Bob Stannard: Don’t burn down our barn

I retired in 2013 and decided I’d go fishing. I fished all the time as a kid, but I grew up and life got in the way. I fished in brooks, rivers and ponds, but since I didn’t have a boat, lake fishing was out. So 60 years later I bought a small boat. 

I now fish a fair amount and I’ve learned the best place to fish in Vermont is Lake Bomoseen. I have come to really enjoy and respect this majestic body of water that’s so clear you can see down 15 feet. 

Lake Bomoseen is ranked the No. 1 in-state fishery. It hosts trophy-size bass, pike, trout, pickerel, perch, crappie and panfish. This lake has been the prime fishing lake not only for Vermonters, but for people traveling some distance away. Some come just to go for a boat ride, but most people come to fish. 

What makes Lake Bomoseen such a great fishery? It hosts a large variety of weeds that provide habitat for a variety of fish. Drop an underwater camera in the weeds and you’ll see a menagerie of creatures, everything from small organisms to crawfish hanging on the weeds to thousands of minnows. It’s a virtual city that lives together to all support the healthiest fish population in Vermont. 

My wife and I decided to buy a small camp on Lake Bomoseen. We spent a couple of years researching the market. We learned that there were few camps available and those were small and overpriced. One camp had no septic and “maybe no water” for only $350,000! Even that place has sold. Weeds have clearly not deterred people from buying homes on Lake Bomoseen. 

Last summer there were rumors that the Lake Bomoseen Association was considering spraying toxic chemicals in the lake to kill the weeds, but they said they had no intentions of doing so.

In a surprise move, the association’s board (not the entire membership, many of whom knew nothing of the board’s action ) has applied for a permit to inject the lake with a toxic chemical known as ProcellaCOR, which is manufactured by a company called Sepro. Sepro and Solitude, the state’s company of choice that does the spraying, stand to make a lot of money. 

ProcellaCOR is not approved by the EPA. It’s registered, because the long-term impacts have yet to be determined. 

The Lake Bomoseen Association professes that weeds must be killed to protect the lake for swimming, fishing and boating. Yet in 2018, the association argued that there were too many boats on the lake. Now it’s saying that the weeds are prohibiting boating. Which is it? 

Covid-19 has brought even more boats since 2018. Killing fish habitat is not protecting the fish. If swimming in front of one's camp is the issue, that can easily be addressed in a nonchemical way. 

Surprisingly, unbeknownst to most Lake Bomoseen Association members, the association board hired a lobbyist months before it sought any public input. You don’t hire a lobbyist because you’re interested in what other people have to say. You hire a lobbyist to win. 

That the board opted not to share this information has served to anger many association members. Last week the Lake Bomoseen Association’s co-applicant, the town of Hubbardton, withdrew, because it, too, felt deceived.

The Lake Bomoseen Association and the state of Vermont seem to love ProcellaCOR because of the claim that it just kills Eurasian milfoil, the plant that some hate. After 40 years, fishermen have accepted milfoil, because it provides habitat for fish. 

ProcellaCOR claims that it does not kill fish. The fish that it used for its “toxicity test” were carp, the most resilient fish on the planet. There are no carp in Lake Bomoseen. Anyone who knows anything about carp knows that you can catch a carp, put it in the trunk of your car, bring it home, strap it to your dining room chair, hang out with it for a week, take it back to the lake and it’ll swim away (OK, I’m exaggerating, but not by much. They’re hard to keep strapped in a chair). 

Even if this toxic chemical doesn’t immediately kill fish, it does kill where the fish live, hide and feed. It kills their habitat. Think of it like this: It’s 20 below zero and you go into town to get some beer. While you’re gone, someone burns down your house. The arsonist would argue that the burning down of your house didn’t kill you. However, you will freeze to death, because you’re without shelter. 

Mankind seems to think it can kill its way out of perceived problems. The weeds in Lake Bomoseen have been there for a long time. They come and go. Some years are worse than others. They’ve pretty much leveled off. We need only to look to Lake George to see that milfoil can be controlled using nonchemical alternatives. 

The time has come to call Gov. Scott (802-828-3333) and demand a moratorium on spraying toxic chemicals in our water.

As my dad used to say, “We don’t burn down our barn to get rid of the mice.”

This commentary was published in VTDigger on March 6, 2022.
Bob Stannard is an author, musician and former state legislator and lobbyist.