State officials Monday announced a five-year contract with the Adirondack Watershed Institute worth $13.2 million to continue the annual boat steward program that aims to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.

This is also a big week in the fight over using a chemical herbicide to combat invasive plants in Adirondack lakes. The Adirondack Park Agency on Thursday is set to consider a permit that would allow the Town of Lake Luzerne to use the herbicide ProcellaCOR on 30+ acres of the town’s namesake lake in the southeastern corner of the park.

While a litany of lake communities and lake associations are eying the herbicide as a potential new tool in the fight against Eurasian watermilfoil – the most pervasive aquatic invasive plant in the region – some advocacy groups have cautioned APA to take more time to study the long-term impacts of the herbicide on other lakes in New York and across the northeast.

The last time APA considered an herbicide permit, the board vote resulted in a rare split among commissioners. That permit was also later vacated by a Warren County Supreme Court judge who criticized the agency’s approval process as “one sided.” APA is appealing that decision and vows to consider permit applications on a lake-by-lake basis.

ALSO:

• Bat populations are declining rapidly as they face a litany of threats
• APA deems the applicaton for a planned Jay subdivision incomplete for the third time
• Paul Smith’s College President Dan Kelting signals that layoffs could be necessary to right the college’s finances

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Photo at top: Eurasian watermilfoil, the pervasive invasive aquatic weed at the center of a debate over using herbicide in Adirondack waters. Photo by Gwendolyn Craig