Doc. #2009-
CAYUGA LAKE WATERSHED NETWORK
Steward's Report
September October 2009

Sunset on Cayuga

You last received a brief Steward’s Report in August, as I and interns Jade
and Rachel plunged into the final weeks of preparation for our September 26
fundraiser “Sunset on Cayuga.” Thanks to good planning by committee members
Karen Philip, Carmel Schmidt, Ronda Fessenden, Milene Morfei and John
Mawdsley – and weeks of backbreaking effort by Jade and Rachel, the event
was a great success. About 140 people attended, and with two great bands –
the BottomFeeders and Back Talk – and good food in a pretty setting at the
Lakewatch Inn, plus the lively excitement of raffling and silent auction,
everyone partied pretty darn hard.

We did not make scads of money but we made a lot of friends, and that’s what
pays off in the longer run.

I attach one photo of the dancing, and we’ll soon have more on the Web site
and in our next Newsletter issue – along with Jim White’s great “alphabet
poem” about Cayuga Lake!

Our Interns

Rachel Singley has now departed from our employment, to pursue new horizons
in Ithaca.

Rachel made all the difference for me when I arrived in February.

She both taught me the Network’s history and values and also made sure I was
able to pay the bills and deposit the checks!

As an intern and office manager, Rachel has been a remarkable, one-of-a-kind
asset for the Network over the past three years, and I hope she will be a
Network supporter forever. I know we all support her!

Jade Cassalia, our Summer 2009 Intern, is continuing to provide us with
support in the office, and is also helping move the eCommons project
forward. This is the online compilation of lake-related data at the Cornell
eCommons Web site. Sharon Anderson and Cornell’s Mann Librarian Gail
Steinhardt are assisting us. Among other new data sets, Jade is in the early
stages of making the lake source cooling data available at this site.

We have a new intern this fall, Wells College senior Andrea Muñoz, who is
completing a degree in Environmental Studies. Right now she is assisting
Jade and me with a big membership mailing renewal, and will also soon help
with preparing and mailing out the year-end appeal. Andrea is also helping
with research questions as they arise, and will do many other excellent and
supportive tasks for us during the fall semester.

We have benefited enormously from the intern grant support provided by the
Emerson Foundation.

A Suggestion and Request from Niamh O’Leary

Niamh O’Leary is back at Wells College this fall as Chair of their
Environmental Studies program, following a leave of absence.

Niamh is a long-time Network supporter and has served on the Board.

I recently met with her and Tom Vawter to discuss integrating the Network’s
presence on the Wells Campus more fully with Wells student needs and
interests. In addition to the internships we are providing to all Wells
students via the careers office, Niamh has told me about another opportunity
to give and receive.

The Environmental Studies major has two main tracks, science and policy.

Each student major must do one to two semesters of work that results in a
Senior Thesis, and are often seeking project ideas.

Niamh has asked me – and I am asking you to help – come up with a Wish List
of Network projects that qualified Wells College Environmental Studies
majors, in either science or policy, could take on as a thesis topic.

Floating Classroom

Please have a look at the materials that John M has sent the Board regarding
a closer relationship with Bill Foster and Dennis Montgomery’s Floating
Classroom. We’d appreciate it if you would all get to know about the FC in a
bit more detail.

Among our Board and committee members/volunteers, Ruth R took a
college-class cruise last month; Tom V and Milene M are both supporters of
the FC’s services to Wells College students.

The FC has been offering Ecocruises for the public this past summer, and the
last one of the season is this coming Sunday, October 25.

If you have the time, this is a wonderful local adventure. Plan to arrive
BEFORE 4 pm for the 4:00-6:00 pm cruise, rain or shine.

You embark from the Ithaca Boating Center dock on Old Taughannock Blvd (next
to Castaways). A $5-$10 donation is suggested.

To learn more about the Floating Classroom:

* The FC web site is here:
http://www.cayugawatershed.org/floatingclassroom/
* Bill Foster’s blog is here: http://floatingclassroom.blogspot.com/
* The info about Ecocruises is here:
http://www.tioherotours.com/specialitytours.htm

Introducing Myself Around the Watershed

In the past two months I have been introducing myself around the Cayuga Lake
watershed, with visits and meetings at the Finger Lakes – Lake Ontario
Watershed Protection Alliance (FLLOWPA), the Cayuga County Water Quality
Management Agency (WQMA), the Finger Lakes Institute (FLI), and the Owasco
Lake Association (OWLA) – among others; and have taken part in numerous
public activities such as Lansing’s Lakefest in mid-August and the Finger
Lakes Land Trust 20th anniversary get-together in early September. I also
attended the 2009 Lake Mgmt Conference (NY Planning, FLLOWPA, others), and
the Finger Lakes Research Conference (FLI, USGS, others). If you have ideas
as to who I should get to know better in my role as Steward, please send
your suggestions my way!

As a volunteer (not on Network time) I organized four Earth Stewardship
sessions for the just-past Finger Lakes Bioneers conference, online at
http://www.wemakeourfuture.org <http://www.wemakeourfuture.org/> – thanks
to Rachel S for her great presentation.

I also helped organize a Leasing Rights forum for Dryden residents concerned
about hydrofracking impacts and other impacts from the proposed Marcellus
shale leasing, drilling, and blasting. There is a lot going on right now
about this complex issue, and I am working in my ‘spare time’ to ensure that
folks with concerns are all talking to one another. There is an advocacy
role for the Network as a sponsor of presentations about balancing impacts
to the watershed and lake with financial benefits for rural landowners. The
Network’s Issues Committee plans to submit comments on the draft SGEIS for
hydrofracking, comments due in to Albany by November 30th.

Upcoming events

Board meetings this year: November 10, December 8 – at our Wells College
office, 7 – 9 pm.

Thursday, 10/22: Steve Penningroth at Ithaca’s History Center, 5:30 pm, “The
Water Quality of Cayuga Lake.”

Saturday, 10/24: Phosphorus conference, 9 am – noon, cosponsored by the
Network and the IO – see attached flyer.

Tuesday and Thursday, 10/27 and 29: Two Cornell Cooperative Extension of TC
forums on shale gas drilling and leasing – contact me or them for details
(sent out on the CLWN listserv last week).

Next year, 2-3/10 at Wells, 4/10 in Lansing: Bill Kappel’s talk on “Lake
Levels.”

Please share any lake-related talks, events that we might want to attend!

Newsletter – “Network News”

We have a good array of articles and article ideas for the next issue of
Network News, and I will pull that together next week.

Watch for it during November.

Grants, Fundraising

* Park Fdtn grant – I and John M are meeting with Ulysses Township
leaders to discuss sewerage problems; the Issue Committee has recommended
two other subwatersheds with problems we can tackle and help solve.
* Delavan Fdtn – Deb G submitted a proposal for their recent deadline.
* Emerson Fdtn final grant report – see attached. Will submit a new
request in a few weeks.
* Mott Fdtn – pre-proposal, will be submitted this week.
* AmeriCorps position application – will complete it this week.
* Ithaca’s Alternative Gift Fair – we’ve won a seat at this fun event,
set for December 5. Details to follow!

Thanks to Deb Grantham for her assistance in getting me going again on grant
writing following Sunset on Cayuga.

This is a way overdue, substantive update for you all – thanks for reading
this far!

Hilary

Dr. Hilary Lambert

Steward, Cayuga Lake Watershed Network