February 2012 Archives

Check out the LGA's findings from the 2011 Lake Steward program.

The steward program seeks to protect the Lake from the introduction and spread of invasive species.

These invasives can negatively affect our ecosystem, our property values, and our tourism-driven economy. You can download the free report from the LGA website: www.lakegeorgeassociation.org.

Since 2006, lake stewards have inspected boats at high traffic launches and have educated boaters on how to prevent the spread of invasives.

In 2011, LGA stewards were posted at six launches: Norowal Marina, Mossy Point, Hague Town Beach, Rogers Rock, Dunham's Bay, and Million Dollar Beach.

Over the 2011 season, the stewards interacted with 8,593 boats:

- Within two weeks of their launch in Lake George, boaters had visited 193 unique waterbodies located in 15 different states.

- Other than Lake George itself, the next most frequently visited waterbody was the Hudson River, a waterbody with 91 different invasive species; 100 boats inspected had been in the Hudson within two weeks prior to launch in Lake George.

- 171 aquatic organism samples were collected from 125 boats and trailers; 87 samples were identified as invasive species.

- Four different species were found: Eurasian watermilfoil (pictured at right), curly-leaf pondweed, water chestnut and zebra mussels.

- 75% of boaters reported taking spread prevention methods before launching in the Lake.

We find that most boaters are quite willing to have their boat inspected and are quite appreciative of the stewards' efforts to keep Lake George free of invasive species.

The 2011 Lake Steward Program was funded by the Lake George Park Commission ($35,000) and the Lake Champlain Basin Program ($25,000), with additional funding coming from the LGA's Helen V. Froehlich Foundation grant awards.

We're getting a bit of mixed precipitation as I write this, but most folks' lawns around the Lake are bare... so just in case you're thinking of getting an extra early start on your spring yard work, I thought I'd remind you of the new NYS lawn fertilizer law. It went into effect on Jan. 1 of this year.

This new law:

• Prohibits the use of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizer unless establishing a new lawn or a soil test shows that the lawn does not have enough phosphorus.


• Prohibits the application of lawn fertilizer on impervious surfaces and requires pick up of fertilizer applied or spilled onto impervious surfaces.


• Prohibits the application of lawn fertilizer within 20 feet of any surface water except: where there is a vegetative buffer of at least 10 feet; or where the fertilizer is applied by a device with a spreader guard, deflector shield or drop spreader at least three feet from surface water


• Prohibits the application of lawn fertilizer between December 1st and April 1st


• Require retailers to display phosphorus containing fertilizers separately from non-phosphorus fertilizers and to post an educational sign where the phosphorus-containing fertilizers are displayed.

This provision DOES NOT impact agricultural fertilizer or fertilizer for gardens.

Remember ....when buying fertilizer -- look for the "0" as your middle number. That means it is phosphorus free.

More on what you CAN do in your yard this spring coming up in future posts!