Interpretive panel dedicated in honor of Tony Kotz is one of nearly a dozen panels designed and installed in the New York's Eastern Lake Ontario Dunes &
Wetlands Region
Contacts:
- Mary Penney, New York Sea Grant, E: mp357@cornell.edu, P: 315-312-3042
- Dave White, New York Sea Grant, TODC 25th Anniversary Chair, E: dgw9@cornell.edu, P: 315-312-3042
- Sandy Bonanno, TODC Chair, Oswego County Environmental Management Council, P: 315-598-4063
Sandy Island Beach, NY, July 8, 2011 - As part of its 25th Anniversary celebration, The Ontario Dune Coalition (TODC) dedicated the Tony Kotz Memorial Ontario Dune Coalition interpretive panel (pdf) at Sandy Island Beach State Park.
This panel follows the same theme as seen in a recent series of 10 interpretive panels designed and installed in the Sandy Creeks watershed, including the Eastern Lake Ontario Dunes & Wetlands Area (see below this news release for links). Project partners include New York Sea Grant, Great Lakes Seaway Trail, New York State Tug Hill Commission and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with funds from New York State Department of State.
The late Tony Kotz, a Syracuse, NY, native, served as Chair or Vice-Chair from the Coalition’s inception in 1985 to his death in 2009. A respected landscape architect statewide, Kotz was instrumental in seeing Sandy Island Beach designated as a State Park. One of his favorite places was his Sandy Island Beach summer cottage.
Kotz was a graduate of Syracuse University and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and designed numerous parks and recreational and athletic facilities. He lectured and served with many organizations, including the New York Sea Grant Institute Program Advisory Council. Kotz helped found the Eastern Lake Ontario Dunes Foundation, LTD.
Kotz family members and friends received a model of the interpretive panel dedicated to Tony.
The 25th anniversary celebration by The Ontario Dunes Coalition member conservation organizations, property owners and public officials representing the Eastern Lake Ontario natural resource area included a retrospective of TODC accomplishments and presentation of a future “Stewardship Vision for Resource Conservation and Beneficial Use” for the region.
Sandy Island Beach State Park is part of the Eastern Lake Ontario Dune and Wetland System, a 17-mile stretch of barrier beaches and dunes in Oswego and Jefferson counties.
The 25th anniversary event was organized with support from New York Sea Grant Extension and the Oswego County Soil & Water Conservation District, as well as from the Friends of Sandy Pond Beach, Onondaga Audubon Society, the Oswego County Environmental Management Council, and the Eastern Lake Ontario Dunes Foundation.
New York Sea Grant, now in its 40th year, is a statewide network of integrated research, education, and extension services promoting the coastal economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness about the State's marine and Great Lakes resources. One of 32 university-based programs under the NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program, NYSG is a cooperative program of the State University of New York and Cornell University.
Eastern Lake Ontario's 10 Interpretive Panels
Please select the links below to view the panels and use the navigational map located at the bottom right of each panel to see where you can view each panel in the ecosystem:
- Skinner Creek Panel (pdf)
- Gateway North Panel (pdf)
- Bird Sanctuary Panel - El Dorado Nature Preserve (pdf)
- Dune Formation Panel (pdf)
- Backdune Wetlands Panel - Black Pond WMA (pdf)
- Human Uses Panel (pdf)
- Backdune Wetlands Panel - Lakeview WMA (pdf)
- Bird Sanctuary Panel - Sandy Pond Beach (pdf)
- Sand Transport Panel (pdf)
- Gateway South Panel (pdf)
