Please be patient as I reconstruct this website in the next several weeks. Please revisit often. Thanks!  Jill

Check out 4/21/08 North Country Public Radio's "Photo of the Day" at this link: http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/todaysphoto.html 

It is my pleasure and honor to be the very first  of our Upper Saranac Lake watershed. Because I harbor a passion for protecting watersheds and water bodies from pollution, I have tremendous respect for the prior accomplishments and goals of the Upper Saranac Lake Foundation (USLF), the Upper Saranac Lake Association (USLA) as well as of As all Waterkeepers do, I believe that everyone has a right to clean water, and that no one has the right to diminish water quality at the expense of the public. The forward-thinking USLF created my position last June after it was granted a license from to use the  name for our Saranac program. The extensive application and licensing process ensured the dedication of USLF (the applicant) to maintain the rigorous standards of the  and to serve both public and private needs for high water quality. You may be aware that in 1966, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. founded the to stop the pollution of the Hudson River, eventually making it one of the richest water bodies in the U.S. today. Currently, the ALLIANCE shepherds 156 programs on six continents, going by variations such as , , , and , among others.

The Saranac  position is the perfect combination of my interests, beliefs and my educational, personal and professional backgrounds. Throughout my teen years I had several opportunities to visit the Tri-Lakes area with my family to canoe-camp in and along the Raquette River, Long Lake and Upper Saranac Lake, as well as to hike up some of the Adirondack peaks, including Mt. Marcy. Those times left such indelible fond memories on my soul that I just had to attend college near this attractive area. First, I attended the S.U.N.Y. College at Plattsburgh, and then the S.U.N.Y. College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) in Syracuse, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies, with a focus in water resources and geology. It was during my years at ESF where I met my husband, Gerry, who also graduated from there and the NY State Ranger School in Wanakena. Since then, wherever we’ve lived, we’ve always kept the Adirondacks in our hearts and have returned as frequently as possible. Now I live and work out of Saranac Lake and my husband and two children will join me from Vermont as soon as they are able.

Professionally, I applied my undergraduate degree and passion to working for the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection as an Environmental Compliance Investigator in its Water Resources Division. I also was a Water Quality Planner for the King County Conservation District in Washington State, where I advocated for and monitored proper erosion control methods on construction sites. About five years ago, I served as a witness in a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) federal trial concerning mercury pollution in the Penobscot River and Bay in Maine. NRDC won this case and the subsequent appeal. After taking time off to raise our two children, I chose to continue pursuing my passion for water issues, but at a higher level and therefore, I decided to go to law school. With a supportive family, I graduated from the Vermont Law School in 2005 with degrees of Juris Doctor and Master of Studies in Environmental Law. In addition to the general law, my focus was watershed protection, water resources, environmental and land use laws. I balanced my life by volunteering for two active water protection non-profit group boards in central Vermont: The White River Partnership and Water 1st!.

Since becoming the Saranac , I have been through most of the orientation period, establishing my home office, learning the issues, meeting some shore owners and key people in the NYSDEC, APA, in local environmental groups and local governments. I am learning the local place names in and around Upper Saranac Lake but so far have only seen them by car and on foot. Orientation by boat will have to wait until ice out. My responsibility is for the overall well being of the Upper Saranac Lake watershed through direct involvement in and with all organizations and issues affecting the environmental quality of it. This includes working with shore owners and users of the lake concerning land and water use regulations, septic systems and water quality. For the common good, I will be advocating for enforcement and compliance with NY State and federal environmental laws and local ordinances, responding to citizens’ complaints, sampling, monitoring and identifying problems that may impair the lake’s water quality. I will be the voice and defender of the watershed and maintain a presence on the lake in watercraft marked with our logo, which was designed by Saranac Lake artist, Sandra Hildreth. It is my belief that success can be demonstrated on Upper Saranac Lake and then applied to the rest of the watershed. The program can then be expanded to Middle and Lower Saranac Lakes and into the Saranac River, which travels northeast and feeds the Lake Champlain basin. This represents the onger-term view and would depend on funding sources beyond the USLF. Any other groups interested in investing in the future of the Saranac  program should contact USLF. Their website is www.uslf.org.

My initial focus will be on three main areas for which I will provide additional detail in the next couple of months:

1.      Continuation of the SPDES monitoring program in conjunction with USLF and DEC.

2.      Water Quality monitoring and assessment.

3.      Land-use code enforcement.

To communicate with the lake community and the public, I will keep updating this website and write update letters for the USLA/USLF newsletter. Anyone with a citizen complaint regarding the possible degradation of water quality within the watershed, or wishing to share ideas or ask questions, can reach me on my office cell phone (518-637-7616), or by email (jill@saranacwaterkeeper.org). If I am not immediately available by phone, please leave a voice mail message, and I will respond as soon as I can. I look forward to meeting all of you this summer or sooner. Please let me know if you’d like to volunteer to help me in my mission to protect the watershed. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Jill Reymore,

 is a registered trademark and service mark of  and is licensed for use herein.

We would like to thank Saranac Lake artist, Sandra Hildreth, for her design and donation of our Saranac Waterkeeper logo. Her art work is currently on display at the Adirondack Artist's Guild Gallery in Saranac Lake Village. You can also check out her website: www.SandraHildreth.com. Please take a look, she does beautiful work.