Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (PSC AWI) released its Annual Stewardship Program report for the 2020 boating season. The publication summarizes data on aquatic invasive species (AIS) spread prevention and highlights achievements from the previous summer field season.
The report, which can be found on adkwatershed.org/publications, states that six species of aquatic invasive species were found on boats in the Adirondacks in 2020, none of which were new to the region.
DEC is conducting a survey to elicit public feedback on the overnight gate closure program for Lake George at Mossy Point and Roger’s Rock boat launches. The information gathered will inform a more permanent program for future boating seasons and support the state’s ongoing efforts to protect Lake George from invasive pests.
We encourage boaters that have used either access sites to take a brief survey. The survey and comment period will remain open until March 12, 2021. Comments may also be submitted by email to info.r5@dec.ny.gov.
DEC photo
“For-hire” boating businesses: charter services, boat rentals, tour boats, and boats for-hire for leisure cruising, fishing or diving in New York State’s Adirondack region can request a set of free decals to temporarily attach to their boats to encourage public compliance with boating-specific COVID-19 safety precautions. There is no cost for the decals to qualified for-hire boating businesses.
The decals adhere to boat surfaces to note “Mask Required,” “Use Sanitizer,” “Wear It” with a life jacket symbol, and ”Keep Personal Belongings Personal”; others have a blank line to write a name with an erasable marker to designate person-specific areas aboard the vessel for each individual’s fishing pole or diving gear.
Starting this Memorial Day Weekend, Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute’s (PSC AWI) Stewardship Program will begin its work at public boat launches throughout the Adirondacks.
In partnership with NYS’s Department of Environmental Conservation, boat stewards will be assisting to CLEAN. DRAIN. DRY boats in the essential work to help protect the state’s waters from aquatic invasive species like hydrilla, water chestnut, and spiny waterflea.
In 2019, stewards talked with more than 250,000 water recreationists about aquatic invasive species and what can be done to prevent their spread. They also kept a lookout for invasive species at the waterbodies where they worked.
Adirondack Outdoor Conditions Report from NYS DEC for May 21:
Memorial Day Weekend
Expect large numbers of vehicles at trailheads and boat launches, and large numbers of people on trails. Recreate close to home with members of your household. Practice social distancing and wear a mask when you are close to others. Be prepared with three or four solid backup plans. Park only in parking lots and not along roadsides. If the parking lot is full at your desired location, move on to your backup plans until you find a less busy location. If all parking lots are full, head home and come back another day. There will be increased law enforcement presence along the Route 73 corridor this weekend. Parking will be strictly enforced.
After days of back and forth about the closure of privately owned boat launches and marina and what that means for state-owned facilities, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday an easing of restrictions that were put into effect last week.
In a news release sent over the weekend, Cuomo, in conjunction with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced marinas, boatyards and marine manufacturers will be allowed to open for personal use as long as strict social distancing and sanitization protocols are followed. Chartered watercraft services or rentals will not be allowed, and restaurant activity at these sites must be limited to take-out or delivery only, like anywhere else in the three states.
Aquatic invasive species pose a serious threat to the economy and the environment, not only in the Adirondacks, but in all of New York State.
The current debate over a voluntary vs. mandatory boat inspection program is the classic “carrot or stick” scenario. Forcing a mandatory program on the boating public in the Adirondacks, without even considering other intermediary options, is a mistake. » Continue Reading.
Yes, everyone should be educated and make sure their boat is clean, drained and dry, inspected and decontaminated, to stop the spread of invasive species and preserve Adirondack Park lakes, ponds and rivers. The park is a national treasure we must protect for future generations, as our ancestors did for us. That means taking seriously our obligations to protect clean water, native wildlife, aquatic life, allowing people to live in harmony with the wilderness.
Some suggest that this could be done with education and voluntary programs alone, without a law, regulations or enforcement. We can all wish that were true, but it isn’t. » Continue Reading.
Marinas on Lake George and Lake Placid (and on every other “AA-Special” waterbody in New York State) must start complying with national clean water regulations that require run-off from boat decontaminations, fluid changes and any other so-called industrial activities to be treated on site.
According to Bob Stegemann, regional director of the Department of Environmental Conservation, the federal government’s Clean Water regulations “do not allow for direct discharge of storm water to groundwater. It needs to be either eliminated or controlled or treated as point source pollution.” » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the Adirondack backcountry.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
In early September, The Lake Champlain Basin Program’s boat launch steward Matthew Gorton was conducting routine boat inspections at the South Hero John Guilmette. There to help prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species, Gorton noticed an unusual looking plant hanging off a trailer backing into the Lake.
While Lake Champlain is host to 51 known nonnative and invasive aquatic species, Hydrilla verticillata has not yet been found there. The watercraft carrying the plant was last in the Connecticut River, a system in which the highly invasive plant hydrilla is well established. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that they will begin closing the gates at the Mossy Point and Rogers Rock Boat Launches on Lake George on September 6 as part of a pilot program to increase protection from aquatic invasive species on the lake.
The overnight closure will continue through the month of October. » Continue Reading.
This weekly report of outdoor recreation conditions in the Adirondacks is compiled each Thursday afternoon and updated on Friday.
Contribute Your Knowledge: Add a comment below, or send your observations, corrections, updates, and suggestions to adklmanack@gmail.com.
Learn and practice the seven Leave No Trace principles. Carry out what you have carried in. Do not leave gear, food, or other items at lean-tos and campsites. Do not litter. Take the free online Leave No Trace course here.
BE PREPARED! Start slow, gain experience. Carry proper safety equipment and weather protection and bring plenty of water and lights, and a map. When on the trail, stay together, monitor the time, and be prepared to turn back. Accidents happen to the most experienced people. Be prepared to spend an unplanned night in the woods in cold temperatures. Always carry food, a space blanket, emergency whistle, first aid kit, fire making tools, extra clothing layers and socks, a map and compass, and the knowledge to use them. Inform someone of your itinerary and before entering the backcountry or launching a boat check the National Weather Service watches, warnings, and advisories here. Follow Adirondack weather forecasts at Burlington and Albany and consult the High Elevation, Recreation, or Lake Champlain forecasts.
Charles Bryan, in The Raquette, River of the Forest (1964), argued that Long Lake played a major role in the development of the Adirondack Guideboat. That legacy got a local revival recently, when Long Lake resident Colleen Smith re-launched a guideboat on Long Lake built there by her grandfather George W. Smith in the early 1900s.
A neighbor, Gordon Fisher, spotted an advertisement for the boat and recognized it was made in Long Lake, but was unsure of the builder. Fisher contacted Long Lake boat builder Bunny Austin about brokering the vessel on behalf of the owner, who was living on Lake Champlain; it had been in the seller’s family since the 1950s. Austin turned the job over to his nephew Keith Austin, also a boat builder. His wife Debbie Austin spotted the signature of Geo W. Smith on all three of the seats she was re-caning. » Continue Reading.
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For Our Friend, The Loon
By Paul Sorgule
This morning I read a small letter to the editor in the Adirondack Enterprise about a loon that was apparently killed by a boater in the channel between Lake Flower and Oseetah Lake. I was struck with profound sadness and a touch of anger. For many years, that loon held court on Lake Flower and was a welcome and highly anticipated sign of Spring. For many years he seemed to be without a mate, until this year. There was an obvious gleeful change in his daily routine and soon we were blessed to notice a pair of newborn chicks riding on their mother’s back. It was this loon’s soothing coo in the early morning that signaled how special it was to live in this Adirondack Community.
When we were on the lake (oftentimes in the late afternoon) we would coast around hoping to see him feeding. He had become accustomed to people and sometimes treated us to his presence just 15 or 20 feet off our bow. It was thrilling to watch him dive for fish only to pop up 50 or 60 yards away -loons are excellent swimmers. Maybe he became too familiar with people and failed to understand the dangers that this familiarity brings. While we drifted in our boat if we ever crept too close, he would let us know by fluttering his wings or letting out a distinctive sound that could only mean “back off”. Then he would settle down and provide a pose for another picture to add to our files.
» Continue Reading.