Armed with gloves, trash bags, and no small amount of enthusiasm for a chilly spring morning, more than 70 volunteers took to the shores of Raystown Lake on May 2 for the annual Lake Cleanup Day — hauling out tires, plastic drums, bottles, a gym mat, and even a lawnmower blade from one of Pennsylvania’s most treasured outdoor destinations.
The event, co-hosted by the Friends of Raystown Lake and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District, is the cornerstone tradition of the Friends organization — one that stretches back to its founding roots in 1988, when the group began simply as the Raystown Lake Clean-Up Committee.
“The Friends of Raystown Lake is the nonprofit counterpart to the Army Corps of Engineers here at Raystown,” said Hanah Thatcher, president of the Friends of Raystown Lake. “Cleanup Day is truly a foundational Raystown Lake event.”
Volunteers loaded onto boats and fanned out along the 118 miles of shoreline, targeting debris left by visitors or washed in during flooding events. By midday, they had collected roughly one ton of trash — a figure that, according to Thatcher, is both consistent and meaningful.
“One ton less trash in the lake, on the shorelines, potentially contaminating the wildlife and improving the beauty of the shoreline for people who recreate here,” she said.
In a sign that stewardship efforts are making a difference, Thatcher noted volunteers spent much of the morning searching hard for trash to pick up — a challenge she welcomed.
“We were struggling to find trash to pick up for much of the morning, which is of course a great thing,” she said. “It means there is less trash to pick up.”
Shannon Wray, natural resource specialist at Raystown Lake, said debris at the lake comes from two primary sources: items left behind by the public and materials swept in during flood events — a reminder of the lake’s dual role as both a recreation destination and a federally managed flood risk reduction project.
“We don’t want it on the shoreline,” Wray said of litter. “We want the public to take any trash they bring with them.”
That message aligns directly with a new USACE policy that took effect this spring. Beginning March 25, 2026, Raystown Lake transitioned to a Pack-It-In, Pack-It-Out policy, requiring day-use visitors to remove all waste — including food scraps and packaging — when they leave.
For Doug Moore, a lifelong Raystown Lake community member whose father served as a park ranger at the lake, the cleanup is personal. He brought his son, Connor, a Scouts BSA member, making it a family affair that felt entirely in the spirit of the day.
Moore said a recent news story about an eagle that had ingested a fishing hook reinforced why events like this matter beyond aesthetics.
“Anytime we can help clean up trash to prevent something like that from happening here, I want to be a part of it,” Moore said.
Connor, 11, logged volunteer hours toward his Scouts BSA advancement — and declared the experience “extremely fun,” cold weather and all.
The 2026 cleanup drew volunteers from across the community, including students from Juniata College’s Raystown Field Station, established in 1974 in partnership with USACE to support environmental research and education at the lake, and participants from Youth Forestry Camp. Partners providing logistical and in-kind support included Patriot Disposal of PA, Strickler’s Ice, Lake Raystown Resort, and Energy Transfer.