People Protecting the Lake
Since 1885.
Lake George
Association – P.O. Box 408 – Lake George, NY 12845
(518) 668-3558 – Fax
(518) 668-4702 – www.lakegeorgeassociation.org
July 26, 2007
For
Immediate Release
Contact: James Hood
Communications Coordinator
Lake George Association
Phone: (518) 668-3558
LGA receives $469,000 grant FOR Lake saving work
Lake George, NY – The Lake George Association is proud to announce that the Helen V. Froehlich Foundation has awarded the 122-year old conservation leader a grant of $469,000 for progressive lake-saving initiatives. This is the fourteenth consecutive award from the Froehlich Foundation.
In addition to the advancement of stormwater management and erosion control projects throughout the Lake George watershed, the LGA has received funding in this grant for what the organization is calling “Healthy Lake Demonstration Projects.” While one of these projects is slated for the northern end of the lake, another is already underway in the LGA’s own front yard.
In order to promote lake-friendly living, the LGA is utilizing its own grounds to demonstrate installing vegetative buffers, reducing lawn size, using rain gardens to control stormwater runoff, composting, and using native plant species in landscaping.
“We really need to walk the walk and talk the talk,” said Walt Lender, the LGA’s Executive Director. “We need to set the example, and, more importantly, show that lake-friendly living is not difficult or expensive.”
“Why would you care for your property in a way that degrades the lake?” he continued. “It doesn’t make sense to buy lakefront property, then spend money destroying the lake by fertilizing the lawn.”
The LGA is working with other groups, local officials and individuals on a similar project in Ticonderoga. The use of rain gardens, buffers and landscaping for stormwater control will be part of an effort to revitalize the public beach, which is the only town-owned access to Lake George. This project is modeled after a successful effort which helped to re-establish Lake Avenue Beach in the Village of Lake George in 2004.
The Froehlich Foundation has also provided funds necessary to continue and to expand the LGA’s water quality monitoring programs. Through the LGA’s Education & Outreach program, many volunteers around the watershed are providing vital data by taking water samples and completing surveys at several areas on the lake, as well as in a number of streams that feed into Lake George. The data collected from these monitors will help identify water quality trends and point out possible pollution hot spots that may require remediation.
Lender put the significance of the Froehlich Foundation’s support into perspective. “The Froehlich Foundation’s generous and consistent support has helped the Lake George Association to be a national leader in lake and watershed management.”
The 14 grant awards from the Froehlich Foundation represent nearly $5 million dollars worth of improvements to Lake George and the watershed.
With assistance from the Froehlich Foundation, the LGA’s Lake-Saving Projects program was launched successfully in 1994 and has expanded and improved with each passing year. The goal of these projects is to protect Lake George’s exceptional water quality by minimizing or eliminating the negative impacts to the water quality through stormwater management, stream corridor restoration and land-use management.
Added Lender, “The LGA has a broad range of programs, but those programs all share a single goal: Protecting water quality. That is what the LGA is all about.”
Established in 1885, the Lake George Association is America’s first lake association and a pioneer in the conservation movement. The LGA’s core programs include: Lake-Saving Projects, Education and Outreach Initiatives, GIS Mapping/Applications, Land Use Management, Lake Awareness, Invasive Species, and Strategic Plan Implementation.
The LGA spends around $800,000 per year to carry out its mission. In addition to the funding from the Froehlich Foundation, the LGA relies on financial support provided by its membership, as well as a number of fundraising events like the LGA’s annual golf tournament and its summer celebration.
The LGA is a not-for-profit membership
organization of people interested in working together to protect, conserve, and
improve the beauty and quality of the Lake George Basin. Interested in becoming an LGA member? Contact the LGA at (518) 668-3558 or check
out LGA on the web at www.lakegeorgeassociation.org.
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