Editing Lake Champlain (section)

==History==
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Green Mountains, Lake Champlain - Winckworth Allan Gay - overall.jpg|thumb|left|Brooklyn Museum – Green Mountains, Lake Champlain – Winckworth Allan Gay – overall]]
The lake has long acted as a border between indigenous nations, much as it is today between the states of [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[Vermont]]. The lake is located at the frontier between [[Abenaki]] and [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] ([[Iroquois Confederacy]]) traditional territories. The official toponym for the lake, according to the orthography established by the Grand Council of Waban-aki Nation{{fact|date=January 2025}}, is '''Pitawbagok''' (alternative orthographies include Petonbowk<ref>{{cite book |author1=Hyde, Bruce |author2=Huden, John Charles |title=Indian Place Names of New England |publisher=Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation |year=1962 |url=https://archive.org/details/indianplacenames00hude}}</ref> and Bitawbagok),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abenakination.org/whoweare.html |title=Abenaki |website=Abenakination.org |access-date=March 2, 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100210185748/http://www.abenakination.org/whoweare.html |archive-date=February 10, 2010}}</ref> meaning "middle lake", "lake in between" or "double lake".

The [[Mohawk language|Mohawk]] name in modern orthography, as standardized in 1993, is '''Kaniatarakwà:ronte''', meaning "a bulged lake" or "lake with a bulge in it".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/haudenosaunee-country-in-mohawk-2/ |title=Haudenosaunee Country in Mohawk |date=2015-02-04 |website=The Decolonial Atlas |language=en |access-date=2019-02-08 |archive-date=January 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119205757/https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/haudenosaunee-country-in-mohawk-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://atlas.lcbp.org/nature-environment/lake-champlain/ |title=Lake Champlain |website=Lake Champlain Basin Atlas |language=en-US |access-date=2019-02-08 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020055855/https://atlas.lcbp.org/nature-environment/lake-champlain/ |url-status=live }}</ref> An alternate name is '''Kaniá:tare tsi kahnhokà:ronte''' (phonetic English spelling ''Caniaderi Guarunte''<ref>{{cite book |author=Hyde, Bruce & Pownall, Thomas |title=A Topographical Description of the Dominions of the United States of America |publisher=Ayer Publishing |year=1976 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOKCelPf1f4C |isbn=9780405077067 |access-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804085513/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOKCelPf1f4C |url-status=live }}</ref>), meaning "door of the country" or "lake to the country". The lake is an important eastern gateway to [[Iroquois Confederacy]] lands.

The lake was named after the [[France|French]] [[exploration|explorer]] [[Samuel de Champlain]], who encountered it in July 1609.<ref name=EB1911/> While the ports of [[Burlington, Vermont]], [[Port Henry, New York]], and [[Plattsburgh (city), New York|Plattsburgh, New York]], today are primarily used by small craft, [[Ferry|ferries]] and lake cruise ships, they were of substantial commercial and military importance in the 18th and 19th centuries.

===Colonial America and the Revolutionary War===
[[File:Lac Champlain (Nouvelle-France) 1739.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of ''Lac Champlain'', from Fort de Chambly up to Fort St-Fréderic in ''Nouvelle France''. [[Cadastre|Cadastral]] map showing concessions and ''seigneuries'' on the coasts of the lake according to 1739 surveying.]]
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2017}}
[[New France]] allocated concessions all along Lake Champlain to [[French people|French]] settlers and built forts to defend the waterways. In [[Thirteen Colonies|colonial]] times, Lake Champlain was used as a water (or, in winter, ice) passage between the [[Saint Lawrence River|Saint Lawrence]] and [[Hudson River|Hudson]] valleys. Travelers found it easier to journey by boats and sledges on the lake rather than go overland on unpaved and frequently mud-bound roads. The lake's northern tip at [[Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu]], Quebec (known as St. John in colonial times under British rule) is just {{convert|40|km|order=flip}} from [[Montreal]], Quebec. The southern tip at [[Whitehall, New York|Whitehall]] (Skenesborough in revolutionary times) is {{convert|23|mi}} north of [[Glens Falls, New York|Glens Falls]] on the Hudson River and {{convert|70|mi}} north of [[Albany, New York]].

Forts were built at [[Fort Ticonderoga|Ticonderoga]] and [[Crown Point, New York|Crown Point]] ([[Fort St. Frederic]]) to control passage on the lake in colonial times. Important battles were fought at Ticonderoga in 1758 and 1775. During the Revolutionary War, the British and Americans conducted a frenetic shipbuilding race through the spring and summer of 1776, at opposite ends of the lake, and fought a significant naval engagement on October 11 at the [[Battle of Valcour Island]]. While it was a tactical defeat for the Americans, and the small fleet led by [[Benedict Arnold]] was almost destroyed, the Americans gained a strategic victory; the British invasion was delayed long enough so the approach of winter prevented the fall of these forts until the following year. In this period, the [[Continental Army]] gained strength and was victorious at [[Saratoga campaign|Saratoga]].

====Beginning of the Revolutionary War====
At the start of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], British forces occupied the [[Champlain Valley]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The American Revolution |last=Countryman |first=Edward |publisher=Macmillan |year=2003 |page=4}}</ref> However, it did not take long for rebel leaders to realize the importance of controlling Lake Champlain. Early in the war, the colonial militias attempted to expel the British from [[Boston]]; however, this undertaking could not be achieved without heavy artillery.<ref name=":0">Countryman (2003), p. 103</ref> The British forts at [[Ticonderoga, New York|Ticonderoga]] and [[Crown Point, New York|Crown Point]], on Lake Champlain, were known to have ample supplies of artillery and were weakly-manned by the British. Thus, the colonial militias devised a plan to take control of the two forts and bring the guns back to the fight in Boston.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Lake Champlain Ferry.jpg|thumb|[[Lake Champlain Ferries|Charlotte Ferry]], Lake Champlain]]
The necessity of controlling the two forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point placed Lake Champlain as a strategic arena during the Revolutionary War. By taking control of these forts, Americans not only gained heavy artillery, but control of a vast water highway as well: Lake Champlain provided a direct invasion route to British Canada. However, had the British controlled the lake, they could have divided the colonies of [[New England]] and further depleted the [[Continental Army]].

The Continental Army's first offensive action took place in May 1775, three weeks after the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lcmm.org/shipwrecks_history/history/history_revolution.htm |title=History of Lake Champlain: Revolutionary War |website=www.lcmm.org |access-date=April 28, 2016 |archive-date=January 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125212537/http://www.lcmm.org/shipwrecks_history/history/history_revolution.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Ethan Allen]], accompanied by 200 [[Green Mountain Boys]], was ordered to capture [[Fort Ticonderoga]] and retrieve supplies for the fight in Boston. [[Benedict Arnold]] shared the command with Allen, and, in early May 1775, they captured Fort Ticonderoga, Crown Point and the southern [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] settlement of [[Whitehall (village), New York|Skenesborough]].<ref name=":1" /> As a result of Allen's offensive attack on the [[Champlain Valley]] in 1775, the American forces controlled the Lake Champlain waterway.

====Siege of Quebec: 1775–1776====
The Continental Army realized the strategic advantage of controlling Lake Champlain, as it leads directly to the heart of Quebec.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Iroquois in the American Revolution |last=Graymont |first=Barbara |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1975 |page=66}}</ref> Immediately after taking Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point, the Americans began planning an attack on British Canada. The American siege of Quebec was a two-pronged assault and occurred throughout the winter of 1775–1776.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy |last=Weigley |first=Russell |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1977 |page=47}}</ref> Brigadier General [[Richard Montgomery]] led the first assault up the Champlain Valley into Canada, while Benedict Arnold led a second army to Quebec via the [[Maine]] wilderness.<ref name=":2" />

Despite the strategic advantage of controlling a direct route to Quebec by way of the Champlain Valley, the American siege of British Canada during the winter of 1775 failed. The Continental Army mistakenly assumed that it would receive support from the Canadians upon their arrival at Quebec. This was not the case, and the rebel army struggled to take Quebec with diminishing supplies, support, and harsh northern winter weather.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Iroquois in the American Revolution |last=Graymont |first=Barbara |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1975 |pages=74}}</ref>

The Continental Army was forced to camp outside Quebec's walls for the winter, with reinforcements from New York, [[Pennsylvania]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New Hampshire]] and [[Connecticut]] allowing the soldiers to maintain their siege of the city. However, smallpox descended on both the sieging forces and their reinforcements and savaged the American force.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |title=Thrust for Canada: The American Attempt on Quebec in 1775–1776 |last=Hatch |first=Robert |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1979 |location=Boston}}</ref> The reinforcements traveled hundreds of miles up the frozen Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence River, but were too late and too few to influence a successful siege of Quebec. In May 1776, with the arrival of a British convoy carrying 10,000 British and [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian]] troops to Canada, the Continental forces retreated back down the Champlain Valley to reevaluate their strategy.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |title=The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy |last=Weigley |first=Russell |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1977 |pages=23}}</ref>

[[File:Champlain Valley.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The Champlain Valley as seen from [[Camel's Hump]]]]
"I know of no better method than to secure the important posts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and by building a number of armed vessels to command the lakes, otherwise the forces now in Canada will be brought down upon us as quick as possible, having nothing to oppose them...They will doubtless try to construct some armed vessels and then endeavor to penetrate the country toward New York." (Brigadier General [[John Sullivan (general)|John Sullivan]] to [[George Washington]], June 24, 1776).<ref name=":1" />

Both British and American forces spent the summer of 1776 building their naval fleets, at opposite ends of Lake Champlain.<ref name=":3" /> By the October 1776, the Continental Army had 16 operating naval vessels on Lake Champlain: a great increase to the four small ships they had at the beginning of the summer.<ref name=":1" /> General [[Benedict Arnold]] commanded the American naval fleet on Lake Champlain, which was composed of volunteers and soldiers drafted from the Northern Army. With great contrast to the Continental navy, experienced [[Royal Navy]] officers, British seamen and Hessian artillerymen manned the British fleet on Lake Champlain.<ref name=":1" /> By the end of the summer of 1776, the opposing armies were prepared to battle over the strategic advantage of controlling Lake Champlain.

====Battle of Valcour Island====
On October 11, 1776, the British and American naval fleets met on the western side of [[Valcour Island]], on Lake Champlain.<ref name=":0" /> American General Benedict Arnold established the location, as it provided the Continental fleet with a natural defensive position. The British and American vessels engaged in combat for much of the day, only stopping due to impending nightfall.<ref name=":1" />

After a long day of combat, the American fleet was in worse shape than the experienced British Navy. Upon ceasefire, Arnold called a council of war with his fellow officers, proposing to escape the British fleet via rowboats under the cover of night. As the British burned Arnold's flagship, the ''Royal Savage'', to the east, the Americans rowed past the British lines.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |title=Benedict Arnold's Navy: The Ragtag Fleet that Lost the Battle of Lake Champlain But Won the American Revolution |last=Nelson |first=James |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |year=2006}}</ref>

The following morning, the British learned of the Americans' escape and set out after the fleeing Continental vessels. On October 13, the British fleet caught up to the struggling American ships near [[Split Rock Wildway|Split Rock Mountain]].<ref name=":5" /> With no hope of fighting off the powerful British navy, Arnold ordered his men to run their five vessels aground in Ferris Bay, [[Panton, Vermont]]. The depleted Continental army escaped on land back to [[Fort Ticonderoga]] and [[Mount Independence (Vermont)|Mount Independence]]; however, they no longer controlled the Lake Champlain waterway.<ref name=":5" />

The approaching winter of 1776–1777 restricted British movement along the recently controlled Lake Champlain. As the British abandoned Crown Point and returned to Canada for the winter, the Americans reduced their garrisons in the Champlain Valley from 13,000 to 2,500 soldiers.<ref name=":1" />

====General Burgoyne's Campaign====
[[File:Lake Champlain, Vermont.jpg|thumb|Lake Champlain, [[Charlotte, Vermont]]]]
In early 1777, [[Great Britain|British]] General [[John Burgoyne]] led 8,000 troops from Canada, down Lake Champlain and into the Champlain Valley.<ref name=":4" /> The goal of this invasion was to divide the [[New England]] colonies, thus forcing the Continental Army into a separated fight on multiple fronts.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |title=Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War |last=Ketchum |first=Richard |publisher=Macmillan |year=1997}}</ref> Lake Champlain provided Burgoyne with protected passage deep into the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]]. Burgoyne's army reached Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence in late June, 1777. During the night of July 5, the American forces fled Ticonderoga as the British took control of the fort. However, Burgoyne's southern campaign did not go uncontested.

On October&nbsp;7, 1777, American General [[Horatio Gates]], who occupied [[Battles of Saratoga|Bemis Heights]], met Burgoyne's army at the Second [[Battle of Freeman's Farm]].<ref name=":6" /> At Freeman's Farm, Burgoyne's army suffered its final defeat and ended its invasion south into the colonies. Ten days later, on October&nbsp;17, 1777, British General Burgoyne surrendered his army at [[Saratoga campaign|Saratoga]].<ref name=":6" /> This defeat was instrumental to the momentum of the Revolutionary War, as the defeat of the British army along the Champlain-Hudson waterway convinced [[France]] to ally with the American army.<ref name=":1" />

====Aftermath of 1777====
Following the failed British campaign led by General Burgoyne, the British still maintained control over the Champlain waterway for the duration of the Revolutionary War.<ref name=":1" /> The British used the Champlain waterway to supply raids across the Champlain Valley from 1778 to 1780, and Lake Champlain permitted direct transportation of supplies from the British posts at the northern end of the lake.

With the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, the British naval fleet on Lake Champlain retreated up to St. John's.<ref name=":1" /> However, British troops garrisoned at Fort Dutchman's Point ([[North Hero, Vermont]]) and [[Fort au Fer (New York)|Fort au Fer]] ([[Champlain, New York]]), on Lake Champlain, did not leave until the 1796 [[Jay Treaty]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lakechamplainlife.com/military-sites/ |title=Lake Champlain Historic Military Sites |website=lakechamplainlife.com |publisher=Lake Champlain Life |location=Alburgh, Vermont |access-date=July 24, 2017 |archive-date=July 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702164154/http://lakechamplainlife.com/military-sites/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dmna.ny.gov/forts/fortsA_D/auFerFort.htm |title=Fort au Fer |publisher=New York State Military Museum |location=Saratoga Springs, New York |access-date=July 24, 2017 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803041539/https://dmna.ny.gov/forts/fortsA_D/auFerFort.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Post-Revolutionary War period====
[[File:Dutton House Shelburne Museum.jpg|thumb|[[Dutton House (Shelburne, Vermont)|Dutton House]], Shelburne Museum]]
[[File:Stagecoach Inn Shelburne Museum.jpg|thumb|[[Stagecoach Inn (Shelburne, Vermont)|Stagecoach Inn]], Shelburne Museum]]
[[File:Sawmill Shelburne Museum.jpg|thumb|Sawmill, [[Shelburne Museum]]]]
Eager to take back control of Lake Champlain following the end of the Revolutionary War, Americans flocked to settle the [[Champlain Valley]]. Many individuals emigrated from [[Massachusetts]] and other New England colonies, such as [[Dutton House (Shelburne, Vermont)|Salmon Dutton]], a settler of [[Cavendish, Vermont]].<ref name=":7">[[Shelburne Museum]]'s [[Dutton House (Shelburne, Vermont)]]</ref> Dutton emigrated in 1782 and worked as a surveyor, town official and toll-road owner. [[Dutton House (Shelburne, Vermont)|His home]] had a dooryard garden, typical of mid-19th century New England village homes,<ref name=":7" /> and his experience settling in the Champlain Valley depicts the industries and lifestyles surrounding Lake Champlain following the Revolutionary War.

Similar to the experience of Salmon Dutton, former colonial militia Major General [[Hezekiah Barnes]] settled in [[Charlotte, Vermont]], in 1787.<ref name=":8">[[Shelburne Museum]]'s Stagecoach Inn</ref> Following the war, Barnes worked as a road surveyor; he also established an inn and trading post in Charlotte, along the main trade route from Montreal down Lake Champlain. Barnes' stagecoach inn was built in traditional [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] style, with 10 fireplaces, a ballroom on the interior and a wraparound porch on the outside.<ref name=":8" /> In 1800, Continental Army Captain Benjamin Harrington established a distillery business in [[Shelburne, Vermont]], which supplied his nearby inn.<ref>[[Shelburne Museum]]'s Hat and Fragrance Textile Gallery</ref> These individual accounts shed light on the significance of Lake Champlain during the post-Revolutionary War period.

===War of 1812===
During the [[War of 1812]], British and American forces faced each other in the Battle of Lake Champlain, also known as the [[Battle of Plattsburgh]], fought on September&nbsp;11, 1814. This ended the final British invasion of the northern states during the War of 1812. It was fought just prior to the signing of the [[Treaty of Ghent]], and the American victory denied the British any leverage to demand exclusive control over the [[Great Lakes]] or territorial gains against the [[New England]] states.

Three [[USS Lake Champlain|US Naval ships]] have been named after this battle: {{USS|Lake Champlain|CV-39}}, {{USS|Lake Champlain|CG-57}} and a cargo ship used during [[World War I]].

Following the War of 1812, the U.S. Army began construction on "[[Fort Blunder]]": an unnamed fortification built at the northernmost end of Lake Champlain to protect against attacks from British Canada. Its nickname came from a surveying error: the initial phase of construction on the fort turned out to be taking place on a point {{cvt|3/4|mi}} north of the Canada–U.S. border. Once this error was spotted, construction was abandoned. Locals scavenged materials used in the abandoned fort for use in their homes and public buildings.

By the [[Webster–Ashburton Treaty]] of 1842, the Canada–U.S. border was adjusted northward to include the strategically important site of "Fort Blunder" on the US side.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=DZIUBAN |first=STANLEY W. |date=1968 |title=FORT BLUNDER: A Vignette of American History |journal=The Military Engineer |volume=60 |issue=393 |pages=46–48 |issn=0026-3982 |jstor=44557158}}</ref> In 1844, work was begun to replace the remains of the 1812-era fort with a massive new [[Third System]] masonry fortification, known as [[Fort Montgomery (Lake Champlain)|Fort Montgomery]]. Portions of this fort are still standing.

===Modern history===
[[File:Champlain1902.jpg|right|thumb|A 1902 photograph of Fort Henry at Lake Champlain]]
In the early 19th century, the construction of the [[Champlain Canal]] connected Lake Champlain to the [[Hudson River]] system, allowing north–south commerce by water from New York City to Montreal and [[Atlantic Canada]].

In 1909, 65,000 people celebrated the 300th anniversary of the French discovery of the lake. Attending dignitaries included President [[William Howard Taft]], along with representatives from France, Canada and the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |author=Hyde, Bruce |title=My Turn: Get ready to celebrate the 400th |publisher=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |date=January 3, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hrmm.org/quad/1909champlain/contents.html |title=1909 Champlain Tercentenary Celebration of the Discovery of Lake Champlain |publisher=Hrmm.org |access-date=March 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403060314/http://www.hrmm.org/quad/1909champlain/contents.html |archive-date=April 3, 2009}}</ref>

In 1929, then-New York Governor [[Franklin Roosevelt]] and Vermont Governor [[John E. Weeks|John Weeks]] dedicated the first bridge to span the lake, built from Crown Point to [[Chimney Point]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historicvermont.org/sites/html/history.html |title=Vermont History Timeline |date=August 26, 2010 |website=historicvermont.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911184311/http://www.historicvermont.org/sites/html/history.html |archive-date=September 11, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> This bridge lasted until December 2009. Severe deterioration was found, and the bridge was demolished and replaced with the [[Lake Champlain Bridge (2011–present)|Lake Champlain Bridge]], which opened in November 2011.

On February 19, 1932, boats were able to sail on Lake Champlain. It was the first time that the lake was known to be free of ice during the winter at that time.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bartonchronicle.com/index.php/reviews/books/110-asurpriseoneverypage |work=Barton Chronicle |access-date=August 21, 2009 |title=A surprise on every page |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510020229/http://www.bartonchronicle.com/index.php/reviews/books/110-asurpriseoneverypage |archive-date=May 10, 2009}}</ref>

Lake Champlain briefly became the nation's sixth [[Great Lakes|Great Lake]] on March 6, 1998, when [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]] signed Senate Bill 927. This bill, which was led by U.S. Senator [[Patrick Leahy]] of Vermont and reauthorized the [[National Sea Grant Program]], contained a line declaring Lake Champlain to be a Great Lake. This status enabled its neighboring states to apply for additional federal research and education funds allocated to these national resources. However, following a small uproar, the Great Lake status was rescinded on March 24 (although New York and Vermont universities continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa030298.htm |title=Geography – Lake Champlain, The Sixth Great Lake? |date=March 2, 1998 |website=About.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423232132/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa030298.htm |archive-date=April 23, 2013 |access-date=July 12, 2013}}</ref>

==="Champ", Lake Champlain monster===
In 1609, Samuel de Champlain wrote that he saw a [[lake monster]] {{cvt|5|ft|m}} long, as thick as a man's thigh, with silver-gray scales a dagger could not penetrate. The [[Champ (folklore)|alleged monster]] had {{cvt|2.5|foot}} jaws with sharp and dangerous teeth. Native Americans claimed to have seen similar monsters {{cvt|8|to|10|ft}} long. This mysterious creature is likely the original Lake Champlain monster.<ref name="Hill1976">{{cite book |first1=Ralph Nading |last1=Hill |title=Lake Champlain: Key to Liberty |year=1976 |publisher=Countryman Press |location=Woodstock, Vermont}}</ref>{{rp|20}} The monster has been memorialized in sports teams' names and mascots, e.g., the [[Vermont Lake Monsters]] and Champ, the mascot of the state's minor league [[baseball]] team.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vermont.lakemonsters.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t462 |website=Vermont Lake Monsters, The Official Site of Minor League Baseball |title=Home Page |year=2011 |access-date=October 11, 2011 |archive-date=January 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125074936/http://vermont.lakemonsters.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t462 |url-status=live }}</ref> A Vermont Historical Society publication recounts the story and offers possible explanations for accounts of the so-called monster: "floating logs, schools of large sturgeon diving in a row, or flocks of blackbirds flying close to the water".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vermonthistory.org/documents/GreenMountaineer/VermontsVeryOwn.pdf |title=Vermont's Very Own Monster |website=Vermont Historical Society |access-date=October 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420225544/http://vermonthistory.org/documents/GreenMountaineer/VermontsVeryOwn.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2012}}</ref> In 2022, it was reported that a feature dramatic film, ''Lucy and the Lake Monster'', was in the works about a young orphan girl and her grandfather looking for Champ.<ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Brien |first1=Kelly |title=Champ to star in new book and film series |url=https://www.wcax.com/2022/04/16/champ-star-new-book-film-series/ |access-date=23 April 2022 |agency=CBS |publisher=WCAX-TV |date=April 16, 2022 |ref=Channel 3 |archive-date=April 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428111358/https://www.wcax.com/2022/04/16/champ-star-new-book-film-series/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Champ to get top billing in 'Lucy and the Lake Monster' film |url=https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2022/03/indiegogo-campaign-starts-for-champ-movie-lucy-and-the-lake-monster.html |access-date=24 March 2022 |publisher=Adirondack Almanack |date=March 7, 2022 |archive-date=April 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421055440/https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2022/03/indiegogo-campaign-starts-for-champ-movie-lucy-and-the-lake-monster.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McKinstry |first1=Lohr |title=Lead sought for "Lucy and the Lake Monster" |url=https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/lead-sought-for-lucy-and-the-lake-monster/article_28560232-ba63-53da-b942-24740ccc162d.html |access-date=24 March 2022 |issue=Front Page |publisher=Press Republican |date=November 14, 2021 |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515060929/https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/lead-sought-for-lucy-and-the-lake-monster/article_28560232-ba63-53da-b942-24740ccc162d.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Indiegogo campaign starts for Champ movie 'Lucy and the Lake Monster' |url=https://suncommunitynews.com/news/95611/indiegogo-campaign-starts-for-champ-movie-lucy-and-the-lake-monster/ |access-date=24 March 2022 |issue=Front Page |publisher=Sun Community News |date=February 25, 2022 |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515060929/https://suncommunitynews.com/news/95611/indiegogo-campaign-starts-for-champ-movie-lucy-and-the-lake-monster/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hartwig |first1=Melissa |title=Search for Champ with 'Lucy & the Lake Monster' |url=https://aiptcomics.com/2022/04/15/champ-lucy-lake-monster-cryptid/ |access-date=23 April 2022 |publisher=AIPT Comics |date=April 15, 2022 |archive-date=April 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423052844/https://aiptcomics.com/2022/04/15/champ-lucy-lake-monster-cryptid/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Ecology===
A pollution prevention, control and restoration plan for Lake Champlain<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lcbp.org/about-us/management-plan/ |website=Lake Champlain Management Plan |title=About Us |access-date=2015-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906054858/http://www.lcbp.org/about-us/management-plan/ |archive-date=2015-09-06 |url-status=dead}}</ref> was first endorsed in October 1996 by the governors of New York and Vermont and the regional administrators of the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA). In April 2003, the plan was updated, and Quebec signed on to it. The plan is being implemented by the [[Lake Champlain Basin Program]] and its partners at the state, provincial, federal and local levels. Renowned as a model for interstate and international cooperation, its primary goals are to reduce [[phosphorus]] inputs to Lake Champlain, reduce toxic contamination, minimize the risks to humans from water-related health hazards and control the introduction, spread, and impact of non-native nuisance species to preserve the integrity of the Lake Champlain ecosystem.

Senior staff who helped organize the [[Environmental Protection Agency]] in 1970 recall that [[International Paper]] was one of the first companies to call upon the brand-new agency, because it was being pressured by both New York and Vermont with regard to a discharge of pollution into Lake Champlain.<ref>{{cite web |website=EPA Alumni Association |title=EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus and some of his closest aides recall the opening months of the new agency in 1970 |url=http://www.epaalumni.org/history/video/interview.cfm?id=16 |edition=Video |access-date=October 11, 2016 |archive-date=October 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011072603/http://www.epaalumni.org/history/video/interview.cfm?id=16 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=EPA Alumni Association |title=EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus and some of his closest aides recall the opening months of the new agency in 1970 |url=http://www.epaalumni.org/userdata/pdf/605EA9C8EF2DD115.pdf#page=3 |edition=Transcript |page=3 |access-date=October 11, 2016 |archive-date=October 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011224944/http://www.epaalumni.org/userdata/pdf/605EA9C8EF2DD115.pdf#page=3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Agricultural and urban [[Surface runoff|runoff]] from the watershed or [[drainage basin]] is the primary source of excess phosphorus, which exacerbates [[algae blooms]] in Lake Champlain. The most problematic blooms have been [[cyanobacteria]], commonly called blue-green algae, in the northeastern part of the lake: primarily [[Missisquoi Bay]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Watzin, M.C. |title=Monitoring and Evaluation of Cyanobacteria in Lake Champlain: Summer 2006. |publisher=Lake Champlain Basin Program |year=2007}} [http://www.lcbp.org/publication_detail.aspx?id=213] Abstract online {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123105657/http://www.lcbp.org/publication_detail.aspx?id=213|date=January 23, 2009}}</ref>

To reduce phosphorus runoff to this part of the lake, Vermont and Quebec agreed to reduce their inputs by 60% and 40%, respectively, by an agreement signed in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |website=Lake Champlain Management Plan |url=http://www.lcbp.org/PDFs/missbay_agreeEN.pdf |title=Missisquoi Bay Phosphorus Reduction Agreement, August 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226035705/http://www.lcbp.org/PDFs/missbay_agreeEN.pdf |archive-date=February 26, 2012}}</ref> While agricultural sources (manure and fertilizers) are the primary sources of phosphorus (about 70%) in the Missisquoi basin, runoff from developed land and suburbs is estimated to contribute about 46% of the phosphorus runoff basin-wide to Lake Champlain, and agricultural lands contributed about 38%.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Troy A. |author2=Wang D. |author3=Capen D. |title=Updating the Lake Champlain Basin Land Use Data to Improve Prediction of Phosphorus Loading. |publisher=Lake Champlain Basin Program |year=2007 |url=http://www.lcbp.org/publication_detail.aspx?id=211 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313022418/http://lcbp.org/publication_detail.aspx?id=211 |archive-date=March 13, 2009}}</ref>

In 2002, the cleanup plan noted that the lake had the capacity to absorb {{cvt|110|MT|ST|abbr=off|order=flip}} of phosphorus each year. In 2009, a judge noted that {{cvt|218|MT|ST|abbr=off|order=flip}} were still flowing in annually: more than twice what the lake could handle. Sixty municipal and industrial sewage plants discharge processed waste from the Vermont side.<ref>{{cite news |first=Candace |last=Page |title=Sewage: Judge sides with CLF, throws out Montpelier permit |newspaper=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |page=4A |date=July 9, 2009}}</ref>

In 2008, the EPA expressed concerns to the State of Vermont that the lake's cleanup was not progressing fast enough to meet the original cleanup goal of 2016.<ref>{{cite book |author=Page, Candace |title=EPA scolds state on efforts to clean up Lake Champlain |publisher=The Burlington Free Press |date=June 3, 2008}}</ref> The state, however, cites its Clean and Clear Action Plan<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.anr.state.vt.us/cleanandclear/ |title=Vermont Clean and Clear Action Plan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614051701/http://www.anr.state.vt.us/cleanandclear/ |archive-date=June 14, 2012 |website=anr.state.vt.us}}</ref> as a model that will produce positive results for Lake Champlain.

In 2007, Vermont banned phosphates for dishwasher use starting in 2010. This will prevent an estimated {{cvt|2|-|3|ST|MT|abbr=off}} from flowing into the lake. While this represents 0.6% of the phosphate pollution, it took US$1.9&nbsp;million to remove the pollutant from treated wastewater: an EPA requirement.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Joel Banner |last=Baird |title=Detergents must soon be phosphate free |newspaper=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |page=1A |date=June 26, 2010}}</ref>

Despite concerns about pollution, Lake Champlain is safe for swimming, fishing and boating. It is considered a world-class fishery for salmonid species ([[lake trout]] and [[Atlantic salmon]]) and bass. About 81 fish species live in the lake, and more than 300 bird species rely on it for habitat and as a resource during migrations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lcbp.org/Atlas/HTML/nat_plants.htm |title="Lake Champlain Basin Atlas: Plants and Animals", 2004 |website=Lake Champlain Management Plan |access-date=March 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926005603/http://lcbp.org/Atlas/HTML/nat_plants.htm |archive-date=September 26, 2010}}</ref>

By 2008, at least seven institutions were monitoring lake water health:
#[[Conservation Law Foundation]], which in 2002 appointed a "lakekeeper" who reviews the state's pollution controls
#Friends of [[Missisquoi Bay]], formed in 2003
#Lake Champlain Committee
#Vermont Water Resources Board,<!--Council?---> which hired a water quality expert in 2008 to write water quality standards and create wetland protection rules
#[[Vermont Agency of Natural Resources]], which in 2007 appointed a "lake czar" to oversee pollution control
#Clean and Clear, an agency of the Vermont state government, established in 2004
#[[The Nature Conservancy]], a non-profit group which focuses on biodiversity and ecosystem health.<ref>{{cite book |author=Page, Candace |title=Lake Champlain gets another watchdog |publisher=Burlington Free Press |date=December 14, 2008}}</ref>

In 2001, scientists estimated that farming contributed 38% of the phosphorus runoff. By 2010, results of environmentally-conscious farming practices, enforced by law, had made a positive contribution to lake cleanliness. A federally-funded study was started to analyze this problem and to arrive at a solution.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Candace |last=Page |title=Lake Champlain cleanup effort focuses on Rock Rive6 |work=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |page=1B |date=July 6, 2010}}</ref>

Biologists have been trying to control [[lamprey]]s in the lake since 1985 or earlier. Lampreys are native to the area, but have expanded in population to such an extent that they wounded nearly all lake trout in 2006, and 70–80% of salmon. The use of pesticides against the lamprey has reduced their damage to other fish to 35% of salmon and 31% of lake trout. The goal was 15% of salmon and 25% of lake trout.<ref>{{cite news |author=Page, Candace |title=Lamprey wounds decrease |newspaper=Burlington Free Press |date=January 22, 2009}}</ref>

The federal and state governments originally budgeted US$18&nbsp;million for lake programs for 2010. This was later supplemented by an additional US$6.5&nbsp;million from the federal government.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Candace |last=Page |title=Lake scores $6.5 million |url=http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100724001 |work=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |page=1A |date=July 24, 2010}}{{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>