DEC plans public meetings on plan to restore and enhance Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Fisheries

DEC plans public meetings on plan to restore and enhance Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Fisheries

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has scheduled five public meetings to solicit comments on the draft "Sportfishing Restoration and Spending Plan" for the Lake Ontario system. The Draft Plan proposes ways to restore and enhance recreational fishing and fisheries in the New York waters of the lower Niagara River, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and their tributaries upstream to the first barrier impassable to fish (hereafter referred to as the Lake Ontario system).

Funds for this restoration are from a settlement of the state's Natural Resource Damages (NRD) claim with Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC). OCC agreed to pay the state $12 million in five equal payments over four years. The settlement was based on an assessment of the damages to the state's natural resources, in particular a loss of recreational fishing benefits, resulting from the imposition of fish consumption advisories because of the presence of contaminants in fish in the Lake Ontario system. The proceeds of the settlement will be used to restore/enhance sportfishing and the injured natural resources.

Copies of the draft plan can be viewed or downloaded from www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/lkontactivities.html or can be obtained at the DEC Regional headquarters in Watertown, Syracuse, Avon and Buffalo. Five public meetings are scheduled as follows:

Ogdensburg, 7 p.m. on February 12, St. Lawrence Valley Sportsmen Club, Route 37, Red Mill. Contact Frank Flack, (315) 785-2262.
Watertown, 7 p.m. on February 13, Watertown State Office Building, First Floor Conference Room, 317 Washington Street, Watertown. Contact Frank Flack, (315) 785-2262.
Mexico, 7 p.m. on February 14, Mexico High School Auditorium, Route 104, Mexico. Contact Daniel Bishop, (607) 753-3095.
Rochester, 7 p.m. on February 7, RIT campus, Carlson Auditorium, Imaging Science Building, 1 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester. Contact Web Pearsall, (585) 226-5339.
Lewiston, 7 p.m. on February 15, Lewiston-Porter High School, 4061 Creek Road, Youngstown. Contact Paul McKeown, (716) 372-0645.

Go to www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/lkontactivities.html for both reviewing the draft plan and for submitting comments. Written comments can be e-mailed to fwnrd@gw.dec.state.ny.us. or mailed to: Christopher J. Balk, Lake Ontario Natural Resource Damages Coordinator, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, P. O. Box 292, Cape Vincent, NY 13618.