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

E-mail

essexswcd@westelcom.com

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 essexswcd@westelcom.com. 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