Chosen after a year-long search, the incoming Executive Director of the Lake George Association says he's ready to get his feet wet.
Born in Watertown, New York, Brendan Wiltse is set to replace interim LGA director Leigh Youngblood. In 2014, Wiltse earned a Ph.D. in biology with a focus on the ecological history of lakes. He says after spending 11 years in academia, he knew his calling was to help bridge the gap between science and action to protect freshwater ecosystems.
“I went to the Ausable River Association, which is now the Ausable Freshwater Center, and I served as their Science and Stewardship Director there for about six years, doing just that, doing monitoring and research within that watershed, but directly communicating that to the community and policymakers and local government of how do we act on what we're learning about that system? In the last four years, I've been doing very similar work, a little bit more focus on the science at the Adirondack Watershed Institute, which is a program of Paul Smith’s College,” said Wiltse.
Wiltse began serving as the head of the Adirondack Watershed Institute this summer. But he says he’s excited to get to work on Lake George, which he’s been visiting since he was a child.
But before he can begin diving into the science, Wiltse says there’s other work to be done.
“So, recognizing they haven't had an Executive Director for quite some time, one of my first priorities in the in the first several months of my role at LGA is going to be to focus on building or re-establishing relationships with the local community. It's so incredibly important that the work of LGA is done in partnership with the broader community of people that care about and want to protect Lake George, and that's everyone from lakeshore property owners, people that live in the watershed, visitors that come and enjoy Lake George, but also the business community, the local government, our state and federal representatives. We all have a common interest in protecting Lake George, and the Lake George Association is sort of the glue that can pull all of those entities together so that we're working in one consistent direction on our work to protect the lake,” said Wiltse.
Wiltse says he’s excited to amplify the LGA’s “science to solutions” mantra, which, among other achievements, has led local communities to reduce their road salt use.
“You know, the science that told us that the salt concentrations in the lake were increasing, they've tripled over the last several decades, and the Lake George Association has been a leader on that issue. Then saying, ‘OK, what are the solutions to this problem?’ And they went through and they assessed all the possibilities, and they started a really robust program that now is a leader, not just in the region, but in the country, about how we reduce our salt use. It's a model for other areas, and now we're seeing the amount of salt being applied in the watershed come down. And the lake, you know, is on a path to recovery from that. So that is the model of “science to solutions,” understanding the problem, looking at the solutions that to address it, and then investing and implementing those solutions,” said Wiltse.
In recent months the LGA and the Lake George Park Commission battled over the proposed use of the herbicide ProcellaCOR to cull invasive aquatic plants in the lake.
Following a last-minute decision from the Warren County Supreme Court, the pesticide was applied in July. In the following months, the two organizations came together to commit to cooperative monitoring of the local ecosystem.
While Wiltse was not involved in those conversations, he says he’s looking forward to building a productive relationship between the two organizations as they continue to track the efficacy of the herbicide.
“I think there's ways that we can, we can move forward in a collaborative way, even understanding we might have slight differences in opinion about what the next steps around something can be. And I think if you look at my career and the work that I've done elsewhere in the park, that's been what I've done all along. So, with time and re-establishing that relationship with the Park Commission, and for me, just establishing that relationship. So, I don't have a relationship with the Park Commission right now in any meaningful way. And so, I think this is a real opportunity for LGA and the Park Commission to, you know, again, not look backward, look forward,” said Wiltse.
Lake George Park Commission Executive Director Dave Wick tells WAMC he’s encouraged by Wiltse’s background and is looking forward to having the organizations work together.
The LGA also recently launched a grant program to help fund local septic tank repairs. Wiltse says the program is a testament to the commitment of the LGA to invest in protecting the lake.
“Some of these challenges that the lake is facing are significant, and they're gonna require significant investment to address them, whether that's helping individual property owners upgrade their septic systems, or helping a municipality upgrade their wastewater treatment system, or a municipality upgrade their salt application strategies, or investing in the efforts to prevent the introduction or manage invasive species once they're in the lake,” said Wiltse.
The LGA held its second annual shore cleanup in September, drawing more than 100 volunteers who spent a morning filling garbage bags with cigarette butts and food wrappers. Members of the Warren County Sherriff’s SCUBA team dredged trash from under the docks.
Wiltse says he’s looking forward to promoting that kind of local involvement in keeping the “Queen of American Lakes” clean.
“My vision is that everyone would have this running through the back of their head of our cumulative individual actions to perfect to protect the lake matter a lot. And so, something as small as picking up trash while you're out on a walk or attending a cleanup, or, you know, maybe how you care for your property or your lawn, all of that seems small and maybe insignificant on an on an individual scale, but when you multiply that across hundreds or 1000s or 10,000s of people across the Lake George watershed, taking those actions, the impact is significant. And so, that involvement with the community, I think, is core to what the Lake George Association is. And I'm sure you're going to see those activities and others continue in the future,” said Wiltse.
Wiltse is set to begin by the new year.
