Posts Tagged ‘Lake Champlain’

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Fort Ticonderoga Celebrates Fall with Heritage, Harvest & Horse Festival, Sept. 30

Ticonderoga, NY– Fort Ticonderoga, surrounded by magnificent autumn backdrops of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains, will present the Annual Heritage, Harvest, & Horse Festival on Saturday, September 30, 2023.  A full day of autumn fun will be set amidst the fall flowers of King’s Garden, a heritage apple orchard, and the beautiful landscape of the mountains and Lake Champlain. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Essex Day – 2023

 

Every year, the Town of Essex on Lake Champlain, comes together on the first Saturday of August and celebrates our community with a town-wide yard sale and street party. Come join the fun and see what makes Essex special.

Browse and enjoy refreshments at local shops like The Pink Pig, The Barn Door Tavern (look for their special Essex Day Beer Garden!), The Essex Ice Cream Cafe, and The Neighborhood Nest.
We’ll also have food trucks, vendors, and live music from Too Tall String Band and Marie Marie and more!


Saturday, May 27, 2023

Final days banding birds at the Crown Point Banding Station, approx. 750 birds banded

Gordon Howard banding a bird with the watchful eyes of children

The Crown Point Banding Station closed its doors on Saturday, May 20, with a good crew taking down tents, canopies, [a] weather station, and nets in short order by 11 a.m. The rain that was predicted went around us and the strong winds also didn’t come while we were picking up. Tom Barber had the nets up (and a few birds already bagged) when I got up at 5:30 a.m. He had picked six June bugs from the nets while putting them up and I found just one in the nets I put up. As I came out of the tent he said, “The Gray Catbirds are biting this morning and that was the first bird, I picked out of the main net lane.” He said, “I got a new bird for the year, a Brown-Headed Cowbird out of the North net.”

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, May 27, 2023

ANCA Awarded $40K Lake Champlain Basin Artist-in-Residence Program Grant

Paul Smith’s College professor Dr. Curt Stager collects a core sample from Lake Champlain.

Saranac Lake, NY —  Visitors to Lake Champlain will soon be able to learn about the ecological and cultural diversity of the lake and its surrounding area through music and sound. The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) has been awarded a $40,000 grant to support an interpretive music project that celebrates regional biodiversity and human diversity while engaging American and Canadian audiences in a shared artistic experience of the Champlain Basin.

The “Watershed Voices” project — a collaboration of regional partners including ANCA’s Adirondack Diversity Initiative and McClure Productions Inc. — was awarded the grant through the Lake Champlain Basin Artist-in-Residence Program and NEIWPCC, a regional commission that helps the states of the Northeast preserve and advance water quality.

» Continue Reading.


Friday, March 31, 2023

Good news for Lake Champlain’s trout

trout

News of a reduction to planned lake trout stocking levels in Lake Champlain is another positive sign of the growing strength of the lake’s wild-reproducing populations.

Fisheries managers announced plans to halve the number of lake trout stocked into the lake this fall, cutting the number to 41,000.

University of Vermont fisheries biologist Ellen Marsden and researchers in her lab in recent years have documented evidence that about 10 years ago, lake trout first introduced decades earlier finally started to spawn fish that “recruited” out of the first year of life and into the juvenile stage. Those fish have now grown into reproductive maturity and are continuing to thrive.

“This isn’t just a flash in the pan,” Marsden said.

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, March 23, 2023

Lake Champlain Management Cooperative Announces Further Stocking Reduction for Lake Trout

dec logoOn March 15, the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative – a working group of fisheries professionals from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service –  announced the decision to further reduce the number of stocked lake trout released annually. This decision was prompted by the continued increase in natural reproduction and the documentation of multiple age classes of wild fish.

A stocking program was established in the 1950s to restore lake trout in Lake Champlain following the loss of native populations due to water quality and habitat changes. Although the lake was stocked with 82,000 fin clipped fish annually, there is little evidence of successful natural reproduction during the first 60 years of this program.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, December 24, 2022

DEC Announces Third Year of Ice Fishing Creel Survey on Lake Champlain

On December 15, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced the annual ice fishing creel survey will resume for its third year on the New York waters of Lake Champlain from January through March 2023.

“Anglers are important partners when it comes to the management of the Lake Champlain fishery,” said Commissioner Seggos. “By participating in programs like the ice fishing creel survey, anglers provide us with information that ultimately benefits both our environment and the future of quality fishing in New York State.”

» Continue Reading.


Friday, October 21, 2022

Clean Water Act turns 50

Lake Champlain continues to be impacted by non-regulated runoff. Explorer file photo.

Fifty years ago this week, federal lawmakers overrode a presidential veto to enact the Clean Water Act, a landmark law for the nation’s water quality.

The iconic image of the Cuyahoga River on fire in Ohio spurred congressional action and ushered in a half century of major river restorations across the nation. The goals outlined in the act included restoring the country’s water to a “fishable and swimmable” state.

The law imposed new permitting requirements on polluting industries and sewage treatment plants, but it failed to address diffuse pollution from storm and agricultural runoff, the largest source of pollution in many parts of the country. The standards adopted under the law in many places are now decades old or unable to address emerging problems.

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, August 3, 2022

43rd Essex Day celebration scheduled for Aug. 6

Essex Initiatives is pleased to announce the 43rd annual Essex Day celebration is happening this Saturday, August 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Main Street in historic Essex, NY on Lake Champlain.

This family-friendly event is sure to have something to offer everyone. Attendees are welcome to enjoy live music from James Coleman, Too Tall String Band, and Marie Marie, peruse the shops on Main Street, participate in family-friendly games, and explore more than 40 unique vendors from surrounding towns.

The event also features food trucks, a town-wide yard sale as well as a book sale, watercolor class, photography class, and much more.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, August 1, 2022

Champ Day: The Lake Champlain Monster Festival is slated for Aug. 5, 6

All are invited to gather together on the beautiful Lake Champlain waterfront in Port Henry, NY to celebrate Lake Champlain’s lake monster with legendary fun for the 37th annual Champ Day: The Lake Champlain Monster Festival. The free, crowd-pleasing event features special guests such as Penelope the Clown, Cardboard Boat Races, a CryptoCave Meet & Greet, a Champ Lure Contest, Creative Cove for Kids, Vendor Marketplace, food, and much more.

 

New this year is a Champ Day weekend kickoff event, Champ’s Monster Movie Night, that will take place on Friday, August 5  at 7 p.m. on Bulwagga Bay Beach in Port Henry.  The evening’s featured film will be “Monster from the Ocean Floor” a fun, old-fashioned 1950s monster movie suitable for all ages. The film will be presented by Andy McDougall, a film collector from Plattsburgh, NY. In addition to the film screening, guests are encouraged to take part in a costume contest, in which those who don a beach/tiki, retro 1950s, or monster theme outfit have a chance to win a prize.
The main event is set for Saturday, August 6 at Champ Beach Park, Beach Road, at the north end of Port Henry.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, July 23, 2022

Adirondack Watershed Institute wins grants to study road salt pollution and green infrastructure improvements

PAUL SMITHS (July 21, 2022) –Officials at Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) announced it was recently awarded two research grants from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP). The first grant will help scientists and policy makers understand the extent of road salt pollution in Lake Champlain. The second grant will support AWI scientists to assess the effectiveness of recent stormwater upgrades in Lake Placid to improve water quality in Mirror Lake.
Road salt is as a significant source of pollution in the Lake Champlain Basin, which includes 11 sub-basins drained from major tributaries in New York, Vermont, and Quebec including the Saranac, Ausable, Winooski, Missisquoi, and Lamoille Rivers. With the generous support of the LCBP, AWI scientists will compile existing data from all water bodies within the Lake Champlain Basin to determine what is driving sodium and chloride levels. As a result, scientists will have a better understanding of the extent and cause of road salt pollution in the basin, which will help inform long-term practices to reduce road salt and protect the environment.
“We look forward to working with LCBP to understand long-term changes, their causes, and the trajectory of sodium and chloride concentrations in the Lake Champlain Basin,” said Dr. Brendan Wiltse, senior research scientist for AWI and Principal Investigator for both grants. “As a result, New York and Vermont decision makers will be better informed to make management decisions that benefit the environment and the public.”

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Fort Ticonderoga boat cruises to run through mid-October

Archaeological Tour of Lake Champlain

The Carillon has returned to Fort Ticonderoga, with boat tours taking place Tuesday through Sunday from May 27 to mid-October. The 75-minute narrated boat cruises cover some of the most archaeologically rich waters in North America while surrounded by breathtaking lake views, commanding mountains, and the majestic fort.

From shipwrecks to a massive bridge that the Americans built in 1776, Lake Champlain holds defining stories of America’s past. Fort Ticonderoga’s layers of history carry right from the land onto the water. Carillon boat tours help ignite visitors’ imaginations as they explore this internationally strategic lake.

The 60-foot boat is available for daily tours, field trips, sunset cruises, and private charters. A selection of regional beer and cider, wine, soft drinks, water, and snacks are available for purchase on board. Tickets for the boat cruise are available HERE or can be purchased on-site during a visit on a first-come basis.

Boat tours are available rain or shine. Fort Ticonderoga members that are interested in taking a boat cruise, please call 518-585-2821 Monday through Friday, or 518-585-2650 Saturday and Sunday for assistance.

Fort Ticonderoga is located at 102 Fort Ti Road in Ticonderoga, NY.

Photo at top: The Carillon, Archaeological Tour of Lake Champlain 2017. Photo provided by Fort Ticonderoga, Almanack archive photo. 


Saturday, May 21, 2022

Crown Point Banding Station record: Banding a Yellow-Breasted Chat and Hairy Woodpecker for the first time

Another week gone by at the Crown Point Banding Station, and we survived the big storms that rolled through yesterday afternoon (May 16.) We pulled the nets, and took the canopies off their structures (as possible 60 MPH winds were predicted, and these sun shelters are only rated for no more than 15 MPH.) We sat in our vehicles as the storms passed mostly to the north and south, but there were a couple that went right overhead and dumped rain on us. To the north we heard that quarter-inch hail had accumulated to an inch on the ground.
We had several exciting events during the week up in the sky, including the blood moon on Sunday night (May 15)… that was neat. I had photographed this a couple times before over Limekiln Lake. We had rain showers during the afternoon that day, but I got to see the full moon rise only to have it go under a big black cloud for about an hour during which I napped in a chair outside. When I woke up, the moon was just popping out again about one third covered already. I took photos as it gradually covered turning a bright orange and completely covered about 11:30. I went to bed then as more clouds were moving in and covered it again. After the storms yesterday it was cloudy most of the night. This morning, May 17, just before we put the nets up I photographed the nearly full moon in some neat clouds.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, May 14, 2022

Banding birds at the Crown Point Banding Station in Essex County

I’m writing this from the Ticonderoga Public Library as I’m at the Crown Point Banding Station for two weeks banding birds. We’ve had nets up for four days and banded several birds but very few warblers, including two species of Warbler Palm and Yellow Warbler. Some Yellow Rumped Warblers have been seen in the area, but we have caught none.
Normally we catch more of these than any other bird, but not in the last couple years. Typically, it is a competition between them and American Goldfinch. We have caught several Goldfinch, but Blue Jays are ahead on the leaderboard by far and it doesn’t look like they will be beaten. Still another week and a half to go. These next few hot, sunny days aren’t very good days for catching birds as they fly right over the banding station heading north without stopping.

» Continue Reading.


Friday, May 13, 2022

Quebec’s ‘green battery’ of hydropower

lake champlain

Just how big is Quebec’s “green battery” of hydropower? When you add up the surface area of utility giant Hydro-Quebec’s dozens of dammed reservoirs, they are bigger than the Adirondack Park’s six million acres. One impoundment is four times the size of Lake Champlain. Another is 55 times the size of Lake George.

» Continue Reading.



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