We are pleased to announce that the LIA’s Pine Shore Ecosystem Restoration Project (ERP) has received the highest rating possible in a review by a team from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. The rating – Optimal – indicates that the project is above and beyond the baseline requirements for functionality. This ERP project was completed in 2018 and was a collaboration between the LIA, the Pine Shore Road Association, and the Town of Hinesburg. Work on the project involved many volunteers as well as the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. It demonstrates the importance of restoring and revegetating natural streambeds of lake tributaries in order to reduce sediment and nutrient flows into the lake. Tributary sampling from last year as well as ongoing visual observations shows that this project has, in fact, reduced the sediment and nutrients entering the lake at this point. This is another successful project that the LIA has carried out in recent years and that has contributed to the significant reduction of Phosphorus levels in Lake Iroquois. It is also another example of the way the LIA continues to develop collaborative relationships and innovative projects to protect and enhance Lake Iroquois and its surrounding ecosystem. Further information on this project can be found at https://www.lakeiroquois.org/water/actions-for-a-healthy-lake