![Barriers in place at East Twin to thwart ‘Godzilla of invasive plants’](https://lakevillejournal.com/media-library/rich-haupt-helped-install-a-barrier-under-the-isola-bella-bridge-the-latest-step-to-curb-the-spread-of-invasive-hydrilla.jpg?id=52302491&width=1200&height=1599)
Rich Haupt helped install a barrier under the Isola Bella bridge, the latest step to curb the spread of invasive hydrilla.
Erica Cohn
Rich Haupt helped install a barrier under the Isola Bella bridge, the latest step to curb the spread of invasive hydrilla.
SALISBURY — In mid-April the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), at the urging of the Twin Lakes Association (TLA), placed a line of boulders at the state boat launch to prevent trailered boats from accessing East Twin from that location.
They didn’t stay put for long.
Within a few weeks, unknown individuals had moved the hefty rocks aside, “presumably to allow boaters to launch there once again,” the TLA noted in its recent newsletter, and as evidenced by tell-tale tire tracks leading to the water.
Alerted to the boulder breach by the TLA in late April, DEEP officials returned to the state boat launch on May 6 to put them back into position, this time burying them deep into the ground to deter movement.
“This launch was never intended to be used by trailers, is unimproved and has been returned to its original use as committed to the TLA in 1991 by the state, for car-top carrier boats only,” such as kayaks and canoes, explained Grant Bogle, the lake association’s president.
He noted that in 2020 the boulders were removed by the state to provide greater access for handicapped boaters, which led to a “significant increase” in trailer access and parking issues in recent years.
“In addition, we believe hydrilla was brought in via boat at the state launch,” as well as the nearby O’Hara’s Landing Marina, where patches of the invasive plant were discovered last summer, said Bogle.
The findings made East Twin the first of about a half dozen Connecticut lakes to become infested with the aggressive hydrilla variant which has been wreaking havoc on the Connecticut River for several years. Its discovery prompted rapid response by the TLA and a coalition of scientists, biologists, environmentalists and state and local lawmakers to stop the non-native plant from overtaking Twin Lakes and contaminating other bodies of water.
“Hydrilla is the Godzilla of invasive plants,” said Bogle, noting that it is the responsibility of everyone who uses the lake to become its guardians.
“It is very aggressive and will outcompete native species,” he explained. Scientists describe hydrilla as one of the “world’s worst’ aquatic weeds.
“It alters the oxygenation and chemistry of lake systems, which may negatively impact fish and other native lifeforms,” noted Bogle. “It forms thick mats that are nearly impossible for boats to traverse, and there is a risk that wildlife like bald eagles, which are present on Twin Lakes, may ingest hydrilla which may contain a neurotoxin that can be fatal.”
The state boat launch was sanctioned years ago as an entry point for roof-top vessels, and the threat from hydrilla prompted the TLA to ask the state to restore that status and return the boulders to ensure that all boats entering the lake from a single point can be monitored.
A boat launch monitoring program is now in place at O’Hara’s Landing Marina under the direction of the TLA and the town. The goal of that effort is to greet boaters and alert them to the hydrilla threat, distribute educational materials on best practices for preventing spread of the invasive weed, and make a visual inspection of boats entering and leaving the marina.
Other measures are in place this year to suppress hydrilla growth as it begins, typically in June.
TLA board members Rich Haupt and Russ Conklin recently installed a barrier under the Isola Bella bridge. The modestly lit “limno” barrier, with its neon yellow float holding it in place, is designed to keep hydrilla fragments from following the natural current from the northeast cove, where the invasive plant has been identified in multiple places, to the northwest cove.
While lake association officials recognize that the barrier, which they said will not impact natural lake rhythms, is an inconvenience as it blocks passage for kayaks, canoes and swimmers, it is only a temporary fixture until hydrilla is under control.
Earlier this month a team of scientists, joined by TLA directors, toured the lakes to assess the hydrilla threat and discuss treatment strategies. While no hydrilla was found this early in the season, there was agreement that it will begin to show itself by July.
Keith Hannon of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers noted that he is running six pilot tests of herbicides in the Connecticut, and initial data will be available by the end of the year.
Bogle suggested that those who doubt the challenges posed by hydrilla view a video released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showing the damage that it has done to significant parts of the Connecticut River as well as an article in the science journal Invasive Plant Science and Management, which offers new insights on hydrilla verticillata, also known as water thyme, taking root outside the Connecticut River including East Twin Lake.
Jeremiah Foley, an assistant agricultural scientist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) and lead author for the study, noted that “The discovery of Hydrilla verticillata and its subspecies lithuanica in the Connecticut River, and the breadth of the current infestation represent a significant ecological invasion event with potentially far-reaching implications.”
Both the video and research paper are posted on the TLA website, www.twinlakesorg.org.
Abstract art display in Wassaic for Upstate Art Weekend, July 18-21.
WASSAIC — Art enthusiasts from all over the country flocked to the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley to participate in Upstate Art Weekend, which ran from July 18 to July 21.
The event, which “celebrates the cultural vibrancy of Upstate New York”, included 145 different locations where visitors could enjoy and interact with art.
On Saturday, July 20, The Wassaic Project hosted numerous community events. Will Hutnick, the director of artistic programming, said “We’ve been a part of it since the beginning, this is the fifth year of UPAW.”
Most of the action was based at Maxon Mills, the seven-floor grain mill located in the heart of Wassaic. On exhibit was work from 30 artists, 18 of whom were past residents of The Wassaic Project. “Artists can come and do a residency here, meaning they live and work with one another for a couple months at a time,” Hutnick stated.
The first floor held work by Petra Szilagyi, who uses dirt and linseed oil to construct images of paranormal concepts, most of which include bats. They reflected that a recent trip to a fifth sense competition in Vietnam was the influence behind the exhibit.
Across the floor was Tiffany Smith’s interactive installation which incorporated plants and wicker chairs, all of which were objects associated with her Carribean upbringing. “The room being filled with plants is symbolic of hurricane prep which often included bringing the plants from outside into the house,” Smith said.
As visitors made their way up the narrow wooden stairs, music could be heard from behind the walls. The echoing music was Daniel Shieh’s installation, entitled Mother’s Anthem, which played a recording of the American Anthem in 30 languages. The languages ranged from Spanish and Italian to Navajo and Bengali.
Each floor was filled with artwork of all mediums, including painting, fibers, collage and photography. Rachel Bussières, who switched her concentration after watching the 2017 solar eclipse, uses varying light sources to produce lumen prints. During the wildfires, she recounted that she “made a new exposure each day to capture the changing air quality”.
Luciana Abait also incorporates the natural world into her pieces, instead using maps. An environmental activist originally from Argentina, Abait’s work highlights “environmental fragility, specifically the impacts it has on immigrants.” Her installation that is currently on display at Maxon Mills, takes the form of a mountain range built solely from maps of the US and Argentina.
Throughout the day, visitors could “Arm Wrestle 4 A Popsicle”. Winners had the choice of 3 playfully flavored trout-inspired popsicles - Nightcrawler, Power Bait, and Salmon Roe. Artist Katie Peck, who spent the day in costume as a rainbow trout, encouraged guests to step up and try their hand at an arm wrestle.
Shibori Indigo dyeing, group meditation, and dance workshops were open for community members of all ages as well.
While the daytime activities fostered appreciation of fixed art, a dance party until midnight at The Lantern Inn offered guests a space for performative art.
When describing the environment of The Wassaic Project, Smith emphasized, “It’s all community, it’s all love.”
A serene scene from the Amenia garden tour.
AMENIA — The much-anticipated annual Amenia Garden Tour drew a steady stream of visitors to admire five local gardens on Saturday, July 13, each one demonstrative of what a green thumb can do. An added advantage was the sense of community as neighbors and friends met along the way.
Each garden selected for the tour presented a different garden vibe. Phantom’s Rock, the garden of Wendy Goidel, offered a rocky terrain and a deep rock pool offering peaceful seclusion and anytime swims. Goidel graciously welcomed visitors and answered questions about the breathtaking setting.
Amenia Finance Director Charlie Miller welcomed visitors to his Bog Hollow Road garden in Wassaic, a manicured expansive yard with well-placed garden beds framing a far-reaching view. He said he plans carefully each winter for the next spring’s improvement.
The organic, environmentally responsible Maitri Farm was next, a lesson in coordinating agriculture with natural balance. The farm stand and a walk among the greenhouses brought visitors together.
Near the center of Amenia was the garden of Polly Pitts-Garvin, offering a chance to visit a robust vegetable garden with raised beds to be envious of and a remarkable absence of any insects or usual vegetable garden problems.
At Chez Cheese, the vast garden acreage surrounding the 1850s historic home of Joan Feeney and Bruce Phillips in Millerton, visitors could begin at refreshment stations where walking tour maps of the 15-acre property were available. There were streams and ponds with docks, and a dozen bridges arranged around the landscape. In the 19th-century, the property had been the home of the Wilson Cheese Factory, inspiring the name of the estate.
The Amenia Garden Tour was supported this year by Paley’s Garden Center in Sharon.
Gary Dodson working a tricky pool on the Schoharie Creek, hoping to lure something other than a rock bass from the depths.
PRATTSVILLE, N.Y. — The Schoharie Creek, a fabled Catskill trout stream, has suffered mightily in recent decades.
Between pressure from human development around the busy and popular Hunter Mountain ski area, serious flooding, and the fact that the stream’s east-west configuration means it gets the maximum amount of sunlight, the cool water required for trout habitat is simply not as available as in the old days.
This is not a new phenomenon. It does seem to be getting worse, though.
Gary Dodson and I convened where the creek makes its final run into the Schoharie reservoir, part of the New York City water supply system, on a semi-broiling Thursday afternoon, July 11.
The goal was simple. Catch smallmouth bass, which abound in the lower section of the river.
This was hot stuff — as in an 80-degree water temperature.
The air temperature was actually slightly less at 77.
After negotiating the intensely slippery rocks, festooned with treacherous algae, the first major pool presented several difficulties, with a back eddy competing with a main flow and several large trees draped about the whole thing.
I hit on the simplest strategy, which was to flip a weighted attractor fly called a Tequilley into the start of the eddy so it would proceed slowly but steadily into the maelstrom, sinking all the while.
This worked. A proper adult smallmouth, with bronze coloring and vertical stripes, took the thing.
The point-and-shoot camera finally died, however, and I was not going to try to fumble my phone out for a nice but routine fish photo.
Why not?
Because I guarantee the fish would have made a sudden, last-moment bolt for freedom, causing me to drop the device into the drink.
Gary moved downstream while I continued trying to annoy the residents of the pool, succeeding a couple of times with different colored Wooly Buggers.
Then we all got bored and I moved off, where Gary was catching rock bass and cussing them out for not being something else.
I have to admit, they are not the most compelling critters. Something about the red eyes.
This latest trip was dominated by extremely tedious and distasteful Harry Homeowner activities, but on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings I prowled Woodland Valley Creek. By “morning” I mean “dawn,” because that was when the water temps were down to a barely acceptable 64.
I made the acquaintance of several stocked browns and of a handful of their wild cousins. The wild fish are smaller and nimbler.
The successful ploy was an Adams wet fly, size 16, drifted behind something big, like a Parachute Adams or Stimulator.