Originally posted by Syracuse Post-Standard
by David Figura, Sept. 30, 2015

Marc Gerstman, acting commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, got a two-hour, mostly rain-filled tour of Onondaga Lake today.

The tour, part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's, day-long "Capital for a Day" series of events across the greater Syracuse area, was aboard the Emita II, a 65-foot boat owned by Mid-Lakes Navigation.

The boat took off from Mid-Lake's launch on the Seneca River at Dutchman's Landing shortly after 11 a.m. with more three dozen, state, county, town officials aboard, in addition to representatives from such groups as the Montezuma Audubon Center, the Onondaga County Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, SUNY ESF, the Nine Mile Creek Conservation Council and the local chapter of the Izaak Walton League.

Much of the tour and the discussion concerning recent developments on the lake took place in the boat's lower, inside deck. One official after another gave brief statements to Gerstman about the positive developments on the lake concerning such things as its water clarity, the thriving fishery, the amphitheater, the Honeywell visitor's center and the remedies taken to turn the habitat on the south shoreline from a toxins-filled stretch to a healthy situation for plants and wildlife.

Chris Lajewski, director of the Montezuma Audubon Center, noted Onondaga Lake has the largest concentration of bald eagles of any urban area in the country.

Ken Lynch, the DEC's regional director, brought out an artist rendition of a new, state-run boat launch on Onondaga. It will be at the site where Honeywell currently has its field office, trailers and visitor's center. Work on it will commence after Honeywell finishes its capping work on the lake's bottom.

Plans call for a two-bay boat launch for trailered boats and a separate launch site for car-top craft (canoes, kayaks) at the location. There will be 60 parking spaces and a handicapped fishing ramp stretching into the lake, DEC officials have said.

"It's should be up and running by 2017," Lynch said.

Gerstman told the group it's come to the point where attention to Onondaga Lake is now "less about cleanup and more about we can do for the future of Onondaga Lake" – specifically drawing visitors and users of its numerous resources.

The rain stopped for about last 30 minutes of the tour. Everyone went up on the boat's upper deck to continue talking and to take in the lake's scenery.

County lawmaker Mike Plochocki, chairman of the county Legislature's environmental Protection Committee, said "while we still have a long way to go with the lake, the fact is we've made huge strides. Today, on this boat ride and with our talk with the DEC commissioner, those strides came out."