Since 2007, the CLF has been working for you and with you to protect our lake
What is the CLF?
Our Mission
In 2007, the Chateaugay Lake Foundation (CLF) was established as a charitable nonprofit organization to support efforts to protect the environmental quality of the Lake and its surroundings. The Chateaugay Lake Foundation works in partnership with the Chateaugay Lakes Association and others who are concerned about the Lake to develop a broad-based, coordinated, and sustained response to the Eurasian milfoil problem and similar threats that might emerge.
Our Finances
As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, the Chateaugay Lake Foundation files an annual information return with the IRS and also files annually with the New York State Charities Bureau. The Foundation’s tax status can be confirmed using the “exempt organization search” feature on the IRS website: http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos. Organizational documents and information returns can be viewed using the “Registry Search” feature of the New York State Charities Bureau on their website: http://www.charitiesnys.com.
Our employer identification number 26-0769453.
Foundation Funding
Sources of Funds
Of the more than $800,000 raised through the end of 2022, over two-thirds has come from private donors, including many shore owners and their families. Nonprofit organizations representing the lake community, notably the Chateaugay Lakes Association as well as the former Chateaugay Lakes Arts Association, have also provided major support. In addition, the Milfoil Control Project has received contributions from the surrounding towns of Bellmont, Ellenburg and Dannemora. In 2008, the Foundation received a start-up grant from New York State that helped with milfoil control at the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) public boat launch. Fundraising events, such as a summer raffle and annual dinner, have become an increasingly important source of support.
Uses of Funds
The majority of funds raised by the Chateaugay Lake Foundation go directly toward milfoil control—90 percent since the project began. This is a very high level of program efficiency according to agencies such as the Better Business Bureau and Charity Navigator. This funding has allowed treatment by hand-harvesting of 100 of the 227 acres that are most heavily infested, where milfoil coverage is 25 percent or more. Results are promising. Milfoil density is down significantly in the treated areas, but control needs to be maintained and expanded to the rest of the infested shoreline.
Support our Work
You can be part of this critical work! Our funds come from donations from those who believe Chateaugay Lake is worth protecting and who care enough to participate in its preservation. Help us in our fight to control Eurasian milfoil and keep other invasives out of Chateaugay waters. There are a number of ways to make a donation. If you are a business , contact us to learn about our Business Sponsor program.
Our Board
Under our bylaws, the CLF Board consists of between five and eleven members. At present, the Board consists of members representing all areas of the lake. If you would like to be considered for a position on the Board, please send an email to info@chateaugaylakefoundation.org.
David Kemp
President
David Kemp was born in Malone, New York. He grew up spending his free time skiing, hiking, camping, and canoeing in the Adirondack Park. He worked summers in high school and college at Camp Bedford Scout Camp and at Meacham Lake as a lifeguard. After graduating from Franklin Academy, Dave attended the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York earning a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Environmental Biology. Following college, he was commissioned into the U.S. Navy as a Naval Officer.
During his 30-year career, David was stationed around the world as a Surface Warfare Officer and Human Resources Officer. He earned an M.S. in Management from the Naval Postgraduate School and an M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, where his studies focused on the impact of the environment on National Security. Knowing they wanted to return to the Adirondacks, David and his wife purchased a four-season camp at the transition of the Narrows into Lower Chateaugay Lake in 2006. After his retirement from the Navy in 2021, David and his wife are splitting their time between their camp and their apartment in Virginia. David joined the CLF Board in 2021.
Mary Johnson
Vice President
Growing up in the North Country, Mary spent summers with her family at their camp on Lake Ozonia near Potsdam. Those summers instilled a life-long love of Adirondack lakes. After many years away for education and career, she returned to take a job with PARC when Plattsburgh Air Force Base closed. She met husband Jim Johnson and in 2003 they bought their place on Sunset Road on the Upper Lake. They were drawn by the beauty of the lake, as well as a desire to be close to family on the Lower Lake. Now retired, Mary and Jim enjoy summer and fall at Chateaugay Lake.
Mary received a BA from Syracuse University and an MA in Urban Policy from the University of Maryland. She worked in the field of community and regional economic development to help organizations plan, fund and implement strategies and projects. She became aware of the threats posed by aquatic invasive species after observing Eurasian water milfoil washing up on the Chateaugay Lake shoreline. In 2007, she joined with others from the lake community to establish the Chateaugay Lake Foundation to focus on protecting the lake from milfoil and other environmental threats.
Bill Wright
Corresponding Secretary
In 2013, Bill and his wife, Pamela, established “The Wright Place” and in 2019 began spending their entire summers on Lower Chateaugay Lake. One of their great joys is sharing their beautiful retreat with friends and family, especially their 2 grandsons. Bill’s love for the Adirondacks comes naturally. His grandfather climbed Mount Marcy in the 1890s and his mother in the 1920s . Bill prefers exploring the park by Kayak rather than on foot.
Bill spent his career as a biomedical scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. When he retired to the lake, he brought with him two old research microscopes, which he and Pamela now use to examine the diversity of microscopic organisms living in Chateaugay Lake. All are harmless to humans and some form the base of the food webs for the fish living in our lake.
Jennifer Sprague
Treasurer
Chateaugay Lake has been an important part of Jennifer and her husband’s life. They grew up with camps next door to each other. Her great grandparents were the Gaines and Chase families from Brainardsville. They acquired Buckhorn Point (across from Camp Chateaugay) in 1902. Their grandchildren are sixth generation on the lake. Her husband, Ted, grew up in Chateaugay and the Sprague camp on Buckhorn Way was established in 1924.
Jennifer grew up in Vermont and she and Ted have now retired there after time in Buffalo, Hartford and 32 years in New Hampshire. Jennifer attended St. Lawrence University, but graduated from SUNY Buffalo after marrying her summer sweetheart in 1979. After several years at home raising their three children, Jennifer worked as a middle school librarian for 16 years, which she loved. When not maintaining camp properties, she love to read, play piano, kayak, sing in a chorus and travel! Jennifer is happy to be involved in the important work of keeping our lovely lake healthy and working with others dedicated to this same special place.
Jondavid (J.D.) DeLong
Recording Secretary
J.D. has been connected to the lake his whole life. His great-grandfather and family purchased property on the lake in the 1920s and his great-grandfather and grandfather later purchased a small wood frame camp that they rolled on logs across the lake in winter to its current location on the property across from Camp Chateaugay and Camp Jeanne d’Arc.
Later, when J.D.’s grandfather returned from World War II and worked on the St. Lawrence Seaway project, he repurposed one of the wooden generator shipping boxes from the Seaway project to add a boat house to the property.
J.D. is now the primary caretaker for the property and enjoys spending time there with his wife, Laura, and their two adult daughters Alison and Caroline.
J.D. earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and political science from Vassar College, and a Juris Doctor with honors from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has worked as a corporate attorney, a family law attorney, a management consultant, and is currently a Professor of Legal Studies at the State University of New York at Canton. J.D. joined the board in 2024 and became Recording Secretary in 2025.
Stephanie Baker
Assistant Corresponding Secretary
Stephanie Baker has been spending time on Chateaugay Lake since she was born. Stephanie’s grandparents first purchased land on the lake in 1957, and Stephanie’s parents have owned property on the lake since 1986, building a permanent home in 1990. Stephanie graduated from Chateaugay Central School in 2002, participating in several extracurriculars including Environmental Club. While studying for a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Culinary Arts and Service Management at Paul Smith’s College, Stephanie remained focused on local environmental issues and successfully completed a Capstone Project centered around helping local restaurants obtain Green Certification. Stephanie went on to implement Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle policies in many restaurants where she worked. After an 18-year career in the restaurant industry in several cities in New York State, Stephanie answered the call of her heart to return to the Adirondacks. Stephanie lives on the Narrows near the Lower Lake and was welcomed to the CLF Board in 2025.