DEC Region 5 Quarterly Reports of Administration Use of Motor Vehicles and Aircraft in the Forest Preserve.

Essex County - In compliance with DEC Commissioner Policy - 17, the activity logs documenting the administrative use of motor vehicles and aircraft within the Forest Preserve in DEC Region 5 for the fourth quarter of 2001 are available for review by contacting Thomas D. Martin, Regional Forester, NYS DEC, P. O. Box 296, Route 86, Ray Brook, NY 12977, phone:(518) 897-1276.

Essex County - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, as lead agency, has determined that the proposed Modify Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Unit Management Plan will not have a significant adverse environmental impact. The action involves modification of the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Unit Management Plan. The plan proposed that common shiners (and a heritage strain of brook trout) would be stocked in Rock and Little Rock Ponds following the reclamation. The plan will be modified to state that round whitefish, a NYS endangered species, will be stocked instead of the common shiners. The project is located Rock Pond in the Town of Ticonderoga.

Contact: William Schoch, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 5 Headquarters, Route 86, Ray Brook, New York 12977, phone: (518) 897-1333.

Clinton, Essex and Washington Counties - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, as lead agency, has determined that the proposed Lake Champlain sea lamprey control will not have a significant adverse environmental impact. The action involves the control of the abundance of sea lamprey in Lake Champlain by application of chemical lampricides to selected NY tributaries and delta areas. It continues, with minor modifications, stream and delta treatments first initiated in 1990 pursuant to a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) titled "Use of Chemical Lampricides in a Temporary Program of Sea Lamprey Control in Lake Champlain with an Assessment of Effects on Certain Fish Populations and Sportfisheries" and as described in its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement titled "A long-term program of sea lamprey control in Lake Champlain", published in 2001 pursuant to NEPA. No significant adverse impacts were identified during the eight-year program covered by the FEIS. Fundamental mitigation strategies established in the FEIS will be continued. TFM-only treatments were addressed in a previous environmental assessment whose SEQR notice was published in 1998. This environmental review addresses the potential for spring tributary treatments, as well as the use of Bayluscide in combination with TFM to reduce overall pesticide usage in stream treatments, and as a sole-use lampricide for delta treatments. The project is located as described in the following table:

a) - Miles refers to the length of stream to be treated in each system from application point to mouth.

b) - Acreage contained within the potential delta treatment boundary area, if any. Treated acreage will likely be substantially reduced from the acreage stated here. Delta sea lamprey ammocoete distributions will be mapped using modified deepwater electrofishing techniques. Only those sections with sufficient densities of sea lamprey ammocoetes will be treated.

c) Treated mileage may be reduced to 7.5 miles if the renovated Old Waterworks Dam (Town of Champlain) serves as a lamprey barrier.

d) Treatment acreage includes both the delta and, potentially, the lower river mouth. Currently, sea lamprey ammocoete habitat on the Saranac is limited to the lower river mouth and delta. By only treating these limited, river-mouth areas in conjunction with any Bayluscide delta treatments, we could effect control without unnecessarily exposing 3+ miles to TFM or TFM/Bayluscide treatments.

e) Treatment mileage includes both Ausable Mouths and 0.5 miles of tributary Dry Mill Brook.

f) Treatment acreage includes both the delta and, potentially, approximately 40 acres of the lower river where conditions have prevented effective control with TFM.

g) Treatment mileage includes 0.3 miles of tributary Brevoort Brook and 0.1 miles of tributary Ranney Brook.

h) Treatment mileage includes 0.6 miles of tributary Greenland Brook

Contact: Lawrence J. Nashett, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Regional Fisheries, P. O. Box 296, Route 86, Ray Brook, New York 12977, phone: (518) 897-1333, e-mail: lxnashet@gw.dec.state.ny.us