Fall 2007
Lake Front Park Becomes Lake Friendlier
OLA is hard at work with two major partners, the Lake & Valley Garden Club, and the Otsego Northern Catskills Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), on rebuilding the land-water interface in Cooperstown’s Lake Front Park. Intended to be a pleasant framing for the Lake view offered by the park, the 30 feet closest to the Lake is being replanted with deep rooted plants more appropriate to lakeshore areas frequently flooded by temporarily high water. BOCES scholars grew annual plants, rooted willows hydroponically, and built a boardwalk from OLA provided recycled plastic lumber. The Garden Club purchased and will transplant most of the plants to be used in this Lake buffer strip. This project starts on May 29th and continues through the summer although most of the work will be completed by June 3rd.
Summer 2007
BFS Volunteer Dive Team Discover Zebra Mussels in Otsego Lake
Zebra Mussels have found their way into Otsego Lake. The dive team recently discovered a few adult zebra mussels in the lake. It appears they’ve been here long enough to reproduce. Although no one knows exactly how they ended up in Otsego Lake they most likely hitched a ride on a lake user’s equipment from a nearby infested waterbody.