Three years ago Lake Champlain reached record highs and Tropical Storm Irene ravaged the northeast. These and more recent flood events demonstrated the importance of buffers, floodplains, and stable riverbanks and shorelines in reducing sediment and…
Wish you could look at Lake Champlain every day? Now you can with a purchase of LCC's stunning photo cards feature beautiful vistas of our favorite lake! An eight-card set includes two cards each of four different arresting scenes and costs $10 for…
This summer marked LCC's tenth year of blue-green algae monitoring and our third year of using a visual approach. We received reports from 87 sites around the lake each week during the summer. During the season LCC volunteers and staff had submitted…
Over a hundred volunteers trained by LCC filed weekly water quality reports during the summer. Their data provided over 95% of the information on the blue-green algae tracking map housed at the Vermont Department of Health. “The Lake Champlain…
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 Lake Champlain Committee membership.
Earlier this month lake effect snows dumped over seven FEET of snow around Buffalo, NY. Roads were closed for days; at least 30 roofs collapsed in Erie County; and at the latest toll 13 people had died as a result of the storm, many due to heart…
Sea lamprey, best known for their parasitism on salmonids, are among the most primitive organisms with backbones. They belong to a relic group of jawless fish called Agnathans. Their basic body structure evolved much earlier than most other…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is hosting a series of public meetings this November to outline the next steps in Vermont’s efforts to restore water quality in Lake Champlain.
Rail transport of explosive Bakken crude oil through the North Country has increased dramatically due to tremendous growth in outputs from Canada and the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota. Rail incidents in Quebec, Alberta, Alabama, North Dakota, New…
Join us at the Lake Champlain Committee's (LCC) 51st anniversary party on Thursday October 16 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at the FlynnDog Gallery and Chef's Corner South End restaurant area at 208 Flynn Avenue in Burlington.
Prevent Tar Sands from being transported through our communities! File comments by 9/30/2014 with both the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Department of Transportation.
More than 130 concerned residents attended an LCC public forum to discuss the risks of crude oil train traffic through the Adirondack Park and Champlain Valley last week, with many saying they would urge New York state officials to fully assess the…
On August 25 four individual spiny waterfleas were found during routine monitoring of Lake Champlain. The invasive exotic zooplankton species were discovered in the middle portion of the Main Lake between Burlington and Port Kent.
In early August, more than 400,000 residents in Toledo, Ohio were warned not to consume, cook with, or even boil their tap water due to the presence of algae toxins in their source water, Lake Erie.
Should farmers who own land with greater potential to pollute Lake Champlain be held to a higher standard than those that own less vulnerable land? LCC agrees with a Conservation Law Foundation petition submitted to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture…
Governor Peter Shumlin sent a revised Phase I plan for the clean-up of Lake Champlain to EPA the end of May. The plan is an effort to meet requirements anticipated from a revised lake pollution budget required by EPA.
Bass are now the most popular recreational sport fish in America, and Lake Champlain has become a destination for bass fishing. In 2012, BassMaster Magazine listed Lake Champlain as the fifth best bass lake in the United States.
Earlier this year, an innovative sea lamprey barrier was put in place on Morpion Stream, a tributary of the Pike River in Notre-Dame-de-Stanbidge. The barrier addresses one of the largest uncontrolled populations of sea lamprey on Lake Champlain by…
The United States Department of Energy has released a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for a electric transmission line that would run down the bottom of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River to deliver Canadian hydro-electricity to the New…
There are still more warm, drying days ahead before cold fall breezes blow in. Below are a few lawn and garden tips before you put tools away for the season.
While most people are savoring the last few days of summer, many birds have gotten beyond that and are beginning their travels to warmer winter climes. One of the first migrating birds you might encounter on Lake Champlain is the Bonaparte's gull.
Join LCC in Plattsburgh, NY on August 28, 2014 from 7-9 PM for the Oil Train Community Forum. A panel of experts and partner organizations will be discussing risks oil trains pose to the North Country and steps community, state and federal…
Blue-green algae blooms have begun developing on Lake Champlain, particularly in the shallow northeastern bays – Missisquoi and St. Albans. Blue-green algae thrive in nutrient-rich water and can multiply rapidly to form blooms and scums.
The sound of trains clacking along the rails that abut Lake Champlain has become more common recently with the dramatic increase in freight traffic attributed to fossil fuel extraction.
In the midst of another spring of high water we remember the floods of 2011 that brought widespread devastation to the Champlain Basin. A large snow pack and extensive spring rains swelled Lake Champlain to a record height of 103.27 feet above sea…
Vermont has been working on revising a lake clean-up budget as directed by the Environmental Protection Agency. What are the chances that the budget will lead to a cleaner lake?
In the 2014 Vermont Legislative session the legislature debated bills to increase requirements for protecting lake shores, regulate toxic chemicals and provide more funding for water quality projects.
In late March, LCC joined with a number of other organizations interested in lakes and rivers to discuss ways to advance water quality policy in Vermont.
The 2014 Lake Champlain Paddlers' Trail Guidebook will be out soon. This year's edition is filled with important information for great adventures on the water. MORE
How much information can you convey in five minutes? That was the challenge presented at the Slam session of the recent meeting of the New England Association of Environmental Biologists.
Even if air temperatures seem balmy, the lake takes much longer to warm up. Additionally, strong currents and springtime debris are potential marine hazards this time of year. MORE
The high waters of early spring flood low-lying forested areas offer an excellent opportunity to maneuver your kayak or canoe through the trees and button bush of floodplains and back waters. Flooded navigable habitat can be found at the mouths of…
Help assess Lake Champlain water conditions around the lake this summer as a blue-green algae monitor. The following monitor training sessions are free and open to the public. Stay tuned for additional dates and locations of other upcoming training…
Winter in the Lake Champlain watershed brought abundant snow and ice this year. Before we fully embrace spring, we thought we'd share with you some great visuals taken by LCC members and supporters on their explorations on and around the lake. MORE
The lake clean-up plan known as a TMDL has been the subject of intense debate over the last year. EPA is in the process of developing a pollution budget while Vermont is responsible for outlining an implementation plan for meeting that budget. MORE
The Lake Champlain Committee, along with the Conservation Law Foundation, Vermont Natural Resources Council and Lake Champlain International, held a press conference at the State House in Montpelier last month asking Governor Shumlin to provide…
