News from the Watershed

November | 2024

New York’s steepest river is rich in history, recreation, working landscapes and habitat. BRASS is working to enhance them all.

Fishing Access, Lamprey Treatment & a new Executive Director

New Executive Director!

BRASS has hired Wadhams resident Colin Powers as its first Executive Director in over a decade. "It is a privilege to lead an organization with such a strong history of river science and public outreach" he said.

Colin brings a background in management, communications and documentary filmmaking. He previously led production at Mountain Lake PBS - capturing and presenting the stories of the Adirondacks.

He is also a certified floodplain manager and a graduate of the Community Resilience and Planning Program at UVM. While volunteering at BRASS for two years, he led workshops on FEMA’s new flood maps, spoke on river resiliency and wrote federal grants to buy out a Westport family’s repeatedly flooded home.

Colin Powers and his dog, Oliver on the Boquet Photo: Mike Lynch

“Having a full-time professional leading our efforts means we can accelerate our water quality and restoration projects, increase our volunteer and education programs, and do even more to help the river and its communities thrive” says Vic Putman, BRASS’ board president.

Funding for the position was provided by a grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program.

BRASS in the NEWS!

The hiring of BRASS' new Executive Director was featured in the local press.

BRASS names a new Executive Director by the Press Republican

Water Line: BRASS names leader by Zachary Matson

BRASS and the NYS DEC rebuild fisherman's access

at the Salmon Hole in Willsboro

Willsboro fishing access nearly complete. Photo: Vic Putman

On Oct 7th, a crew from the Department of Environmental Conservation joined BRASS President Vic Putman, Board Members Schelling McKinley and Tom Doolittle, and several volunteers to rebuild badly eroded log "cribbing" in order to create safe, level surfaces for fishing. Old, rotted wood was cut and pulled out of the banks, new logs were wrestled into place, and the rocks that fill the spaces in between were removed, then replaced. All this work was completed in one day - without the use of any heavy equipment! Special thanks go to the capable DEC crew who handled the majority of the heavy lifting. One more work day is scheduled to add smaller rock on top of the benches and wire coverings to keep rocks from washing away in high water. You can visit the site by parking at the fishing access parking area 3 tenths of a mile north of the Willsboro library on Gilliland Lane. Please exercise caution if walking on the benches prior to the final work day.

Willsboro Fishing Access - work in progress at the "Salmon Hole" near the bottom of the Willsboro Cascades. Photo: Vic Putman

Sea lamprey larvae Photo: Holly Muir, USGS

Lamprey treatment is contemplated upriver on the Boquet for the first time

This summer, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation fisheries biologists discovered Sea Lamprey larvae in the Boquet upstream of the Willsboro cascades for the first time. Before 2015, the Willsboro Dam prevented these parasitic invasive fish from migrating upstream to spawn. The dam's removal was a boon for Atlantic Salmon who have successfully migrated upstream for their spawning cycle. Unfortunately, the Lamprey have followed along, using their suction cup mouths to climb up the rock slopes of the cascades where Salmon swim and leap.

Sea Lamprey attached to a Lake Trout Photo: Andrea Miehls, USGS

Since 1990, the NYS DEC, the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the Vermont DEC have steadily reduced the impact of the invasive species by applying "lampricide" chemical treatments every three years to interrupt the Lamprey breeding cycle. In the past they only applied it at the mouth of the Boquet below the barrier of the dam.

For 2024, the DEC has proposed applying lampricide at two upsteam locations this fall: at the Jersey Street Bridge in Essex, and 1.5 miles up the North Branch of the Boquet on Sunset Drive in Willsboro. While the chemical is highly targeted to Sea Lamprey, the DEC recommends that the public limit our exposure to river water during the 3-7 day period of application. Consuming, swimming, fishing or livestock watering with river water is not recommended. The DEC has not set the dates of application, but will notify riverfront landowners by mail, publish notice in local papers and activate a "hotline" that resident can call.

You can learn more by visiting the US Fish & Wildlife's page about controlling Lamprey here. The DEC provides information about Sea Lamprey and the lampricide application here.