On Tuesday the commission hired a Maryland-based environmental firm, Center for Watershed Protection, to draw up stream rules. The not-for-profit group has drawn up dozens of regional water protection plans, including one for Chesapeake Bay.

Last month, the commission fired a Saratoga consulting firm that had come up with proposals for stream and forest protection that ignited opposition from residents who claimed it would stymie development. Environmental groups suspected the commission caved in to political pressure.

Continued building of homes, roads and driveways in the hills around the lake, particularly in the fast-growing towns of Bolton Landing and Lake George, are contributing to a toxic brew of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and road salts being washed into the lake. This fuels algae blooms and a growing oxygen-starved zone during the summer.

"Some people may have said we were not moving ahead, but this will allow us to move ahead even faster," said commission Chairman Bruce Young during a commission meeting at the Fort William Henry Conference Center. "This group will lend scientific support to any rules."

Saratoga Associates, the fired consulting firm, had been hired in 2006 and spent more than a year on its proposals, which would have banned tree cutting around streams, as well as limiting cutting on building lots.

By an 8-0 vote by the commission, the Center for Watershed Protection will be paid through a $50,000 contract. The commission also voted to hire the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District for $15,000 to create computerized maps to streams that feed the lake and show protected zones for future rules.

"We want to be able to define the streams, and define the streams that need protection. Anyone will be able to see if their land is affected. A lot of people won't be affected," Young said.

No other board members spoke on the matter. When the commission was created in 1961, it was given authority to adopt rules on stream and forest protection, but never did so. Environmental groups saw years of deliberate foot-dragging.

"I want to say that this is not an upland development plan," said Young. He said the commission will tackle forest protection rules once stream rules are secure.

An environmental advocate for the lake welcomed the commission's actions. "I am very encouraged that the Center for Watershed Protection is involved," said Chris Navitsky of Lake George Waterkeeper, a local affiliate of the Riverkeeper environmental organization.

In one project, the center is part of a first-of-its-kind program aimed at reducing environmental impacts from residential and commercial construction within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Navitsky said his group made an offer to the commission in 2006 to create stream and forest protection rules with the help of the center.

Commission members voting for the two contracts included Young, Thomas Conerty of Bolton, John Petica of Fort Anne, Thomas Morhouse of Ticonderoga, James Kneeshaw of Queensbury, Roger Phinney of Queensbury, John McDonald of Ticonderoga, Kenneth Parker of Diamond Point, and Thomas Hall, a representative from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.