Eagle Lake receives ProcellaCOR treatments

TICONDEROGA | Eagle Lake has become the most recent Adirondack body of water to be treated with ProcellaCOR to combat a Eurasian watermilfoil invasion. As of Thursday, June 26, three well-known sites were treated, with more hopefully on the schedule for next year. "For me, Eagle Lake is one of the nicest lakes in the Adirondacks," said Susan Clark, treasurer and board member of Eagle Lake Property Owners, Inc. (ELPOI). "It is a beautiful place to be and is a great lake for kayaking. I feel very lucky that I personally have the ability to live there, all four seasons are magnificent. We don't have a lot of boat traffic and that makes it even better, you can go out there and it is your own personal playground." Clark and ELPOI want to ensure the lake remains clean and pristine. ELPOI, founded in 1907, is an association of homeowners along the lake that oversees activities on the lake. The organization helps keep the lake healthy and deal with any problematic issues that arise. And when it came to milfoil invasion, it was only a matter of time. With other neighboring lakes- Lake George, Paradox, Schroon- being inhabited by enthusiastic boaters and, despite their assumed due diligence in properly cleaning their crafts before occupying another body of water, that pesky, persistent milfoil somehow found its way in. And despite efforts for years to control the milfoil in Eagle Lake via hand harvesting and laying down mats on the lake bed, it still remained unmanageable. "Milfoil gives the smaller fish a habitat to live in inside the milfoil beds, the problem is the larger fish cannot feed on the smaller fish because they cant swim through the milfoil, so what happens is you lose your larger fish because they don't have their regular feeding system in place," Clark explained. "It also creates a massive amount of plants in the water and they lay on top of the water (like a pool solar cover), which heats up the water, causing a thermal issue. Boats can stall through the milfoil beds, and swimming is dangerous because the plants can wrap around swimmers' legs. Milfoil just doesn't belong in there." ProcellaCOR is a herbicide used for managing invasive aquatic weeds containing an active ingredient of Florpyrauxifen-benzyl. Applied to water or directly on invasive aquatic weeds in slow-moving or still freshwater, ProcellaCOR has made big news last year when it was applied to Lake George last year, a decision that was a long-fought battle in court between the LGA and the LGPC and caused a great divide in opinions between local residents, many in opposition. However, Clark said it boded well for Eagle Lake to be on the coattails of the Lake George application. "Whenever you are putting herbicide into the lake or using any types of chemicals, there is some cautiousness and worry," Clark observed. "We were very fortunate because Lake George was a year in front of us. We watched, we listened, and we waited. They tested everything extensively after the treatment and we were able to see first-hand some of our own questions being answered. It is a fairly amazing herbicide because it does not kill the native plants. One of the things we are trying to do is get the ecosystem balanced again, and you need those native plants to do that." Clark said the APA ultimately and DEC are ultimately responsible for all Adirondack lakes and water bodies in New York State and that ELPOI has to answer to them, but both governing bodies were supportive of ELPOI's mission when they began their permitting process last year, the association even receiving a grant from the DEC for their required lake management plan. ELPOI also performed a large capital campaign in a three-week time span, raising about $40,000. Those funds, combined with grant funding, allowed for the first sections of Eagle Lake to be tackled with ProcellaCOR. According to Clark, ELPOI applied the herbicidal treatment at Ti Bay along Route 74 where the greatest population of people reside, and also had the largest milfoil bed. The shallow area around Sunken Island was a prime milfoil habitat thanks to its shallow nature (milfoil can't grow in over 15 feet of water), and also received treatment, as it did the right side of the causeway on the north side of the lake as travelers head to Schroon. "There are several other beds we want to treat next year," Clark said. "We had to pick our battles because of the financial implication of all of this." The capital campaign will continue throughout the summer and fall to raise more money for next year. To date, 60 percent of the 78 property owners on Eagle Lake made contributions towards the project. "We did three educational meetings last year to try and educate people on ProcellaCOR to assuage fears, and I think that is one reason why our capital campaign was successful," Clark reflected. "People can also access numerous articles, we recommend people go to the LGA website; they have done a great job putting all the data out there." Ideally, the remaining beds will be treated next year, and then hand harvesting will be used to keep the milfoil under control if it ever arises again. "It has been shown milfoil won't return until three to five years, if we were to do nothing, then in seven or eight years we would have to retreat," Clark revealed. "Our goal is to get financially solid enough so that we can treat these beds and then follow through with hand harvesting to keep the milfoil down to a manageable level." For those interested in contributing to the campaign to raise money for future ProcellaCOR treatments in Eagle Lake, donations may be made at ELPOI.org. Please visit "Eagle Lake Friends and Neighbors" on Facebook for updates and information. "We at ELPOI are trying to be good stewards of our lake," Clark noted. "We take great pride in everything we do, and we also do a lot of research. This is not something we are doing for just today or tomorrow; we are doing this to protect Eagle Lake for future generations."

Signup for our newsletter

Eagle Lake receives ProcellaCOR treatments

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS