Hello LSC.

Back in December, we let you know that in partnership with the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resource Conservation District (PMNRCD), we have earned a grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) and NEIWPCC for $15,097 to perform Lake Wise assessments, and to install best management practices (BMPs) on Lake St. Catherine.

This grant also includes up to an additional $20,000 for supplies and materials to install BMPs around the lake!

Spring is here, so we want to get folks signed up for Lake Wise for the 2026 season.

Lake Wise is a program developed by Vermont’s Lakes and Ponds Program to recognize outstanding efforts by homeowners who live along a lakeshore to protect the water quality and habitat along the shoreline and within the near-shore area of the lake.

Stormwater has a widespread environmental impact which makes it a growing concern in Vermont. In a statewide effort, towns and local organizations are working to implement large scale projects to help clean stormwater before it enters water bodies. Excess nutrients in the water contribute to problems which affect both human and wildlife health including; lower oxygen levels in the water, toxic algae blooms, and excessive plant growth, which is why limiting stormwater from carrying phosphorus, nitrogen, sediments, and other pollutants into the lake is so important.

Projects can include the creation of buffer areas, native plantings, water diversion and water infiltration, and shoreline stabilization.

Currently, Lake St. Catherine has 29 Lake Wise Award winning properties. You can learn more about Lake Wise on Lake St. Catherine, and can see where these properties are on the lake by viewing the interactive map on our Lake Wise page here: https://lakestcatherine.org/lake-wise-program.

The LSCA & PMNRCD would like to help other Lake St. Catherine property owners implement best practices to mitigate stormwater on their properties, and help them to earn the Lake Wise award. To date, over 110 properties have participated in the Lake Wise Program, and have at least received an initial assessment.

This program is FREE to shoreline property owners, with funding earned through this LCBP grant. If you would like to have your property assessed, or if you would like a reassessment, please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org to sign up for Lake Wise 2026.

Spots are limited, so please sign up today!

Hello LSC, we have some unfortunate news to report. A Rusty Crayfish (Faxonius rusticus) has been discovered in Lake St. Catherine:

The Rusty Crayfish has not previously been confirmed to be in the lake. You can see the DEC's "List of Vermont waterbodies with a confirmed presence of an aquatic invasive species and species of concern".

This crayfish was found on May 1st by a lake resident. We collected it, photographed it, and sent the photos to the DEC. Based on the crayfish's distinctive markings, including the red spot on its side, and the black coloring on the tips of its claws, the DEC has confirmed it is a Rusty Crayfish. They have asked us to save the specimen, which they will collect to make a formal confirmation. At that time, it will be added to the list of invasives confirmed to be in Lake St. Catherine.

It’s unclear how long this crayfish has been in LSC, but it was most likely introduced via bait bucket transfer.

This crayfish has a HUGE negative impact on a lake’s ecosystem. It is highly destructive of aquatic plants, they outcompete and displace our native crayfish, and they impact fish populations by both consuming the same insects as fish - and raiding their nests to eat their eggs.

Here is a Gemini summary of this destructive invasive:

The introduction of the Rusty Crayfish (Faxonius rusticus) is often described by ecologists as a "biological bulldozer" effect. Native to the Ohio River basin, these crustaceans are more aggressive, have larger appetites, and possess bigger claws than most native species, allowing them to fundamentally reshape lake environments.

Here is a breakdown of the specific impacts on a lake ecosystem:

1. Destruction of Aquatic Vegetation (Macrophytes)

Rusty crayfish are notorious for clear-cutting underwater forests. Unlike native species that eat sparingly, "rusties" often clip the stems of aquatic plants without even consuming the whole thing.

• Loss of Habitat: These plants serve as nurseries for small fish and nesting grounds for invertebrates.
• Water Quality: Without plants to anchor sediment and absorb nutrients, lakes can become more turbid (cloudy) and prone to algae blooms.

2. Displacement of Native Crayfish

Through a combination of "bully" tactics and biological advantages, they quickly outcompete local species.

• Direct Aggression: They are more likely to win fights for prime hiding spots under rocks, leaving native crayfish exposed to predators like bass and walleye.
• Hybridization: In some cases, they mate with native species, effectively "breeding out" the local genetics over several generations.

3. Impact on Fish Populations

The presence of rusty crayfish creates a "double-whammy" for local fish species:

• Competition for Food: They consume the same aquatic insects and snails that young fish rely on.
• Egg Predation: They are highly effective at raiding the nests of fish like smallmouth bass and bluegill, consuming the eggs and significantly reducing the "recruitment" (survival) of new fish.

4. Altered Food Web Dynamics

Because they have thick shells and aggressive temperaments, many predators find them harder to eat than native crayfish.

• Energy Flow: By consuming massive amounts of energy (plants and invertebrates) but being difficult for fish to prey upon, they act as a "sink" where energy gets trapped instead of moving up the food chain.
• Invertebrate Declines: Their high metabolism leads to a drastic reduction in the population of snails, leeches, and mayflies, which are vital components of the ecosystem's biodiversity.

You can read more about the Rusty Crayfish in this article from Northern Woodlands: "Big, Bold and Rusty: Invasive Crayfish has Claws". 

A huge THANK YOU to all the volunteers who participated in Green Up Vermont Day! If you were out and about yesterday in Wells or Poultney, you could see all the green bags on the sides of the roads. GREAT JOB ALL.

Thank you to the 60+ volunteers that let us know where you were working around the lake and in Wells & Poultney, We hope you had a fun day.

Finally, thank you to the Town of Wells, the Delaney Committee, and the The Wells Country Store for the volunteer meetup at the Wells Lakeside Park, and for our local Wells & Poultney crews who will pick up all the green bags of trash that the volunteers collected.

Great work all! You can see more photos here on our Facebook page here.

Hidden Worlds: Life Under the Surface

An event co-sponsored by The Federation of Vermont Lakes and Ponds and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)

Friday, June 5th, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Do you know what’s going on in your lake? You might be surprised!

We enjoy a walk in the woods because of the richness of this ecosystem with its variety of flora and fauna. A healthy lake is also rich in its diversity but not nearly so familiar, because it is not often seen by those of us who enjoy these waters. In this seminar, experts will highlight some of the many interesting parts of this hidden ecosystem.

Topics include:

• Turning Stones: Discovering the Life of Water - Declan McCabe - Professor of Biology, St. Michael's College, Author of Turning Stones
• Mighty Mysis - How a Shrimp No Bigger than your Thumbnail is Key to the Lake Champlain Food Web - Jason Stockwell - Professor of Aquatic Ecology and Director of UVM's Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory
• Native Aquatic Plants - Izzy Anderson- Environmental Scientist - VTDEC Lakes and Ponds Program
• Bio-criteria Development Process for Vermont's Lakes and Ponds - Kellie Merrell - Aquatic Ecologist - VTDEC Lakes and Ponds Program
• Underwater Surprises - Jeri Bergdahl - FOVLAP Director
• Foam - Kris Stepenuck, PhD, UVM Extension Associate Professor, Rubenstein School Associate Director and Extension Program Leader, Lake Champlain Sea Grant and Dr. Lindsey Cookson, Water and Science Program Coordinator for the Lake Champlain Committee, LCC.
• Native Mussels in Vermont - Mark Ferguson - VTFW Zoologist, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
• FOVLAP Videos - Pat Suozzi - FOVLAP President
• Lake Health - Julie Moore - Secretary, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources

Registration is required.

This is a hybrid event, taking place in-person at the South Burlington Library Community Room and online via Zoom. In-person seats are limited to 60.

Click here to register

The Lake St. Catherine Association (LSCA), the Lake St. Catherine Conservation Fund (LSCCF), and The Delaney Committee are organizing a volunteer event to clean up the shoreline at the Wells Lakeside Park on Little Lake on Saturday, June 20th, beginning at 9 AM.

The plan will be to hand-pull milfoil in the dock and beach area, and to also clean up the debris on the lake bottom in this location to make a nice swimming area:

We’ll be looking for volunteers to help with this effort, including equipment that could be borrowed to assist with the cleanup.

Helpful items to assist in the effort would be floating mats, ‘lake rakes’, large plastic tubs, and of course the elbow grease of lots of volunteers.

The Delaney Committee will be providing ice-cold bottled water, and will also dispose of all the milfoil and debris volunteers remove from the lake.

If you’d like to volunteer, or have items that you can loan to help with this cleanup, please let us know at info@lakestcatherine.org.

Please mark your calendar, and we’ll have more information as we get closer to the event. Thank you!

Hey there LSC, we'd like to share with you a Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) project called "Summit to Shore - Celebrating and Protecting the Waters of the Lake Champlain Basin.

You can view the project website here: Summit To Shore

The LCBP describes the project this way:

"Lake Champlain, abundant with magnificent natural beauty and a rich history, is fed with waters delivered by a large network of rivers and streams that collect rain and snowfall from the surrounding landscape. This expansive watershed is known as the Lake Champlain Basin.

Organizations in communities throughout the Basin—from headwaters far from the lake to the lake's shoreline—are helping to protect and restore water quality and habitat. These organizations are invaluable sources of knowledge and information. They provide many opportunities for individuals to get involved as stewards of the natural and cultural heritage in their own backyard.

The Summit to Shore videos share stories of community stewardship of the Lake Champlain Basin. The collection is organized by major rivers within the Basin, and includes unique aerial and on-the-ground perspectives of these waterways."

As part of the project, a Lake St. Catherine camp owner (great job Kim!), and members of the LSCA and the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) were interviewed about the Lake Wise Program on LSC as one of the many programs and projects occurring in the Poultney-Mettowee Watershed. LBCP and NEIWPCC have helped to fund Lake Wise on LSC through grants since 2019.

The video piece features some great info about the Lake Wise Program on LSC, and some beautiful images and drone footage of the lake. Lake St. Catherine is featured in the first part of the video entitled "One Lake, Many Stewards".

You'll also see PMNRCD rockstars Hilary and Sadie talking about other great projects they have worked on, including restoring fish passage on the Mettowee River, a tour of the Champlain Valley Native Plant Restoration Nursery - right here in Poultney - which provides the native plants for the Lake Wise and LEAP Programs on the lake, and native plantings on local farms.

We encourage you to take a look at this massive project to see all the conservation work being done in the Lake Champlain Watershed.

Here is the video with highlights from the Poultney-Mettowee Watershed which includes the great work of PMNRCD in our area, including Lake Wise on LSC. Check it out:

Lake Wise is a *FREE* program for lakeshore property owners. The 2026 Lake Wise Program on LSC is funded through a Education and Outreach Property Assessment Program grant earned by the LSCA from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) and NEIWPCC. You can read all about this great program here: https://lakestcatherine.org/lake-wise-program

If you would like to participate in Lake Wise this season, spots are limited, so please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org to get signed up! If you have previously participated in Lake Wise and would like a follow-up assessment, please let us know.

Thank you to LCBP for highlighting all the great conservation work occurring in the Lake Champlain Basin!

Good morning LSC.

Just a quick note to mark a Facebook milestone. Earlier this week, we've hit over 2,500 followers on our Facebook page.

It's great to have such an involved and engaged lake community that we can keep informed with Lake St. Catherine news & information.

If you haven't hit the 'Follow' button on our page yet, please do!

We often post lots of videos & photos and quick updates there.

We appreciate your support!

Not an April Fools... There she is.

For the Ice Out Contest: At last check late last evening, there was still a lot of ice visible, which was gone this morning.

We had 6 people guess today, April 1st, so we had to go to the tiebreaker, and the winner is:

John Burchett

Congrats John!

Looking forward to another great season on Lake St. Catherine.

Thanks to all who participated in the Ice Out contest.

Good afternoon LSC, we have some great news to share.

Back in early January, we let you know that we had earned the 2026 Healthy Ecosystems - Aquatic Invasive Species Spread Prevention and Management Grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) and NEIWPCC for $25k to help fund our Greeter and DASH programs.

We are happy to report that we have also earned an Aquatic Nuisance Control Grant-In-Aid Program Grant from the State for $25,489 also in support of these important programs.

LSCA trustees have been working very hard over the winter on these grants, and we are extremely happy to have secured this grant funding for Lake St. Catherine!

In total, that's $50,489 in grant funding earned for the Greeter and DASH programs! These funds will go a long way, but will only partially fund the total costs of both of these programs for the 2026 season. Membership dues and contributions from the lake community, and allocations from the towns make up the rest of the funding for these programs.

About the Greeter Program:

Our Greeter Program is very important to the health of Lake St. Catherine. Our Greeters have been trained to identify aquatic invasive species (AIS) - like spiny waterflea, golden clams, water chestnut, starry stonewort and zebra mussels - to stop them from entering LSC at the boat launch in Wells. They also educate boaters about the importance of looking for these invasives on their boat or trailer so they are not spread to LSC or another lake. Each year, they do a fantastic job checking vessels and educating the lake community on the dangers of invasive species for Lake St. Catherine. They are on duty from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Traditionally, through State Grant funding and contributions from our members, we were ale to staff the boat launch on the busiest days: Friday through Sunday, holidays, and during fishing tournaments. Earning this grant last year allowed us, for the first time, to be able to staff every day between Memorial and Labor day, and we will be able to do this again this year.

About the DASH Program:

Our DASH crew suits up in scuba gear and hand-pulls milfoil by the roots from the lakebed. In sections of lower milfoil density, they will swim the area and hand-pull milfoil with mesh bags. In higher density areas, they will set up the DASH equipment which allows them to suction the hand-pulled milfoil up through a tube to a catch table on a boat. Milfoil is then placed in 17.5 gallon buckets for transport off the lake. Using plant data collected from the fall survey, and the survey that will be conducted in the spring, a map will be created to show where the DASH team will focus on this season.

Thanks to everyone who has become a member, or renewed their membership for 2026 - we appreciate your support. If you have yet to renew for the 2026, we hope to earn your support. We have membership levels for everyone who loves LSC - and you can renew or become a member here: https://www.lakestcatherine.org/become-a-member

Thank you!

Hello LSC, and residents of Wells & Poultney,

Saturday, May 2nd is Green Up Vermont Day.

Green Up Vermont is a state-wide volunteer cleanup day of Vermont's roads and waterways.

As Green Up Vermont's website says:

"We know it isn’t your litter but Vermont needs our help to be beautiful!"

We've had FANTASTIC turnouts over the past several years, with volunteers signing up to cover every road around the lake, and additional roads in Wells & Poultney - and we're looking to do it again this year. You can check out a quick recap, and see lots of photos from our volunteers of our 2025 Green UP Vermont Day here.

Would you like to volunteer for Green Up Vermont Day?

If so, email us at info@lakestcatherine.org, or contact us on Facebook, and let us know the roads (or sections of roads) you'd like to work on, and we'll add you to our volunteer map (see below). You can also visit the Wells or Poultney Town Halls to pick up bags, and let them know where you'll work.

Roads highlighted in blue on the map indicate that the road (or section of road) is being covered by a volunteer. We'll do our best to coordinate the efforts so we all know what areas are covered, and which areas need volunteers.

2026 Map (click here to view full-screen):

Wells:

As we did last year, in coordination with the Town of Wells, we will be hosting a brief kickoff to the day at the Wells Lakeside Park on Little Lake at 8 AM that morning. Please stop in to pick up Green Up bags, fuel up on coffee and muffins from the Wells Country Store to get energized for the day, and meet your fellow volunteers, or stop in to see us to talk about the lake! Green Up Bags are available now at the Town Hall, and will be available at the Park that morning. Also, the Wells Village Library will have high-visibility vests and grabber reacher tools to borrow.

Poultney:

Green Up Day bags are currently available at the Town Hall. If Poultney plans a meetup or event, we'll let you know.

So, let us know if you'd like to participate and where you'll do your clean up, and we'll add your area to the map. We'll keep the map up-to-date here, and on our website Calendar, on the May 2nd Green Up Vermont Day event. You can view that here: 2026 Green Up Vermont Day Event.

Let's all pitch in to get Lake St. Catherine, and Wells & Poultney ready for a great Summer!

Thank you!