Document 44orK927ddjMOY8eLzYm2QwrQ

GLENS FALLS, It Y POST-STAR D. 18,660 SEP 2 5 1975 p- Adirondack Sportsman By BILL RODEN | The annual meeting of the New York Slate Conservation Council, held In Ilhara last week, was dramatic In more ways than one. We'll be referring to It off and on for some time. To cover all (hat Took place In one column would be Im possible. It was a meeting of change from beginning to end. While President Arthur Wager of Hyde. Park was re-elected, there was almost a total change-over in other officershlps John Szljarto of Lowvllle, president of the Adirondack Con servation Council, was elected vice president. Among Adlrondackers elected directors were Ed Morette of Essex County, Bob Boyce of St. Lawrence County, George Peterson of Washington County, and John Bunzey of Saratoga County. James Mullarkey, Immediate past president, was elected chairman of the Board o/ Directors replacing Ed Morette of Tlconderoga. Many of the new officers and directors are younger people more In tune to the problems of today and less concerned with the accomplishments of the past. All things taken Into consideration, we expect a considerably more dynamic and aggressive council with these new faces.*1'' We're Sony to see long-time friend and colleague Ed Morette step down from the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors but we're glad he remains a member of the board. Morette has been an active leader In the Council for over 30 years and the roster of ac complishments that he's been responsible (or or contributed to Is far loo long to ever be com pletely listed. ' Strong Negotiator Most recently he was a leader In the negotiation of the upcoming expanded programs for the Fish and Wildlife Division as a result of the increased license fee. In his annual report to the Council, Morette revealed that the Federal Government has appropriated (100,0(10 for a feasibility study for the Federal salmonld hat chery to be located In New York State te serve the Champlain Valley. This is a facility that the people of Vermont and New York have worked for for years - the re-establishment of salmon ,and lake trout In Lake Champlain. With the responsibilities of chairman of the board behind him, we're looking for Morette to turn his unique energy and abilities to moving Uils hatchery program forward to successful completion. The council's loss will be the Lake Champlaln- Adirondack area's gain. Certainly the most dramatic presentation at the convention was that of Commissioner Ogden Held. In a fact-filled, fast-moving talk, Reid developed thq highlights of the expanded programs of the Fish and Wildlife Division, pointing out that few states are moving ahead with expanded support from sportsmen as New York State is, Reid developed a review of greatly expanded habitat Improvement work In both the flat and wildlife segments. Coupled with this will be new programs of species management In cluding trap-and-transfer of both turkeys and deer to perlphereal Adirondack areas, complete reactivation of the long ' dormant ringnerk pheasant ralslng-and-siocklng program In New York State and attempts to re-establish the fisher In the Catskills. Both the Rlchanf Reynolds Game Farm at Ithaca and the John White Game Farm at Basom will be refurbished and put back into the production of Increased numbers of pheasants. Fishing access and parking areas and the acqulsluon of public fishing rights are high on the list of priorities In addition, cooperative hunting areas within 30 minutes drive of the state's major population centers ol Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and New York are planned. . HONS 032806 - ' Point* Outlined Commissioner Reid emphasized these elements of the fish and wildlife expansion program: ( I -- Initiation of a pilot program utilizing aquatic plants and marsh grasses In the Hudson River between Glens Falls and Troy to rid the river of PCB's. ` - Liming 23 Adirondack ponds totaling 725 acres to reduce acidity to levels hospitable for fish. Reid outlined the high priority sampling that has taken place In recent weeks of state waters and listed the waters where fish had been taken that exhibit excessive levels of PCB's. In ad dition to the Hudson River and Lake Ontario already announced by the department, high levels were found In the Mohawk, Seneca, Oswego Canal, Niagara River, Salmon River, Genesee River, Onondaga Lake, the Walloomsac Canal, St. Lawrence River and, most shocking of . all, Lake George with 15 ppm In lake trout. The ! EPA standards call for a maximum of 5 ppm. Surprisingly, Lake Erie apparently doesn't nave the chemical pollution of other waters. The Ogden Reid who appeared before the Council this annual meeting nas come a long way since his first appearance before this same group at the legislative session last winter. Reid certainly qualifies as one of the nation's leading environmentalists. His actions In connection with the Adirondack "acid rain" situation and I the PCB pollution have been dynamic, forceful, positive and In the best traditions of government Informing the people of the facts rather than seeking to suppress them or hide them. The commissioner Is less familiar with fish and wildlife management and readily admitted It last winter, but in his presentation at this con ' vention he demonstrated that he's learned a lot . In those Intervening months. This columnist Is betting that Reid will make a mark of lasting ' significance In the environmental field. The sportsmen of New York Slate are backing him with dollars and support. If Reid will let his fish and wildlife team move ahead on the programs outlined In the next year or two, he will have the gratitude and loyalty and support of the largest conservation organization In New York State, not only fbr. fish and wildlife but In support of other' state environmental issues. In all the murkey, unpleasant economic and bureaucratic confusion that seems to surround state and city HONS 032807