Advertisement. Advertise with us

Letter from Paul Lord

Many Hands Protect Otsego Lake

The Otsego Lake and SUNY Oneonta communities worked together to protect property, life, and the environment around Otsego Lake on Saturday, November 5.

Saturday morning had me concerned about whether the autumn no-wake zone buoy Buoyfest would be a success or would be only the first day of a multiple day effort to retrieve our NWZBs. Winds were strong enough to cause concern, and we had lost the services of four divers, who we had planned to work with us, in the 24 hours prior to the event.

Health and other good reasons prevented those four divers from participating. The preparation work provided on Friday by Otsego Lake Association members Bill Richtsmeier, Mickie Richtsmeier, Doug Willies and Peter Regan facilitated an early departure. The focus and experience of graduate students Sarah Coney and Brian Hefferon provided core successes which inspired our SUNY Oneonta undergraduate students and recent graduates, Liv Bartik, Alan Brault, Zach Lebid, and Katlin Mancusi, to see the work through to completion.

The OLA Board of Directors was well represented, providing essential tender services: Wayne Bunn, Peter Regan and Kiyoko Yokota. Chuck Hascup masterfully employed his barge to support our work. I am grateful to all.

The last two NWZBs, at Springfield Landing and Lake Front, will be retrieved and swapped for spar buoys, as is our tradition, on the weekend prior to Christmas Eve. That typically involves breaking through thin ice along the shoreline to reach those buoys, but the shallow depths involved encourage a lighthearted attitude about this December work.

Paul H. Lord
SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station Divemaster and Instructor

Posted

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Related Articles

BFS, Lake Organizations Announce Otsego Lake HAB Testing Strategy

BFS, Lake Organizations Announce Otsego Lake HAB Testing Strategy By WRILEY NELSONSPRINGFIELD SUNY Oneonta’s Biological Field Station announced its 2023 Otsego Lake Research and Cyanobacteria Monitoring Plan as part of the ongoing effort to study and control harmful algal blooms in Otsego County. The sampling strategy will focus on variations in temperature, nutrients, algal and cyanobacteria abundance, and toxin concentration along depth gradients in the heavily-affected north end of the lake. Additionally, the BFS has increased watershed stream monitoring and the state Department of Environmental Conservation will conduct its own lake sampling.…

Lord: Divers Enjoy Easy Buoy Retrieval

The SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station’s Volunteer Dive Team rolled out on Saturday morning, December 16, for what is normally a bracing dive—occasionally a challenging dive—to remove the last two no-wake zone buoys from Otsego Lake.…

Putting the Community Back Into the Newspaper

Now through March 30, new annual subscribers to “The Freeman’s Journal” and AllOtsego.com (or subscribers who have lapsed for two or more years) have an opportunity to help their choice of one of four Otsego County charitable organizations.

$5.00 of your subscription will be donated to the nonprofit of your choice:

Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, Cooperstown Food Pantry, Greater Oneonta Historical Society or Super Heroes Humane Society.