Editing Lake Champlain (section)

==Natural history==
In 2010, the estimate of [[cormorant]] population, now classified as a nuisance species because they take so much of the lake fish, ranged from 14,000 to 16,000. A Fish and Wildlife commissioner said that the ideal population would be about 3,300, amounting to {{cvt|3|/km2|/sqmi|order=flip}}. Cormorants had disappeared from the lake (and all northern lakes) due to the use of [[DDT]] in the 1940s and 1950s, which made their eggs more fragile and reduced breeding populations.<ref name="bfp100711">{{Cite news |first=Candace |last=Page |title=Cutting the cormorant population |work=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |pages=1C, 8C |date=July 11, 2010}}</ref>

[[Ring-billed gull]]s are also considered a nuisance, and measures have been taken to reduce their population. Authorities are trying to encourage the return of [[black-crowned night heron]]s, [[cattle egret]]s and [[great blue heron]]s, which disappeared during the time [[DDT]] was being widely used.<ref name="bfp100711"/>

In 1989, [[UNESCO]] designated the area around Lake Champlain as the [[Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=USA+45&mode=all |title=MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory |website=www.unesco.org |access-date=May 10, 2017 |archive-date=November 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105180223/http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=USA+45&mode=all |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bendavid |first=Ike |date=May 25, 2021 |title=Wildlife Watch: Long-term effort underway to restore Champlain Valley floodplains |url=https://www.wcax.com/2021/05/25/wildlife-watch-long-term-effort-underway-to-restore-champlain-valley-floodpains/ |access-date=2021-05-26 |website=WCAX |language=en |archive-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526141031/https://www.wcax.com/2021/05/25/wildlife-watch-long-term-effort-underway-to-restore-champlain-valley-floodpains/ |url-status=live }}</ref>