Letter from the Director

Photo: LCBP

Summer is almost here, and we’re as busy as ever at the LCBP. Many new research and implementation projects are ramping up for the field season and water quality monitoring on lakes and rivers has hit its stride. Summer also brings many community events and camp programs, where our Education and Outreach team talks with folks throughout the Basin.

This time of year also provides many ways for you to get involved and help to protect the Lake’s water quality and habitat. You can Raise the Blade on your lawnmower or participate in a Stream Wise or Lake Wise assessment of your property. When launching and removing your boat, don’t forget to Clean, Drain, Dry to remove any aquatic hitchhikers. And many organizations are looking for volunteers to help with projects of all sorts. We have provided links here to information about these opportunities and more.

It's summer. Dive In!

Eric Howe
Director, Lake Champlain Basin Program & Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership

LCBP Welcomes New Staff

Logan Devaney joined the LCBP as Grant Manager in March. He ensures efficient administration and processing of our many research and implementation projects. Logan is a Vermont native and currently resides in Winooski. He holds a B.A. in Business Management from Northern Vermont University. Before joining the LCBP team he worked in residential lending with a focus on low-income housing programs. In his free time, Logan can be found boating on Lake Champlain, enjoying the music scene in Burlington, or playing the occasional round of golf.

In May, we welcomed two new Education and Outreach Stewards for the summer season. Iris Hsiang and Madeline Reilly will help with outreach at community events, summer camps, and the LCBP Resource Room at ECHO.

Iris will be a sophomore this fall at Columbia University studying Climate System Science and is a former member of the Vermont Climate Council. Previously she has worked as a farm crew member at Vermont Youth Conservation Commission, an organizer with VPIRG, and a member of the Essex Westford School District school board. In her free time Iris enjoys hiking, baking, and working in her garden.

Madeline recently graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Environmental Studies and a minor in music. She completed an honors thesis in soundscape ecology, weaving together recordings of Vermont’s soundscapes with original music and lyrics. She has also worked on watershed restoration projects and as a teaching assistant at UVM. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, birding, hiking, reading, and cooking.

Stream Wise Partners Seek Landowner Participants

Stream Wise invites landowners to participate in its free property assessment and awards program. The program informs and engages streamside landowners in protecting and planting native vegetated buffers on their properties to increase stream health, wildlife habitats, and flood resiliency in their local communities. The 2023 Stream Wise partners in Vermont, New York and Québec are seeking new participants. Contact a community partner in your region if you are interested in having a Stream Wise Assessment completed for your property.

Learn more and Join Stream Wise

Raise the Blade!

‘Tis the season when lawn mowers are humming along. Just make sure to set your lawn mower blades to 3" or higher and leave the clippings on your lawn. If you just cut about 1/3 of the grass height every time you mow, your lawn can benefit from the nutrients that you leave behind, the vegetation will be healthier, and taller grass blades will be paired with longer roots below the surface, allowing your grass to withstand the summer drought conditions better. The Lawn to Lake partners are also raffling an electric mulching lawnmower!

Submit a photo and enter to win a new electric mulching lawnmower

Boat Launch Steward Season Launches

Stewards encourage boaters to Clean, Drain, Dry and pressure wash high-risk watercraft at select launches. Photo: LCBP

For the seventeenth year, LCBP boat launch stewards will be staffing launches on Lake Champlain throughout the Basin this summer. The stewards inspect boats, trailers, and equipment for aquatic invasive species and gather information about boaters’ practices and travels in other water bodies. They are a critical first line of protection against the spread of invasive species, helping to protect aquatic habitat in the Basin and beyond. They are also a wealth of knowledge about the Lake. If you see a steward on a launch, say hello and take some time to chat.

Learn more about AIS spread prevention and the LCBP boat launch steward program

Round Goby Vigilance Continues

The Round Goby StoryMap presents maps and information about the round goby threat and its management. Photo: Vad Viz/Wild Water Studio, Adobe Stock

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in May that its eDNA survey of 70 sites on Lake Champlain suggests that the invasive round goby has not yet made its way to the Lake. But scientists and lake managers remain on high alert. With the Champlain Canal’s opening for the season on May 19, partners from New York, Vermont, and Quebec continue to implement efforts to prevent the fish’s introduction to the Basin.

The New York State Canal Corporation is “double flushing” locks C1 and C2 on the canal to help reduce the likelihood of passage through the system. The Canal Corporation, NYSDEC, LCBP, US Army Corps of Engineers, and other partners continue to evaluate options for a barrier on the canal to prevent the fish’s spread to Lake Champlain.

The LCBP has produced a StoryMap to help visualize the threat posed by the round goby and report on the status of its management.

View the round goby StoryMap

Defining Disadvantaged Communities

The LCBP continues to work with partners to develop a definition of a “disadvantaged community” that will be used to help prioritize projects for LCBP funding. We are accepting public comments online through June 9, 2023 to gather feedback about the criteria, thresholds used to determine eligibility under the criteria, and a mapping tool developed to view the locations of communities that meet the definition.

Learn more about efforts to support disadvantaged communities

Get Involved—Volunteer!

Local watershed organizations in the Lake Champlain Basin rely on volunteers to complete field work. Photo: LCBP

You can help restore and protect the waters of the Lake Champlain Basin. With summer getting into full swing, there are a number of opportunities in the near future:

• The Poultney Mettawee Natural Resources Conservation District, Champlain Valley Native Plant Restoration Nursery. Details >>
• The Lake George Association seeks volunteers for several programs, including AlgaeWatch, WAVE stream sampling, an AIS Monitoring Event, and Summer Invasives Hunt. Details >>
• Lewis Creek Association, European Frogbit Removal, multiple dates in June and July. Details >>
• Friends of Northern Lake Champlain, Bike for the Lake Ride, June 17. Details >>
• Vermont River Conservancy, North Branch Cascade trail and river access improvement, June 24. Details >>

Many organizations need volunteers throughout the year.

Visit our volunteer web page to learn about ongoing opportunities and search for an organization near you

Watch our Diving In videos to see how some folks are getting involved

Youth Clean Water Summit Engages and Empowers Students

Students used to learn water quality monitoring equipment at the first-ever Youth Clean Water Summit. Photo: LCBP

Most teachers know that engaging classes on hot days at the end of the school year is sometimes a struggle. But students from Saint Albans City School had an auditorium full of their peers on their feet with excitement during their opening keynote address at this week’s Youth Clean Water Summit on the Burlington waterfront.

Nearly 200 students from across the Lake Champlain watershed came together to learn and explore the significance of clean water for the lake and communities at the first-ever summit. The event aimed to inspire students and equip them with the information they need to become responsible stewards of clean water.

Read more

Twenty Years and Half Million Visitors at the LCBP Resource Room

Photo: LCBP

When young Sofia Faryniarz made a beeline for the “Islands” Discovery Cabinet in the LCBP’s Resource Room, the program’s prime watershed education space reached a major milestone. With Sofia’s and her father Luke’s visit on a snowy Sunday in March, the Resource Room counted a half million visitors since opening in May of 2003.

To celebrate the occasion, the LCBP awarded the pair an Adirondack activity guide, a Lake Champlain photographic history, and a family cruise on the Spirit of Ethan Allen III.

Read more

World Water Day Goes to the Mall

The emRiver model was a popular attraction at the World Water Day event. Photo: LCBP

For one seven-year-old boy, the best part of the 2023 World Water Day Celebration at the Champlain Centre Mall in Plattsburgh, NY was the free ice cream cone he earned. Sweets are great, but for at least one LCBP staffer, the best part was another young boy who exclaimed to his father as he was leaving, “I learned so much today!”

Hundreds of mall visitors on a mid-March Saturday afternoon learned about the Lake Champlain Basin and how they can help take care of it. Nearly all of the 22 participating partner organizations noted that, with the opportunity to reach so many people who might not otherwise learn about their work, the day was a rousing success.

Read more

Videos Spotlight Scientists’ Stories

The LCBP, in collaboration with Peregrine Productions, has launched Meet the Scientist, a new video series that spotlights scientists who are working to better understand the water quality, ecology, and history of Lake Champlain and its watershed.

These videos explore the scientists’ research and their personal stories. They provide a glimpse into their day-to-day activities in the field and how they help turn knowledge into action that protects and restores clean water and habitat in the Lake Champlain Basin.

Read more and watch the Meet the Scientist videos

Grant and Research Project Highlights

The UVM study to quantify phosphorus captured by restored wetlands in the Lake Champlain Basin was the first of its kind in the Northeastern U.S. Photo: University of Vermont

No Other Lake Documentary Airing on Vermont Public
Motivated by a desire to better understand his home watershed, Jordan Rowell embarked on a two-week kayaking trip along the 120-mile length of Lake Champlain in summer 2021. Along the way, he stopped to talk to a range of lake users and stakeholders about the future of their shared basin. Jordan and videographer Duane Peterson III debuted the resulting documentary No Other Lake in April 2022. Since then, they have been touring the country with screenings as far away as California and the World Water Film Festival at Columbia University. In May, Vermont Public began airing the 39-minute film as part of its Made Here series.

Watch No Other Lake

Restoration Roundup
UVM Extension’s Watershed Forestry Partnership developed a podcast that explores recent research and developments in best practices for riparian buffer restoration in the Lake Champlain Basin. Since its launch in September 2021, WFP has produced 19 episodes of the podcast. Topics have ranged from invasive plants to pollinators to dam removal to recreation. The final episode of this season features the LCBP’s Lauren Jenness and Michele Braun of the Friends of the Winooski River, who speak about the Stream Wise program

Listen to the Restoration Roundup podcast

Mudpuppy Conservation
The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is relocating Lamoille River mudpuppies from below the Peterson dam to upstream of the Arrowhead Dam. Biologists hope to create a “refugium” where the amphibians are not affected by the stressors they encounter closer to the mouth of the river. They collecting tissue samples for future population studies and radio-tagging some mudpuppies to assess survival. In 2022, the biologists confirmed the movement of three of six radio-tagged mudpuppies. As of March 31, 2023, 119 mudpuppies have been relocated. Tracking will continue this summer to determine their movement.

Read more

Missisquoi Bay Research Projects
Stone Environmental, Inc. is conducting a watershed-scale binational mass balance analysis for phosphorus in the Missisquoi Bay Basin. They are using existing data to develop a comprehensive understanding of all inputs and outputs—aquatic and terrestrial—of phosphorus moving through the bay’s watershed. Results of this study will be used to target work on areas where the inputs of phosphorus outweigh the outputs. The results will aid in planning efforts to reduce phosphorus inputs to the bay. The team will develop a Toolkit that helps evaluate the impacts of alternative management and conservation practices.

Stone is also working with scientists from the University of Vermont to evaluate the effectiveness of in-lake treatments to reduce internal phosphorus loading and cyanobacteria blooms. This study will combine sediment sampling, existing data, and modeling results to determine the costs and benefits associated with in-lake solutions that have been applied elsewhere in the region and throughout the country. The team is evaluating dredging, circulation, oxygenation, and phosphorus inactivation (with alum or other compounds) using multiple criteria including technical feasibility and efficacy, cost, public acceptability, ecological impacts, and permitting feasibility.

Open Requests for Proposals

Lake Champlain Watershed Economic Assessment
The LCBP seeks proposals for an economic assessment of major watershed-related uses, economic sectors, and economic impacts of these sectors to the Lake Champlain Basin. The results of this project will provide a credible economic analysis and public facing outreach materials.

Visit our the LCBP website for details and to apply

Upcoming Events

Missisquoi Bay Basin Public Meeting
June 13, 2003, 2:30-4:00 p.m.
St. Albans City Hall, 100 N. Main Street, St. Albans City, VT
The LCBP, in partnership with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and Québec Ministry of Environment, will host a meeting to provide an update on the condition of Missisquoi Bay and efforts to improve water quality in the bay. All stakeholders and interested members of the public are invited to attend.

Details

LCBP Committee Meetings

• Lake Champlain Steering Committee, June 13, 2023
• Lake Champlain Steering Committee, September 2021, 2023
• LCBP Executive Committee, October 24, 2023

Contact Kerry Crowningshield for more information.