What Is It?  

The Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program (CSLAP) is a volunteer lake monitoring program conducted by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the NYS Federation of Lake Associations (NYSFOLA).  Founded in 1986 with 25 pilot lakes, the program has involved more than 200 lakes, ponds, and reservoirs and 1000 volunteers from eastern Long Island to the Northern Adirondacks to the western-most lake in New York and from 10 acre ponds to several Finger Lakes, Lake Ontario, Lake George, and lakes within state parks.  In this program, lay volunteers trained by the NYSDEC and NYSFOLA collect water samples, observations, and perception data every other week in a fifteen-week interval between May and October.  Water samples are analyzed by certified laboratories.  Analytical results are interpreted by the NYSDEC and FOLA, and are utilized for a variety of purposes by the State of New York, local governments, researchers, and, most importantly, participating lake associations. 

How is SLA involved?  

	Taylor Gath and Ethan Tyrrell Jim Hamilton, Dr. Frost, and Cookie Barker

The Schroon Lake Association participated in this program for five years from 1987 until 1991 when the program was ended for a time.  Testing was resumed again in 2001 and continues through the present.  Currently these tests are performed by Ms. Cookie Barker, science teacher at Schroon Lake Central School and a few of her students each summer as a science project.  The Schroon Lake Association pays for the analysis of the results and receives a report every year.  These reports will be made available in the Schroon Lake Library as reference materials for those interested in reading the results.

Young People Helping Our Lake  

	Dr. David Frost and Cookie Barker Jim Hamilton and Leanna Karp

In the photo above:  SLCS students Ethan Tyrrell and Taylor Gath are sitting in the bow of the boat.  Jim Hamilton is driving, and Dr. Frost is seated with Ms. Barker standing behind him.  In the photo to the left: In the background, Jim Hamilton, who loans his boat for the purpose of these studies, and Leanna Karp, one of the Schroon Lake Central School students involved with CSLAP.  In the foreground are Cookie Barker and SLA President Dr. David Frost.  Dr. Frost is presenting Ms. Barker with a Certificate of Appreciation for her (and her students'!) hard work.

The following students have shown an early interest in the preservation of the lake by working with Ms. Barker and SLA over the years with the CSLAP program:

2002 - Steve Aiken, Brian Caza and Zac Subra
2003 - Richard Barry and Paul Hale
2004 - Ethan Tyrrell and Taylor Gath
2005 - Sherri McCray and Leanna Karp
2006 - Rebecca Armstrong, Wesley Beers,
           Anthony VanderWalker and Jeremy Tyrrell