Federal Agencies Work Group Opportunities for Federal Action: Informing and Involving the Public

Promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Lake Champlain Basin and its resources in order to encourage greater public participation, individual responsibility and action for protecting these resources.

KEY FEDERAL ACTIONS

Environmental Protection Agency

The Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), through EPA funding, taught students from more than 76 classrooms in New York and Vermont about Lake Champlain during 2006. A State of the Lake report was released in 2005 and is currently available on the LCBP website. The LCBP also released Progress 2006 in October which highlighted progress to date since the Lake Champlain Special Designation Act written by Congress became law in 1990.

The LCBP continued its partnership with WPTZ NewsChannel 5 on the Champlain 2000 weekly television series, which was re-launched under a new name, Champlain Connection, in October 2004. Five new exhibits about Lake Champlain were installed at the Champlain Centres North Mall in Plattsburgh, New York, to increase citizen awareness about Lake Champlain issues. The LCBP also awarded eight Education and Outreach grants totaling $31,500 to New York and Vermont organizations in 2006.

The LCBP continues to operate and staff a Resource Room within ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain that provides in-depth information on lake issues, research, stewardship, and educational curricula for the public. Since ECHO opened in May 2003, more than 72,000 visitors have been assisted by Resource Room staff. Twelve updateable exhibits for the ECHO floor highlighting local watershed stewardship projects were created by the LCBP during 2006.

Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services

Federal funding was a major part of the total package that allowed the development of ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, as well as the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory. ECHO is Lake Champlain’s premier lake aquarium and science center, which educates and delights guests of all ages about the ecology, culture, history, and opportunity for stewardship of the Lake Champlain Basin. Encompassing almost 30,000 square feet, ECHO features twenty aquatic habitats with more than 60 animal species, and 100 hands-on interactive exhibits. Visitors go nose-to-nose with live fish, amphibians, and reptiles and experience a multimedia theater, all surrounded by beautiful views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains.

ECHO/NICK LaVECCHIA ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain opened in May 2003. About 150,000 visit ECHO annually.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

On October 14, 2005, the Service held a grand opening ceremony to celebrate the construction of a new headquarters and visitor facility at the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge. The new 7,250 square-foot facility will include a lobby and reception area, exhibit area, and multi-purpose room for environmental education, public meetings or presentations, and community events. With additional facilities at Pittsford National Fish Hatchery and staff outreach from the other Service programs in the Lake Champlain Basin, the Service is supporting enhanced understanding of the Basin’s resource management problems to allow informed choices on its long-term protection and restoration.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The Lake Champlain Sea Grant (LCSG) provides science-based information to the public, resource users and stakeholders, and decision makers to increase their awareness of key coastal and aquatic resource issues and to help them make informed choices among difficult resource management decisions. Sea Grant informs the public about water quality, watershed stewardship, nuisance aquatic species, fisheries and other Basin issues through contributed articles to local newspapers, radio and TV interviews, and videos on public access television. Sea Grant sponsors Across the Fence television productions that inform the public about community led actions in water quality and watershed protection.

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Adirondack Waterfest 2003 attracted about 500 people to the shores of Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh Landing in New York. This annual educational event educates the public about the importance of water resources. The effort was coordinated by the Greater Adirondack RC&D Council, the Clinton County Soil & Water Conservation District, the NRCS (New York), and local groups. The Waterfest features educational exhibits, entertainment, children’s activities, and water-related demonstrations.

National Park Service

NPS provided multi-year support of a bikeways clearing-house designed to coordinate and disseminate information about bike trails, supported public access information media, and facilitated a public information series. Through their work on the Cultural Resources and Recreation Advisory Committee, the NPS assists LCBP staff in disseminating information about trails, programs and events to a broad constituent base.

U.S. Geological Survey

In 2004, the USGS relocated its Lake Champlain gaging station in Burlington, which has operated continuously since 1907, to ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain. The gaging station is located on the Center’s dock and includes instrumentation and a display available to the public. The USGS has entered into an educational partnership to support the Center’s Watershed Weather Studio that informs the public about the meteorology and hydrology of the watershed and how these sciences relate to a wide variety of activities at the Federal, State, and local levels to improve the health of the Lake, protect and manage watershed resources, and support the regional economy.

OTHER FEDERAL ACTIONS

The Town of Ticonderoga replaced a deteriorating concrete slab that was used as a fishing platform for many years along the La Chute River with support from the Greater Adirondack RC&D Council, Essex County Soil & Water Conservation District, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (New York), and the New York State Soil & Water Conservation Committee.