News from Selected Month

How do fish cope with floods? Photo by Kevin Connors.

The past year will forever be remembered as the year of flooding. Record high lake levels in the spring were followed by Tropical Storm Irene in the late-summer. With such tremendous increases in the amount of water in the lake and in our rivers, how did aquatic organisms survive the disasters? MORE Read...

Explore the many different ecological and cultural stories of the Lake Champlain Basin through Watershed for Every Classroom. Photo by LCC.

Watershed for Every Classroom is a year-long, 11-day professional development experience for K-12 teachers. In a supportive, collaborative, and fun environment, we explore the many different ecological and cultural stories of the Lake Champlain Basin. Teachers test for water quality, visit farms, paddle waterways, look out over mountaintops, tour urban areas, and much more as they learn ways to engage students in the many issues that face our watershed. MORE Read...

Get LCC’s book to learn more about the lake.

Look in LCC’s Award-winning book! Why is ice so hard and slippery? Does Lake Champlain produce lake-affect snow? Why does fog form over the lake on cold days? What is the probability that Lake Champlain will freeze over in any year? MORE Read...

On Thursday March 15, Brad Van Liew, the only American to win a solo around the world sailboat race will speak at the Main Street Landing Film House, 60 Lake Street in Burlington, Vermont. The event is the Spring Ice Breaker of The Regatta for Lake Champlain, one of the Lake Champlain Committee’s fundraising partners. More people have traveled in space than have sailed around the globe alone. Brad Van Liew is one of only 15 Americans to do so. MORE Read...

The Champlain Basin Education Initiative is hosting a workshop for teachers on March 10 that will address climate change and action steps. Photo by morguefile.

Educators and interested citizens can learn more about the science behind climate change and action steps for students in a hands-on workshop. The workshop will run from 8:30 AM until 3:00 PM on Saturday, March 10 at St. Michael’s College, Colchester, Vermont. MORE Read...

The Chazy gaging station and 17 others in the Lake Champlain Basin will receive funding for now. Photo from USGS.

Thanks to the work of Senators Leahy and Schumer, funding for USGS stream gages has been extended -- for the time being. Eighteen gages in the Champlain Valley – nine in Vermont and nine in New York - were slated for closure. MORE Read...

New EPA regulations would limit mercury pollution to Lake Champlain. Photo from flickr.

The end of the year brought good and bad news on management of air pollution in the United States. On the plus side, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced new rules and standards that will cut mercury emissions from power plants by up to 90%. MORE Read...

People gather in Albany, NY to protest fracking. Photo by Bennet V via flickr.com.

The issue of using hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” as a means of extracting natural gas from shale and other tightly packed rock formations has stirred a great deal of controversy. MORE Read...

A common goldeneye male. Photo from Wikipedia.

Winter is a great time for observing waterfowl on Lake Champlain. During the chilly months many birds escape from even colder northern climes to the relative warmth and tranquility of Lake Champlain. Ducks can be found wherever the edge of the ice is. MORE Read...

Membership support provides the majority of LCC’s funding and helps us protect water quality, safeguard natural habitats and enhance recreational access. MORE Read...

The historic flooding of 2011 sent unprecedented quantities of nutrients, sediments and debris into the lake and brought tragic losses to many communities. The events reinforced the need to adapt to climate change by ensuring that our infrastructure can handle the inevitability of more frequent and intense storms. Many thanks to LCC members who made a special donation (separate from annual membership) to LCC’s flood recovery work. MORE Read...