We've taken the time in the past to applaud the Lake Champlain Basin Program for its efforts to promote Lake Champlain and to protect the quality of the lake and the streams and rivers that form the lake's massive watershed.
We've also asked the public to support those efforts. Every citizen who lives on the lake, earns an income from the lake's presence or enjoys traveling to the lake from afar must take ownership in the lake and protect it for now and for future generations.
The Basin Program recently announced an upcoming workshop geared toward spreading the word that every person's actions leave an impact on the lake's health. From a single plastic bottle cap that may become lodged in the throat of an unsuspecting waterfowl to the tons of phosphorus that enter the lake annually, we all have to recognize the powerful role we all play.
The workshop, cleverly titled "Getting Your Feet Wet with Social Marketing in Watershed Outreach Campaigns," will help those people who are actively engaged in lake-related issues develop strategies to increase awareness for those who do not follow lake activities on a regular basis.
In other words, the experts are taking a lesson on how to spread the news more efficiently and effectively. Social marketing is a modern-era term that simply means the equivalent of "tell your neighbor, so your neighbor can tell his neighbor, who will tell her neighbor, who will ..." And so on.
The Basin Program wants to pull together experts from watershed groups (like area river associations or conservation offices) and look at how social marketing can be used to mobilize the entire region toward proper lake management.
Experts in lake-management issues have been reaching out for public support for decades, whether to seek advice on where to best target federal funds for lake-related projects or how to work together to reduce the impact from toxic chemicals or non-native aquatic species. They have made tremendous strides in improving the lake's overall condition, but they will also be the first to admit that there is still a long way to go in what is probably a never-ending struggle to protect Lake Champlain and its ecology.
No one will deny the treasure that lies at our doorstep. We all enjoy the lake's splendor on a daily basis. We must all do our part to make sure the lake remains attractive and continues to improve. Protect the lake: It belongs to you.
