CONTACT: Mr. Eric Durr, 518-786-4581

FOR RELEASE: Monday, Aug 23, 2010

CROWN POINT, NY (08/20/2010)-- A New York Naval Militia patrol boat will be on duty at the Lake Champlain narrows, where a new bridge between Vermont and New York is being built, to help the United State Coast Guard enforce a special navigation zone. The 23-foot patrol boat and two-person crew will assist the Coast Guard this weekend, August 21-22; as well as the weekends of August 28-29, September 4-5, and Sept. 11-12. During these weekends the Coast Guard expects pleasure boating traffic on the 110-mile long lake to be high and has asked for help in patrolling this construction area. The two-person Naval Militia boat crew will work at the direction of the United States Coast Guard Sector Northern New England. The special navigation zone was designated to ensure that boaters do not interfer with construction of the new bridge connecting Crown Point, NY with Chimney Point, VT. The boat will serve as an observation platform supporting United States Coast Guard, New York State and local law enforcement officers as directed by the United States Coast Guard Station in Burlington, Vt. The bridge currently under construction will replace a 2,184-foot long span which opened in 1929 and was demolished in December 2009 after it was declared unsafe. A ferry board is currently operating at the location. The New York Naval Militia is a New York 2,400- member New York state force comprised for members of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Reserve members who have volunteered to perform state active duty when directed by Governor David Paterson in support of New York State Missions. An additional five percent of the Naval Militia membership is composed of individuals who have retired from those federal reserve forces or the active duty military but have elected to serve their state. New York is one of six states to maintain a state naval force. The New York Naval Militia operates a fleet of nine patrol boats known as the Military Emergency Boat Service which assist local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and the United States Coast Guard on New York's waterways.

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