 miles of trails for hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and, at some preserves, hunting and snowmobiling.

In order to promote Hike Lake George, the LGLC created a Pocket Guide to LGLC Parks and Preserves handout that will be updated each spring and widely distributed at hospitality businesses, tourism and visitor centers, and at all LGLC trailheads. This summer, the Guide and its message to “Hike Lake George” will also reach a broader audience, thanks in large part to the Foundation’s support, in the form of full-page advertisements in regional newspapers and other media outlets.

The cover of the LGLC’s Pocket Guide to Parks and Preserves.

“We are exceedingly grateful for the Glens Falls Foundation’s support of this initiative,” said LGLC Executive Director Jamie Brown. “The Hike Lake George campaign is a huge project that benefits everyone who is looking for opportunities to get out and enjoy the peace and beauty of Lake George. Thanks to the Foundation, we’ll be able to expand our reach and show that it’s easy to find a trail for every hiker.”

Hague Brook, where the Lake George Association plans to stabilize the stream bank. (Click image to see full-scale.)

The Lake George Association has been awarded a total of $47,908 in grants by the Lake Champlain Basin Program for programs, projects and equipment for 2016. The grants will allow the Lake George Association to continue to protect Lake George water quality and to provide education for the future.

The largest of the grants totals $19,608 and will be used for major stream repairs – the LGA’s 2016 Project Focus. The two streams targeted with this grant money are Hague Brook and Jenkins Brook – both in the town of Hague. The work that the LGA is planning with our partners is expected to stabilize stream banks in order to prevent sediment and other material from entering Lake George and degrading the lake’s water quality. The stream repairs are also expected to improve fish habitats in both areas and allow fish to move farther upstream than is currently possible.

“Stream health is very important to Lake George,” said Randy G. Rath, Project Manager for the Lake George Association. “Maintaining or repairing the paths of streams and brooks – and stopping stormwater from eroding streambanks – keeps Lake George clear of runoff, sediment, and debris that can contaminate the Lake.”

The second grant – $14,300 – will help to pay for two Invasive Species Spread Prevention Education Interns. With a long history of educational outreach on invasive species, the Lake George Association plans to hire two interns for the season who will help educate visitors and the community about the threats of invasive species – and about ways the public can help prevent the spread of invasive species both on land and in the water.

“The Lake George Association understands the importance of spread prevention education,” said Kristen Rohne, Director of Education for the Lake George Association. “It’s something we have been doing for a long time as part of our mission

“We realize that the more visitors and residents know about the threats, the better they will understand how their everyday actions can protect the Lake as well as protect all of the surrounding water bodies,” Rohne said. “We expect that in addition to their own work, our invasive species interns will supplement the outreach and informational work being done by Lake George Park Commission’s Boat Inspection Program. The interns will be able to interact with visitors and residents away from the boat launches and increase awareness before the visitors even get to the shoreline,” she added.

Lake George Friends and Partners,

Attached, please find the Lake George Park Commission’s 2015 Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Program Final Report. This report concluded the two-year pilot mandatory trailered boat inspection program for Lake George, and details both how the program was administered and its outcomes. This program simply would not have been possible without the tremendous support of our many partners, both state and local, who have provided the funding necessary to make this program a reality. The Commission believes that this program has been a success in working to protect Lake George, and this effort has been broadly supported by both the users of the lake and the public in general. A recent Sienna Research Institute poll of recreational users of the lake noted that “96% of respondents rated this program as important or very important in protecting Lake George.” We owe a considerable debt to the dozens of organizations and passionate individuals who have helped shape this program into one that does not impact boater use of Lake George while still providing for strong protection. In fact, boater registrations on Lake George have actually increased over the two years of this pilot program. Thanks to our funding partners, there has been no cost to boaters on Lake George for either the inspection or a decontamination if required. We believe this is the best model achievable, and will work to maintain this key element to the program.

Looking to the future, the Commission is currently working to make this initiative a permanent program on Lake George. It will take continued support and diligence from all of our collective agencies and organizations to do so, but we believe that given what’s at stake, this support will continue for the long-term.

I invite you to take a look at this report to get a broader understanding of the outcomes of this aquatic invasive species prevention effort. Please feel free to share this with anyone who you think will be interested. We are always open to new ideas and thoughts for improvement, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Commission at any time with your thoughts and ideas.

Working collectively we also had a very aggressive year in addressing the Eurasian watermilfoil issue in Lake George, and you can find a comprehensive 2015 Milfoil Control Final Report on our website at www.lgpc.state.ny.us.

Wishing you the best in 2016,

Dave Wick
LGPC Executive Director