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On Saturday, October 14th, we held a ribbon cutting ceremony and nature walk to officially open our Cassadaga Lakes Nature Park and celebrate the completion of a number of improvements that were recently made to the park to enhance the visitor experience there! Some of the enhancements made at the park include the development of several trails, the addition of a kiosk/pavilion and interpretive signage, and the installation of a wildlife viewing platform, bird blind, and numerous benches. The park is an ideal location for a number of outdoor recreational activities such as walking, hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, bird and wildlife watching, and nature photography and study. In addition to providing a space for community recreation, the park provides and protects important habitat for local wildlife such as salamanders, frogs, turtles, waterfowl, and other birds. More than 175 species of birds have been identified there, making it one of the most diverse birding sites in Chautauqua County. The 77-acre park also conserves 26 acres of wetlands and 1,100 feet of natural shoreline, as well as mature stands of hemlock and white pine trees, which help protect the area’s water quality by filtering rainwater runoff before it drains to nearby lakes. The park is located on Route 60 in Cassadaga (between Camp Gross and Tim Horton’s) and is open to the public from dawn until dusk. More information and directions to the park can be found by visiting https://www.chautauquawatershed.org/preserves or by calling 716-664-2166. We hope you’ll visit soon and check out this wonderful preserve for yourself!

Fall is such a wonderful time of year . . . leaves changing color, air crisp and cool, pumpkin spice lattes . . . yum! Fall is also a fantastic time to plant and tend to your gardens for next spring. Have you ever thought about creating a native wildflower meadow in your yard? Do you want to attract more bees and butterflies? Do you want to mow less? How about saving time, money, and gasoline? Lawn alternatives, such as no-mow grass or meadows, are purposeful living spaces that are available to every homeowner, and all you need is a sunny piece of land. Although the maintenance of a no-mow meadow is simply a matter of adding beneficial native plants, removing invasives, and mowing the area once a year with a weedwhacker or a brush hog, sometimes it is difficult to figure out just how to get started. October is the perfect time to get your no-mow meadow ready for a spectacular spring debut! Local nurseries are winding down for the season but can still have desirable native species available that would love living in your unmowed lawn. The first step is to purchase natives that would thrive in a meadow. These could include butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), and blazing star (Liatris spicata), just to name a few. But for these native species to flourish and blossom in your meadow area, they need some exposed soil and some extra “leg” room. Choose your desired no-mow meadow spot. Place and plant your new native perennials right in your lawn, removing a large circle of turf to give the plants ample sun and room to grow. Let your new plants settle in – tucked away for winter in your new spring meadow. Once the well-awaited arrival of spring peeks through and the grass needs to be mowed, mow your meadow area low just once, and then remove the grass clippings. This will allow the sun to reach your newly planted natives and reduce the competition from your grass, giving them a better chance to emerge and grow. It won’t take long for your new no-mow meadow to be discovered and filled with crickets, hoppers, butterflies, dragonflies, and birds! Keep in mind that just stopping the mowing won’t quite be enough. Your no-mow area will still need some tending and maintenance if your goal is to provide a purposeful and beneficial habitat for our local insects, bees, and butterflies! Maintenance will include yearly removal of invasive plants and woody material as well as mowing once in early spring (April-May). This can be done with a weedwhacker or, if the area is big, a brush mower or bush hog. In the beginning, it will look “messy,” but not for long. With this yearly maintenance and mowing game plan, your unmowed area will become more diverse and colorful every year! Enjoy the disorganized life and energy of your meadow! If you want to diminish the “messy” look, mow some clean edges and paths through the meadow area, or create clean lines with native shrubs or rock edges. New native perennials and/or seeds can be added as well as Mother Nature working her free seed magic! For more information on creating a native no-mow meadow and/or a list of recommended native plants, please contact carol@chautauquawatershed.org or call 716-664-2166 ext. 1005. by Carol Markham, Conservationist for Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy

The autumnal equinox is upon us. September 23rd will officially be the end of this amazing summer we’ve had and will be the beginning of our much beloved fall. The changing of the leaves, the colder and brisker weather, darker earlier evenings . . . so much is about to change in our beautiful spot in the world! Western New York has gorgeous fall foliage and, being designated a “Tree City USA” for 42 years, it only makes sense to write an article on how beneficial it is to keep your fallen leaves in your yard and why you shouldn’t rake them up! Did you know that putting your raked up leaves in the garbage only adds to the 33 million tons of yard waste that ends up in landfills annually? Putting any organic material, such as leaves or food, into your garbage is one of the biggest contributors to methane exhaust from landfills, which in turn is one the biggest contributors to climate change. Not only do leaves, yard waste, and food not break down and decompose correctly in a landfill (because they are airtight), they also just sit there in a state of limbo releasing methane. Now that we know why we shouldn’t put leaves in the garbage, let’s talk now about how great it is for you to not rake up those leaves! “Leaves are nature’s natural mulch and fertilizer” says David Mizejewski, a naturalist at the National Wildlife Federation. Leaves are also a natural habitat for butterflies, salamanders, chipmunks, box turtles, toads, shrews, earthworms, and many others. They lay eggs in the leaves and feed on and under the leaf layer. "Over winter months, a lot of butterflies and moths such as pupas or caterpillar are in the leaf litter, and when you rake it up, you are removing the whole population of butterflies you would otherwise see in your yard," he says. By providing this habitat for beneficial insects and other critters, you increase the population of beneficial insects for when the gardening season returns. Leaving the leaves also increases the soil health of your lawn. Decomposing leaves help regulate soil moisture. Leaves are a natural mulch that you don’t even have to buy! If you want to create an even better mulch for your yard than just leaving them, and you are the “get stuff done” type, you can always mow the leaves without an attachment to mulch the leaves, which in turn breaks them into smaller pieces which will actually enhance the lawns fertility. If you have to rake because you feel the need to have that green, green lawn as long as you can, try raking the leaves into your garden or flower beds or under your trees. As we now know, leaves make an amazing mulch that will help fertilize and leave your yard or gardens looking so much healthier in the spring and summer. And if you just have to rid yourself of the leaves, the City of Jamestown’s BPU yard debris site is a good spot, as well another local place in North Harmony run by Robert Yates that accepts yard debris at no cost. I hope this article helps you decide to leave those leaves in your yard and start thinking about the entire ecosystem that is your yard! by Bethany O'Hagan, Land Specialist for Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy

When my wife and I moved into our house in Lakewood, the front yard was completely void of trees. The house sits on a north-south street, and the living room picture window faces directly west. Needless to say, the living room baked in the light of the summer afternoon sun! We did not want to spend extra money on air conditioning, so we decided to speak for the trees! And let them grow! In the first year, we planted a sugar maple and red maple in our front yard and a tulip poplar and sugar maple directly north of the house. In the back yard and south side yard, red oaks and pin oaks sprouted from acorns from nearby trees. I protected many of them with tree tubes or fencing to keep the deer from eating them and just sat back and watched them grow. After several years, our front windows and much of the front wall of the house are now shaded from direct sunlight from mid-afternoon until sunset. Trees on the east side shade the house in the morning. Our living room and bedroom stay much cooler than they did twenty years ago, and we rarely need to use an air conditioner. With this 20+ years of growth, we have tree crown covering roughly 80% of our property. This keeps our yard and home cooler and more comfortable all summer long. Have you thought about planting more trees in your yard to keep your house shaded on hot days? The ambient air temperature difference between an urban heat island and a vegetated area can be as much as 10 degrees. The temperature measured directly above man-made surfaces can be as much as 25 degrees hotter than the air temperature beneath a forested area. Planting trees to shade your home can really cool your yard. Not only that, having trees may add thousands of dollars to your property value. Trees and shrubs grow in many shapes and sizes. Planting a many-tiered garden of native wildflowers, shrubs, small understory trees, and taller climax canopy trees can maximize the habitats for a variety of beneficial insects and birds in your yard. Native sugar maples, oaks, black cherry, white pine, hickories, walnut, butternut, cucumber, and tulip poplars are good trees to plant in well-drained yards. Red and silver maple, cottonwood (where room allows), black willow, and American sycamore are suited for wetter waterfront, floodplain, and topographic depressions. Quaking aspen, big tooth aspen, and birch are fast growing native species that can quickly provide screening and cover in your yard. American hop hornbeam, American hornbeam (ironwood), American mountain ash, and Amelanchier (serviceberry) are some smaller or mid-tier trees to fill in spaces between larger trees or other tighter spaces. Turning part or all of your yard into a “mini-forest” can also have great benefits to birds and other wildlife. There are many sources from which to find more information on what native trees and shrubs to plant including www.chautauquawatershed.org/native-plants, www.audubon.org/native-plants, and www.nwf.org/garden. Go to a local nursery and ask specifically for native trees. Fall is a great time to plant trees! The combination of cooler temperatures and fall rain allows trees to establish their roots early in spring and adjust easier to the heat or drought of summer. If you want to do one thing to help birds and insects, protect water quality, capture carbon dioxide from the air, then plant a tree native to our region! Plant one new tree or transplant a wild native tree seedling to a more appropriate location in your yard to make your yard and home more enjoyable, and cooler, in future years! by John Jablonski III, Special Projects Coordinator for Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy

Imagine Chautauqua County as a living, breathing entity, with water as its lifeblood. Just as our own health depends on a well-functioning immune system, the health of our waterbodies relies on the functioning of their surrounding watersheds. I like to think of this relationship between water and watershed as preventative medicine – no matter how much time and money we put into our waterbodies, we aren’t going to see long-term sustainable improvement unless we repair and protect their surrounding watersheds. By viewing watershed protection through this lens of preventative medicine, we uncover a powerful approach to preserving our precious water resources. Preventative medicine operates on the principle that detecting and addressing issues early can prevent them from becoming more serious down the line. Similarly, a healthy watershed serves as a barrier against pollution and habitat degradation. By preserving the natural state of a watershed – maintaining forests, wetlands, and grasslands – we effectively intercept potential pollutants before they infiltrate our waterbodies. Just as a healthy well-balanced diet can ward off heart disease, a well-protected watershed safeguards water quality before contamination becomes a problem. Protecting our watersheds also makes us more resilient. In the realm of medicine, a strong immune system equips the body to fend off diseases. Similarly, a robust watershed acts as a natural defense mechanism for waterbodies. Wetlands act as sponges, absorbing excess rainwater and mitigating floods. Forests stabilize soil, reducing erosion and sediment runoff. By preserving these natural buffers, we build resilience within our watersheds, making them better equipped to handle stressors such as heavy rains or human activities. Preventative medicine focuses on treating the underlying causes of health issues rather than just the symptoms. We know that investing in preventative medicine saves both lives and resources by avoiding expensive treatments for advanced diseases. Similarly, investing in watershed protection saves us all money in the long run. By preventing pollution and increasing our resiliency to large storm events, we minimize the need for expensive infrastructure repairs, habitat restoration efforts, and water treatment, and we lessen the need for expensive in-lake cleanup each summer. Of course, I recognize that no matter how well we eat or how much we exercise, there’s no way to prevent every single cold or injury. The same is true for our waterways. But by taking a more holistic approach, focusing our efforts on watershed protection, we are recognizing the interconnectedness of our land, water, and ecosystems. By conserving our watersheds, we are doing everything in our power to protect the health of our waterbodies, support aquatic life, our recreational activities, our economy, and the well-being of our communities. Thinking of watershed protection as preventative medicine illuminates a profound truth: our actions today shape the health of our waterbodies tomorrow. Just as we adopt healthy habits to ensure we are around as long as possible for our children and grandchildren, safeguarding our watersheds is our responsibility to ensure our waterways are here and usable for those same children. As we embrace this preventive approach, we secure a brighter future – one where waterbodies thrive, ecosystems flourish, and we all continue to enjoy the waters we love! Article by Whitney Gleason, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Executive Director Photo of shoreline pickerel weed at Cassadaga Lakes Nature Preserve by Twan Leenders, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Director of Conservation

Our 2022-2023 annual report is out! Read about our strategic conservation mapping project, our conservation of an additional 139 acres of land throughout Chautauqua County, our application for national land trust accreditation, and more! https://www.chautauquawatershed.org/annualreport

We appreciate your generosity in support of our work to protect and improve the health and vitality of our region’s lakes and watersheds!

It has often been said amongst old hydrologists that the lake at the bottom of a watershed contains all that exists in that watershed – from the most distant ridge all the way down to lakeside gardens and lawns. A watershed is the basin-shaped piece of land with highpoints as its boundaries that slope down toward the lake. When it rains or snows, the whole 176-square mile Chautauqua Lake watershed collects water that flows downhill via 300 miles of streams into the 20-square mile lake. Along the way, the water carries with it everything it can move or dissolve including soil, litter, pet waste, oil, road salt, pesticides, and fertilizers. How we – as individuals, businesses, and municipalities – manage the land above the lake is the number one determinant of the lake's ecological health and its suitability for human activities. The use of every land parcel affects the health of the lake. It's important to recognize the fact that Chautauqua Lake returns to us exactly what we give it. If we give it phosphorus and nitrogen, it will give us weeds and blue-green algae. If we give it road ditch run-off and let the banks of its tributary streams erode, it will give us less depth and a muddy bottom. If we replace its absorptive shoreline with concrete breakwaters, it will give us fewer spawning beds for fish and increase the likelihood of floods. These are natural laws – and laws that are not about to be challenged. At least not without consequences. We have centuries of evidence and information to inform our choices. It’s worth asking ourselves which aspect of the watershed we appreciate most and why that might be so. Then follow up that answer with how to best protect that function. What one action can you or your community take to protect the lake? It almost certainly will come back to limiting harm to remaining shorelines, forests, and stream flows from the top of the ridges all the way back down to the shoreline of the lake. Once the insult or injury is in the lake itself, it is generally too late to do anything but try to mitigate a bad situation. In other words, prevention is truly the better part of proper treatment and protection of the lake. This precious resource, held in common by all the residents of the watershed and even farther afield, has a particular appeal and promise that it can only fulfill if the waters flowing into it carry mostly just water rather than water containing unpleasant pollution of other materials. The Chautauqua Lake watershed is an integrated and interconnected system of forests, streams, wetlands, floodplains, and shorelands. Given the fact that the lake's shoreline is almost entirely developed, the most urgent management need is to save the few remaining wetland, shore, and near-shore spaces for fish and wildlife. Lakeshore wetlands are among nature's most biologically diverse and productive places. Lakeshore plants hold the shore in place, protecting it against erosion from waves and ice. They provide breeding, nurseries, food, and cover for pan fish, game fish, amphibians, turtles, snakes, mammals, and waterfowl, including many animal species of economic value. Whether the interest is in inherent value posed by aesthetically pleasing places or economic activity or valuation of lakeside properties, the health of the rest of the watershed is what elevates any of those interests. From top to bottom and back again! by Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Staff

Of course, there are far more than two species of tree in Jamestown, but I want to highlight two types of trees: beneficial native ones and invasive Tree-of-Heaven. Specifically, I want to illustrate how these tree types are connected in a somewhat surprising way – and how their fate impacts our lives and those of our kids. When Jamestown’s trees turned green this spring, nearly all of the 3,500+ Tree-of Heaven in the Chadakoin River corridor that were injected with herbicide last fall did not. As of this week, a few young saplings that emerged from seed dropped in years past can be seen in the project area, but across the board, almost all the harmful Tree-of-Heaven along the river is now dead and waiting to be removed. Hopefully this will help delay the arrival of the dreaded Spotted Lanternfly, an invasive agricultural pest that is drawn to these particular trees and whose arrival may have a disastrous impact on our grape industry and agriculture. Once the dead Tree-of-Heaven has been removed, we can start the next phase of restoring the river: re-vegetating its banks with native tree species. It turns out that getting rid of the Tree-of-Heaven is important for a very different – and somewhat surprising – reason. It has to do with beavers! A beaver’s chisel-like front teeth continue growing throughout their life. The wear and tear caused by chewing on wood each day is what keeps them from growing too long and helps them maintain a sharp cutting edge on their chompers. Beaver populations in western NY have skyrocketed in recent years, and several take up residence in the Chadakoin River at any given time. Like most other fast-growing trees, Tree-of-Heaven has very soft wood that does not provide much resistance to a gnawing beaver. These trees are therefore ignored and, instead, the Chadakoin River beavers choose to munch on any of the harder trunks they find along the banks – to eat the tree bark and trim back their ever-growing incisors. Unfortunately, the trees that are impacted most by this are the few remaining desirable, older trees that still persist along the river. If a beaver removes too much bark, it can cause infections and disease, sometimes causing the tree to die. Given that some of these trees are several decades old and enormous, losing even one can have a profound effect on the river and our city. As heat records are shattered all over the world these days, it is not difficult to see how losing large, shade-providing trees will increase the temperature of the river water and of our urban environment. All over the world, heat-traumatized cities are looking to add more trees to the urban landscape to improve living conditions for everyone – including for those who cannot afford air conditioning. Planting new trees is an important next step in improving the environmental resiliency of Jamestown and the Chadakoin River. However, we will not be able to plant 60- or 70-year-old trees. New trees will only be a few years old at best. This means that any tree planted now will take a generation to reach a similar size to those that we are at risk of losing today. This is an excellent example of why we need to step up our environmental restoration efforts worldwide. If we want to leave our kids a livable environment, we need to take bold action now! Fortunately, our next generation is eager to help with this critically important work, and this past week, more than a dozen Jamestown High School students worked with Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy staff to remove hundreds of small Tree-of-Heaven from the banks of the Chadakoin River to prepare the area for new trees. They also helped wrap the bases of large tree trunks with a layer of metal screen to deter eager beavers from damaging them. Finding ways to empower young local people to get involved in these types of projects is an important part of the success of the Chadakoin River restoration project. Stay tuned for future updates on our work, and please consider getting involved. Our next generation will thank you for it! Article and photo by Twan Leenders, Director of Conservation for Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy

July is here. In Chautauqua Lake, aquatic plants are growing abundantly, and algae is beginning to bloom. This lake is fed water and soils from a basin made of glacial soils with plenty of phosphorus, a primary nutrient fertilizing plants and algae which make this lake naturally productive with abundant fisheries. Lakes need a moderate number of aquatic plants and algae to support productive fisheries. As lakes age, they fill with sediments and nutrients delivered by tributaries, overland flow, and atmospheric deposition. However, human activity has accelerated this process, with much more phosphorus coming into the lake as part of the load of sediments, fertilizers, and human and animal waste than phosphorus leaving through lake’s outlet. The more that gets deposited, the more that’s available in future summers to feed the lake through “internal loading” from lake sediments. A 2012 report on Chautauqua Lake estimated that 75% of its phosphorus load came from external sources to the northern basin and 45% from external sources in the south basin. Clearing watershed forests, and engaging in farming, transportation, and housing and commercial development fills lakes with excess nutrients and sediments. How much clearing and development can happen in a watershed before the receiving water experiences significant negative water quality and biological impacts? Research indicates that waterways can tolerate the loss of up to 15-30% of their forest cover before measurably declining in quality. That translates to maintaining our contributing watersheds at a minimum of 70-85% forest and wetlands or suffer the consequences of the increased stormwater runoff, erosion, and loading of nutrients and sediments that come with suburbanization of lands. Chautauqua Lake’s watershed has a total forest and wetland cover of approximately 65%, below the optimal range. As more forest cover is lost, increasing amounts of stormwater, nutrients and sediments will impact lake tributaries and contribute to lake sedimentation and high phosphorus levels, promoting even more aquatic plant and algae growth. Why does the conversion of forest to other land cover have such a detrimental impact on our streams and lakes? Forests are complex ecosystems working to capture and assimilate water and nutrients falling from the sky. When rain falls on a forest, the rain’s nutrients are largely absorbed by vegetation. If rain falls on a parking lot or rooftop, it often flows to the nearest ditch or storm drain to be conveyed directly to the lake, carrying its nutrients with it. If you compare a naturally forested lot to an identical residentially developed lot, you’ll find approximately five times the amount of stormwater runoff volume, seven times the phosphorus, and eighteen times the sediment on the developed lot! Every additional forest lot that is cleared in the watershed will incrementally and collectively add to the degradation of the lake. Converting only 5% of forested land to other uses could lead to a 40-50% increase in external phosphorus loading to the lake! To slow the “aging” of our lake as much as possible, our county and its communities should establish a goal of no loss of wetlands and no net loss of forest lands in each lake watershed community to slow the degradation of Chautauqua Lake. This means: 1) permanently conserving as much remaining forests as possible, and 2) for every acre of forest developed, an acre of forest would have to be converted from lawn, commercial grounds, parking lot, or former farm field back to a natural forest environment. Enacting and enforcing stormwater laws must be done in addition to conservation. Such laws need to require that all new development and redevelopment or reconstruction of existing commercial and residential properties and parking lots reduce impervious surfaces and install stormwater capture and treatment systems, such as native landscaping, permeable paving, rain gardens, bioswales, and constructed wetlands, etc. The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy has prioritized landscapes across the region to target for conservation for water quality and habitat protection, including headwater forests, stream corridors, and wetlands. We’re working to communicate with the owners of the largest of these sites to explore conservation options and are seeking conservation investors and grants to help permanently protect these sites. Contact us at info@chautauquawatershed.org if you’d like to help with these initiatives! Article by John Jablonski III, Special Projects Coordinator Image courtesy Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources

Exciting news! Construction for the Grandview Stormwater Management Project is slated to get underway later this summer! This project will transform a vacant parcel of land on Mapleview Avenue in Lakewood into a series of engineered wetland complexes and swales (vegetated ditches) with the main goals of improving water quality in Chautauqua Lake and reducing downstream flooding problems in the Village of Lakewood along Fairmount Avenue near the Save-A-Lot Plaza (as seen in the photo above) with approximately 100,000 cubic feet of stormwater storage. The project will also create new wetland and wildlife habitat and a nature park for Village of Lakewood residents to enjoy. Our Special Projects Coordinator, John Jablonski III, developed the concept for this stormwater capture/pollution control project back in 2019 when he was our executive director. Taylor West – who is currently the project manager for the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance (CLWMA) – was working for us at the time and also helped with the plan’s development. With grant funding from the CLWMA, we then hired Andy Johnson of EcoStrategies to complete preliminary engineering drawings for this constructed wetland complex. We are thankful to the Village of Lakewood, Town of Busti and CLWMA for their roles in bringing this project to fruition, including substantial grants writing, real estate transfer work, and project management. Thanks, too, go out to Ron Davidson for his role in making the land available for this project! Our staff and partners will continue to: 1) identify and engage owners of other lake area subdivisions and developments where stormwater capture retrofit projects like this might be implemented to capture stormwater and nutrients fueling excessive algae and aquatic plant growth in our lakes, 2) work to get effective non-structural and structural stormwater treatment infrastructure built into new residential and commercial developments as part of the site plan and subdivision approval processes, and 3) work with homeowners and businesses to retrofit lawns and grounds with similar bioswales and rain gardens to capture and treat stormwater eroding our streams and degrading our lakes. If you’d like to explore working with us to retrofit your yard, business property or neighborhood to reduce pollution harming our lakes, reach out to us at info@chautauquawatershed.org!

Per an insistent recommendation from a wonderful friend, I have finally started reading the book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer – a story about indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Her teachings and writings are powerful and purposeful. I have only read half the book, but the impact on me has already been great. As many of you know, I am the Conservationist at the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and am lucky enough to travel all over Chautauqua County educating people about watershed-friendly landscapes and the benefits and necessity of incorporating native plants into their yards and gardens. I explain to people about native plant roots and water quality and how our local birds, bees, butterflies, and insects need native plants to survive. As I read the book, though, I realize that I have forgotten something…a path, a connection that is so important in how we see our gardens and our time outside experiencing nature. I talk about beauty and space and enjoying our time outside but have forgotten the one aspect of our lives we need the most…and that is gratitude. Gratitude…defined as “focusing on what’s good in our lives and being thankful for the things we have. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we so often take for granted.” The joy of experiencing your backyard has a lot to do with appreciating what you have planted. We often neglect our time of reflection and gratitude for what the earth and our gardens have offered us in return. Whether it is a landscape full of blooming beauties and native knockouts or a garden bursting with plump, ripe tomatoes and bright green peppers, we should stop and take a moment to reflect, observe, and thank our gardens for what they have graciously given us. We tend to our gardens…give them fertile soil, cool water, and our precious time. We say we love nature, but do we ever stop and think that maybe nature can actually love us back? If we tend and take care of nature, respect and show gratitude for all that she gives us…not only in our own yards, but in everything we do…she will reward us with all we need to live, and we can continue to enjoy all the bountiful flowers and fruits she so beautifully gives to us! As Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer states, “Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.” Whether it is dirt under my fingernails, clean water in my glass, a delicious ripe peach, or a paddle in my pond, how I experience nature and my time outside feels different. With gratitude and thankfulness, I enjoy a deeper appreciation of not only the gardens I tend and what they provide for me, but also the beauty and importance of all that surrounds me. Gratitude cultivates a feeling of fullness. It reminds us that we truly have everything we need. Gratitude is a gift that we need to cultivate and grow as dutifully as we grow our own gardens. “The moral covenant of reciprocity calls us to honor our responsibilities for all we have been given, for all that we have taken. It’s our turn now, long overdue. Let us hold a giveaway for Mother Earth, spread our blankets out for her and pile them high with gifts of our own making. … Gifts of mind, hands, heart, voice, and vision, all offered up on behalf of the earth. Whatever our gift, we are called to give it and to dance for the renewal of the world…In return for the privilege of breath.” So let’s make gratitude a part of our lives and gardens. Love your yard, and it will love you back in the form of flowers and fruits. Let’s be thankful and humble and plant and tend to our beautiful native gardens for our local insects, birds, and wildlife - and also for us and all the wonders, experiences, and life they bring to our lives as well! by Carol Markham, Conservationist for Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy (photo of a native plant garden by Carol Markham)

School is almost out, and summer is finally here! We all know how busy summer can get, and the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy has some awesome events happening that we don’t want you to miss. Before those calendars get all tied up, add these dates and come on out and join us as we get together to learn more about the health and protection of our waterways and get outside to enjoy the warm weather! July 6th – Join us at Westfield Nursery from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm for a native plant event. You can learn more about the many benefits of native plants and even buy some for your own landscape! July 7th – We are doing First FriYay with Southern Tier Distilling Company again this year! Come on down to The Empty Bottle at Southern Tier Distilling anytime from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm to have a drink and enjoy some music all for a good cause! Raise a glass with us in support of our watershed and wildlife and watch yours truly make a fool of herself as a guest bartender. July 8th – Did you miss out on the native plant event on the 6th? Don’t fret, you’ve got another chance to join us on the 8th from 10:00 am to noon at Westfield Nursery. Another great opportunity to learn about the importance of incorporating native plants into all of our landscapes and to take some home to get started. July 15th – Get out on the lake for a day of fun and show your support for the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy at our annual Sailing Rallye. Check out the events page on our website to learn more and get registered for this all day event! July 20th – If you know the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, then you know John Jablonski III. Join us on the 20th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm for a recognition reception honoring John’s founding of the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and his 32 years as our executive director. RSVP’s will be required for this event so please check back on our website for more information, or email Tracy@chautauquawatershed.org if you would like to attend. August 5th – Join our Director of Conservation along with the Western NY Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management from 10 am to noon for a walk and talk event at our Cassadaga Lakes Nature Park. August 13th – This year we will be hosting our annual meeting at the Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center. We have decided to keep this as an open unpaid event this year, so we hope you will come out and learn about what we have been up to and how you can get involved with our organization! August 26th – Meet us at Chautauqua Marina from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm for our annual native plant sale! This is always a fun day on the water shopping for some native plants and getting all of your questions answered by our awesome staff and volunteers. With so many wonderful events going on there is sure to be something for everyone, so come on out and join us! For questions or more details on any of these events please visit our Events page or contact us at 716-664-2166 ext. 1002 or info@chautauquawatershed.org. by Whitney Gleason, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Executive Director

As humans, we have created a complex system of needing currency to sustain our very existence. We can’t eat without money, and we can’t live in our homes without it. So, most of us need to have a job in order to gain this thing we call money – it’s just part of our lives. But, when we are not working, we have the option to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of our overly connected and excruciatingly busy lives to get out into nature. The data from research on how beneficial getting out into nature is for our mental and physical health, as well as extending the longevity of our lives, is undeniable. According to the Centers for Disease Control and WebMD, being in nature helps lower anxiety, helps you feel better about yourself, and reduces stress, cortisol levels, muscle tension, and heart rate. It also helps you sleep better! “The physiological response to being outside in nature is real, and it's measurable,” says Michelle Kondo, a research social scientist with the USDA Forest Service's Northern Research Station. “There are many physical and psychological benefits of nature that scientists have observed, which can better help us understand how nature supports wellness in the body, mind and community.” (fs.usda.gov) What is even more amazing than how beneficial being outdoors is for humans is the fact that we live in an area of the vast world that has such beautiful, well protected, and accessible places for us to get out into nature. The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy has over 30 nature preserves in Chautauqua County with more than nine of those with dedicated trails to traverse you and your loved ones around. And in case you didn’t already know, there is actually a National Trails Day! It’s a day where being outside and hiking on trails is celebrated. What day is this? Well, I’m glad you asked! National Trails Day is the first Saturday in June, making it June 3rd this year. So, grab your binoculars if you like birding, grab your kids and doggies and their leashes (hopefully you’re not leashing your kids), and your reusable water bottles, and get out on those trails! If you are interested in something a little more challenging, Infinity Visual & Performing Arts (a nonprofit in Jamestown, NY) is currently offering an Ultimate Adventure Challenge, which includes visiting numerous local trails around the area, among other sites. You can find all the details at https://infinityperformingarts.org/adventurechallenge. The challenge runs from May 1st until November 16th and has a small fee to participate. Three of our nature preserves are highlighted in the challenge: the Bentley Nature Preserve, the Dobbins Woods Preserve, and the Solomon Family Nature Preserve. Please also check out our website at https://chautauquawatershed.org/preserves, which has great interactive maps, directions, and details about these and other preserves of ours. So what are you waiting for? Put on some sunblock, grab your family and friends, and get on out there! by Bethany O'Hagan, Land Specialist for the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy

This summer, we’re once again conducting aquatic invasive species (AIS) citizen science training and on-water early detection surveys and monitoring in and around Chautauqua Lake! Sandra Emke (pictured below) is joining us for the summer as our Seasonal AIS Coordinator and will be leading this year’s efforts to survey and monitor sites where aquatic invasive plant species, particularly water chestnut and starry stonewort, have been previously detected and scope out potential new sites for them as well. Through online and in-person informational training, participants will learn how to differentiate the lake’s beneficial, native aquatic plant species from the invasive, problematic species. They’ll also learn what they can do as individuals and as a community to help prevent the arrival of new invasives and help prevent the spread of those already found here. An online informational session will be held on Wednesday, June 7th from 7-8pm and again on Monday, June 12th from 7-8pm (via Zoom). The Zoom meetings will be recorded and posted to our YouTube channel and website later for those unable to attend on these dates. From mid-June through September, several on-water paddles will be offered each month (weather permitting) where participants will survey the local aquatic vegetation to look for and, if needed, report and carefully remove invasive plants. The paddles will take place at various locations in and around Chautauqua Lake to re-survey sites where invasives have previously been detected and scope out potential new sites as well. Participation in these programs is free, but pre-registration is requested for the on-water surveys as attendance is capped at 10 participants per session. RSVPs can be sent to Sandra at ais@chautauquawatershed.org. Anyone joining the on-water surveys will need to bring their own kayak or canoe and personal protective equipment (life jacket). Visit https://www.chautauquawatershed.org/aquatic-invasive for more info, links to the Zoom meetings, and tentative on-water survey dates, locations and launch times. Funding for the program is provided in part by the Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance.

Spring is in full swing, and the last waves of migratory birds are moving in. Several resident bird species are busily building nests, and some have already hatched out their first batch of young. One of the earlier migrants to arrive is the Osprey, and we have reasons to be extra excited about their return to Chautauqua County each spring. Osprey populations were decimated by the effects of DDT and declined by more than 90% between 1950 and 1970. But through a ban on the devastating use of DDT, combined with targeted conservation efforts, our Osprey (as well as Bald Eagles) have shown a steady population increase since. These long-term success stories are heartwarming but don’t take away from the short-term risks that Osprey and other migratory birds face from year to year. Most travel thousands of miles between their summer breeding range and their wintering grounds in Central or South America. Being able to survive such a journey twice a year depends on many factors, ranging from having healthy food on both ends of the journey (e.g. seeds and berries from native plants that are rich in fats and provide much energy – not those found on most invasive plant species because they are rich in sugars and are essentially avian junk food) to having suitable habitat patches along the length of their migratory route to ensure that they can stop, rest, and forage when they need to. They face inclement weather, predators, window strikes, and many other natural and man-made challenges every leg of their journey. It’s a minor miracle that these intrepid travelers complete their journeys as often as they do! Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s Loomis Goose Creek Preserve on Rt 394 in North Harmony had an Osprey nesting platform installed for many years before a pair successfully nested and raised a chick in 2021. Each year since, the pair, dubbed Femke and Hauke, returns like clockwork. Hauke, the male, tends to get back during the last week of March and carries out some minor repairs to the nest to ensure that it is in spectacular shape when the female, Femke, returns a week or so later. Even though the pair bonds for life and returns to the same nesting platform each year, they don’t spend their winters together. Male Osprey mostly overwinter on the many islands that dot the Caribbean Sea, while female Osprey head into northern South America instead. For the past three years, we’ve had a motion-activated camera installed over the nest at the Loomis Goose Creek preserve, and we can follow along with the antics of “our” birds. If you drive by the nest right now, you may not see much action because Femke has been sitting on at least one, possibly two, eggs for the past two weeks now. Hauke is out hunting for fish to feed himself and his partner, and otherwise keeping a watchful eye on the nest from a safe distance. Once the egg(s) hatch, there will be much more activity noticeable from the ground as both parents will then be flying in and out to bring food to their young. By the time newly fledged juvenile Osprey leave the nest, they are the same size as their parents, and they too will migrate far away before winter hits. Young Osprey generally wait 2-3 years before returning to the area where they were born, looking for a spot where they themselves can start a new nest and raise chicks. This is why, relatively suddenly, our area seems awash in Osprey. After a long absence, we finally saw some breeding success, and with a few years of lag time, those early chicks are returning. You may have seen new nests starting on cell phone towers, utility poles, and even on the light posts at Russel Dietrich Park in Jamestown. While the latter location would provide killer seats for this season’s Tarp Skunk games, the hot floodlights would not be good for these birds! To help future Osprey generations survive safely and healthily in Chautauqua County, the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy is working with local partners to install additional nesting platforms in more suitable locations. Three were placed in the city of Jamestown last year (downtown by the Chadakoin River basin, at McCrae Point Park, and at Jones Memorial Park) and are waiting for new occupants. Four more platforms are scheduled to go up this summer in various locations around Chautauqua Lake. If you want to share in the lives of Femke and Hauke and see pictures of their family life, or you want to see when and where new platforms are installed, follow us on Facebook and Instagram. by Twan Leenders, Director of Conservation (photo from our Osprey cam at the Loomis Goose Creek Preserve, April 2023)

The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy is pleased to announce that it is applying for national accreditation through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance. The land trust accreditation program recognizes land conservation organizations that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places forever. Per Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Executive Director Whitney Gleason, “Gaining accreditation affirms to our funders, partners, and the public that we are working to the highest standards and practices in land conservation. It ensures that we have the proper policies and systems in place for acquiring new conservation lands as well as stewarding those already under our care for the benefit of our waterways, wildlife, and community.” The application process includes an extensive review of the practices, policies, and programs of each applicant by the Commission. A public comment period is now open, and the Commission invites public input on the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s pending application through signed, written comments. Comments must relate to how the organization complies with national quality standards. These standards address the ethical and technical operation of a land trust. For the full list of standards see http://www.landtrustaccreditation.org/help-and-resources/indicator-practices. To submit a comment, or to learn more about the accreditation program, visit www.landtrustaccreditation.org, or email your comment to info@landtrustaccreditation.org. Comments may also be mailed to the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, Attn: Public Comments, 36 Phila Street, Suite 2, Saratoga Springs, NY, 12866. Comments on Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s application will be most useful by Friday, July 21st.

For many reasons, Chautauqua Lake discussions tend to lean towards the green, leafy things that are affecting or can affect it. Whether it be the wonderfully vibrant vegetative buffers that we encourage along its edge, the vast plant beds that cover its shallower areas, or the unfortunate summer neon slime that covers its surface, the importance of plants and the role they play in a lake ecosystem is undeniably a topic that needs to be addressed. But what we tend to forget and not discuss as frequently is…what is going on beneath the surface with the fish and aquatic life that live, reproduce, and survive in this vast abundance of living plants? Being a fish biologist by education, it is hard for me to deny the many colorfully scaled critters that live and breathe under the water. As we swim, boat, kayak, paddle board, jet ski, and party barge our way over Chautauqua Lake’s surface, do we ever stop and think about how our behaviors above and on the surface are affecting the everyday survival of the fish that live below? Chautauqua Lake supports a rather diverse sports fishing industry. It is recognized as a premiere, world-class muskellunge fishery. It ranks among the top largemouth and smallmouth bass lakes in New York State. Walleye are also a highly prized sportfish of Chautauqua Lake, and panfish such as yellow perch, white perch, pumpkinseed, bluegill, crappie, and bullhead provide a wonderful year-round fishing experience. Not to mention the incredible ice fishing opportunities we have here as well. It takes a lot of time, money, and manpower to study a population that you cannot see. NYSDEC Region 9 Fisheries biologists conduct spring musky netting and fall walleye electrofishing surveys annually. Gill net surveys and fall bottom trawling to monitor yellow and white perch populations were historically done bi-annually, and they are currently trying to get back to repeating those on a 2–4-year cycle (as time permits). A spring electrofishing survey to evaluate bass and sunfish populations is typically done every 5 years. (The next one is planned for 2024.) In 2018-19, a summer shore seining survey was conducted to look for YOY musky and document any natural reproduction. Despite all of this work, they don’t have the resources to conduct the intensive research needed to fully understand how all those factors tie together and drive the ecosystem functions in Chautauqua Lake. There are numerous complex factors influencing the lake, most of which vary and change with every coming year. These include harmful algal blooms, herbicide treatment, aquatic plant cutting, invasive species interactions, habitat loss, armored shorelines, and unusual weather events - just to name quite a few. It is difficult and challenging, maybe even impossible, to understand how all of these factors interact and affect the lake’s fish populations. With Chautauqua Lake being one of the largest tourist attractions in Chautauqua County and a primary destination for recreational fisherman from all over the country, why are we not speaking up and speaking out about how our human behaviors above the surface affect the water quality and lake health and how they are affecting one of our most valuable assets below it? It's safe to say that what we do to the green, leafy habitats within the water greatly affects ALL of the aquatic life that lives within it. If we want strong, healthy fish populations below, then we need to be fully aware of our behaviors and actions above. If something seems “fishy” on the surface then there are most likely suspicious, unhealthy things could be happening below the waves as well. As we continue with our many lake discussions, our fish populations and aquatic life need to be included! We all want what is best for our lake, so let’s make sure that we are thinking about not only how WE can benefit, but also how all that lives and breathes below the surface can too! And…that way…we can enjoy these big, beautiful creatures for many years to come! by Carol Markham, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Conservationist (photo of Bill Swanson with a muskie he caught on Chautauqua Lake in November 2022, taken by Vance Kaloz)

For my first Watershed Notes article, I felt inclined to talk about something that I am really passionate about. For those of you who know me – no, it is not about recycling or composting – it is about water conservation! The list of things that I am particularly passionate about is rather long, but conserving water is right at the top! So I wanted to do a quick run-through of some simple things that I do at home and some that I am just starting to do (and some that I don’t do) that help save water! But first, why do we want to save water, you ask? So there is this thing called climate change – maybe you have heard of it. Well, it is drastically affecting our freshwater supplies. Here are some facts and a direct quote for a quick rundown. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, climate change is changing how much water we get by precipitation, consistently reducing snowpack, and also increasing people’s need to use more water with record-setting hot temperatures – which now occur almost every year. “Even without the impacts of climate change, the United States’ water supply has begun to diminish. Much of our water supply comes from groundwater held in underground formations called aquifers. In some parts of the nation, increased demand for water has led to pumping groundwater from aquifers faster than they can be naturally refilled. Persistent droughts in some areas are accelerating this decline.” [www.epa.gov] I could go on and on with quotes and facts, but I think you get the picture. Which brings us to my main passion – how to save water around your home! Disclaimer . . . I am a plant person, so most of these tips are going to involve plants. If you are not a plant person, I suggest looking into greywater usage. Anyway, here we go: When you go to take a shower and the water starts out cold, grab a bucket and collect the water until it’s warm enough for you get in. Then use the collected water for your plants. When you are boiling potatoes, or any other vegetable, save the strained water, let it cool, and use it for your plants. Potatoes have potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen, all of which are good for plants. If you are finished with a glass of water and have a little bit left, don’t just dump it in the sink. Instead, dump it into a nearby plant. Here is a thought as well – there is a trash bin for garbage, why can’t there be trash bin for water? Think of a way that works for you to have a container of sorts to dump water into. You’ll be surprised just how much water you can accumulate in just a few short days! Use rain barrels. Disconnect the downspouts on your home, redirect them to a rain barrel, and use that water in the summer to water what you need to. When cooking pasta, save the water and, once it cools, water your plants with it! Plants love the starchy water (but not salty water). Same goes for rinsing fruit to eat or cleaning out pet water bowls. Just dump that water into your water trash bin! When rinsing rice to cook, save that murky white water! It is actually good for your hair! It promotes growth, helps fight dandruff, and can increase your hair volume. There is so much we do on a daily basis that requires a lot of water! It just takes little steps here and there, and just a slight tweaking of your routine, for us to conserve it. It can have a big impact, and you will be surprised at just how much water you can start saving daily. I hope this leaves you with an excited new viewpoint and possibly a fun new challenge for yourself! Thanks for reading. Until next time! by Bethany O'Hagan, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Land Specialist

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” -Margaret Atwood Spring in Western NY can be less than inviting. In months where others see the first blooming flowers and ever warming days, we often have grey skies and can have rain, snow, and temperatures anywhere from 20 to 80 degrees. As a grownup, I look outside on these grey days and think “yuck, I wish it were nice out so I could go for a walk.” The other day something changed this perspective though – my son. It was a typical March day in Chautauqua County: rainy, grey, and cold. We pulled in the garage after school pickup, and as soon as I let my four-year-old son out of the car, he immediately ran out into the rain and started playing in the mud. I am confident that at no point in the two seconds between exiting the car and being in the mud did he stop to think that this is bad weather. Sadly, I don’t think I will ever be able to completely re-train my own brain to do away with the myth of “bad weather,” but after seeing him run into the mud with so much joy and enthusiasm, I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to keep him from forming that notion in the first place. We know from countless studies that going outside is good for us. What we are learning more and more is that it’s especially good and important for our children, and the beauty is that nobody has told them yet that some weather is good and some isn’t. So today I am writing to encourage everyone to throw on whatever gear you’ve got and get outside, rain or shine, especially if you have kids. As Nicolette Sowder says, “encouraging a child to go outside in all weather builds resilience, but more importantly it saves them from spending their life merely tolerating the ‘bad’ days in favour of a handful of ‘good’ ones – a life of endless expectations and conditions where happiness hinges on sunshine.” But why would you take my word for it when there are lots of studies by experts that you could listen to instead? For example, a study completed in 2021 found a strong relationship between exposure to nature and children’s physical and mental health (see citation 1). That same study also found that the closer the outdoor experience was to the child’s home, the stronger the impact was. So you don’t need to go far, you just need to go out! Another study found that contact with nature as a child is a strong predictor of higher openness (creativity and curiosity) and lower neuroticism (anxiety and depression) as an adult (see citation 2). This was particularly true for contact with forest environments, and these scientists believe that spending time outdoors in childhood creates a learned emotional regulation strategy that is then used all the way into and through adulthood. These are just two examples from a large and growing body of research on the importance of letting our children play outside. If you still aren’t convinced, I encourage you to take a look for yourself. There is a wonderful library of these studies that has been put together by the Children & Nature Network. You can check it out at research.childrenandnature.org/research-library. We are so lucky to have wonderful places available in our community that make getting into nature fun, easy, and safe! I wouldn’t be a very good executive director if I didn’t mention the beautiful preserves that the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy holds and protects for the health and well-being of our community. To check out which ones have trails, what you might find, and how to get there, head to our website at chautauquawatershed.org. Beyond our own nature preserves, we are also lucky to have the Audubon Community Nature Center which also has trails and even a nature playground. Plus, for days when the weather is unsafe (lightning, high winds, etc.) and we really can’t get outside, they do an amazing job of bringing the outdoors in with their family-friendly, hands-on exhibits. I sincerely hope that you will check us both out and, in doing so, get yourself and your family outside into nature. In the wise words of Jon Muir, “of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” by Whitney Gleason, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Executive Director Citations 1) Fyfe-Johnson, A. L., Hazlehurst, M. F., Perrins, S. P., Bratman, G. N., Thomas, R., Garrett, K. A., Hafferty, K. R., Cullaz, T. M., Marcuse, E. K., Tandon, P. S., (2021). Nature and children's health: A systematic review. Pediatrics, 148(4) 2) Snell, T. L., Simmonds, J. G., Klein, L. M., (2020). Exploring the impact of contact with nature in childhood on adult personality. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 55, 1-9.

his image shows the recommended allocations of resources for watershed, in-lake and monitoring projects as suggested in the 2018 report “5-Year Implementation Strategy for the Management of Chautauqua Lake and Its Watershed (image credit: EcoLogic / Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance) Much attention has been focused in recent months on finding a reliable, stable source of funding for Chautauqua Lake management and protection programs and deciding which activities should be prioritized for action in the lake and its watershed. It’s a good time to take a look at prior research recommendations. Here’s a fairly recent example: In 2017, as a result of “heightened community concern about the health of the lake and differing views on which expenditures and projects would have the most beneficial impact,” the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance (CLWMA) hired experienced lake and watershed scientific consultants Ecologic, LLC and Anchor QEA, LLC to review previous lake and watershed studies and interview stakeholders as a means of finding an “… objective, transparent approach for prioritizing projects and allocating resources” as part of a 5-Year Implementation Strategy for Chautauqua Lake and Its Watershed. First, this document laid out a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) tool to guide the CLWMA in evaluating, scoring, prioritizing, and funding annual proposed watershed projects to reduce nutrient and sediment loading, in-lake projects to address lake algae and aquatic plant problems, and lake and watershed monitoring projects to “assess progress and the need for additional actions or modifications to ongoing management activities.” Second, the report developed a “5-Year Implementation Strategy,” which was to guide overall funding investment among watershed, in-lake and monitoring projects over the 2018-2022 period. The Strategy called for utilizing 20% of funding resources over this period, starting with 60% of funding going to in-lake projects for “immediate relief” of excessive aquatic plant growth in 2018 and reducing that over the five years to 20% in 2022. At the same time, it recommended investing 30% of funding in watershed projects in 2018 and increasing that to 60% of funding resources in 2022. The report noted that, “ultimately, addressing the sources of impairment (i.e., excess nutrient loading) is the only sustainable approach to protect water quality, habitat, and human uses. Reduction in watershed [nutrient] sources is critically important to ensure the long-term health of the lake, which forms the basis for the increase in watershed resources over time.” The report suggested revisiting this after the New York State harmful algae bloom (HABs) action plan for Chautauqua Lake was released and added that, “reducing the external loading of nutrients… is ultimately the only way to address the cultural (human-induced) eutrophication of the system and to minimize the frequency, magnitude, and duration of HABs.” It went on to note that, “an ongoing commitment to reducing point [from a pipe] and nonpoint [diffused] sources of phosphorus and nitrogen is essential.” The report also noted that 20% of external phosphorus loading had come from wastewater discharges, but those have been largely addressed by recently completed public wastewater plant upgrades. The report then discussed non-point pollution sources and the need for landowner participation in the success of implementing agricultural best management practices. It stated that, “permanent conservation of forested areas and wetlands can help to prevent erosion and nutrient/sediment loading in the watershed and that timber harvesting practices can also contribute pollution.” Moreover, developed areas contribute nutrients and sediments, and municipalities play a critical role in “ensuring that urbanization is carried out in ways that incorporate best land practices and minimize stormwater runoff.” The report concludes the watershed section by stating that “watershed municipalities are strongly encouraged to adopt, modify, and enforce local land use laws to guide actions by developers or private landowners in the watershed, and to adopt municipal best management practices in the areas they manage directly. There is much more useful information on in-lake and watershed management to consider in this report, which may be read in its entirety at: http://www.chautauquaalliance.org/category/projects/5-year-implementation-strategy-mca-tool/. We hope that you will review this and other reports available on the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance’s website at chautauquaalliance.org to learn more about this important lake and watershed. by John Jablonski III, CWC Deputy Director

Many of you might recall what being a “responsible” citizen and community member looked like back in 1953…back when lawns were perfectly mowed, fertilized, and weed-free. History tells us that gardens and landscaping were once limited to those with land, money, and free time. However, times are a changing. A homeowner in 2023 is more likely to shrink their forever green and “perfect” lawn, plant natives, and create a more functional, purposeful landscape. This has become a necessity rather than a choice. A landscape that is sustainable and supports life, sequesters carbon, feeds pollinators, and manages water is one that is responsible and shows your neighbors and friends that you care about the health and well-being of your community. As explained and taught by Doug Tallamy, American entomologist, ecologist, conservationist and professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, there are four functions or goals that every homeowner’s landscape and yard must perform to produce a healthy and viable ecosystem that we all need. They must: 1) Support a diverse community of pollinators throughout the growing season. 2) Support and provide for the local food web. 3) Manage the watershed in which they lie. 4) Capture and remove carbon from the atmosphere where it is wreaking havoc on the Earth’s climate. How well a landscape accomplishes these goals depends on how well we, as backyard stewards, choose and install the plants on our landscapes. Traditional lawns fail at achieving these four goals. If we plant most or all of our property as lawn, none of these goals will be met. Grass is an ecological wasteland. Lawns degrade the local watershed by discouraging infiltration, facilitating stormwater runoff, and adding nitrogen, phosphorous, herbicides, and insecticides to the nearest stream or river. Today’s cultural standard for lawns supports no pollinators and does not nourish the insects that enable birds, reptiles, amphibians, and many mammals to reproduce. And when it comes to carbon capture, turf grass is our worst plant choice. Native plants, however, succeed at achieving these four goals! We can help our yards become healthy, productive, and purposeful by planting the plants that are good at supporting pollinators, good at capturing energy and sharing it with our local wildlife, and good at holding carbon, allowing it to remain in the soil instead of finding its way into the atmosphere. We can also choose plants with large canopies that soften the impact of pounding rain and shade our homes from the sun and heat. Their large root systems encourage rainwater infiltration and thus hold tons of water on site after a storm event. How cool is it to think that we can create and build ecosystems, feed our local pollinators, control runoff and flooding, and capture and remove carbon all in the landscape of our small yard! There are 20 million acres of lawn in the United States. Can you imagine if everyone just took a small part of their lawn and converted it to productive native plants and purposeful space? The path to a sustainable way of life is a must and not a choice any longer. Let’s embrace the changing of guard and welcome in a new, positive, healthy, and responsible landscape into our yards! For more information on less lawn and more natives and on creating a more sustainable landscape, including a free LakeScapes yard consultation, please contact Conservationist Carol Markham at the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy at carol@chautauquawatershed.org or 716-664-2166, ext. 1005. Article and photo by Carol Markham

Yesterday (February 15, 2023) was a historic day for the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy. After months of planning and preparation, our Co-founder and Executive Director of over 30 years handed me the baton. I am incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to lead this organization in its next chapter. When I first interned with the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy back in 2013, I had no idea the impact it would have on my life. Back then I was inspired by the mission and the Executive Director, Mr. John Jablonski III, who simply radiated his excitement and dedication to the work of protecting our County’s waterways and natural places. Fast forward 10 years to today, and I am still inspired by our mission and the dedication of John, our board, and our staff. So much has been accomplished, including the protection of over 1,100 acres of land and establishment of 32 nature preserves, partnership on successful erosion control projects throughout the County, and countless education programs. But there is important work yet to be done. Yesterday was a big day, but 2023 is going to be an even bigger year for our organization. As I move into my new role, I am looking forward to a renewed focus on setting us up for strength, stability, and effectiveness for many years to come. We are currently in the midst of application and review by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission in order to become a nationally accredited land trust. Not only does accreditation reaffirm our commitment to the highest standards for land conservation, it also provides access to new funding opportunities and resources. This is especially important as New York State rolls out plans for achieving the 30x30 legislation signed back in December. In addition to accreditation, we are in the process of finalizing our Collaborative Regional Conservation Implementation Strategy (CRCIS) for Chautauqua County. Using high resolution mapping we can better understand and view our County as a whole, pin-pointing the most important areas for conservation while identifying opportunities for low impact development. As more people throughout the Country recognize the beauty and environmental resources of our region, it is going to be vital that we partner strategic growth with strategic conservation. While pursuing these two major initiatives we will also be continuing to work and partner with individuals, businesses, and municipalities throughout our community. This includes our work with homeowners through our LakeScapes program, expanding our waterway restoration projects, and working with partners to control new invasive species before they become established on our lands and in our waters. It’s going to be a busy year, and I couldn’t be more excited to get started. I hope you’ll join me in this next chapter as we continue working toward the mission that captured my attention all those years ago. Sincerely, Whitney

Invasive insects and diseases are a real threat. Chautauqua County and all of western New York have been hit hard with the emerald ash borer devastating our ash trees in recent years. Not to mention our Eastern Hemlock (by the hemlock woolly adelgid beetle) and American Beech (with beech leaf disease). The need to plant and replace these infected trees with healthy, new native ones has never been greater. But many homeowners are left wondering…what should I do with all my dead trees? Your first thought might be to call a tree company, clean up your yard and have these dead, “ugly” trees removed. Dead or alive…tree removal can be extremely costly and has the potential of removing more than just wood. If a dead tree is in danger of falling on your home, nearby structure and/or roadway, removing it is of course the right choice. But what about the trees that are not posing a threat to anything or anyone? Let’s look at a dead tree from a different perspective. What would be the benefit of leaving it stand and not worrying about the way it looks? First, you would keep more money in your pocket, which is always a good thing! But allowing a dead tree to remain standing also provides an incredible habitat for our local birds, insects and wildlife. In fact, some of the most important trees on your property are the ones that are no longer alive. Standing dead or dying trees are called snags. They are an important component of healthy forests, as well as your yard, and can be critical habitat for wildlife. In a sense, snags are very much “alive.” Woodpeckers peck into the soft wood for insects and larvae, creating many excavated cavities. Owls and squirrels nest in these open cavities as do bluebirds, chickadees and nuthatches. Bats roost within crevices and under the flaky loose bark. And countless species rely on their abundant insects, fungi and lichens as a food source. More than 100 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians need snags for nesting, roosting, shelter, denning and feeding, and nearly 45 species alone forage for food in them! So long as they aren’t in a hazardous location such as near a road or building, consider leaving snags. Not only do they provide for our local wildlife, but these vertical dead pillars also create visual interest, store carbon and can actually provide more habitats for wildlife dead than alive. And, as an added bonus, they will continue to enrich your soil for decades to come. So why not save your money and leave that dead tree standing. For more information regarding snags in your yard or on your property, or even creating and/or trimming snags for wildlife, please contact Conservationist Carol Markham at the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy at carol@chautauquawatershed.org or 716-664-2166, ext. 1005. (photo by Carol Markham)

As I’m sure you’ve heard, the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency (CLPRA) voted against recommending the formation of a lake district for the maintenance and protection of Chautauqua Lake. Unfortunately, a lot of aspects of the proposed lake district made it hard for local landowners to get on board. Residents, including myself, shared concerns of facing a large annual tax coupled with uncertainties as to who would decide where the money went once it was collected. While I’m glad the Agency didn’t make a hasty decision to push forward with the district before working out all the details, it does seem sad that it came down to an “all or nothing” vote after so much time, effort, and money had been expended. Could the vote have been “not yet” or perhaps “not like this?” I believe the idea of a lake district was well intentioned and that sustainable, consistent, and ongoing support for the health of Chautauqua Lake is important. Maybe $10 million was too much for us all to wrap our heads around, but wouldn’t Louise Ortman’s idea of $5 million spread out across Chautauqua County be a big step in the right direction? Even if was required to be shared by all our County’s waterways? If given more time, couldn’t the Agency have worked with the County, local municipalities, and other stakeholders to put together more details on how money would be expended and on what projects? Following the vote, the Agency was terminated, leaving these questions on the table. When asked what’s next for lake protection, CLPRA Chairman Pierre Chagnon said that he didn’t know. Well, I don’t know either, but I do know that a lot of the unanswered questions for the lake district revolved around what the money would be used for and who would decide that. Perhaps then, the time is right for us all to come together to take a deeper look at where work needs to be done to really improve the health and quality of Chautauqua Lake over time. The Environmental Protection Agency promotes what it calls the “watershed approach,” where stakeholders and communities coordinate to “define and address watershed-scale challenges and solutions.” Groups come together and develop a watershed management plan that identifies shared management and improvement goals and agreed upon strategies to achieve them. Back in 2005, the Chautauqua County Legislature saw the pressing need for better information and a plan for in-lake and watershed protection for Chautauqua Lake. They formed the Chautauqua Lake Management Commission (CLMC), which was tasked with the creation of this exact type of watershed management plan for Chautauqua Lake. In 2010, the CLMC produced the Chautauqua Lake Watershed Management plan. What happened to this plan? Are we using it at all to direct our money and efforts? Does it need to be updated? My takeaway from the demise of the proposed lake district is that we need to do our homework first. Let’s dust off the 2010 management plan (which I’m sure also took a lot of time, effort, and money to put together). Let’s all meet at the table to update our priorities and the strategies we want to use to achieve them. Once we have our strategies, we will have a more concrete understanding of what it will cost. Working together to do our homework would give the County the ability to provide landowners with more concrete funding numbers and clear answers for when they’re asked, “where is the money going to go?” I can’t tell you how many times over the past few months that I’ve heard someone say the phrases “putting the cart before the horse” and “proposed lake district” in the same sentence. Now seems like a good time to take the reins on that problematic horse and get him back in front of the cart. by Whitney Gleason, CWC Deputy Executive Director