Citizens throughout the Lake Champlain Basin are diving in to do their part to help protect one of the region’s crown jewels. Volunteers are critical to the work dozens of watershed and community organizations do on behalf of Lake Champlain and its watershed. By getting involved in local projects, citizens learn about and help to improve water quality and habitat in many ways.
The Lake Champlain Basin Program has launched Diving In: Citizen Action for a Healthy Lake, a video series that highlights opportunities for citizen action and the efforts of local organizations to engage the public.
“Public involvement is a key piece in efforts to improve the condition of the watershed, both in terms of increasing awareness of the issues and getting important on-the-ground work done at the local level,” said Ryan Mitchell, LCBP’s Communications and Publications Coordinator. “This video series is intended to show people how they can get involved and inspire action.”
The LCBP released Planting for the Future this week. The video documents a riparian tree planting project on the LaPlatte River in Shelburne, Vermont. Volunteers working with the Lake Champlain Land Trust planted saplings that were provided by the Intervale Conservation Nursery on riverside land owned by the Vermont Zen Center. The planting project, funded in part by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Ecosystem Restoration Program, highlights the effectiveness of a partnership approach to watershed restoration.
“The Lake Champlain Land Trust is committed to protecting water quality through strategic land conservation, science-based stewardship, and demonstrating best practices for restoring compromised shorelands,” said Chris Boget, Executive Director of the Lake Champlain Land Trust. “We thank our partners and supporters for helping us take this positive step toward improving the health of the Lake.”
The land trust has been involved in restoration efforts at the Upper LaPlatte River Natural Area, including organizing eight tree planting volunteer workdays, since permanently conserving the 85-acre community treasure in 2011.
The Lake Champlain Basin Program’s support of the Intervale Conservation Nursery, and production of the videos, was made possible with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
View “Planting for the Future” and other Diving In videos at https://www.lcbp.org/diving-in.