Good afternoon LSC. 

We are happy to report that we have received a $21,910 grant from the Vermont Department Of Environmental Conservation as part of their Aquatic Nuisance Control Grant-In-Aid Program (ANC). Funding for the ANC Grant-in-Aid grants comes from a portion of annual revenues from motorboat registration fees and federal funds. 

These funds will be used to help support our Greeter Program, and our Milfoil Control Program.

Greeter Program:

Our Greeters are hard working young adults who have been trained to identify aquatic invasive species (AIS) to stop them from entering LSC. They also educate boaters about the importance of looking for these invasives on their boat or trailer so they are not spread to LSC or another lake.

Their duties include:

• Approaching and interacting with boaters
• Inspecting watercraft
• Identifying and handling suspicious specimens
• Collecting and reporting data
• Distributing educational material on aquatic invasive species

Our Greeters are checking for many invasive species that are just a lake or two away from us. These invasives include zebra mussels, spiny waterflea, asian clams, water chestnuts and starry stonewort:

For reference, check out the Vermont DEC's "Gallery Of Invaders" for photos and descriptions of the aquatic invasive species that are currently found in Vermont and those threatening it.

Our Greeters are on duty at the Boat Launch in Wells and the State Park in Poultney from Memorial Day through Labor Day - working on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They also cover holidays and fishing tournaments. 

Milfoil Control Program:

This grant will also support our Diver Assisted Suction Harvesting (DASH) team.

Our DASH team will begin working on July 1st, and you’ll see them working throughout the summer. They hand pull the milfoil from the bottom of the lakebed by the roots and then suction the full plant to the surface for safe removal from the lake.

This past season, 146 buckets (17.5 gallon) were harvested. The DASH crew picked up an additional 21 buckets (not included in the 146 total) as part of the Community Day cleanup in the Channel & Little Lake back in July.

Here is a quick video of the guys hand-pulling milfoil:

Thank you to the Vermont DEC for their support of Lake St. Catherine!

Hello LSC - we have a great event to tell you about.

If you enjoy paddling on Lake St. Catherine and would also like to be part of an early warning system looking for invasive species, we hope you will join us!

Vermont Invasive Patroller Paddle Survey Training: Tuesday, August 9th from 10 AM - 1 PM.

Please join us and Vermont Lakes & Ponds Program staff at this free paddle session offered to train Vermont Invasive Patrollers (VIPS) to monitor lakes and ponds for invasive species, survey healthy native plant populations, and reduce the threat for invasive plant species introductions. 

You can read more about the VIP program here.

Early detection is vital to protecting Lake St. Catherine from harmful invasive plants and animals. Vermont Invasive Patrollers (VIPs) monitor water bodies for new introductions of invasive species and report their findings to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

If attending this paddle session, you must provide your own watercraft and other on-the-water equipment.

Registration is now open!

Click here to register.

This is a GREAT addition to our invasive species control and prevention initiatives which includes our Greeter Program. Our Greeters work at the Wells boat launch and at the State Park to inspect vessels before (and after) they enter Lake St. Catherine to check for aquatic invasive species (AIS) like spiny water flea, asian clams, zebra mussels, and other invasive plants and animals that are only a lake away from LSC. They will be on duty beginning on Memorial Day weekend.

We hope you'll join us on the paddle!

If you have any questions, please email us at info@lakestcatherine.org.

Good morning LSC.

Last summer, Gina from the Wells Village Library reached out to the LSCA and LSCCF to discuss organizing a 'Libraries Love Lakes' event for Lake St. Catherine.

Libraries Love Lakes is an outreach project which pairs school and public libraries with lake scientists to provide collaborative programming emphasizing the importance of lakes in our everyday lives.

To help fund this exciting event, the LSCA applied for an Education & Outreach grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), which we learned that we had earned earlier this year. Thank you LCBP!

Work has begun on on this event, which will take place on Sunday, July 3rd at 10 AM at the Wells Lakeside Park.

This family friendly event will include fun activities, presentations, and boat tours related to all aspects of the lake. Children will receive lake themed kits containing books, and science & creative activities for the day.

After the event, the educational opportunities will continue at the Wells Village Library. Gina has dedicated a section of the library to Lake St. Catherine with pertinent information and activities to further advance lake-related learning. Gina has identified a wide variety of lake-related materials to launch this section of the library which we will be able to purchase via the grant.

Books & activities for the event kits and the library section have started to arrive, and Gina has started to prepare for the new section of the library, the "Lake St. Catherine Collection".

We are all very excited for this event!

Once all the final details are set, we'll let you know all about this fun day at the lake and how to participate.

So, mark your calendar for Sunday, July 3rd for Libraries Love Lakes @ Lake St. Catherine.

Hello LSC,

The Lake St. Catherine Country Club has been a Business Sponsor of the LSCA for many years. We thank them (and all of our Business Sponsors which you can see here) for their continued support!

The LSC CC recently reached out to us to let us know about a discount they will be offering current members of the LSCA this season.

LSCA members who present their LSCA Membership Card will be eligible for:

• 10% discount off daily rates
• Cart rental at membership rates: $12 for 9 holes, $20 for 18 holes

Thank you to the Lake St. Catherine Country Club for offering this discount to LSCA members!

There are 2 ways you can show your current LSCA membership to the LSC CC. You can either show them your digital membership card on your phone, or print out your membership card from our website, here's how:

Digital Membership Card On Your Phone

The LSCA website has a companion app that you can download for your iOS or Android based phone or tablet. The app is named for the company that hosts our website, Wild Apricot. The app is called 'Wild Apricot For Members' and you can find it in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

After installing it on your device, you can log in with the username and password you use for the LSCA website. In the app, you'll be able to view and search the Membership Directory, make edits to your member profile, view upcoming events, renew your membership, and view your digital membership card.

Right on the main screen of the app is blue button labeled "MY CARD". Clicking on this button will show your digital membership card, and it will list your renewal date. Current members will show that the renewal date is "1 Jan 2023".

Printing Your Membership Card

To print a copy of your membership card, log into your account on the LSCA website, and you will be taken to your membership profile page. Here you will see a copy of your membership card and a link to download a PDF copy that you can print. If you are already logged into your account, just click on the "MEMBERSHIP PROFILE" page listed under the "MEMBERSHIP" heading at the top of the screen.

If you have issues with either method, please let us know so we can help you out.

Thank you to all our members, and to the Lake St. Catherine Country Club for offering them this discount.

Thank you for your support of the LSCA!

Hello LSC and residents of Wells & Poultney,

Saturday, May 7th is Green Up Vermont Day, 4 weeks from today.

Green Up Vermont is a state-wide volunteer cleanup day of Vermont's roads and waterways. 

As Green Up Vermont's website says: 

"We know it isn’t your litter but Vermont needs our help to be beautiful!"

We had a GREAT turnout last year, covering almost every road around the lake. This year, we are looking to have all the roads covered, and also expand to cover more roads in Wells & Poultney.

We'd like to thank the town of Wells for reaching out to partner on Green Up Vermont Day this year!

We'd like to see if we can get folks around the lake to volunteer to clean up an area, and we'll do our best to coordinate the efforts so we all know what areas are covered, and which areas need volunteers.

Bags are now available for pickup at the Wells & Poultney Town Halls.

Also, we will be hosting a brief kickoff to the day at the Wells Lakeside Park at 8 AM that morning. Please stop in to pick up Green Up bags and fuel up on coffee and muffins from the Wells Country Store to get energized for the day! Please let us know if you'll be joining us so we can get a count.

So, let us know if you'd like to participate and where you'll do your clean up, and we'll add your area to the map. We'll keep the map up-to-date on our Calendar, on the May 7th Green Up Vermont Day event. You can view that here: LSC Green Up Vermont Day Event.

Email us at info@lakestcatherine.org, or contact us on Facebook to volunteer for an area - and we'll add you to the map.

Let's all pitch in to get Lake St. Catherine ready for a great Summer! 

Thank you.

2022 Green Up Vermont On LSC and Wells & Poultney map:

Hello LSC.

Please join local partners for a kick-off meeting that describes how you can participate in local water quality planning.

This virtual meeting is taking place on Wednesday, April 20th from 5:30 - 6:30.

Angie Allen, a watershed planner with the state of Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), is presenting information about ongoing efforts and opportunities to participate in the basin planning process. Angie works in several watersheds in southern Vermont, but is focusing her talk on Basin 2 (Poultney Mettowee) and Basin 4 (tributaries that drain directly to South Lake Champlain). Basin 2 also contains Lake St Catherine, Lake Bomoseen, Lake Hortonia, Lake Beebe, Echo Lake, Sunrise and Sunset Lakes, Glenn Lake, and Burr Pond.

From the DEC's Tactical Basin Planning StoryMap website, a tactical basin plan is:

"Tactical Basin Plans (TBP) are strategic guidebooks for achieving watershed health. They identify surface waters that are in need of restoration and protection and outline a list of actions to achieve water quality goals. The plans also identify the partners and funding critical to implementing the actions."

The basin planning process includes 5 major steps:

1. Monitoring water quality
2. Assessing and analyzing water quality data
3. Identifying strategies and projects to protect and restore waters
4. Seeking public comment and developing the plan
5. Implementing and tracking plan priorities (which is ongoing throughout the planning cycle)

The last South Lake Champlain Tactical Basin Plan was published in 2017 (you can view that here). Angie will be reviewing the action items in the 2017 plan to see if they were completed and if they were successful. As part of this process, she will update the 2022 plan with new water quality goals and tasks for landowners, residents, associations, and local partners to implement.

The purpose of this kick-off meeting is to report on the status of surface waters in the watershed, share the overall planning timeline, and describe ways you can contribute and participate. In addition, there will be State program staff as well as Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) and Rutland Regional Planning Commission (RRPC) staff online during the meeting to allow for a well-rounded discussion and to help answer questions.

The Lake St. Catherine Association administers and partners on many effective water quality programs for the Lake St. Catherine watershed including: outreach and education on lake issues, water testing, Lake Wise, the LSC Stormwater Master Plan, Milfoil Control, Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Prevention, and the upcoming Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan.

As a shoreline homeowner, or someone who cares about Lake St. Catherine, your participation in this meeting is very much appreciated!

So, please join us on Wednesday, April 20th from 5:30 - 6:30 PM for this virtual meeting hosted via Microsoft Teams. Please feel free to share this link with others!

Meeting link: Southern Lake Champlain Tactical Basin Planning Meeting

Hello good folks in the LSC community. Unfortunately, we have some sad news to report to you today.

Long-time former Lake St. Catherine Association Trustee Harry Bingham has passed away.

Harry & Sylvia receiving the first Lake Wise Award on LSC for their property

You can read about Harry in his obituary appearing on the website of the funeral home here.

We were informed of Harry's passing by his wife Sylvia, who wrote:

"Of course I am greatly saddened with Harry's passing but I am also deeply grateful for the wondrous time Harry and I shared together. For forty-three years, he was my constant companion, support and adventuring buddy. Vacationing at Lake St. Catherine, on service projects or visiting friends and family, Harry's smile and warmth was a gift to us all. Though the light of his eyes has faded, his spirit lives on in the riches of family and friends that have been our life together.

If you want to make a gift in Harry's honor, please send it to your favorite charity- Harry would trust your judgment and be happy to be remembered."

LSCA President Jim Canders wanted to share these comments about Harry:

"It is very sad news to hear of Harry's passing.

He loved the lake and dedicated a great deal of time to work with the Board. Since Harry was an engineer his work was always very well organized.

Harry chaired the Lake Safety committee and established the 'Buoy Buddies'. These were volunteers from around the lake who would assist Harry in building, maintaining, and placing the buoys and markers to insure that boaters were aware of underwater obstacles. Harry told me one time that when he looked out on the lake from his place in Horseshoe Bay, the three cones to the south toward Atwater Bay, reminded him of the term the 'Bermuda Triangle'. He mapped out the location of the buoys and markers and registered this information with the State.

At the beginning of each season Harry contacted the State Police to lobby to have more frequent presence of Marine State Police on the lake during weekends through out the summer months. Since there were very few members of this special State Police Group, it was important to Harry to get his annual request in early. Harry was on a first name basis with the desk sergeant at the Rutland Barracks!

He and Sylvia were always willing to lend a hand to help with the lake. We all thank Harry for his years of hard work and service to Lake St. Catherine. Our sincere condolences to Sylvia and her family."

To send your condolences to Sylvia, her address is:

1001 S. Valley Forge Road WBC 212
Lansdale, PA 19446

Hello LSC property owners. 

We are gearing up for the 2022 Lake Wise Program around Lake St. Catherine - and we are looking for property owners to sign up to participate this season.

In late January, we were informed by the Lake Champlain Basin Program that we had earned a grant in the amount of $24,970 for the 2022 Lake St. Catherine Lake Wise Program.

Lake Wise is a program developed by Vermont’s Lakes and Ponds Program to recognize outstanding efforts by homeowners who live along a lakeshore to protect the water quality and habitat along the shoreline and within the near-shore area of the lake. Four categories are assessed: The driveway and parking area, the structure (which includes roof, drainage, and septic), the recreation area (the lawn/footprint of non-natural, high-use yard areas), and the shoreline buffer area.

This year's project is entitled: “Creating a Critical Mass of Lake Stewards on Lake St. Catherine”, and will be implemented in partnership with the LSCA, the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resource Conservation District (PMNRCD) and new partner Castleton University.

Stormwater has a widespread environmental impact which makes it a growing concern in Vermont and Lake St. Catherine. In a statewide effort, towns and local organizations are working to implement large scale projects to help clean stormwater before it enters water bodies. Work is being done from the headwaters all the way down to the stream outlets. Excess nutrients in the water contribute to problems which affect both human and wildlife health including; lower oxygen levels in the water, toxic algae blooms, and excessive plant growth.

Shoreline property owners have the access and the ability to control what is happening directly at the lake'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.

In fact, after this season, Lake St. Catherine will be close earning the Gold Lake Wise Award. Lakes that have 15% of their lakeshore properties as participants in the Lake Wise Program will earn the Gold Lake Wise Award.

Last year, Lake Wise focused on properties on Little Lake, and we had great participation and results. This year, we are focusing on "high impact properties". While all property owners on Lake St. Catherine are eligible to sign up for Lake Wise, this year, we are particularly looking for properties where Lake Wise could have a significant impact with the help of the program.

If you have a property with any of the following characteristics - WE WANT YOU:

• A large amount of shoreline frontage
• Your lawn goes right down to the lake
• You have large areas of non-permeable surfaces 
• You're on the west side of the lake in zones of highest slope
• You're the Channel and experiencing shoreline erosion
• You live in zones where your neighbors are Lake Wise properties and can help us create entire Lake Wise neighborhoods

Enroll this month in the Lake Wise Program to receive complementary services, which could include: native buffer plantings, rain gardens, infiltration steps, erosion help, and other stormwater mitigation interventions this summer. These efforts help us all protect the lake from excessive nutrients that run across your property and into the lake which fuel milfoil growth and affect water quality.

Please contact us at info@lakestcatherine.org to sign up!

Together, we can maintain the pristine nature of Lake St. Catherine for years to come. Thank you for your stewardship and commitment.

Sincerely,

The Board of Trustees of the Lake St. Catherine Association

Good evening LSC. We're calling it...

Most of the ice on the Big Lake went out on Saturday, and on the Little Lake more than a week before that.

The last of the stubborn ice disappeared early this afternoon in Lily Pond and Oxbow Bay, so we have checked your predictions, and we have a winner!

Your 2022 LSC Ice Out Champion is: Mary-Sue Reed.

Congrats Mary-Sue!

Honorable mentions to: Mary, Hannah, Kyle, Andrew, Owen (Jr & Sr), Autumn, Suzanne, and Wellsmere Farm who also guessed today.

Thanks to all 108 people who entered a guess - and thank you to all our Ice Spotters for sending in reports!

Finally, a quick mention about our membership drive - we hope you can support us this season! To become a member, or to renew your membership, please visit our website: https://lakestcatherine.org/become-a-member

We have membership levels for everyone who loves LSC.

Thank you!

The LSCA was happy to sign on and support this funding request by Vermont’s Natural Resource Conservation Districts to the Vermont Legislature for the FY2023 state budget:

As is noted in the request:

"Conservation Districts are an unseen force that connects people, organizations and resources to steward our land and water resources for the future. District Managers are rooted in the communities they serve, and your favorite place has likely benefited from the work of the Conservation Districts. The work that Conservation Districts do in every corner of the state is becoming increasingly important, especially in light of the state’s clean water goals and Vermont’s Climate Action Plan. Their FY23 funding requests are critical for advancing state conservation goals.

Because of the important role Conservation Districts play, we want to ensure that all land owners and stewards and communities in Vermont have access to the technical assistance, project implementation and other critical support that Conservation Districts provide."

As you may know, the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRCD) has been doing fantastic work around Lake St. Catherine over the years, and they have been a great partner for the LSCA as we work together on the Lake Wise Program, the Lake St. Catherine Stormwater Master Plan, and the upcoming Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan.  

We appreciate the work our Conservation Districts do throughout Vermont, and we especially appreciate the work the PMNRCD does for Lake St. Catherine. We urge the Vermont Legislature to include the requested appropriation.

Thank you.