President's Report
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Page 1 December 2014 KLA Newsletter PROTECTING THE QUALITY OF THE LAKE www.keukalakeassoc.org Newsletter “Listen to the Lake” December2014 Kla membership PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Bill Laffin Renewal for 2015 This has been another great year for your Keuka Lake Membership renewal forms for Association as the Board of Directors has consistently 2015 will be sent out March1, worked to strengthen the resolve of “Protecting and Preserving Keuka 2015. To renew, you may return Lake”. The membership of the organization should have every confi- to the KLA office the enclosed dence that the group of volunteers that run the activities of the KLA form with your check or credit are totally committed to the lake and its watershed. As you will read in card info. You may also renew this newsletter, our activities continue to be diverse - ranging from on-line at our website with your educating our elected officials in Albany on the need to protect the wa- credit card. Whichever way you tershed from hydrofracking ; sampling water for quality indicators, choose to renew, please include publishing the KLA Directory and educating everyone on topic of any up-dated information,. Also Aquatic Invasive Species. The KLA was very fortunate to fund a grant you may select to receive our to Cornell Cooperative Extension of Yates County at mid-year for an monthly e-newsletter and e- Invasive Species Educator. Emily Staychock is doing a great job and announcements and choose to continues to enhance the KLA’s overall knowledge in this critical area. receive our quarterly newsletter I want to thank all of our members for your support and the confidence by e-mail, regular mail or both. that you put in the Officers and Board of Directors of the Association. We look forward to your contin- The activities of the KLA would not possible without the support of our ued support for 2015 to help us members. maintain our mission. So rather than spend the remainder of this letter on what we ac- complished in 2014, I want to jump right into a critical program initia- tive for 2015. As I stated at the KLA Annual Meeting, the State Legis- Newsletter Highlights lature had passed two laws in the early summer and Governor signed these laws in early September. These laws which will go into effect in President’s Report….......................1& 2 September 2015 will have a dramatic impact on how New York State Membership Report…………...………..2 Hydrofracking/Well Disposal Report.....3 deals with Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) over the next 5-10 years. In Nominating Committee…………….…...3 late October, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation New/Returning Members………..……..3 published its DRAFT “Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan” Water Quality ………..…………….……4 Year-end Tax Deduction……………….4 which outlines the actions that New York plans to initiate in order to Lake Level Committee………………….5 stop the introduction and spread of AIS in New York’s waterways. Navigation & Recreation………………..6 One of the key elements of this plan is “Expand the boat launch stew- Boaters’ Safety Course Info…………….6 KLAeidoscope Info…………………...6&9 ard program and ensure consistency of these programs statewide”. Invasive Species in your Backyard…7&8 Some of you may remember that there was a launch steward program 2014 KLA Directory Corrections……….8 on Keuka in 2012-2013 but the grant that funded that program was KLA Facebook & Website info………….9 2015 Scholarship Info…………………...9 not available for 2014. Unfortunately, the DEC does not appear to KLA Member Ads………..……...... 10-16 have the staffing to run a program on every lake and the question of Critter Corner: Smokey……....…...…...17 funding is very much up in the air. 2014 KLA Member /Donor Roster ..18-24 Recently, the KLA’s Water Quality Committee agreed that the 2014 KLAeidoscope Photos………24&28 Order Forms……………………............25 KLA should operate its own program in 2015. The State has already KLA Directors and Officers……...........25 indicated that it will be hosting a seminar in the spring on how to de- Business Members & Advertisers…….26 sign, organize and start such a program. For the KLA, this means that KLA Office & Advertising Info….………27 Membership Application Form………...27 we will need to develop a training program that follows state guide- lines for Boat Launch Stewards, train the Stewards and get the sup- port of municipal and state officials who control public access boat Cont. on pg. 2 Page 2 December 2014 KLA Newsletter President’s Report - cont. from pg.1 launches on Keuka Lake. We believe that will also need to recruit a cadre of VOLUNTEERS who will be will- ing to staff the launch sites during those peak hours of launch activity, especially when fishing tournaments visit the area. The KLA has already been in contact with the Village of Penn Yan and they are in concert with our pre- liminary ideas. However, there is a lot of work that needs to be done over the next several months. So I am asking now for people who are interested in assisting with this activity to VOLUNTEER now. This initiative cannot be accomplished by the KLA Board of Directors alone. We would like to see a cross section people from the watershed who would VOLUNTEER to help us. If you have even a slightest interest in assisting us, please contact the KLA office now, so that we can compile a list of future volunteers. Some of you may re- member that the group working on the Strategy for a Sustainable Keuka conducted a survey at the KLA An- nual Meeting and later sent out an electronic survey on a variety of watershed issues and goals. In excess of 97% of the respondents indicated a willingness to support some type of pre-launch boat inspection program. We now need your help to make this idea a reality. In 2014 the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association ran its own Boat Launch Steward program and their volunteers averaged about 16 hours each for the whole season. So the more VOLUNTEERS we can muster, the easier it will be on everyone. Please contact our office at [email protected] now to sign up. Membership is the key to a healthy KLA organization. We need to get more Keuka Lake area residents to become members. Please spread the word to neighbors, friends and local businesses. A KLA Member- ship is a great holiday gift that will continue to give for generations to come. Again, we appreciate the support of our membership and with your assistance, the Keuka Lake Associa- tion should have a great 2015. Please have a safe holiday season! MEMBERSHIP update - Mike Gow As of writing this update, the KLA 2014 membership drive has nearly ended…and, we’re happy to report, very successfully! We anticipate the year ending with a membership approaching 1,700! (Our total membership in 2013 was 1,651.) Your KLA continues to be relevant, active and growing. You can learn about several accomplishments the KLA has attained during 2104 elsewhere in this, and prior, newsletters. However, to provide an historical overview: “Since our founding in 1956, the Keuka Lake Association has played a major role in helping to protect and preserve Keuka Lake. In many instances the Association provided program leadership to address specific problems. However, in every situation, success was achieved through a close collaboration with all parties interesting in finding a solution to the problem at hand.” In the next newsletter, I will provide insight to a few of the significant initiatives and accomplishments the KLA has been instrumental in achieving since it’s formation. Once again, the KLA Board sincerely thanks you for your membership, and your participation, in helping us keep Keuka Lake clean and safe. Please remember to include KLA gift memberships to others on your holiday list!! We’d also love for you to increase your membership level for 2015. If you have any membership questions, please contact us: 866-369-3781, local at 315-694-7324, visit the KLA website or email us at: [email protected]. Be well, safe and enjoy the Holidays!! We look forward to seeing you next year. Page 3 December 2014 KLA Newsletter Hydrofracking & well disposal committee report - Jim Barre The KLA Hydrofracking and Well Disposal Committee expects the NYS-Department of Environ- mental Conservation (DEC) to issue a revised draft of the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement) SGEIS) in the next few months. Governor Cuomo indicated in a televised debate that the decision on High Volume Horizontal Fracturing for Natural Gas (HVHF) would occur after the November elec- tion and when the NYS Department of Health issues its analysis. Both the KLA and the Finger Lakes Regional Watershed Alliance have reiterated their opposition to HVHF in their respective Watersheds in letters to the DEC. The KLA expects to have a conversation with the DEC before and near to the time that the revised SGEIS is issued. Again, the economics of HVHF in the Marcellus Shale Layer under the Keuka Lake Watershed are signifi- cantly reduced due to the thinness of the Marcellus Shale layer; and, its nearness to the surface increase the environmental risks. The Committee of Towns opposing HVHF continues to meet and encourage/support towns in the Watershed to adopt Town Comprehensive Plans and Zoning Laws to prohibit HVHF. We are hopeful that HVHF will be prohibited in the Keuka Lake Watershed. NOMINATING COMMITTEE Dennis Carlson As we rapidly move towards the end The KLA welcomes the following new of 2014, the KLA Nominating Committee is preparing & returning members: for the search for persons that are interested in serv- *These new members came to us from two local ing on the KLA Board.