Second Pond and Lake Flower Report, 2012
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Paul Smith’s College Watershed Stewardship Program: 1 Second Pond and Lake Flower Report, 2012 Recreation Use Study: Lake Flower and Second Pond State Boat Launches By Wesley Bates and Derek Scott, Watershed Stewards Figure 1-Lake Flower, Saranac Lake (1). Introduction Paul Smith’s College Watershed Stewardship Program posted Watershed Stewards at both the Lake Flower and Second Pond Boat Launches during the summer of 2012 due to a generous grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program and support from Paul Smith’s College’s Adirondack Watershed Institute. The Lake Flower and Second Pond state boat launches are both located along the Saranac chain of lakes, which also includes Oseetah Lake, Kiwassa Lake, and the three Saranac Lakes. These lakes contain the same aquatic invasive species (AIS) because they are hydrologically connected and experience heavy recreational boating through-traffic. These lakes receive the most AIS pressure in the High Peaks area of the Adirondack Park due to their heavy public visitation. Being the primary launching points for both Lower and Middle Saranac Lakes, both these boat launches offer access to the very popular Saranac Lake Islands Campground. The campground originally began in 1934 when public land was leased from the state by individuals, but became the attraction it is today when the Department of Environmental Conservation opened the sites as a public campground in 1974. The campground is composed of 87 campsites as well as 5 lean-to sites, and day-use sites on many of the islands. With a variety of activities from hiking to fishing, the Saranac Lake Islands Campground is one of the most desirable attractions in the area. The Lake Flower State Boat Launch is located within the Village of Saranac Lake on Route 86. In 1829 the Saranac River was dammed in order to create the lake (1). Lake Flower encompasses approximately 202 acres and is no deeper than fifteen feet (2). The lake was initially called Newell Pond, but was renamed for the former New York State Governor Roswell P. Flower following the end of his term in 1894. The lake is primarily owned by private 1 Paul Smith’s College Watershed Stewardship Program: 2 Second Pond and Lake Flower Report, 2012 individuals and is the last body of water in the Saranac Chain of Lakes before the water flows into the Saranac River. The Saranac Chain of Lakes is known to possess Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum), variable- leaf milfoil (Myriophyllum verticillatum), and curly leaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus). Eurasian watermilfoil has the ability to aggressively reproduce from small fragments. Once introduced to a waterway, Eurasian watermilfoil can quickly outcompete other plant species within the lake, transforming the native ecology. It forms thick mats of vegetation which then chokes out other species and hampers recreation. Both Lake Flower and Second Pond are potential sources of invasive species moving to other bodies of water and therefore high priority locations for efforts to prevent the spread of AIS. Paul Smith’s College Watershed Stewardship Program (WSP) has been engaging with boaters at Lake Flower since 2011. Lake Flower is the second busiest launch within the program’s eastern section and is frequented by boaters from out of town as well as many from the immediate area (3). The Lake Flower location proved to be ideal for public outreach and education, as its location in town proved to be a busy area for recreationists on the water and on land. The WSP is a public outreach program designed to educate and increase public awareness of AIS in addition to other environmental issues regarding the waterways of the Adirondack Park. The outreach at Second Pond began in 2005 and has been recurring every year since 2008. The continuity of the waterways from Second Pond makes the launch a high priority, being a primary source of Eurasian watermilfoil, which can easily be transported throughout the region. Figure 2- Watershed Stewards educating operator of stand-up paddleboard at Lake Flower boat launch. Methods For the fifteen weeks between May 26th to September 3th, a steward was on site at both the Lake Flower State Boat Launch and Second Pond Boat Launch from 7:00AM to 4:00PM with one hour off for breaks and lunch. 2 Paul Smith’s College Watershed Stewardship Program: 3 Second Pond and Lake Flower Report, 2012 Watershed Stewards were stationed at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Second Pond boat launch five days per week (Thursdays- Mondays) and the Lake Flower State Boat Launch six days per week (excluding Tuesdays). Watershed Stewards provided boaters and visitors with interpretive information concerning AIS. Boaters were surveyed by the stewards concerning were the most recent body of water their boat had been in. Data was additionally collected on what steps the visitor took to prevent the transport of invasive species from lake to lake. Information was also collected concerning the group size, horsepower of outboard engines, state registration and if the outboard engine was a 4-stroke or direct injection 2-stroke. All stewards provided a courtesy inspection for boats entering and leaving Lake Flower and Second Pond. Propellers, outdrives, trailer bunks, axles, standing water, and other nooks and crannies were areas of high focus due to the potential for harboring invasive hitchhikers. Boaters were then offered informational literature on aquatic invasive species and how to prevent them from infecting other waterways. Although the Watershed Stewards performed inspections for visitors they also recommended that boaters take responsibility for washing and inspecting their own boats. All viable boater responses were recorded in a Microsoft Excel database for future study and determination of use and risk. Results During the summer months of 2012, the WSP observed and inspected a total of 1,498 boats that were recreating on Lake Flower. From Labor Day to Memorial Day stewards interacted with 2,995 visitors accompanying the vessels. Of the 1,498 entering and exiting the lake, 567 boats visiting stated that the Saranac Chain of Lakes had been their last body of water visited in the prior two weeks, with many boats stating that their boats exclusively stayed on Lake Flower. 1,010 boaters recreating on Lake Flower possessed motorboats, accounting for two thirds (68%) of the total visitors. After motorboats, canoes totaled 14% (204) of launches, followed closely by kayaks at 13% (200). The remaining percentage of boats was divided between personal watercraft (63 for 4%), rowboats (14 for 1%), stand up paddleboards (1 rounding to 0%), and construction barges (4 rounding to 0%). In 2012, watershed stewards encountered a total of 3,003 boats and 5,393 visitors at the Second Pond boat launch between May 26th and September 3rd. There were a total of 870 motorboats (29% of all launched), 1,091 kayaks (36%), 936 canoes (31%), 55 personal watercraft (2%), 22 rowboats (1%), and 19 (1%) stand up paddleboards. 3 Paul Smith’s College Watershed Stewardship Program: 4 Second Pond and Lake Flower Report, 2012 300 250 200 150 100 # of boats # of people 50 0 Figure 3- Lake Flower Boat Launch Use, 2012. 600 500 400 300 200 100 # of boats 0 # of people Figure 4- Second Pond Boat Launch Use, 2012. The greatest usage at Lake Flower State Boat Launch occurred during the week ending in Independence Day and the first week in August. Second Pond State Boat Launch had the most use during the middle of July, the week of the 12th-18th, the first week in August, and over Labor Day weekend. These numbers indicate that in the future the WSP should, at a minimum, be fully staffed throughout July into the beginning of August. 4 Paul Smith’s College Watershed Stewardship Program: 5 Second Pond and Lake Flower Report, 2012 Figure 5-Types of watercraft launched, Lake Flower Figure 6- Types of watercraft launched, Second 2012. Pond 2012. Aquatic Invasive Species Spread Prevention Measures Taken by Visitors Watershed Stewards recorded any preventative measures boaters took to stop the spread of both native and non-native species from one waterway to the next, including visual inspections of boats, washing or drying boats, draining the bilge, live well, or bait buckets, and disposing of any found species in the indicated disposal sites. During the season, 62% of boaters said that they took some prevention step before launching or after retrieving their vessel at the Lake Flower State Boat Launch. Most of these boaters washed (41%) and/or visually inspected their boat (39%) for AIS. 4% of boaters allowed their boats to dry up to two weeks between launches, an important threshold for the viability of AIS. 2% of boaters drained their bilge between visits. It is important to note that many visitors took multiple steps while others took no actions at all, often citing that they never switched waterways with their boats. At the Second Pond State Boat Launch a total of 57% of boaters took some kind of prevention steps. 33% of groups inspected their boats, 39% washed their boats after use, 7% dried their boats, 2% drained the bilge, and a negligible number of groups, bait bucket, live well, or disposed of bait properly. Figure 7- Canoe inspection, Lake Flower boat launch 5 Paul Smith’s College Watershed Stewardship Program: 6 Second Pond and Lake Flower Report, 2012 Figure 8-Aquatic invasive species spread prevention measures taken at Lake Flower Boat Launch, 2012. Figure 9- Aquatic invasive species spread prevention measures taken at Second Pond Boat Launch, 2012. Organisms Removed from Watercraft During the summer of 2012 watershed stewards removed a total of 267 aquatic plant species from vessels entering and/or leaving Lake Flower.