We are very excited to share with you the completed draft of the Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan - and we'd like your feedback before it's submitted on June 30th.

This project was a MASSIVE, multi-year undertaking, and the Lake St. Catherine Association would like to thank our partners and everyone who contributed, including:

• Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District
• Vermont State University at Castleton
• Fitzgerald Environmental Associates
• Limnologist Emily Porter-Goff
• Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
• The Towns of Wells & Poultney
• The Lake St. Catherine Community

Thank you all for your contributions to this effort for the lake!

Below you'll find a link to the Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan draft report and associated documents, and the link to the recording of the presentation from the June 4th meeting for your review.

Meeting Recording: https://youtu.be/Diy-bsg-qg4

LWAP Draft & documents: View the folder here.

We hope that you can take some time to review the presentation and the draft, and provide any feedback you may have before we submit the final report on June 30th.

Please send your feedback, comments, or questions to us at info@lakestcatherine.org.

Thank you!

Help to protect our valuable natural resource - Lake St. Catherine - through conscious decision making by participating in the Lake Wise program!

You can read more about the Lake Wise Program here: https://lakestcatherine.org/lake-wise-program

Lake Wise was developed through the Vermont DEC and is meant to provide technical assistance for shoreline landowners looking to incorporate lake friendly living practices on their properties. The Lake Wise assessment focuses on four portions of your property; driveway, structure, recreation area, and shoreline. The follow-up report gives recommendations on which stormwater management practices would be best for your property and the lake.

As a shoreline property owner, you have the access and the ability to control what is happening directly at the water's edge.

While small-scale improvements on individual properties may not seem like they have much impact, collectively the implementation of many small projects will have a positive benefit on the water quality in the lake and the surrounding watershed. Larger watershed projects are also being worked on (The LSC Stormwater Master Plan, The LSC Watershed Action Plan).

Actions now will promote a healthy lake environment that will continue to support swimming, fishing, boating, and wildlife viewing in the future.

Over the past 6 years, over 100 properties have participated in the Lake Wise Program on LSC, and 29 property owners have earned the Lake Wise Award. You can read all about all the great work that your fellow lakeshore property owners and our partner the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resource Conservation District (PMNRCD) put into the 2024 program here: https://lakestcatherine.org/blog/13442577

Three property owners on the lake earned the Lake Wise Award in 2024, and we'll be sharing photos of the winners and their properties soon.

Jaden from PMNRCD did a fantastic job in 2024, and we're excited that she'll be coordinating the program again in 2025!

If you would like to participate in Lake Wise this season, spots are limited, so please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org to get signed up! If you have previously participated in Lake Wise and would like a follow-up assessment, please let us know.

Lake Wise is a *FREE* program for lakeshore property owners. The 2025 Lake Wise Program on LSC is funded through a Clean Water Small Implementation Grant grant earned by the LSCA from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) and NEIWPCC.

For the second year in a row, our nesting loons have been successful, gracing the lake with another adorable loon chick!

As noted and reported by Dawn Smith-Pliner around noon time yesterday, one of the 2 loon eggs hatched, and a loon chick has been spotted with its parents - see the photo taken yesterday by LSC photographer extraordinaire Karen Velsor.

The parents are still tending to another egg at the nest - so we'll see if another chick emerges.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful photography Karen!

More photos can be found in the Lake St. Catherine - Vermont Facebook Group.

The Vermont DEC will be at Lake St. Catherine on Monday, June 23rd and Tuesday, June 24th to perform tests as a follow up on the discovery of the half zebra mussel shell in the late fall of 2024, which you can read about here.

This testing is part of an invasive crustacean and mollusk distribution project supported by the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP).

They will perform the following tests over these 2 days around the Fish & Wildlife Access Area boat launch in Wells, and at the State Park launch in Poultney:

• eDNA sampling for dreissenid (zebra & quagga) mussels (qPCR)
• 10 crayfish traps per site (sampling for rusty crayfish), set along a 50 m transect
• Timed search for additional mollusks and crustaceans
• Plankton net sampling for spiny waterflea and fishhook water flea

We thank the DEC and LCBP for their efforts in support of Lake St. Catherine!

We all need to be vigilant when dealing with aquatic invasive species (AIS) that could potentially infest the lake. This is why our Greeter and Vermont Invasive Patroller (VIP) Programs are so important. 

Our Greeters inspect boats for AIS as they enter and exit the lake, but we only have enough funding and personnel to cover the public access on Friday - Sunday from Labor Day to Memorial Day, along with holidays and fishing tournaments. Also, boats and other vessels can be launched at other areas around the lake. It is critically important to “Clean, Drain, Dry” vessels and equipment that will be going into the water to prevent the spread of AIS.

The VIP Program paddles areas where vessels would be launched, like at the public access, at the State Park, and at Wells Lakeside Park using underwater viewers to look for potential new introductions of AIS. This program is an early warning system for finding new AIS that have made their way into the lake so they can be quickly addressed. 

The VIP Program is a volunteer initiative. If you like paddling, and would like to learn more about the lake, please reach out to let us know you’d be interested in participating at info@lakestcatherine.org. You can learn more about the Vermont Invasive Patroller (VIP) Program on LSC here.

What can you do to help protect the lake from AIS? Become a member of the LSCA, volunteer, keep an eye on your shoreline and be sure to Clean, Drain, Dry any vessel coming in contact with the lake.

Thank you!

Hello LSC - We'd like to let you know that the 13th Annual LSCA Boat Parade has been scheduled and is open for registration!

The 13th Annual LSCA Boat Parade will be on Saturday, July 5th at 1 PM.

We all know how fun it is to watch the boat parade, but it's even more fun to be part of it!

As we did last year, we'll take photos of all participants, and we'll have a lake-wide online vote to decide the winner.

Our categories are:

• Most Original
• Most Patriotic
• Funniest
• Best Overall

If you'd like to register your boat, please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org with your name, phone number, and boat name or theme. We'll get you signed up and will reply back with your boat number, and give you all the details on how to participate.

Our 12th Annual Boat Parade winners, and current reigning champions are:

Most Patriotic:

Winner, Most Patriotic: Boat #11 - God Bless America!! - Dave & Lisa

Funniest:

Winner, Funniest: Boat #5 - Dump Run! - Conine Family

Most Original:

Winner, Most Original: Boat #7 - Carnival - Hicks Family

Best Overall:

Winner, Best Overall: Boat #9 - Come On Barbie Let's Go Party - Christine Gay

[ All photos by Karen Velsor - thanks Karen! ]

So, start thinking about your theme, and mark your calendars for July 5th! Then, email us at info@lakestcatherine.org to register your boat.

Also, lake resident Kevin Mosmen has requested that we inform you of his Independence Day Fireworks display the evening of Friday, July 4th. Kevin is taking over the show from long-time producer Rick Roberts, and has set up a GoFundMe for the show, which you can read about by clicking here.

It's going to be a fun day!

Hello LSC, we have some very exciting news to share with you today.

We are very happy to report that we've just been informed by the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) that we've earned a grant to purchase water testing equipment for the lake!

This $13,206 grant will allow us to purchase:

• 3 Dissolved Oxygen in-lake loggers
• 3 Conductivity in-lake loggers
• A hand-held testing unit
• Macroinvertebrate testing materials

One of each of the in-lake Loggers will be installed in all 3 basins (Lily Pond, Big Lake, Little Lake) and they will take constant & continuous readings for Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity (salt stress), and temperature. The hand-held unit will allow us to do spot testing for Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, pH, and Turbidity. The macroinvertebrate testing materials will allow us to monitor macroinvertebrates at our tributaries. We also plan to have a macroinvertebrate educational event this season.

We'll be working with our limnologist to select the best locations for the in-lake loggers and she'll also create a testing routine with locations for monitoring with the hand-held unit. She'll also analyze and report on the collected data, incorporating other available data generated through the Lay Monitoring Program and LaRosa steam monitoring.

We will be submitting our workplan soon, and once approved, we can purchase the equipment to begin the project.

The attached image is a slide from our presentation last evening about the Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan.

Thank you to all who attended, we hope you found the presentation interesting and informative!

A recording of the presentation and a draft copy of the Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan report will be posted next week for your review. We'll be collecting your comments and feedback over the next several weeks before we submit the final report at the end of the month.

Thank you!

Hello LSC, attached you will see the Milfoil Control Map for 2025.

Our DASH team (Beck and his crew) have been in the water this past week to dive at the milfoil areas identified during the fall survey. Beck reported that they observed some new sparse growth in areas, and some denser growth around the Sunken Island. They will start hand-pulling next week, and full DASH operations will begin on July 1st.

The team also performed a survey of the boat launch area for zebra mussels on Friday. Back in November, the Vermont DEC found a single, half shell next to the dock at the boat launch. You can read all about that here: Zebra Mussel Shell Found At Public Access. We are very happy to report that they did not find any zebra mussels during the dive.

It is extremely important to Clean, Drain, Dry any vessel coming in contact with the lake to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS). The LSCA's Greeters will be inspecting boats at the launch this season Friday - Sunday, holidays, and during fishing tournaments.

If you have any questions or comments, please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org. Than you!

Good evening LSC. Here are some photos from today's event at the Wells Village Library to debut the Lake St. Catherine Watershed Model.

Poultney artist Nic Stark kicked off the event by discussion how the model was made. Nic chronicled the creation of the model with photos and video which you can see here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2kTTWK12EQNDjh778

Then we discussed animals around the lake like our loons & eagles. We then used the model to demonstrate erosion and stormwater runoff carrying sediments, phosphorus, and pollutants into the lake, and talked about how we can prevent that. This led to a great discussion about lots of other lake related topics!

We then all enjoyed cake, cookies, and refreshments created by The Flour Girl Bakery.

Thank you to all our attendees - we hope you had a great time, thank you to Nic for his presentation, and thank you to Gina for this wonderful event at the Library!

You can check out additional photos and video in this Facebook Gallery.

Through extensive field work between 2018 - 2019, Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) and Fitzgerald Environmental Associates (FEA) created the Lake St. Catherine Stormwater Master Plan.

The stormwater master planning process is used to identify current stormwater inputs to surface waters. The relative impact from each of these inputs is calculated and the ranked projects can then be prioritized with feedback from local stakeholders who are familiar with both the storm-related problems and the capacity and resources available to assist in their mitigation.

In September 2023, the LSCA, PMNRCD, and FEA held a public stakeholder meting to select the next batch of projects to be designed, using $50k in funds earned by the LSCA and PMNRCD via a Lake Champlain Basin Program grant.

Potential projects were presented, along with their estimated impact for phosphorus reduction. After a discussion with attendees, the projects were selected.

We are happy to report that those projects have been designed, and we have scheduled a follow up meeting to present them.

Please join us on Wednesday, June 25th at the Wells Town Hall at 6:30 PM for a presentation of the designed projects.

On Saturday, June 24th, the Lake St. Catherine Association held their first meeting of the 2025 season.

Attendance: Jim Canders, Jerremy Jones, Mary Jo Teetor, Ed Laird, Nancy Liberatore, Mike Gay, Jeff Crandall, Sue Williams (online), Lisa Micich (online), Mark Shea. Absent: Kemi McShane, Bob Williams

Guests: John Belnavis, Beck Sinclair, Gloria Weber

Call to Order: President Jim Canders called the meeting to order at 8:30.

Public Comment: An introduction of Gloria to the group, she's interested in participating with the board, and is attending to observe.

Approval of Meeting Minutes: This item was missed on the agenda as the meeting began, we will need to approve the minutes of the August 24, 2024 meeting at the next scheduled board meeting in June.

Milfoil Management: Jeff Crandall, Jeff discussed the approval of our new 5 year permit which was approved on April 21. The May 12th & 17th spring surveys were completed and found very low levels of milfoil, so the decision was made to only use hand-pulling and DASH for milfoil control in 2025, meaning no spot treatments in 2 of the past 3 seasons, an excellent result! A DASH map & other required documentation will be sent to Olin at the DEC for approval. A discussion was held about trying hand-pulling efforts for the 2 small spots in Lily Pond, and the very dense area on the western shore of Little Lake. Beck and crew will investigate the possibility / feasibility. Beck has purchased a new motor and muffler for the DASH boat, and will be getting it ready next week. He will also spend some time around the boat launch diving to check for any trace of zebra mussels based on the half shell being found in the late fall. Jim then passed along a quick report from John Belnavis who has volunteered to oversee the Greeter Program for us this year. Greeters are on duty with returning staff, and interested new Greeters are scheduled to attend upcoming trainings. As of the meeting, 8 fishing tournaments have been scheduled.

Treasurer’s Report: Mary Jo Teetor, MJ provided a copy of the filed 990, and a statement of activity. MJ also described the recent bank issue, and its resolution. Mark made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report, seconded by Mike, all in favor, so moved. Jim announced a thank you to the Lake St. Catherine Country Club for allowing us to have our board meetings, and the Annual Meeting at the club. Mark made a motion to provide a $275 ‘facility fee’ to the club, seconded by Nancy, all in favor, so moved.

Water Testing: Mary Jo Teetor, there was a brief discussion of the ongoing septic issue on Channel Drive. MJ will start Lay Monitor water testing. Brief discussion about a posting by the DEC looking for cyanobacteria monitors on lakes, and LSC was included. MJ mentioned that the State Park already monitors for cyano at the beach. Jerremy will reach out to Lizzy at the DEC to see where on the lake they want to be monitored, and we’ll find a volunteer.

Annual Meeting / Use of LSC CC: John Belnavis has reserved the LSC Country Club for our Annual Meeting: July 27th, 2023 at 6 PM. John is working with the LSC CC on arrangements and dinner for the meeting. Details will be presented at the June Meeting. Discussion of potential speaker(s).

Publicity: Jerremy Jones, Spring newsletter available, emailed to members, posted on website, printed copies available at Wellsmere Farm & Cones Point General Store. Frequent postings on our website, Facebook, email blasts to keep the lake community infomed. Jerremy also gave a FOVLAP update, discussing the apparent removal of the ‘home lake’ rule of the new wakesport regulations, which is concerning because of the potential transport of aquatic invasive species, and the Chloride Contamination Reduction Program, H.86.

Lake Safety: Mike Gay, Mike and Buoy Buddies getting buoys and markers in. Multiple buoys are in need of repair or replacement, and it looks like the ice has taken some of our anchors. Mike is working on replairs, and will be installing solar lights on the hazard markers. Ed made a motion to allocate up to $1,200 for buoy and marker replacement and repair, seconded by Jim, all in favor, so moved. There was a discussion about the lake safety classes. Jerremy will reach out to Warden Jenna Reed to see if we could hire an instructor to teach a class for the lake community this year, and also see if there is a training for new instructors. Gloria may be interested in becoming an instructor. Jim then called for a moment of silence for Frank Callahan, who passed in January. Frank’s celebration of life was also noted as being at his camp from 1-5 on June 7th.

Nominating Committee: Jim Canders spoke. We did not hear from Bob last year. Jim will reach out. We currently have 3 openings on the board. As President, Jim can appoint members to open positions. Guest Gloria Weber joined the meeting, and is considering joining the board.

Membership: Jerremy Jones, slightly ahead at this time last year, 337 current members, working to get to the goal of 400. Drive kicked off in early January. Showed the membership stats posted on the website. Average contribution is over $200. Membership patches have been very popular.

Grants / Government Relations: Discussion about current and potential grants. LWAP grant ending at the end of June - final draft to be completed (meeting June 4th) [LCBP], Stormwater Master Plan grant provided funding for stormwater projects that have been designed (meeting June 25th) [LCBP], we did not apply for a grant for Lake Wise for 2025, using the remainder of the 2024 grant [LCBP], we earned a grant for AIS prevention & control from the State and LCBP for 2025, and we are awaiting word on a water testing equipment grant from LCBP. For government relations, we have very interested and supportive State representatives and senators, and support from our towns. All have been invited to the LWAP meeting in June.

Old Business: Discussion about the Welcome to Lake St. Catherine sign. Sheldon Slate can’t use the donated slate we have. Idea discussed to make the sign and get it into place with the 3 pieces of slate and have someone carve the slate. Jerremy will reach out to Kerry F from Poultney to see if she may be interested. Discussion about the eagles’ 3 new eaglets, the nesting loon pair is sitting on their nest (meaning they have eggs), and the beaver activity around the lake.

New Business: Signed up for East Poultney Day booth, Aug 9th. A new person is taking over the fireworks display from Rick Roberts and asked that we promote the GoFundMe campaign he has created. After a discussion with Ed, he suggested wording that would be acceptable to use. We will add this to our website calendar, and mention the event and the GoFundMe as we promote the Boat Parade, which will be the next day on July 5th.

A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 10:25, seconded and all in favor, so moved.

President’s Note: Gloria Weber who has some very good credentials and has participated in several LSCA events, is interested in serving on the Board. She lives full time on the Little Lake with her husband Bob. She attended the May 24 Trustee Meeting where she was introduced to the Board and experienced first hand the inner workings of the Board meetings. Gloria blended very well with the Board members and the members with Gloria. It was pointed out that there are several vacancies on the Board and the President has the discretion to appoint a person to fill the vacancy of an unexpired trustee term. This process can be completed during the next Trustees meeting, June 24, 2025, at which time the President can exercise his discretion concerning one of the unexpired terms.

Next meeting: June 28, 2025 at 8:30 AM LSC CC.

Meeting minutes compiled by Jerremy Jones.