Adirondack Park - Eagle Lake Property Owner's Inc.

II.
Introduction
The Adirondack Park Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan (the Plan) facilitates the
coordination of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) management efforts throughout the Park. The
Plan was developed with close attention to the New York State ANS Management Plan. The Plan
also complements ANS efforts already underway in the eastern portion of the Park as part of the
Lake Champlain Basin ANS Management Plan and is intended to coordinate closely with the
Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) to help fulfill its ANS management objectives. The
Adirondack Park Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan identifies ANS problems and
concerns, and describes specific objectives, strategies, and actions to be undertaken to manage
aquatic nuisance species within the Park. The objectives, strategies, and actions described in
Section V of the Plan specifically address the strategic ANS management approaches articulated
by the New York State Invasive Species Task Force: education, prevention, early detection, rapid
response, and control/management. Though the Plan is specific to the Adirondack Park, given
the connectivity of roads and waters with those outside the Park boundary, meeting the goals of
the Plan will also require close coordination with ANS management efforts outside of the Park.
Adirondack Waters
The Adirondack Park is 5.8 million acres in size and covers approximately 25% of the total land
area of New York State (Figure II.1). The Park contains 12 major watersheds ranging in size
from 175,602 acres for the Grass River to 1,087,692 acres for the Upper Hudson River (Table
II.1). These 12 watersheds drain in several directions, and are connected to Lake Ontario, the St
Lawrence River, Lake Champlain, the Mohawk River, and the Lower Hudson River. The Park
contains 321,284 acres of surface water, which represents about 6% of the total land area. There
are 11,076 lakes and ponds ranging from 0.01 acres to 28,511 acres (Lake George) in size
(Figure II.2 and Table II.1). The Black River watershed contains the largest number of lakes and
ponds at 2,705 followed by the Upper Hudson at 1,810 and Raquette River at 1,384. The
Sacandaga River watershed contains the largest acreage of surface water at 103,148 acres
followed by the Raquette River at 48,194 acres. The Sacandaga and Raquette River watersheds
also have the highest surface density of water (acres of water per acre of land area). There are a
total of 17,653 miles of rivers and streams greater than one mile in length. The Upper Hudson
River watershed contains the greatest mileage of rivers and streams at 3,114 miles followed by
the Black River watershed at 2,288 miles.
The Adirondack Park contains 5,300 miles of public roads and 52 dams. A large number of
lakes, ponds, and streams are located in close proximity to a public road (Figure II.3). There is
considerable day use of Adirondack lakes each summer. For example, 1,160 boats were
launched from the NYS DEC launch site on Lake Placid between Memorial Day and Labor Day
in 2004 and 751 boats were launched into the St Regis lakes during the same period (PSCAWI
Watershed Stewardship Program 2004 Report).
The Adirondack Park contains 12 counties and 105 towns (Figure II.4). Only Essex and
Hamilton Counties are contained wholly within the Park boundary. All of the boundaries for the
12 watersheds cross over at least 2 counties and multiple towns. A close up example of this is
shown for the Raquette River watershed, wherein the watershed contains parts of 4 counties (St
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