Archive: Around Town

The Cayuga Lake Floating Classroom will offer variety of public eco-cruises on Cayuga Lake during 2008, beginning this spring. Thanks to support from the City of Ithaca and the Town of Lansing, and a Tompkins County Community Celebrations grant, the Floating Classroom will host free cruises in association with Earth Day and Water Week celebrations at the Ithaca Farmers' Market.

According to Lynn Leopold, who has been a key figure in the development of the project, the Floating Classroom was launched in 2002, with the help of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization, to inspire stronger connections between the 40-our communities and the water resources that define them. More than 1200 students participate each year for interactive education experiences that blend environmental science, local history and personal perspective.

"The mission of the Floating Classroom reaches beyond youth education, however, and we hope to begin serving a broader population this year," states Bill Foster, chair of the volunteer committee that guides the Floating Classroom project. "Important water resource decisions face our communities- from drinking water supply to waste management. Regional retail, agricultural and tourism economies continue to develop, and the potential impact of these local processes, in combination with more global concerns such as climate change, has many residents concerned. And yet, even as new stormwater and land use regulations are being implemented, disagreement remains as to the health of our Lake and its tributaries."

Can we sustain the health of our waterways? It's a complex question, and local governments depend on the contributions of a well-informed public to generate sustainable resource management decisions. By offering residents the chance to actually get out on Cayuga Lake, where they can participate in ecological monitoring activities and discuss their ideas with local representatives and organizations in an informal setting, Floating Classroom committee members hope to better prepare the public for this role.

On a lighter note, eco-cruises aboard Tiohero Tours' M/V Haendel, a well-equipped, 45-foot tour vessel, are also a lot of fun, according to Foster, and Cayuga Lake can be a beautiful place to spend an hour or two. As cruise participants collect water quality samples, and catch a glimpse of the tiny plant and animal communities, known as plankton, that keep our lake healthy, there is ample opportunity to share ideas amongst family, friends and neighbors- and maybe even create a few lake legends.

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