The lamprey control quagmire continues
By DENNIS APRILL, Outdoors Columnist
Tuesday evening, May 14, might decide the direction and even the outcome of effective lamprey control efforts for Lake Champlain. At a hearing in the Ferrisburg (Vermont) High School starting at 6:30 p.m., Vermont Fish and Wildlife will request a treatment permit for Lewis Creek. The anti-lampricide forces are expected to be out in force.
Two key opposition groups - the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) and Vermont Audubon - have already filed a court injunction to stop the treatments, scheduled to start this fall, even though Vermont F & W has already lowered the dosage concentration in an attempt to placate opponents.
This is only the proverbial "tip of the iceberg," as there are charges of conflict of interest coming from pro-lamprey control forces. One of the leaders in Vermont is James Ehlers, the editor of "Outdoors" magazine, formerly "Vermont Outdoors."
Ehlers points his finger at the law firm of Dunkiel, Shems and Kassel as evidence. "VPIRG, which is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit to stop lamprey control, employs the services of attorney Brian Dunkiel. Dunkiel is a partner of attorney and former Vermont Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources John Kassel. Under Kassel’s regime, 1998-2000, lamprey control never took place."
Here’s another "coincidence,"Ehlers points out: The Federal Environmental Protection Agency urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to work with the Nature Conservancy in implementing the lamprey program. According to Ehlers, Warren King, who has a leading role with the Vermont Nature Conservancy, is, as Ehlers states, "the same individual who is suing the U.S. F&W Service as vice chair of the Audubon Society, and is the same individual that is supposed to be advising the Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources."
Confusing? Yes - then throw in the mudpuppy, a large amphibian (I ran a picture of one found two years ago floating dead in Kings Bay), which VPIRG would like to see put on the Vermont Endangered Species List for, as Ehlers sees it, another ploy to stop lamprey control, and it is clear that getting viable lamprey control in Vermont waters is going to be quite a task.
As such, Bill Wellman of the Lake Champlain Chapter of Trout Unlimited is urging car pools to Ferrisburg. For information on getting to Ferrisburg High School or car-pooling, call Wellman at 563-1985 or e-mail wellmanw@westelcom.com.