Category: The Environment

Young campers enjoy Floating Battery Island, one of the campsites in the Narrows Group of Lake George.

Due in large part to public pressure and efforts made by the Lake George Association, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has reversed an earlier decision to discontinue trash collection centers for the Lake George islands in 2011.

The DEC has decided to raise campers’ fees to offset the costs of operating the trash collection centers. In 2011, in-state campers will pay $28 per night and out-of-state campers will pay $33. Rates in 2010 were $25 a night for all campers. These new rates and the reversed decision are not yet reflected on DEC or camp reservation websites.

Earlier this summer the DEC announced that, beginning in the 2011 season, it would no longer provide trash removal services for people camping or picnicking on the Lake George islands. Due to state budget problems, the DEC announced it would be implementing a “carry in, carry out” policy for the islands. At the time, DEC spokespersons said that the decision was final and non-negotiable.

The LGA responded immediately, with Executive Director Walt Lender issuing a letter to DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis. In that letter, and corresponding letters to the editors of local newspapers, Lender encouraged the DEC to consider alternatives and to meet face to face with Association members, local elected officials, and other local stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the history and unique local situation regarding these campers and campsites. With pressure mounting from State Senator Betty Little, Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, local officials and other groups, the DEC agreed to meet.

The decision deeply concerned the LGA, as trash left behind at campsites, floating in the water, or piling up at lakeside marinas, can be highly detrimental to both the lake’s water quality and to its beauty. Buck Bryan, LGA past president, in an interview with Albany’s Times Union, shared his memories of what it was like before the state started garbage collection on the lake in 1955, and it wasn’t pretty. There was garbage all around on the sites, he said. Marina owners and other shoreline business owners are also well aware of the severe problems that occur at their businesses when state garbage collection is inadequate: garbage overspills from their small private containers.

“The solution really came out of the meeting that Senator Little hosted in Bolton,” said Walt Lender. “Then Betty and Assemblywoman Sayward went back to Albany and did some heavy lifting. We’re very pleased that the service will continue, but we hope campers will plan accordingly and keep their trash to a minimum,” he said.

As has been the case for over a decade, 2011 island campers will be required to remove all of their trash and recyclables from their individual campsites, and will have the option to take it by boat to one of three garbage collection centers: Uncas Island, Narrow Island or Long Island. Campers can stay on the islands as long as two weeks. Without these collection centers in place, the responsible camper would either have had to store up to two weeks of garbage at their campsite or on their boat, or they would have had to interrupt their vacations mid-week, boat back to the shoreline, get in their cars, and drive their garbage to a town landfill — not the easiest task for out-of-town campers not familiar with local landfill locations. A more likely scenario would be that more campers would either leave their trash behind at the campsite, where it could easily flow into the Lake, or would dump it in the private dumpster of a marina or other a shoreline business, causing an unfair burden to these businesses.

LGA lake saving projects, like the dry well installation at Bixby Beach shown here, are made possible in part through funding support from the Helen V. Froehlich Foundation.

Lake George, NY – August 30, 2010 – The Lake George Association announced today that the Helen V. Froehlich Foundation has awarded the 125-year old conservation organization a grant of $378,500 for lake-saving initiatives. This is the LGA’s seventeenth consecutive award from the Froehlich Foundation. This grant award will provide $174,500 toward lake saving projects, $56,000 toward education and outreach programs, and $123,000 toward lake quality programs, including Citizen Science and the Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program, Invasive Species Management, and Lake Stewards.

“The LGA is grateful for the Foundation’s continuing support, as well as their vote of confidence in the LGA and our efforts to protect the Lake and its watershed for future generations,” said Walt Lender, the LGA’s executive director.

Nearly half of the total grant award will provide funding for the LGA’s Lake Saving Projects. These construction projects improve Lake George’s water quality by preventing sediment and pollutants from entering the lake. “The funds in the grant award, leveraged with our members and donors generosity, put us in a strong position to receive significant funding from public sources, which in turn, extends our ability to complete more projects to protect the Lake,” he said.

The LGA’s popular Floating Classroom program will receive $23,000 to help teach lake science and watershed management to area students. Over 1,000 area students benefit each year from the LGA’s Education and Outreach programs, which are provided free of charge through grants like the one provided by the Froehlich Foundation.

LGA staff also educates homeowners, businesses, municipalities and landscapers about improving water quality by installing vegetative buffers, reducing lawn size and non-permeable surfaces, controlling stormwater runoff through rain gardens and rain barrels, and using no-phosphorus fertilizer and native plant species in landscaping.

The 17 consecutive grant awards from the Froehlich Foundation represent over $5 million dollars worth of improvements to Lake George and the watershed.

Established in 1885, the Lake George Association is America’s first lake association and a pioneer in the conservation movement. The LGA spent over $900,000 in 2009 to carry out its mission to protect Lake George. In addition to the funding from the Froehlich Foundation, the LGA relies on income from membership support and fundraising events.

Dear Editor:

The Lake George Association is concerned about the decision made by the Department of Environmental Conservation to discontinue retrieving garbage from collection centers on the Lake George islands. We urge the DEC to reconsider this decision and ask local citizens who love Lake George to join us in finding a better solution.

Expecting our natural resources to bear the burden of cost cutting is fiscally irresponsible. At the LGA, we believe that the cost of cleaning up this problem will be higher than preventing it from happening in the first place.

Alternative solutions could result from a dialogue with Lake users. The LGA has considerable experience on the Lake and a deep understanding of boating, recreation and water quality. Given the opportunity to discuss the situation with the DEC, we could help find a solution that continues to protect Lake George and the water we use for drinking, swimming, fishing and boating.

While the “carry in – carry out” policy is ideal in theory, trash finds its way into the Lake regardless of policies. One isolated example: after Log Bay Day 2010, the LGA hauled away several large bags of trash.

Even conscientious Lake users need a convenient way to dispose of trash. It is considerably easier to empty trash at a central collection point than to clean up wind-blown garbage, especially when it has left an island and gone on to desecrate the Lake.

To allow trash to enter Lake George — after generations of exemplary stewardship by DEC staff — would be shameful.

Sincerely,

C. Walter Lender
Executive Director
Lake George Association

Lake George’s Invasive Species Awareness Week (ISAW) begins next week, and coincides with the release of a new report by the New York State Invasive Species Council. Entitled: A Regulatory System for Non-Native Species, the report has been sent to Governor Patterson and the legislature for review.

Those interested in learning more about invasive species impacting Lake George and efforts currently in place to prevent their spread, or discussing the new regulatory system proposed by the state council, are invited to stop by the ISAW display at the Visitors Center in downtown Lake George, from 11 am – 4 pm, Monday – Friday, July 12 – 16. Representatives from the Lake George Association, the Cornell Cooperative Extension, Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District, and other area organizations will be on hand.

Due to a lack of natural predators, diseases and parasites, invasive species can quickly become pervasive. When they do, these species can negatively impact the ecological balance of Lake George by out-competing native species for light, nutrients, and space.

The new report by the NYS Invasive Species Council introduces a process for assessing level of threat, assessing socioeconomic value, and assigning each invasive species into a distinct category for appropriate action.

State Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis said, “New York needs to take action now to curb the many pathways that invasive species use to make their way here. The system the Council is proposing strikes the right balance of minimizing the major threats to our ecology and economy
while allowing for the careful use of those plants and animals that pose lower risks.”

The new assessment process would allow the state to categorize invasive species as “prohibited,” “regulated” or “unregulated.” Species in the “prohibited” category would be the most restricted as they pose clear risks to New York’s economic, ecological and public health interests, and, therefore, would be banned from commerce entirely. “Regulated” species would be restricted, but not prohibited from commerce, and would require practical and meaningful regulatory programs. “Unregulated” species would be identified as those non-native species that do not pose a threat and therefore could be used freely in commerce.

Two “tools” would be used in assessing risks from non-native plants and animals. One evaluates the inherent, biological “invasiveness” of each species, i.e., some species are better “weeds” than others. The other tool looks at socio-economic values to help determine whether the social benefits of a plant or animal outweigh the potential harm. For example, earthworms have often been shown to have positive effects on soil structure and fertility in agricultural and garden ecosystems; however, glacial ice sheets that covered most of New York some 11,000 to 14,000 years ago left New York worm free. Today’s worms are actually European invaders and considered a non-native invasive species, but are clearly valuable.

The New York State Invasive Species Council’s final report is available online at http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/63402.html.