Letter from Chip Northrup Communities Urged To Safeguard Lake Proposition 1 passed last week. It authorizes state bond funds for environmental infrastructure—including $650 million for clean water projects. The Otsego Lake community should make a proposal to address harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the lake. The funding proposal should come from the Village, the townships and the county. The proposal should be crafted by the lake stakeholders and experts—led by the Biological Field Station. HABs can be reduced by better…
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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…
A Fond Farewell to Fall Otsego County and Central New York are expected to hit peak leaf peeping season in the coming days, with foliage estimated at 65 percent changed in Cooperstown last week according to the I LOVE NY “Fall Foliage Report.” This year, shades of orange and yellow seem to be outshining the reds, as shown here. The top photo showcases the view from Beaver Meadow Road in Cooperstown, the middle picture is a shapshot of Allen Lake…
Editorial Looks Like We Made It Labor Day. The end of an exceptional summer in Cooperstown. Dare we say exceptional? Yes we can, despite the ominous glooms of COVID and recent blooms of algae. Our Main Street businesses are still here. They may not have had their best summer, and they may still be sadly short-handed, but they are proudly displaying their wares and energetically inviting shoppers into their establishments. The Hall of Fame reopened its doors for Induction Weekend,…
News from the Noteworthy Algae Bloom Affects Lake Activities The summer of 2022 will be remembered as the year our beloved Lake Otsego first suffered a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB). The conditions which allow a HAB to occur are known. This column reviews Village of Cooperstown public beaches, boat launch sites and most importantly, Village drinking water. The SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station (BFS) has monitored lake conditions for decades. This summer, when Glimmerglass State Park first noted an algae…
Otsego Lake Weather Buoy Needs Major Repairs; Raffle Held to Help Otsego Lake Association (OLA) board members have been working on a project to help fund the repair on the weather station buoy just beyond Five Mile Point. “The buoy is just north of Five Mile Point in the middle of the lake. It’s called a Continuing Lake Monitoring Buoy (CLMB),” Debra Creedon, OLA board member, said. “The CLMB is a computer that is encased and sub-merged that monitors wind…
There Is Still Time to Enjoy the Lake By Colin James As summer winds down and autumn approaches, there is perhaps no better time to get out and enjoy the beauty of Otsego County’s pristine lakes and waterways. For people who own their own boats, this time of year is generally when they begin to taper down their activity after a long summer of many days on the water, but for those who don’t have a boat of their own…
Letter from K. Wayne Bunn Thank You from OLA On behalf of the Otsego Lake Association (OLA), we wish to say thank you so much for your wonderful coverage, and article with our logo in the August 18 edition of The Freeman’s Journal, of our Annual Membership Meeting held on August 13. It was greatly appreciated and reporter Gilbert Vincent did an excellent job with the details. The area residents and lakeside property owners are now much more informed about…
THINK BEFORE YOU SWIM IN OTSEGO LAKE According to Holly Waterfield, CLM SUNY Oneonta Cooperstown Campus Biological Field Station Main Laboratory the Biological Field Station (BFS) collected samples for toxin analysis around Otsego Lake in the last few days. All sites had detectable levels of the toxin microcystin; some much higher than Monday. Results for each location are below. We provide these results for informational purposes and to aid in decision-making; these results represent a snapshot in time. Bloom conditions…
Letter from Chip Northrup Can’t Control the Zebras The much maligned zebra mussels are being blamed for the blue green algae bloom, which is partially true. But we cannot control the zebra mussels, so we should focus on what we can control that is exacerbating the blooms: runoff of chemical fertilizer and failed septic systems, both of which feed the algae. We know where the chemical fertilizers are coming from. We know where the failed septic systems are. If we…