Kinderhook Lake Corporation

Saturday, June 22, 9:00am. Volunteers assembled at One Tree Island to start this year’s water chestnut hand pull event. Volunteers traveled up the west side of the lake along Ottoville Rd picking up hundreds of water chestnut “stragglers,” then entered the north end of the lake for two hours of pulling in the dense weed bed which, by the way, has receded about 50-feet further back due to the last few years of weed pulls. Once again battling this invasive species, an estimated four to five cubic yards of weeds were collected and removed from the lake. Thanks to all the volunteers who spent just a few hours helping to improve the quality of Kinderhook Lake: Melanie Langdon, Eric Piecuch, Doug Peterson, Tina Decker, Linda Leader, Bonnie Bargstedt, Ron Jensis, Dan and Robin Langer, Pete Walkes, Rick Theriault, Fran Sindlinger, John Bruford. If we forgot or misspelled any names, please forgive us and know that your time and assistance was greatly appreciated.

To help reduce the spread of this aquatic invasive species, a water chestnut hand-pulling event is planned for Saturday, June 22, 9:00 am – 11:00 am. We need two dozen volunteers for this event to be successful. Please meet at ONE TREE ISLAND with your kayak, canoe, rowboat, raft, or any vessel that can navigate very shallow water. Don’t forget heavy gloves and perhaps a rake. A few teams of volunteers will be dispersed to various coves around the lake where water chestnut growth has been identified. Pulled weeds will be transferred to the ECO-Harvester and brought to shore for disposal. In the event of pouring rain or lightning, the ‘pull’ will take place at the same time on Sunday, June 23. Please come and be part of the solution.

This year, some of the water chestnuts will be pulled with the ECO-Harvester. However, due to the risk of damage to the harvester drum, the harvester cannot run in the very shallow water where many of the water chestnuts are growing.

A record 22 volunteers showed up at the north end of the lake on the morning of June 10th to help hand-pull water chestnuts. Due to previous year’s hand-pulling events as well as the use of our cutter boat, we had far fewer water chestnuts to deal with this year, and 22 volunteers made a huge dent in the remaining weeds. We are making a difference.

Thanks to the following volunteers who made this event so successful:

Additional thanks to:

• Lisa and Steve Puvogel for allowing access to the lake across their property for our dump trailer; the dump trailer was used to transport the pulled weeds for disposal.
• Dawn and Mike Franceour for the use of their boat to provide refreshments.
• Steve Sigler for the use of his boat to transport the weeds to the dump trailer.

To help reduce the spread of this aquatic invasive species, a water chestnut hand-pulling event is planned for Saturday, June 10, 9:00 am – 11:00 am. We need a dozen volunteers for this event to be successful. As in past years, please meet at the north end of the lake with your kayak, canoe, row boat, raft, or any vessel that can navigate very shallow water. Don’t forget a rake and heavy gloves. Weeds will be transferred to a larger vessel and brought to shore for disposal. Light refreshments will be provided. In the event of pouring rain, the event will take place the same time on Sunday, June 11. Please come and be part of the solution.

So, why don’t we do this with our new ECO-Harvester? Our DEC permit does not allow it. We’re just as sorry as you!