n May 1998 the New York-Vermont Citizens Advisory Committees (CACs) on Lake Champlain announced Partnership Program awards for 22 organizations (out of forty strong applicants) within the Lake Champlain Basin. Funding, which totaled $70,000, was made available through the Lake Champlain Basin Program from the U.S. EPA and the National Park Service. This marks the sixth year that Partnership Program awards have been made to grassroots projects that demonstrate practical ways to address economic and conservation challenges. Recipients designed projects that enhance cultural, recreational and natural resource issues facing the Lake Champlain Basin.

These fortunate 22 recipients include:

The "Land for Learning" program, hailing from Moriah Central School. The school received $4,000 to complete a self-guided educational and recreational trail on school property.

The city of Vergennes received $2,800 to fund the completion of "The Vermont Guidebook: Touring Vermont’s Oldest City." This book will focus on the cultural, recreational, historical and natural resources within the oldest city in the Lake Champlain Basin.

The Intervale Foundation secured $2,500 for their "Final Intervale Land Restoration." The funds will help pay for operational costs associated with land management of the final 80 acres of tillable land along the Winooski River, seeking to restore this land to agricultural production.

The Village of Saranac Lake, via the River Corridor Commission, has received $5,000 for their "Saranac Lake River Corridor Commission Riverbank Stabilization Effort." The money will be used to stabilize the embankment along the Dorsey Street Bridge, halting further erosion, protecting the pedestrian walkway and enhancing public access to the river for fishing.

The Otter Creek Audubon Society received $2,000 for their "Addison County Riverwatch Collaborative." The money will be utilized to support the first year of opperations of the Riverwatch Collaborative.

The Arvin A. Brown Public Library secured $500 for their "Missisquoi River Dynamics/Canoe Course." This sum will be used to help share the costs of canoe rentals, which will be used to introduce area youth to canoeing on the Missisquoi River.

The Nature Conservancy is set to receive $5,000 for their "Field Barn Stabilization" program. The money will be used to stabilize an early nineteenth century field barn located on the Buckner Preserve in West Haven, VT.

The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps will receive $2,500 to go towards the "Youth Corps State Park Improvements" program. The program plans to help reclaim the trails and picnic areas, repair historic structures and provide safe recreational facilities and educational programs at state parks within the Lake Champlain Basin.

Heritage Winooski will receive $4,500 to go towards "The Winooski Mills: Economic, Social and Ecological Impact" program. This will incorporate a teachers workshop, development of curriculum materials for middle and high school teachers, creating museum exhibits and designing school tours based on Winooski’s early twentieth century textile mill industry.

The Green Mountain Audubon Society will receive $4,200 for the "Northern Lake Champlain Endangered and Threatened Species Project." The Audubon Society in partnership with the VT Nongame and Natural Heritage Program and the Missiquoi National Wildlife Refuge will monitor and protect some of the lake’s waterbirds including the Osprey, the Common Tern and Black Tern.

The Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance will receive $3,000 for their "Mentors in the Champlain Basin" program. The funds will go towards providing a mentoring program that reaches museums, galleries and historical societies in the Lake Champlain Basin. The result is an improved network between cultural institutions in Vermont and New York, as well as improvement in practices and visitor services at each site.

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum will receive $2,500 for their "Boat-building/Sailing Program for Youths at Risk." The museum will offer eight at-risk youths an opportunity to learn boat building and sailing skills.

The Richmond Land Trust is set to receive $3,000 for their "Preserving our Agricultural Heritage-Historic Monitor Barns Project." This project involves the preservation of three historic farmsteads, including two monitor barns and one thousand surrounding acres and efforts to attract sustainable agriculture and forestry enterprises to these resources.

The Burlington Conservation Board has secured $4,000 for their "Burlington Guidelines for Stormwater Pollutant Reduction" project. The money will be used to develop guidelines for the best management practices designed to minimize pollutant loads for stormwater runoff. One major goal of the project is to include a comprehensive source mitigation plan emphasizing long-term strategies and community involvement.

The Boquet River Association is anticipating $2,000 for the "Gilleland History/Natural Foot and Canoe Trail." The money will go towards improving canoe and small boat access for the public at the proposed Willsboro Falls Park, upstream from the Noblewood Park on Lake Champlain.

UVM is set to receive $3,000 for the "Otter Creek Heritage Corridor" project. The money will be utilized to produce a heritage guide booklet and map of the Otter Creek watershed. The guide will be designed to encompass the history, architecture, engineering and natural resources within the Otter Creek watershed.

The Adirondack Nature Conservancy and Adirondack Land Trust will receive $5,000 for the "Coon Mountain Preserve/Split Rock Link" program. The money will be used to further the establishment of a wildlife corridor and hiking trail between two public preserves in the Champlain Valley. By providing a land link between the Coon Mountain preserve and Split Rock Mountain Forest Preserve, Lake Champlain could be linked to an inland hiking destination and 4,993 contiguous acres of habitat.

The Village of Whitehall, NY will receive $3,000 for the "B.A.C.S.T.O.P. Summer ‘98’"program. The money will be implemented towards a summer youth program for at-risk youth ages 7-17. Students will become involved in Lake Champlain activities such as hand-pulling water chestnuts and documenting graves of individuals from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Whitehall Junior and Senior High Schools will receive $1,500 for the "East Bay (Poultney River) Watershed Improvement" program. The money will go towards reviving the East Bay area of the Poultney River adjacent to the Bald Mountain Preserve and the South Lake.

The Lake Champlain Chapter of Trout Unlimited has been allotted $1,200 for their "Adopt-a-Salmon Family" program. The money will to towards expanding the program efforts into two additional school districts located in Clinton and Essex Counties of New York.

The Lake Champlain Committee has secured $5,000 for their "Lake Champlain Bilingual Boating Publication." The money will go towards the printing of ten thousand copies of the publication which promotes environmentally sound boating practices, boating safety tips and information on invasive species in a usable format for boaters.

In addition to the other allotment, the Lake Champlain Committee has received $2,000 for the "Lake Champlain Paddler’s Trail Outreach Project." The money will go towards working with the Champlain Kayak Club, federal and state agencies and a private tour company to print a guidebook on the 19 sites which will be open or available for designation as a paddlers’ site in 1998.