October 2024
Basin News: Grants and Research Events and Activities
Lake Champlain Basin Program The transition from summer into fall has brought us to the close of the warm weather field and outreach season and into the heart of new funding opportunities. This is an exciting and busy time of year for the LCBP and our many partners, as we plan for future work and begin to receive proposals for innovative projects. We encourage you to explore our current funding opportunities, which support our core Opportunities for Action as well as emerging research, implementation, and outreach needs.
In this edition of Casin’ the Basin, you’ll also learn about a film created in collaboration with Vermont filmmaker Vince Franke, a binational effort to reduce phosphorus entering Missisquoi Bay, new staff joining the LCBP team, and more. As always, we thank you for engaging in this work with us!
Eric Howe
NEIWPCC Program Director, Lake Champlain Basin Program &
Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership
Basin News
LCBP Welcomes Sonya Vogel
Sonya Vogel joined the team as Assistant Scientist in August. In her role, she assists with research and implementation of projects that support clean water and healthy ecosystems in the Lake Champlain Basin. Her dedication to water quality was inspired by her childhood in Michigan, where the Great Lakes sparked her interest in environmental science. After earning her BS in Earth and Environmental Science from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!!), Sonya relocated to Burlington, VT, and is currently pursuing her MS in Geology at the University of Vermont.
Summit to Shore Celebrates Lake Champlain Waters and Efforts to Protect Them
Summit to Shore explores the Basin and efforts to protect its waterways. Photo: Peregrine Productions
A new LCBP video series celebrates the magnificent beauty of the Lake Champlain Basin— from distant peaks to wetlands on the Lake’s shoreline—and efforts in communities across the Basin protect and restore our shared waters. Produced in collaboration with Peregrine Productions, Summit to Shore features unique aerial and on-the-ground perspectives of three major rivers within the Basin: the Winooski, Missisquoi, and Ausable. Viewers can browse the videos or take a tour of the three sub-basins in an interactive StoryMap. Vermont Public broadcast a compilation of the films in September as part of its Made Here series featuring local film makers.
Watch the Made Here film and explore the Story Map →
Visitors Explore Waterways and the Underground Railroad at John Brown Farm
Beacons of Hope, the traveling sculpture of Harriet Tubman, formed the backdrop for explorations of waterways and the Underground Railroad. Photo: LCBP
Throughout the century of the Underground Railroad’s operation, the connected waters of the Upper Hudson River, Champlain Canal, and Lake Champlain served as an important corridor for freedom seekers. Recent programming at the historic John Brown Farm commemorated this history, and the extraordinary wayfinding and naturalist skills that allowed Harriet Tubman to free approximately 70 enslaved people via the Underground Railroad.
Watershed Education Abounds this Fall
Teachers in the Watershed for Every Classroom program learned about best birding practices and how to bring birdwatching and mindful observation to the classroom. Photo: LCBP
Eleven K-12 educators in the Watershed for Every Classroom program continued their year-long learning journey in the Lake Champlain Basin with outings to the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge and the Choiniere Family Farm in Highgate. The teachers learned about habitat protection and observation skills and the relationship of organic farming and soil health.
Students of all ages—including Crow’s Path preschoolers in Burlington, St. Albans elementary students in the Lake Lessons program, and students in the University of Vermont's introductory natural resources class—learned how they can help protect and restore our waters through art, watershed model demonstrations, and research and volunteer opportunities.
The Dead Creek Wildlife Day was one of many recents events where our outreach stewards have shared information like the State of the Lake Report and Aquatic Invasive Species Guide. Working alongside the USDA, Vermont Audubon, and the VT Fish & Wildlife Department helped showcase how partnerships in the Basin strengthen efforts to protect and restore its waters.
LCBP staff are available to present a variety of education programs in your classroom, camp program, or public event. Contact Colleen Hickey for more information.
Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Convenes for Annual International Summit
Partners from the CVNHP gathered for a tour of McGill University's Gault Nature Preserve. Photo: LCBP
The Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) convened in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, in September for its 15th annual International Summit. The summit is a key part of the CVNHP budget process, which includes input from organizations throughout the 9,000-square-mile heritage area. The summit featured tours of McGill University’s Gault Nature Preserve and the Musée du Fort Saint-Jean, as well as presentations on the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Network and initiatives to mark the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. A new traveling exhibit about the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Region, which will be made available to partner organizations for display, was also unveiled at the summit.
Champlain Hudson Power Express Delivers Power Presentation
The Champlain Hudson Power Express project is laying cable under Lake Champlain that will deliver power from HydroQuebec to New York City. Photo: LCBP
Some highly visible activity on the Lake caught the attention of many people in the area at the end of the summer. Barges working as part of the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) made their way down the Lake, laying a five-inch-diameter cable on the lake bottom. The project will deliver hydropower from HydroQuebec to New York City. The CHPE will place $117 million into an environmental trust, which will be distributed to initiatives in the Lake Champlain and Hudson River watersheds over a 35-year period. The LCBP fielded several inquiries from the public and the media about the work. In August, the Lake Champlain Citizens Advisory Committees in Vermont and New York held informational meetings featuring a presentation on the Champlain Hudson Power Express project.
Place in the Basin Contest No. 3
Can you guess this "Place in the Basin?" Photo: Peregrine Productions
To celebrate the launch of Summit to Shore, we’re challenging you to identify another "Place in the Basin." Stumped on where this place might be? You might find clues in the Summit to Shore StoryMap!
Congratulations to Kate and Jim from Vermont and Brendan from New York who correctly guessed our last "Place in the Basin": the mouth of the Ausable River!
Grants and Research
Grant Highlights
Photos, clockwise from top left: Peregrine Productions, Town of Waitsfield, Abenaki Helping Abenaki, Lamoille County Conservation District
Development of a Comprehensive Binational Phosphorus Mass Balance Analysis Toolkit for the Missisquoi Bay Watershed
Stone Environmental, Inc. has developed a tool to assess and reduce phosphorus entering Missisquoi Bay. The project began in 2022 in partnership with the University of Vermont and Québec-based organizations Research and Development Institute for the Agri-Environment (IRDA) and Organisme de Bassin Versant de la Baie Missisquoi (OBVBM). The tool, called a mass balance model, provides a detailed assessment of phosphorus entering and leaving the bay, which will allow for more targeted management strategies in the future.
Read more →
Invasive Species Management and Ecosystem Restoration in the Mad River Valley
The Town of Waitsfield, Vermont is developing a scientifically grounded approach to invasive species management in the Mad River Valley, with a focus on community participation. The project involves managing and monitoring invasive knotweed infestations, planting native trees and shrubs, assessing terrestrial invasive species other than knotweed, and testing mechanical removal methods. Comprehensive public engagement efforts are building community awareness and involving residents in stewardship.
Read more →
Nulhegan Abenaki Cultural Education Program
The Nulhegan Abenaki Cultural Education Program was created to support the continuation of Abenaki artform and culture by resourcing tribal members and other Indigenous people to share their expertise in traditional arts, customs, and stories. The program includes three components: workshops on artforms such as beading and looming, educational kits with activity guides, and lesson plans. The kits and lesson plans will provide historically and culturally accurate information for educators throughout the Lake Champlain Basin and State of Vermont.
Read more →
The River Runs Through Us – Lamoille County Library Hop
To underscore the importance of the Lamoille River to the towns it passes through, the Lamoille County Conservation District brought comprehensive river education to seven town libraries throughout the county. Each library visit featured a different aspect of river science. Participating libraries also received a learning bin with hands-on exercises, books, and materials to help patrons learn independently or as part of home school curricula.
Read more →
Open Requests for Proposals
The LCBP, in coordination with NEIWPCC, is pleased to announce these new funding opportunities:
Clean Water and Healthy Ecosystems Research Projects
Pre-proposals for research projects will address any research-oriented strategies and tasks outlined in the Lake Champlain management plan Opportunities for Action (OFA). For this request, the LCBP is particularly interested in projects that address the following research tracks: water quality improvement, monitoring upstream of permitted discharges in New York, aquatic invasive species management, native species and habitats, and dam removal.
Award amount: $25,000 to $400,000 per project
Deadline: November 8, 2024
New York Agricultural Innovation
Funding will support the costs for engineering services required for the design of a planned Best Management Practice (BMP) that will reduce phosphorus losses on farms within New York’s portion of the Lake Champlain Basin. An engineered BMP enhancement is used to meet the scope of a conservation planning component from the farm’s participation in the NY AEM Tier 3 program to further the capability for reducing nutrient losses at that site.
Award amount: Up to $50,000 is available to support this project. The LCBP anticipates offering up to two awards.
Deadline: October 21, 2024
Visit the LCBP website for details about these RFPs and to apply →
Cultural Heritage and Recreation
Pre-proposals for projects will address the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) Interpretive Themes and support the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026. Projects that focus on other concepts, innovations, or movements that have had lasting regional, national and global effects are also encouraged.
Award amount: $5,000 to $40,000 depending on category
Deadline: October 21, 2024
Visit the CVNHP website for details about cultural heritage and recreation grants →
Events and Activities
Upcoming Events
New York Nut Growers Association Fall Meeting
October 19, 2024
Whallonsburg Grange Hall, Essex, NY
Morning discussion topics will include growing hazelnuts and English walnuts, Adirondack food system resilience, flooding and drought, and more. In the afternoon, participants will visit Barred Owl Brook Farm.
Water Connects: Water Resources Institute Fall Seminar Series
October 21 – November 18, 2024
Farrell Hall, UVM or Zoom
The Water Resources Institute at UVM is starting up a Fall Seminar Series, Water Connects. This series will focus on flood related research by UVM faculty and flood experiences in communities.
Lake Champlain Sea Grant Fall Research Webinar Series
October 30 – December 11, 2024
Zoom
The fall webinar series will cover plankton in Lake Champlain, the economics of mitigating harmful algal blooms (HABs), and the consequences of warming winters on nutrient export to Lake Champlain.
Reconnecting Waterways: a Workshop on Removing Dams and Right-sizing Culverts
December 5, 2024 (Registration closes November 1)
Double Tree by Hilton, South Burlington, VT
This free workshop (Registration required) is designed for project managers, engineers, and excavation contractors working on or interested in dam removal and culvert replacement projects. Presentations will be focused on the process and policy in Vermont; New York and Quebec practitioners are welcome to attend.
LCBP Committee Meetings
- Executive Committee, October 29, 2024
- Executive Committee, November 19, 2024
- Executive Committee, December 10, 2024
- Steering Committee, December 17, 2024
Additional meeting dates TBA.
View the LCBP’s full meeting schedule →