Highland Lakes

Chairman: Bob Reffelt, 973-764-6869

The Ecology committee helps keep the health and welfare of our local environment top of mind—it makes recommendations to the Voting Board on all issues concerning ecology in Highland Lakes. The committee annually reviews the Club’s contract for lake water treatments, monitors readings taken from our lakes, offers advice to members about environmentally-safe products, and organizes events that showcase the importance of knowing how to protect our precious resources. In addition, the committee makes recommendations to members about ecological issues that may interest or concern them, such as how members should consider native plants when planting in the springtime.

Protecting our lakes is of critical importance to all of us. For guidance, please see our publication Ecology Committee – For The Lake’s Sake.

European Water Chestnut – An Invasive Threat
The committee remains concerned about the spread of water chestnut into our lakes. This invasive plant has been found in the lake in neighboring Wawayanda State Park, and Ecology committee volunteers assisted in removing water chestnut plants from that lake in 2010.

For more information, this fact sheet from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is helpful. This video shows volunteer efforts removing water chestnut plants from the Mystic River in Medford, MA. This video (from the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy located in southeastern PA) provides a good background about water chestnut plants  and shows volunteers working together to remove the plants.

If you travel with your boat, please help guard against the spread of this invasive plant by completely draining all water from your boat, including livewells, and thoroughly inspecting your boat, electric motor and boat trailer before launching in any our lakes.

Native Plantings and Web Resources
For helpful information about beneficial plantings, see Go Native!

Click here for a list of native shrubs, trees, etc. and helpful web resources.