2001 TODC Newsletter
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Summer 2001 Annual Newsletter Issue No. 14 New Areas to Explore Along the Eastern Lake Ontario Shore by Mark Wiggins, NYS-DEC DEC Region 6 is proud to an- The second trail is reached by nounce the completion of two traveling approximately 3 miles new nature trails in Jefferson south of Henderson Harbor on County. These trails offer an New York State Route 3 and opportunity to appreciate nature then onto Bolton Road. At the and open space. end of Bolton Road is a newly constructed roadway that runs The new Lakeview Wildlife .75 miles to a trailhead parking Management Area (WMA) trail is area. The trail passes through located off New York State Route a predominately Silver Maple 3, approximately 2.3 miles north woodland onto a 700' long of the Oswego - Jefferson County Trailhead at South Sandy Creek raised boardwalk. The boardwalk line. The trail starts at the DEC car traverses a flooded maple wood- top boat and canoe access parking area on South land and open water marsh terminating on the back Sandy Creek. The trail weaves through wooded side of a high sand dune that separates the wetland and wet meadow cover types, passes a con- from Lake Ontario. Continuing along the back of the structed wetland pond and a vernal pool, parallels sand dune, a compacted crushed limestone trail South Sandy Creek and ends at an observation threads through large oak and pine forest a distance deck overlooking the broad expanse of Lakeview’s of 900' to an observation/fishing deck on Black marsh and sand dune complex, some 3580' from Pond. From here a boardwalk traverses an old the starting point. Interpretive signs highlighting the dune “blow out” a distance of about 600' to an area’s ecology will be placed at various points of observation deck overlooking Lake Ontario. This interest and there are a number of benches in- trail system provides the visitor a great variety of stalled along the trail for taking a rest or watching wildlife viewing opportunities, including songbirds, wildlife. The trail is 6' wide and is handicap acces- waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors. Furbearers, sible. The woodland portion of the trail is a good such as muskrat, beaver, and mink may be seen. place to observe warblers, wrens, and other small Deer are common in the area, as are gray squirrel, birds skittering about the black willow and box elder, porcupine, red fox, and coyote. Painted turtles are while the open marsh is home to a variety of water- common in the marsh and there is usually a Great fowl, marsh birds, and shorebirds. South Sandy Blue Heron or two wading the pond edge looking for Creek is home to a variety of panfish, pike, and frogs and small fish. The walk through the sand bass and has seasonal runs of trout and salmon dune is spectacular due to its size, depth, and making it a popular fishing stream. You may also vegetative composition. Stay on the trail, as sand spot a muskrat or beaver creating a “V” shaped dunes are fragile. Upon reaching the beach, you wake in the stream .... or a water snake! Look for will have a wonderful view of Lake Ontario, minus deer and coyote tracks along the trail as you take a shoreline development. It’s like stepping into the pleasant stroll. past. Private Landowners' Committee The Ontario Dune Coalition is comprised of by Sally Sessler, Private Landowners' Committee Chair organizations interested in the stabilization of Lake The Private Landowners’ Committee met on June Ontario dunes. This coalition of state and local agen- 16 and may meet again later in the summer if cies, private landowner/resource associations, and needed. Please express any concerns that you federal agencies are working in concert to: would like discussed to your Association represen- 1. Assist in the stabilization of dunes as natural systems tative. One the committee’s goals for this year is to 2. Develop measures to maintain their stability have more communication with individual landown- 3. Acheive optimum public use in keeping with ers through the Associations. private property considerations and dune protection and restoration objectives The Private Landowners Committee has been The following is a list of agencies and associations active gathering information on the regulation plan for Lake in TODC: Ontario for several years. The committee chair, Black River RC&D Sally Sessler, has been appointed to the Intl. Lake Eastman Place Association Ontario St. Lawrence River Public Interest Advisory Friends of Sandy Pond Beach Group (PIAG) for an 18-month term. The purpose of Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Jefferson County Environmental Management Council this group is to further public participation in a study Jefferson County Planning Department to evaluate options for regulating levels and flows in Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system. A Jefferson-Sunset Bluff Landowners Association Study Board, also appointed by the IJC, is respon- North Jefferson Park Landowners Association sible for conducting the study of the Lake Ontario-St. North Rainbow Shores Landowners Association North-South Sandy Pond Association Lawrence River system. If you would like to receive New York Sea Grant Extension newsletters for this group by mail or email, please NYS Department of Environmental Conservation contact Molly Thompson (see below). NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation NYS Department of State Onondaga Audubon Society A short presentation has been developed by PIAG Oswego County Cooperative Extension and is available for interested groups. Please con- Oswego County Environmental Management Council tact Molly Thompson, NY Sea Grant,315-312-3042, Oswego County Planning Department to arrange for presentation of this program to your Oswego County Soil and Water Conservation District group. Renshaw Beach Association Sandy Island Beach Property Owners Association Seaway Trail, Inc. Lake Level Update Selkirk Beach Association As of mid-June, Lake Ontario was just about at its The Nature Conservancy long-term average of 246’. This is in contrast to last Town of Ellisburg year at this time when the lake was about 7 inches Town of Richland above average. Outflows from Lake Ontario into the Town of Sandy Creek St. Lawrence River should stay near average for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Environmental Protection Agency summer. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service For the most up-to-date information on lake level For further information on The Ontario Dune Coalition, contact: issues the following web pages provide a wealth of The Ontario Dune Coalition information. If you do not have access to the web, C/O Jefferson County Planning contact NY Sea Grant at 315.312.3042 for informa- 175 Arsenal Street tion. Watertown, NY 13601 International Joint Commission: For additional information on the Eastern Lake Ontario www.ijc.org Dunes and Wetlands visit our web page at: St. Lawrence River Board of Control: www.cce.cornell.edu/seagrant/dune/dune.html www.islrbc.org The Ontario Dune Coalition newsletter is produced Lake Level Forecasts: and distributed by: chswww.bur.dfo.ca/danp/wlgraphs.html NY Sea Grant and The Nature Conservancy NY Sea Grant: With a grant from: www.cce.cornell.edu/seagrant/gl-levels/ USEPA-Great Lakes National Program Office levels.html Feature Article: Coalition Members Active in Bi-National Study of Lake Ontario Water Levels by Sandy Bonanno, The Nature Conservancy Ebb and flow – for complex formula that aquatic systems, attempts to balance the that’s the rhythm of needs of power genera- life. The pattern of tion, shipping, shoreline natural variations in communities, and shore- water level is a funda- line landowners. In recent mental driving force years, the Board has that shapes rivers, attempted to accommo- lakes, and shorelines. date the needs of recre- Nowhere is this better ational boaters and natural illustrated than the resources as well. Great Lakes. Since the 1860s, the federal The Board’s explicit goal is government has Lake Ontario water levels, 1860 - 2000. to reduce the fluctuation measured water levels range from 6.5 feet to 4 in Lake Ontario, documenting fluctuations over a feet. Many biologists have recognized serious im- 6.5-foot range. In most years, there is often a pacts on natural resources resulting from 40 years of two-foot difference between the June high and reduced variation in Lake Ontario water levels. Marsh December low water mark. habitat has become densely dominated by cattails, making it less valuable to waterfowl and black terns. Of course, such dramatic fluctuations can cause Spring spawning runs of northern pike, muskellunge, trouble – for man and beast alike. Docks are and other sport fish have been interrupted. Shore- drowned in high-water years; keels and boat birds find narrower beaches for nesting and feeding. props are broken in low-water years. Water intakes are fouled in low water; dangerous cur- These are just examples - the full range of environ- rents in high water hamper shipping. In a dry mental effects has never been systematically docu- spring, fish have trouble accessing their spawning mented. To better understand the effects of Lake marshes, while strong storms can flood out Ontario’s regulation on all stakeholders, the IJC has endangered black tern nests in the same called for a five-year, $40 million bi-national study to marshes. review the criteria for regulation. Both the U.S. and Canada have embraced the plan and provided first- On the other hand, research has shown that the year funding. continual disturbance created by fluctuation maintains and renews shoreline habitats such as Members of The Ontario Dune Coalition will partici- marshes and dunes, benefiting their inhabitants in pate in the study process.