Happy Earth Day!
Here are a few ideas for how to celebrate our planet and the corner we call home from your friends at the Lake Champlain Committee:
Take the Lake Protection Pledge
Protecting Lake Champlain's health is the shared responsibility of all of us who live in or visit the watershed. You can play an active role by following specific steps to protect water quality around your home, yard, and community such as picking up after pets, using phosphorus-free fertilizer (it's the law), and keeping stormdrains clear of debris.
Monitor for Blue-green Algae
We're gearing up for the summer monitoring season and are looking for people who can regularly report on water conditions. Blue-green algae monitors receive training to assess water conditions, visit the same site throughout the season and file a weekly online report from mid-June through Labor Day. The program provides critical data on where and when blooms are happening and is relied on by public health and environmental agencies to assess whether the water is safe for recreation. It also adds to our knowledge about the triggers for blooms so we can reduce their frequency.
Steward the Trail
We're looking for accomplished paddlers to help check remote Trail locations and areas without on-site managers. Bay Park Beach in Shelburne, Schuyler Island in Chesterfield, Point Au Roche in Plattsburgh, Niquette Bay in Colchester, and Mill River Falls Parcel in Georgia are in need of stewards. Stewards either adopt one Trail site to frequent or serve as "stewards at large" and report back on conditions at any of the sites in the system you visit during the paddling season. It's a great way to get out on the water!
Share your Skills and Time
LCC's volunteers are a diverse group of dedicated people but they all have at least one thing in common: a love for Lake Champlain and a passion to protect it. If you'd like to get more involved in the work to ensure drinkable water, swimmable beaches, and edible fish, let us know your interests and availability.
Gift a Membership
Know someone who loves the lake? Have a good friend who you play on the water with? Express your caring for the wonderful people in your life and your concern for water quality at the same time by gifting a membership in LCC. Just fill in our mail-in-order form or sign them up online (be sure to check the Gift Membership box) and we'll do the rest! Gift a membership at the $45 level and recipients will receive word right away with a special lake card and come June we'll send them the annual Paddlers' Trail guidebook. Purchase a $55 gift membership and we'll include an autographed copy of our award-winning book "Lake Champlain A Natural History" with the lake card.
Go Out for Earth Day
Outside that is. Stroll, hike, bike, run, or fish in the great outdoors. Breath some fresh air, take in the sunshine – or the rain, watch the stars. Commune with nature. Getting out into the greenery can brighten your mood and improve your health. Research indicates that spending time in natural areas makes people happy and speeds recovery from stress and fatigue. Plants and trees are living, breathing air filters - they detoxify the air by absorbing many substances that can be harmful to humans, like excess carbon dioxide and dust particles. Exercising on natural terrain like hills, fields or in water helps improve musculoskeletal health. Celebrate the forests, wetlands, meadows, mountains, shoreline and waterbodies of mother earth by exploring!
Thanks for all you do!
The LCC Team
