Hydrilla menace

Our treasured lakes and rivers have come under attack by an invasive plant — hydrilla — that threatens not only those environmental resources but also poses a threat to local economies, to real estate values and to recreational opportunities.

The Journal has dedicated front-page coverage to this menacing invasive in a series of articles by Debra Aleksinas that concludes in this issue. In fact, Aleksinas has been writing about this fast-growing aquatic weed since it was discovered in East Twin Lake early last summer during a water quality visit near the public boat launch at O’Hara’s Landing Marina. By September last year the plant was identified as the Connecticut River variant of hydrilla vericillata. One rapid response was an immediate moratorium on boating at Lakeville Lake. The boat launch remained closed for the 2024 season.

As summer arrived, more preventative measures were taken at Twin Lakes to stop the spread of hydrilla. Others joined the fight with cautionary decisions. The Ostrander Guest Beach at Mount Riga and all campsites were closed for the 2024 season, and is expected to remain closed throughout the 2025 season. Besides the threat to the environments of Mount Riga’s Riga Lake and South Pond, the namesake organization, Mount Riga, Inc., noted that it lacks the financial resources to monitor and/or combat hydrilla. The Twin Lakes Association has said it anticipates spending as much as $300,000 on the problem in the 2024 season, a tenfold leap in spending.

Just as the Twin Lakes Association and the host of local, state and federal officials have stepped up to recognize the hydrilla threat and to combat it with a joint effort, The Journal remains dedicated to maintaining a focus on this invasive threat to our environment, and in turn to explain how an ecological disaster can become a threat to a community’s economic well being.

In recent years, The Journal has focused on a core mission to focus on our community’s needs for housing, education, healthcare, government, sports and the arts — and add to that a healthy environment. We believe that a community’s health depends on all of the above.

We congratulate Debra Aleksinas for being the first to report on the hydrilla outbreak at East Twin Lake, the first known lake in the state to become infested with the Connecticut River strain. Our readers can thank her as well for her watchful eye on this problem. We salute the coalition of local, state and federal officials who have brought an urgent focus to the problem, and especially the Twin Lakes Association and its leadership for jumping into action when the threat first surfaced.

Our lakes and rivers, our wildlife, our recreational opportunities that provide not only outdoor fun but also promote a healthy state of mind, and our local business economy is ultimately at stake when our natural resources are attacked.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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