Eagle Lake is a beautiful and pristine mountain lake situated in a rural recreational area that is sensitive to a number of environmental factors. It is crucial to the future health of the lake and the area that residents and recreational users are aware of these issues.

Besides the information on this page, we also have a virtual library of articles and documents concerning milfoil and the use of Sonar, as well as other environmental issues which affect Eagle Lake, which are downloadable as PDF files. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open these.

*ATTENTION*

NYS' Proposed Ban on "ALL" Outdoor Burning

Public Comment Period Closed August 14!

CLICK HERE for aerial photographs of  Eagle Lake milfoil and GPS charting of the extent of the milfoil infestation

CLICK HERE for pictures of the Eagle Lake hand-harvest milfoil project

Milfoil is an attractive plant with feathery underwater foliage. It was once commonly sold as an aquarium plant. Accidently introduced to North America from Europe, it spread westward into inland lakes and streams, primarily attributed to being carried by boatsand boat trailers, with some spreading caused by waterbirds. In nutrient-rich lakes, it can form thick underwater stands of tangled stems and vast mats of vegetation at the water's surface. In shallow areas, the plant can interfere with water recreation. The plant's floating canopy can also crowd out important native water plants.

A key factor in the plant's success is its ability to reproduce through stem fragmentation and underground runners. A single segment of stem and leaves can take root and form a new colony. Fragments clinging to boats and trailers can spread the plant from lake to lake. The mechanical clearing of weed beds for beaches, docks, and landings creates thousands of new stem fragments that can drift with the wind and current. Removing native vegetation creates perfect habitat for invading Eurasian watermilfoil.

More information about Milfoil:

Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, University of Florida and Sea Grant

General Information about Eurasian Watermilfoil from WA state

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The introduction of milfoil can drastically alter a waterbody's ecology. Milfoil forms very dense mats of vegetation on the surface of the water. These mats interfere with recreational activities such as swimming, fishing, water skiing, and boating. The sheer mass of plants can cause flooding and the stagnant mats can create good habitat for mosquitoes. Milfoil mats can rob oxygen from the water by preventing the wind from mixing and oxygenating surface waters. The dense mats of vegetation can also increase the sedimentation rate by trapping sediments. Milfoil also starts spring growth sooner than native aquatic plants and can shade out these beneficial plants. When milfoil invades new territory, typically the species diversity of native aquatic plants declines. While some species of waterfowl will eat milfoil, it is not considered to be a good food source.

Milfoil reproduces extremely rapidly and can infest an entire lake within two years of introduction to the system. Although milfoil produces many seeds, we do not believe that these seeds are important for milfoil reproduction in Washington waters. However, milfoil is able to reproduce very successfully and rapidly through the formation of plant fragments. In the late summer and fall the plants become brittle and naturally break apart. These fragments will float to other areas, sink, and start new plants. Milfoil will also grow from fragments created by boaters or other disturbances during any time of year. A new plant can start from a tiny piece of a milfoil plant. This is why milfoil can so easily be transported from lake to lake on boat trailers or fishing gear. Once established in its new home, water currents may carry milfoil fragments and start new colonies within the same waterbody.

Once milfoil becomes well-established within a waterbody, it is difficult or impossible to remove. In smaller waterbodies (350 acres or less), there has been some limited success using an aquatic herbicide called Sonar® to remove milfoil. Other control methods include: Harvesting, rotovation (underwater rototilling), installation of bottom barriers, diver hand pulling, diver dredging, and in some very limited situations the use of triploid (sterile) grass carp.

ADEQUATE WARNING AND NOTIFICATION?

Adequate public notification and signage about milfoil and other potential aquatic invasive species, is crucial to stop the spread. Here are examples of effective and ineffective warnings concerning milfoil. Left to right: New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont.

Michael R. Martin, Certified Lake Manager, President of Cedar Eden Environmental, observed that the VT and NH signs were quite clear in asking visitors to help stop the spreading. The NY sign, however, besides being visually uncompelling, also seems to indicate that "...Eurasian milfoil can be dispersed by fragments and tiny seeds that can remain undetected by the most concerned lake user." This seems to be saying that the lake user shouldn't bother checking for the unseeable milfoil. Eurasian milfoil is almost exclusively spread by fragments, and the fragment has to include a leaf node (stem with leaf attached), meaning it most likely will be 1/2 inch to 1 inch in size AT A MINIMUM.

Biological management techniques avoid the use of herbicides.

Acentria ephemerella is a moth in the family Pyralidae. It is native to Europe and Asia but was inadvertently introduced to North America in the 1920's. Adult moths fly. However, most females are flightless and stay on the water surface where they breed with flying males. The larvae (caterpillars) feed on an array of aquatic macrophytes. However they do have a high preference for and consumption rate of Eurasian watermilfoil (Buckingham and Ross 1981).

In 2000, several samples of Eagle Lake milfoil were sent to Dr. Bob Johnson, Cornell University, for analysis for the presence of herbivores. Upon examination, Dr. Johnson reported that the samples contained “a significant population of both Acentria moths and weevils”. In a follow-up sampling by Dr. Johnson in early July 2001 on Eagle Lake, he reported finding only a very limited evidence of either moths or weevils.

Links to some pages describing the biological control process using Acentria moths:

http://www.fw.umn.edu/research/milfoil/milfoilbc/bcresearch.html
http://www.fw.umn.edu/research/milfoil/milfoilbc/Acentriainfo.html

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MILFOIL:

http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/waterq/lakes/htm/ans/lp%5Fewm.htm - A very good descriptive site about milfoil in Vermont

http://www.sepro.com/default.php?page=aquatics-  Sepro is the manufacturer of SONAR, one of the successful control agents for milfoil

For our own milfoil survey click here

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Zebra mussels are small, brown-and-white-striped clam-like animals that pose a serious threat to our fisheries and other water users. They have been found as far west as Thunder Bay and could spread rapidly into our waters if steps are not taken now. Native to the Caspian and Black seas of Eastern Europe, the mussels were first spotted in Lake St. Clair in 1988, apparently brought from Europe in the ballast water of a freighter. They have since spread to all of the Great Lakes. The fingernail-sized mussels attach themselves to the intake pipes of municipal water supply systems and power plants, sharply reducing flows. Zebra mussels cling to rocks, reefs, fishing nets, piers, buoys, and even other creatures such as clams and crayfish. Capable of forming colonies of up to 700,000 mussels per square meter, over 15 centimeters deep, they quickly cover fish spawning beds. They compete with fish by consuming large quantities of plankton, a very important link in the aquatic food chain. In the United States, mussels forced a Michigan hospital to dismiss patients and cancel elective surgery, hiked Detroit Edison's annual maintenance bill by $500,000 a year, and threatened boaters on Lake Erie by sinking navigation markers.

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Acid rain is rain that is more acidic than normal. Acid rain is a complicated problem. Caused by air pollution, acid rain's spread and damage involves weather, chemistry, soil, and the life cycles of plants and animals on the land and from acid rain in the water.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ACID RAIN:

Jane's Page about Acid Rain

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Invasives of all types on the move!!

In the Fall of 2004 a concerned Officer of the ELPOI became involved with the NYS Governors Task Force for Invasives. This involvement lead to a heightened awareness for invasives in general as they threaten NY, specifically the Adirondacks and Eagle Lake. In the time, that the Task Force took to conduct its research on invasives to the time it developed the final report they reported that six new invasive organisms invaded NYS. Listed below are links and documents that describe but a few of the over 100 plus invasives that threaten all parts of New York State. These invasives are on a march from an area near you to your favorite “natural spot of beauty”. Practicing prudent environmental education and cautions as we move ourselves and our possessions (boats/ trailer, fishing gear, cars, building materials, gardening supplies etc.) around can help prevent/ slow the spread of these invaders. It will be to all of our advantages to be part of the early detection and “rapid response” (removal) of these invaders as opposed to the often very costly, often times impossible and environmentally damaging process of eradicating an infestation.

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How to deal with Aquatic Invasives

Videos on Invasives

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