Who We Are and What We Do

Our Mission

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. Our mission is to enhance the environment, ecology and water quality conditions on the shoreline or in
Lake Bomoseen, Vermont.

BOARD MEMBERS

Luca Conte, President
Ellen Oppenheimer, Vice President
Steven Moskowitz, Treasurer
Dawn Custer, Secretary
Colin Fingon, Board Member
Trey Schaft, Board Member


LOCAL LINKS
LBPT Facebook Page
Lake Bomoseen Association
Town of Castleton

Town of Hubbardton Phone: (802) 273-2951

YOUR DONATIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED

No board members or officers receive any form of remuneration. Annual overhead expenses are less than $1,000. Your donations provide the funding for our grant program and various State lake permits described in the last column.

Checks made out to Lake Bomoseen Preservation Trust can be mailed to: LBPT, PO Box 356,
Bomoseen, VT 05732.

You may also use the PayPal link below, where all major credit cards and are accepted. Please note that PayPal fees will apply if the link is used for payment. For Venmo, please search under Lake Bomoseen Preservation Trust

PayPal Link

Venmo: search Lake Bomoseen Preservation Trust.

Thank you for considering a donation to our organization.

EURASIAN MILFOIL INFORMATION

INVASIVE SPECIES

After Herbicide Use, Lake George Divers
See Desired Results
By Zachary Matson, Adirondack Explorer, August 3, 2024

Lake manager says 30-day look at bays treated with ProcellaCOR are showing dead milfoil, green
native plants on the lake bottom,
just as prescribed.

Thirty days after the first chemical control of invasive plants on Lake George, divers assessing two bays treated with herbicide found dead Eurasian watermilfoil and growing native plants on the lake bottom, just as prescribed.

Staffers with the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District on Tuesday joined Dave Wick, executive director of the the Lake George Park Commission, and a representative of the herbicide manufacturer for a 30-day-post-treatment qualitative plant survey at the two northern basin bays the commission used as demonstration sites for ProcellaCOR treatments that targeted the invasive milfoil.

Swimming across the demonstration sites, each about 4 acres in size, the team recorded native plants and their density. They also documented the state of milfoil within the sites, taking underwater photographs and videos.

Most Eurasian watermilfoil was killed, completely deteriorated in some places and turned to little brown stems in other places.

At the Blairs Bay site, a dense milfoil bed on the northern edge of the treatment zone was still partly green but flopped over on itself. Wick’s group hoped the milfoil would die in coming weeks.

The divers were buoyed by the presence of native plants in areas they had been previously and in areas once dominated by milfoil. The native plants support fish and other wildlife and the healthy functioning of the lake.
“Bringing back the native ecology, that’s exactly what the project is about,” Wick said. “Take the cancer out of the system and let the rest recover.”

As it evaluates the outcomes of the June herbicide treatments — at Blairs Bay and Jeliffe Knight Bay, near Huletts Landing — the lake commission is also weighing where, when and whether to use the herbicide next.
Representatives of the Adirondack Park Agency plan to visit Lake George this month to assess three potential sites for the next herbicide treatment: Harris Bay in the southern basin; Sunset Bay, just north of Huletts Landing in the northern basin; and Hague Brook delta, also in the
northern basin.

While the APA visit would be necessary for a permit for next year, Wick said the agency was still determining whether to wait longer before pursuing another herbicide application. “It’s still up in the air,” he said. A long and contentious process

Lake managers and advocates for nearly 40 years have worked to fight the spread of invasive milfoil in numerous bays throughout the lake, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on hand-harvesting techniques. In 2021, the commission proposed testing ProcellaCOR, at the time a new product garnering increased interest for its targeted use against milfoil. But shortly after merging with the Fund for Lake George, the Lake George Association raised concerns that the product had not been studied enough and challenged the commission’s herbicide plan.
That challenge, both in the courts and the court of public opinion, and the commission’s commitment to its plan has driven a wedge between the state agency charged with managing the lake and the well-heeled nonprofit committed to its protection.

After years of litigation, a Warren County judge in June allowed the herbicide plan to move forward. Opponents of the plan have argued that not enough is known about the long-term effects of its use on the environment and human health, despite government assurances that it’s safe. They said the consequences of the herbicide may not show up in initial water testing and plant surveys but will come to harm the lake. The LGA is conducting its own study of the demonstration bays, promising to release results of water sampling and plant and macroinvertebrate surveys.

On Tuesday, Nick Rowell, a natural resource specialist with the conservation district, and Jake Dunkley, a district technician, donned scuba gear and dipped under the water’s surface with waterproof checklists of native plants. They explored the lake bottom, checking off plants they identified along the way. They also filmed the underwater plant community to present to the commission and public at future meetings. “It’s wild looking down and actually seeing natives,” Dunkley said.

They said there were clear lines of demarcation between where the milfoil beds had been and the areas populated by native plants. As they return to survey the plant community in future years, they expect the native plants to gradually start to fill in the areas once dominated by milfoil. Since milfoil grows taller than many native plants and forms dense beds, its absence altered the feel of the lake to the divers.

“The bay feels so deep,” Rowell said.

The team was also joined by Jon Gosselin, an aquatics specialist in the northeast for SePro, the company that manufacturers ProcellaCOR, and Bob Bombard, who has also surveyed milfoil and native plants before and after herbicide treatments throughout Warren County.

Gosselin said the Lake George project has drawn more attention than most all proposed in the Northeast.
He said he wasn’t aware of a project with as much water sampling for the size of the herbicide application. They pulled up over 15 different native plant species at Jeliffe-Knight Bay, spreading them across the boat deck. Swimming around the bay, they identified turtles and a handful of fish species, including sunfish, pumpkinseed, bass, northern pike, perch and others.

Wick said he doesn’t expect to ever need to treat the two bays with ProcellaCOR again. The commission and the milfoil harvesters it contracts with will continue to check the bays for milfoil and remove any plants by hand. Wick has said about a dozen bays around the lake would be candidates for ProcellaCOR use, areas with persistent and widespread milfoil infestations that have proved difficult to manage by hand. If the herbicide helps reduce the agency’s milfoil control budget, he said, that money can be shifted to green infrastructure, salt reduction, stream restoration, culvert replacements and other priorities.

“All of those opportunity costs come back on the table,” Wick said.

In nearby Sunset Bay, longstanding milfoil beds had grown up to a few feet from the water’s surface. The beds were thick with milfoil, which towers over other underwater plants. Small pockets of larger native plants squeezed into areas within the broader milfoil infestation, but many of the lower-lying native plants could not be seen from above.

Grant & Permit Programs

Any Lake Bomoseen associated individual or group may apply for funding. Funding is only available for a project or activity that is designed to address the demonstrated physical needs of Lake Bomoseen or for educational projects for the protection of the lake.

OPEN GRANT GUIDELINES

OPEN GRANT APPLICATION


NEW for 2024-25
Weed Harvesting Becoming Available

Thanks to the Lake Bomoseen Association, the LBPT has acquired a large orange mechanical weed harvester and related equipment used for the transfer of harvested weeds to local organic farmers' fields for use as natural fertilizer. Our new acquisitions are undergoing testing, spot usage and planning for the 2024-25 season

So that we may develop weed harvesting, DASH and benthic barrier services in 2024-25, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to the Lake Bomoseen Preservation Trust, Inc.,
PO Box 356, Bomoseen, VT 05732.

Benthic Barrier Program Plans for 2024-25
A benthic barrier is a piece of material (film, sheet) that lays on the Benthos layer (floor) of a lake or pond to keep sunlight from getting to the nutrient-rich soil on the lake bottom. The material is usually heavier than water which allows it to settle firmly on the lake's bottom. But in most cases, additional weight is needed to keep the material in place. Gases of decomposition forming under the material can be a problem (the addition of rebar in the side sleeves prevents this).

One possible vendor for this product is at https://lakebottomblanket.com. Homeowners will be able to review and order products on their website. The barriers are 10 ft. wide and come in lengths of 20, 25 and 30 ft (longer lengths may be currently out of stock).

The LBPT has a limited number of benthic barriers that can be leased for the season or purchased for $100 per barrier. Please contact us at conteparker@gmail.com to learn more about availability and installation.

Eligible homeowners must have a permit for installation of Benthic Barriers, which can be obtained in two ways:

1) Pre-existing permitted areas, such as the LBPT's Float Bridge Bay Area Permit, or individuals who have secured the General Permit for DASH/Benthic Barriers previously.

2) A new 8-year permit through a General Permit application (which can be filed by the homeowner, or by the LBPT for a $75 fee).( Also, for areas with 5 or more homeowners who are interested in securing a 10-year Area Permit for both DASH and/or Benthic Barrier services, the LBPT will assist in the preparation and submission of a new Permit Application to the DEC for the 2024-25 season; (contact Luca Conte below).

Here are some answers to questions you may have:

The benthic blankets can be ordered online and ship in 2-3 days; Each benthic blanket requires purchase of 5 or more 10-foot lengths of rebar from a local hardware store (e.g. Gilmore carries the 10' requisite lengths) depending on the length of the blanket and number of blankets installed;
2-4 blankets are recommended for treating areas around docks and swimming sites;
All blankets should be removed from the lake by October 1 and can be stored for re-use the next season;
Please email Luca Conte (conteparker@gmail.com) for suggestions of blanket installation vendors who may charge a fee. A video of the do-it-yourself installation is also available at the lake bottom blanket website; .

Funds are limited. The LBPT can provide a limited number of subsidies on a first-come, first served basis. However, we will also maintain a waiting list for those who would like to be considered for any additional grant funding for the 2024-25 season. Please email Luca Conte (conteparker@gmail.com) to express your interest in this program and to establish your name on the service list. Regular updates on these programs can be obtained by following the LBPT on Facebook.


Contact Us

Questions? Our email address is LBPT@earthlink.net
Email us at webguy@earthlink.net. You may get a spam filter message, but rest assured that we will respond.