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District Directors
Gerald Morrow
Board of Supervisors rep; Chairman
David Holland
Member- at Large; Vice- chairman
Karl teRiele
Farm Bureau rep
David Blades
Board of Supervisors
Asa Thomas-Train
Grange rep
District Staff
David Reckahn
Manager
Lois Sayward
Secretary
Tiffany Pinheiro
Technician
Laura Benedict
Technician
USDA NRCS Staff
Sarah Fitzwater
District Conservationist
Josef Wetzstein
Soil Conservationist
Anne Marie Ziros
Soil Conservationist
Ethan Bentley
Civil Engineer
Essex County Soil and Water
Conservation District
Fall 2015
Board Meetings
Monthly meetings are held
the third Thursday of the
month at 7:30 am.
Website
Visit us on our website at:
www.essexcountyswcd.org
Also look for us on
Facebook!
Phone
(518) 962-8225
Fax
(518) 962-4002
The past few years have been busy with implementing projects noted
in the Schroon Lake Management Plan. These projects include
treating stormwater issues, educating landowners, and septic pump
outs. Stormwater systems were installed in the villages of Schroon
Lake and Adirondack. These systems will help to capture water off
roads and allow sediments to drop out prior to reaching Schroon
Lake. Educating landowners about various ways they can help
improve the lakes health have been a success. Rain barrel and lake
healthy living have been major topics. Rain barrels capture water
during a rain storm and allow the owner to release that water slowly.
It’s also a great addition to a garden, since the water can be used to
quench the thirst of thirsty plants! The lake friendly living topic
includes other ways landowners can help keep the lake healthy,
including rain gardens and keeping their septic systems on a regular
pumping schedule. The septic pump out program offered landowners
within 300 feet of the lake 50% off the first 1000 gallons pumped.
Left: Septic pump out truck. Above left: Tiffany presenting about rain barrels.
Above right: One of several sediment infiltration basins.
Prior to the implementation of this project, stormwater would runoff directly into Lake Champlain,
depositing sediments, nutrients, and other problematic substances. The project targeted areas along Church
Street and Lakeshore Road. An entire stormwater network was installed, which will allow sediments and
other substances to drop out before the water enters Lake Champlain. Storm drains, sediment catch basins
and pipes were all installed to help the process work efficiently and correctly.
Top: Storm drain that will capture stormwater.
Middle left: Sediment catch basins ready to be
installed.
Middle right: Sediment catch basins installed and
being covered.
Bottom left: While finishing other parts of the project,
this part was seeded to prevent soil erosion.
Bottom right: The finished project showing great
grass growth.
This summer we offered a 3-day ESI training. The
funding is coming from Lake Champlain Basin
Program. Several topics are addressed in the
training, including stream dynamics and how to
reshape the channel. The first day involves
classroom training, the second day is viewing a
project site while being worked on and the third day
involves viewing the site once completed. The site
used for this will be a stream stabilization project on
the Boquet River in the Town of Willsboro.
With the first growing season passing since the
harvest this winter, the forest already looks different!
The forest is starting to regenerate with lots of little
red oak and white pine seedlings popping up. The
landing, which was located in a popular picnic area,
has been seeded and has greened up nicely. Water
bars (below) were also installed on the skid trails to
slow water velocity and prevent erosion. We have
been busy this summer with working on another
timber sale in the Town of Lewis.
This project has been several years in the undergoing.
During the 2011 storms, an old wooden dam located
across from Marcy Field, was heavily damaged. A
favorite swimming spot for both locals and visitors
became unsafe with metal rods and other hazardous
materials poking out all over. To maintain the
swimming hole and enhance fish habitat, an S-weir and
a log vane were implemented.
The
completed
S-weir
looking
upstream
(left) and a
side view
(right).
Working on
the log
vane (left)
and the
S-weir
(right).
This year we tried something
new! Purple loosestrife has
become a growing issue in our
area, and one way that has been
shown to be successful is
releasing purple loosestrife
beetles. These beetles strictly
target purple loosestrife plants
by eating them. Over 800 beetles
were released in the Paradox
Lake watershed this year. We
had such success with the first
batch, we are already planning
on releasing more next year!
The Town of Keene has a new dry hydrant available
for use! Dry hydrants are used during emergencies
when fire trucks need to fill up with water, but a
regular hydrant isn’t available. This one draws water
from the East Branch of the Ausable River, right
across from Marcy Field.
A new grant is being offered to farmers in
Essex County. Contact us today for more
information! Applications will be due by
November 20, 2015.
•Cover crops
•Integrated pest
management
•Residue and tillage
management- no till
•Strip cropping
•Forest stand
improvement
•Critical area planting
•Mulching
•Tree/shrub site
preparation
•Tree/shrub establishment
Held at the Essex County Complex, this event
provided lots of information about agriculture in
Essex County. Farms displayed their hard work,
history was shared, and discussions were held.
Supervisors and County Department Heads enjoyed
the day while learning and sampling the bounties of
Essex County! It was also a great partnership
between Farm Bureau, Cornell Cooperative
Extension, and Soil and Water.
Practices that will be supported include:
The Willsboro projects have kept us very busy this summer!
The dam removal will help to reestablish natural fish passage
on the Boquet River. Since the heavy storm events in 2011,
high flow and flooding events had threatened to wash out the
dam. US Fish and Wildlife with Lake Champlain Basin
Program money funded the project for the removal of the
rotting dam. Part of the history of the Town of Willsboro, the
dam removal is intended to provide better flood resiliency and
restore natural fish passage. Down river from the dam
removal, the first engineered log jam in New York is being
installed. Engineered log jams have been used in other states
to provide bank stabilization, provide fish habitat, and enhance
the geomorphology of the stream. The purpose of these
structures is to capture debris at certain locations during high
flow and flooding events. By capturing debris, bank
stabilization is provided as the debris helps to dissipate the
waters energy as well as acting as buffer. Fish habitat will also
be enhanced by providing places for fish to hide under logs
and scour pools that will be created with time. This section of
the river is a popular fishing site, and a fishing access point
will also be established once the project is complete.
Manure pits hold manure from livestock until it is ready to be
used by the farmer as fertilizer on fields. Undersized pits can
overflow during high rain events, which leads to contaminated
water sources. Due to storm events increasing the amount of
rain fall, this manure pit was expanded to reduce the risk of
overflow in the future. Conservation practices such as this help
to keep our streams, rivers and lakes clean!
Top: Completed manure pit, prior to use or vegetative growth.
Bottom left: Clearing manure prior to construction.
Bottom middle: Fencing to prevent livestock from entering the pit.
Bottom right: Surveys ensured the pit was constructed correctly.
This year, we awarded Shaun and Linda
Gillilland, owners of Ben Wever Farm, the
Essex County AEM Award. Ben Wever
Farm has implemented several
conservation practices and have allowed
us to host pasture walks.
A huge thank you to all who helped us
to celebrate our 50th anniversary on June
18, 2015! We all had a great time. We
enjoyed seeing supervisors, local
farmers, partners, and more at our
celebratory open house. A great time
was had by all!
This summer we had the opportunity to help seed
and provide erosion control around the new Moriah
Health Center building. Silt socks were placed in a
drainage ditch to help prevent sediments from
running into a nearby wetland and stream. A
conservation grass seed mix was planted to assist in
holding soil in place. The straw mulch helps to
dissipate a raindrop’s energy until the grass can
become established.
Another successful and fun day for local schools!
This event, co-hosted with Essex County CCE,
allows students to rotate through stations to learn
about several different environmental factors.
Some of the topics this year included forestry,
soils, fly fishing, and much more!
My summer here at Essex County SWCD was full of
many memories and great experiences. My main
project over the summer was collecting GPS points
and data in the Upper Hudson Watershed, to create a
roadside erosion inventory. Along with finding new
erosion sites, I discovered many new roads and
places. I strengthened my GPS collecting skills and
my GIS skills. I met many new people and learned
about many different programs and organizations. I
also taught kids in the local summer programs about
pollution and how to keep our water clean, by
demonstrating real life actions on the EnviroScape. I
taught them key terms like erosion, eutrophication,
algal blooms, phosphorus, runoff, and riparian
buffers. Throughout the summer I learned how to
identify purple loosestrife and how to raise beetles to
kill them. I also learned about farming and forestry
techniques and practices, septic systems, rain
barrels, willows, hydroseeding, baling plastic,
permits, grants, stream restoration, and many other
things. This summer was truly a summer full of
opportunities, knowledge, and experiences. I am
thankful to have spent my summer with the staff of
Essex County SWCD and the staff of Cornell
Cooperative Extension.
This summer I was able to go around to various
summer programs and participate in different
activities with kids that incorporated educational
environmental values. The best part was executing
this program, working with the kids was fun and I
learned from them probably more than they did from
me. I never had a dull moment this summer; I
learned new ways to communicate and
improvisation is a skill that should always be
maintained. I had the kids do activities that kept
them running around and I would quiz them on what
they know about different various environmental
issues. The youth, directors and I all benefitted from
these activities and I had so much fun with this
program.
Essex County Soil & Water
Conservation District
P.O. Box 407
Westport, NY 12993
Non- profit organization
U.S. postage paid
Permit number 1
Westport, NY 12993
If you would like to receive a copy of our newsletter by e-mail, please contact us by calling (518) 962-8225
or e-mailing us at [email protected]. Color copies are also available online at our website at
www.essexcountyswcd.org. Please let us know if you would like to be removed from our mailing list.
Upcoming Events
•November 10 · Emergency Stream Intervention Day
Three training · Mill Street, Willsboro · 8:00 A.M.
•November 11 · Office closed
•November 19 · Board Meeting · Westport CCE
Building · 7:30 A.M.
•November 20 · RCPP Grant Applications due
•November 26 · Office closed
•December 4 · Erosion and Sediment Control training
· Westport CCE Building · 8:00 A.M.
•December 8 · Erosion and Sediment Control training
· Clinton County CCE Building · 8:00 A.M
•December 17 · Board Meeting · Westport CCE
Building · 7:30 A.M.
•December 25 · Office closed
We have a wide variety of equipment available to
farmers to help assist in conservation efforts.
Contact us for more information!
•No- till drill (Great Plains)
•Tow- behind seeder/ spreader
•10’ Post hole pounder
•Bale mulcher
Rain garden in bloom