For the preservation, protection, and maintenance of Lake St. Catherine
Hello LSC and residents of Wells & Poultney,
Saturday, May 7th is Green Up Vermont Day, 4 weeks from today.
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 had a GREAT turnout last year, covering almost every road around the lake. This year, we are looking to have all the roads covered, and also expand to cover more roads in Wells & Poultney.
We'd like to thank the town of Wells for reaching out to partner on Green Up Vermont Day this year!
We'd like to see if we can get folks around the lake to volunteer to clean up an area, and we'll do our best to coordinate the efforts so we all know what areas are covered, and which areas need volunteers.
Bags are now available for pickup at the Wells & Poultney Town Halls.
Also, we will be hosting a brief kickoff to the day at the Wells Lakeside Park at 8 AM that morning. Please stop in to pick up Green Up bags and fuel up on coffee and muffins from the Wells Country Store to get energized for the day! Please let us know if you'll be joining us so we can get a count.
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 on our Calendar, on the May 7th Green Up Vermont Day event. You can view that here: LSC Green Up Vermont Day Event.
Email us at info@lakestcatherine.org, or contact us on Facebook to volunteer for an area - and we'll add you to the map.
Let's all pitch in to get Lake St. Catherine ready for a great Summer!
Thank you.
2022 Green Up Vermont On LSC and Wells & Poultney map:
Hello LSC.
Please join local partners for a kick-off meeting that describes how you can participate in local water quality planning.
This virtual meeting is taking place on Wednesday, April 20th from 5:30 - 6:30.
Angie Allen, a watershed planner with the state of Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), is presenting information about ongoing efforts and opportunities to participate in the basin planning process. Angie works in several watersheds in southern Vermont, but is focusing her talk on Basin 2 (Poultney Mettowee) and Basin 4 (tributaries that drain directly to South Lake Champlain). Basin 2 also contains Lake St Catherine, Lake Bomoseen, Lake Hortonia, Lake Beebe, Echo Lake, Sunrise and Sunset Lakes, Glenn Lake, and Burr Pond.
From the DEC's Tactical Basin Planning StoryMap website, a tactical basin plan is:
"Tactical Basin Plans (TBP) are strategic guidebooks for achieving watershed health. They identify surface waters that are in need of restoration and protection and outline a list of actions to achieve water quality goals. The plans also identify the partners and funding critical to implementing the actions."
The basin planning process includes 5 major steps:
The last South Lake Champlain Tactical Basin Plan was published in 2017 (you can view that here). Angie will be reviewing the action items in the 2017 plan to see if they were completed and if they were successful. As part of this process, she will update the 2022 plan with new water quality goals and tasks for landowners, residents, associations, and local partners to implement.
The purpose of this kick-off meeting is to report on the status of surface waters in the watershed, share the overall planning timeline, and describe ways you can contribute and participate. In addition, there will be State program staff as well as Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) and Rutland Regional Planning Commission (RRPC) staff online during the meeting to allow for a well-rounded discussion and to help answer questions.
The Lake St. Catherine Association administers and partners on many effective water quality programs for the Lake St. Catherine watershed including: outreach and education on lake issues, water testing, Lake Wise, the LSC Stormwater Master Plan, Milfoil Control, Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Prevention, and the upcoming Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan.
As a shoreline homeowner, or someone who cares about Lake St. Catherine, your participation in this meeting is very much appreciated!
So, please join us on Wednesday, April 20th from 5:30 - 6:30 PM for this virtual meeting hosted via Microsoft Teams. Please feel free to share this link with others!
Meeting link: Southern Lake Champlain Tactical Basin Planning Meeting
Hello good folks in the LSC community. Unfortunately, we have some sad news to report to you today.
Long-time former Lake St. Catherine Association Trustee Harry Bingham has passed away.
Harry & Sylvia receiving the first Lake Wise Award on LSC for their property
You can read about Harry in his obituary appearing on the website of the funeral home here.
We were informed of Harry's passing by his wife Sylvia, who wrote:
"Of course I am greatly saddened with Harry's passing but I am also deeply grateful for the wondrous time Harry and I shared together. For forty-three years, he was my constant companion, support and adventuring buddy. Vacationing at Lake St. Catherine, on service projects or visiting friends and family, Harry's smile and warmth was a gift to us all. Though the light of his eyes has faded, his spirit lives on in the riches of family and friends that have been our life together. If you want to make a gift in Harry's honor, please send it to your favorite charity- Harry would trust your judgment and be happy to be remembered."
"Of course I am greatly saddened with Harry's passing but I am also deeply grateful for the wondrous time Harry and I shared together. For forty-three years, he was my constant companion, support and adventuring buddy. Vacationing at Lake St. Catherine, on service projects or visiting friends and family, Harry's smile and warmth was a gift to us all. Though the light of his eyes has faded, his spirit lives on in the riches of family and friends that have been our life together.
If you want to make a gift in Harry's honor, please send it to your favorite charity- Harry would trust your judgment and be happy to be remembered."
LSCA President Jim Canders wanted to share these comments about Harry:
"It is very sad news to hear of Harry's passing. He loved the lake and dedicated a great deal of time to work with the Board. Since Harry was an engineer his work was always very well organized. Harry chaired the Lake Safety committee and established the 'Buoy Buddies'. These were volunteers from around the lake who would assist Harry in building, maintaining, and placing the buoys and markers to insure that boaters were aware of underwater obstacles. Harry told me one time that when he looked out on the lake from his place in Horseshoe Bay, the three cones to the south toward Atwater Bay, reminded him of the term the 'Bermuda Triangle'. He mapped out the location of the buoys and markers and registered this information with the State. At the beginning of each season Harry contacted the State Police to lobby to have more frequent presence of Marine State Police on the lake during weekends through out the summer months. Since there were very few members of this special State Police Group, it was important to Harry to get his annual request in early. Harry was on a first name basis with the desk sergeant at the Rutland Barracks! He and Sylvia were always willing to lend a hand to help with the lake. We all thank Harry for his years of hard work and service to Lake St. Catherine. Our sincere condolences to Sylvia and her family."
"It is very sad news to hear of Harry's passing.
He loved the lake and dedicated a great deal of time to work with the Board. Since Harry was an engineer his work was always very well organized.
Harry chaired the Lake Safety committee and established the 'Buoy Buddies'. These were volunteers from around the lake who would assist Harry in building, maintaining, and placing the buoys and markers to insure that boaters were aware of underwater obstacles. Harry told me one time that when he looked out on the lake from his place in Horseshoe Bay, the three cones to the south toward Atwater Bay, reminded him of the term the 'Bermuda Triangle'. He mapped out the location of the buoys and markers and registered this information with the State.
At the beginning of each season Harry contacted the State Police to lobby to have more frequent presence of Marine State Police on the lake during weekends through out the summer months. Since there were very few members of this special State Police Group, it was important to Harry to get his annual request in early. Harry was on a first name basis with the desk sergeant at the Rutland Barracks!
He and Sylvia were always willing to lend a hand to help with the lake. We all thank Harry for his years of hard work and service to Lake St. Catherine. Our sincere condolences to Sylvia and her family."
To send your condolences to Sylvia, her address is:
1001 S. Valley Forge Road WBC 212 Lansdale, PA 19446
Hello LSC property owners.
We are gearing up for the 2022 Lake Wise Program around Lake St. Catherine - and we are looking for property owners to sign up to participate this season.
In late January, we were informed by the Lake Champlain Basin Program that we had earned a grant in the amount of $24,970 for the 2022 Lake St. Catherine Lake Wise Program.
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. Four categories are assessed: The driveway and parking area, the structure (which includes roof, drainage, and septic), the recreation area (the lawn/footprint of non-natural, high-use yard areas), and the shoreline buffer area.
This year's project is entitled: “Creating a Critical Mass of Lake Stewards on Lake St. Catherine”, and will be implemented in partnership with the LSCA, the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resource Conservation District (PMNRCD) and new partner Castleton University.
Stormwater has a widespread environmental impact which makes it a growing concern in Vermont and Lake St. Catherine. In a statewide effort, towns and local organizations are working to implement large scale projects to help clean stormwater before it enters water bodies. Work is being done from the headwaters all the way down to the stream outlets. 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.
Shoreline property owners have the access and the ability to control what is happening directly at the lake's edge.
While small-scale improvements on individual properties may not seem like they have much impact, collectively the implementation of many small projects will have a positive benefit on the water quality in the lake and the surrounding watershed.
In fact, after this season, Lake St. Catherine will be close earning the Gold Lake Wise Award. Lakes that have 15% of their lakeshore properties as participants in the Lake Wise Program will earn the Gold Lake Wise Award.
Last year, Lake Wise focused on properties on Little Lake, and we had great participation and results. This year, we are focusing on "high impact properties". While all property owners on Lake St. Catherine are eligible to sign up for Lake Wise, this year, we are particularly looking for properties where Lake Wise could have a significant impact with the help of the program.
If you have a property with any of the following characteristics - WE WANT YOU:
Enroll this month in the Lake Wise Program to receive complementary services, which could include: native buffer plantings, rain gardens, infiltration steps, erosion help, and other stormwater mitigation interventions this summer. These efforts help us all protect the lake from excessive nutrients that run across your property and into the lake which fuel milfoil growth and affect water quality.
Please contact us at info@lakestcatherine.org to sign up!
Together, we can maintain the pristine nature of Lake St. Catherine for years to come. Thank you for your stewardship and commitment.
Sincerely,
The Board of Trustees of the Lake St. Catherine Association
Good evening LSC. We're calling it...
Most of the ice on the Big Lake went out on Saturday, and on the Little Lake more than a week before that.
The last of the stubborn ice disappeared early this afternoon in Lily Pond and Oxbow Bay, so we have checked your predictions, and we have a winner!
Your 2022 LSC Ice Out Champion is: Mary-Sue Reed.
Congrats Mary-Sue!
Honorable mentions to: Mary, Hannah, Kyle, Andrew, Owen (Jr & Sr), Autumn, Suzanne, and Wellsmere Farm who also guessed today.
Thanks to all 108 people who entered a guess - and thank you to all our Ice Spotters for sending in reports!
Finally, a quick mention about our membership drive - we hope you can support us this season! To become a member, or to renew your membership, please visit our website: https://lakestcatherine.org/become-a-member
We have membership levels for everyone who loves LSC.
Thank you!
The LSCA was happy to sign on and support this funding request by Vermont’s Natural Resource Conservation Districts to the Vermont Legislature for the FY2023 state budget:
As is noted in the request:
"Conservation Districts are an unseen force that connects people, organizations and resources to steward our land and water resources for the future. District Managers are rooted in the communities they serve, and your favorite place has likely benefited from the work of the Conservation Districts. The work that Conservation Districts do in every corner of the state is becoming increasingly important, especially in light of the state’s clean water goals and Vermont’s Climate Action Plan. Their FY23 funding requests are critical for advancing state conservation goals. Because of the important role Conservation Districts play, we want to ensure that all land owners and stewards and communities in Vermont have access to the technical assistance, project implementation and other critical support that Conservation Districts provide."
"Conservation Districts are an unseen force that connects people, organizations and resources to steward our land and water resources for the future. District Managers are rooted in the communities they serve, and your favorite place has likely benefited from the work of the Conservation Districts. The work that Conservation Districts do in every corner of the state is becoming increasingly important, especially in light of the state’s clean water goals and Vermont’s Climate Action Plan. Their FY23 funding requests are critical for advancing state conservation goals.
Because of the important role Conservation Districts play, we want to ensure that all land owners and stewards and communities in Vermont have access to the technical assistance, project implementation and other critical support that Conservation Districts provide."
As you may know, the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) has been doing fantastic work around Lake St. Catherine over the years, and they have been a great partner for the LSCA as we work together on the Lake Wise Program, the Lake St. Catherine Stormwater Master Plan, and the upcoming Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan.
We appreciate the work our Conservation Districts do throughout Vermont, and we especially appreciate the work the PMNRCD does for Lake St. Catherine. We urge the Vermont Legislature to include the requested appropriation.
Hello good folks of LSC.
As you may recall, back in July 2021, the LSCA and LSCCF organized a Milfoil Cleanup Community Day in the Channel & Little Lake.
Volunteers from all areas of Lake St. Catherine joined in on the kick-off day to collect all the detached and floating milfoil (and other detached and floating plants) to get them out of the lake and on to one of our 2 drop off points. At the end of the day, the LSCA’s Diver Assisted Suction Harvesting (DASH) crew collected it all - 21 buckets (17.5 gallon) worth - and hauled it away. The collection points were left in place for the rest of the season, and Channel & Little Lake residents continued to deposit the milfoil. The LSCCF’s mechanical harvesting crew performed the subsequent pickups for the remainder of the season.
This effort was very successful in both removing detached milfoil and other detached plants from the lake, and in educating boaters and property owners on best practices to limit the spread of milfoil. You can read a summary of last year’s Milfoil Community Day here: https://lakestcatherine.org/blog/10774108, and a summary of the season-long effort here: https://lakestcatherine.org/blog/11122034.
We are now making plans for 2022, and we need your help.
We are looking to the lake community for a donation or loan of 2 floating platforms that can be used as drop off points.
If you can loan or donate a floating platform that you will not be using this season, please reach out to us at info@lakestcatherine.org.
Preliminary plans for this season include a kick-off of Milfoil Cleanup Community Day on Sunday, June 5th at the Wells Lakeside Park (so save the date!). We’ll get together to talk about the program, and then head out on the lake and get to work! We do hope to get the platforms in place before June 5th so full-time LSC residents can get started volunteering as soon as they’d like. We’re sure the Channel Kayak Crew will be out there as soon as we can get the platforms set up.
So, mark your calendars, and please help us spread the word about our need for floating platforms for this program. If you can help us out, please let us know at info@lakestcatherine.org.
We'd like to let you know that the LSCA has written and sent a letter to Secretary Moore at the Agency of Natural Resources, State officials, and our representatives and senators to voice our concern that the position of the Lake Wise Coordinator in the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is being held open to accrue “vacancy savings”.
Back in December, the creator of the Lake Wise Program at Vermont Lakes and Ponds, Amy Picotte, retired after 31 years of service to Vermont and all of its lakes and ponds. You can read more about Amy's work on Lake Wise by clicking here.
We respectfully add our voice to request that the Lake Wise function at the state level be fully funded and receive continued investment.
Over the past three years, the Lake Wise Program on Lake St. Catherine has been extremely successful at both educating property owners about best practices for the lake's shoreline, and implementing stormwater mitigation projects on their properties. We have also seen a dramatic shift in interest in the preservation and protection of our shorelines to increase water quality by shoreline property owners. Property owners are reaching out to us for help at their shoreline, informing us of potential issues after storms, and inquiring about complying with the Shoreland Protection Act.
Photo Credit: PMNRCD
The 2021 Lake Wise Program at Lake St. Catherine resulted in:
You can read the full text of our letter below.
If you'd like to participate in the Lake Wise Program this year, please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org to add your name to the list.
Thank you for reading.
Dear Secretary Moore:
The Lake St. Catherine Association is deeply concerned that the position of the Lake Wise Coordinator in the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is being held open to accrue “vacancy savings”, particularly at a time when federal resources coming into Vermont are providing substantial financial support to be able to efficiently continue funding the Lake Wise Program at DEC.
The Lake St. Catherine Association has assembled a series of important building blocks as a springboard to prepare us to be successful in launching our Watershed Action Plan over the next three years. These include: a state of the art herbicide program with dramatic results towards AIS reduction; a mature and robust Diver Assisted Suction Harvesting Program; a joint planning effort for AIS control and prevention; a Greeter boat inspection program with the highest standards and training, recently expanded for high traffic events; a valued partnership with the Lake St. Catherine State Park and a second site for education and inspections; a wildly successful Lake Wise program for pollution prevention with expansion in 2022; an emerging strategic partnership focused on Little Lake; a collaborative and healthy relationship with the Lakes and Ponds leaders at Vermont DEC.
The Lake Wise program at our Lake had been operated since 2019 in collaboration with the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District and has enjoyed three years of support from the Lake Champlain Basin Program. We have close to 60 properties that have undergone Lake Wise assessments and project implementation. In 2021 we had a targeted effort to help Little Lake and in 2022, we have a bold program to recruit the highest impact properties throughout the basin, as we seek to reduce phosphorus load via runoff across homeowner properties. We are thrilled that a new partner, the Natural Sciences Dept. at Castleton University will provide interns and program oversight and evaluation as we pursue gold level status for Lake Wise.
It is not an overstatement to note that none of this highly valuable work could have been achieved without the leadership of Amy Picotte and the commitment of Lakes and Ponds Division of DEC in encouraging Lakes such as ours to develop best management practices. The Lake Wise office has always been available to us, as we have matured in our understanding of pollution prevention. Amy met with us systematically to review our processes and protocols and we benefitted greatly from her insight as we elevated our performance in recruitment, program implementation and evaluation.
The return on investment of the Lake Wise program is clear to us now and we can ill-afford to have the program less than fully funded at DEC. We are leveraging its success to maximize our chances at developing a Watershed Action Plan over these next three years that we hope to be a template worthy of emulation. Each strategy must pull together whether water quality testing, tributary analyses, storm event evaluation, road protocols, patency of culverts, evaluation of forestry and wetlands. We recognize how much we need a liaison at the state level to teach us the best practices, lessons learned, mistakes and mid-course corrections essential to maximizing the contribution of Lake Wise to our overall watershed.
We respectfully add our voice to sincerely request that the Lake Wise function at the state level be fully funded and receive continued investment to experience growth to keep up with the need to look at the causal effects of both in-lake and watershed interventions. We rely on it and we thank you in advance for advocating for its support, as we work hard at the local level to make the most difference in distinguishing Vermont in addressing nonpoint source pollution.
Hello LSC fans!
With the crazy weather we've been having the last few days, it seems like a good time to ask: When will the ice go out on Lake St. Catherine in 2022?
...and who is ready for Spring, and preparing to have an excellent season at Lake St. Catherine this year?
It's time to start up #IceWatch2022!
Let's have some little fun and make some predictions for when the ice will go out.
Click here to make your guess.
- In 2021, with his guess of April 2nd at 2:30 AM, the 2021 LSC Ice Out Champion was Walter Huss.
- In 2020, with his guess of March 23rd at 3 PM, the 2020 LSC Ice Out Champion was Melvin Ohl.
- In 2019, with her guess of April 15th at 6 AM, the 2019 LSC Ice Out Champion was Judy Cummings.
The winner will be crowned "LSC 2022 Ice Out Champion" and will have bragging rights all year!
Make your guess - and good luck!
Note: By ice out, we mean when the Lake will be clear of ice. The ice in the bays can be stubborn! We'll be relying on our Ice Spotters around the lake for up-to-date reports on conditions - and we'll use those to make the call.
On Tuesday, March 1st, 2022, the residents of Wells and Poultney voted to provide $12,000 and $15,000, respectively, in support of the Lake St. Catherine Association's mission of the preservation, protection and maintenance of Lake St. Catherine.
We'd like to thank the good folks of both towns for their continued support.
These funds, along with membership dues and contributions, will help us direct and fund important programs that include (but are not limited to): keeping invasive species out of LSC (boat launch Greeter Program), Water Testing, our Milfoil Control Program, phosphorous, sediment, and pollution mitigation (Lake Wise Program, LSC Stormwater Master Plan), Lake Safety, and most importantly, the creation of the Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan.
You can read more about all that the LSCA does for the benefit of Lake St. Catherine on our website.
Maintaining the lake costs approximately $125,000 annually. Grants, membership dues and contributions make up the majority of our funding. If you'd like to help, please consider becoming a member or making a donation. The LSCA is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.
It's going to be A Big Year For Lake St. Catherine in 2022, we hope to earn your support.
Thanks again to the residents of Wells and Poultney!
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