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| FishTails |
Boating Study Forthcoming on Maryland's Deep Creek Lake
By Chris Lawrence [March 20, 2002]
Deep Creek Lake at sunset, Garrett County Maryland |
(Annapolis, MARYLAND) - The Maryland Division of Natural Resources has completed a required recreation and land
use plan for popular Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. The plan may call for additional studies that are sure
to lead to controversy.
The Maryland DNR was required to complete the plan as part of the state's purchase of the 39-hundred acres lake.
The 33-page document calls for another study that could lead to restrictions on personal watercraft and commercial
uses of the lake. The issue is expected to be a hot topic since many lakefront property owners have taken a dim
view of public use of the water bordering their homes.
"The issue may be touchy, because some people want their own private lake." Says Garret County Delegate
George Edwards.
The highland reservoir is located in McHenry, Maryland only a few miles from the West Virginia border. It's Maryland's
largest freshwater impoundment. The water serves as a resort destination for many suburbanites from metro Washington
D.C. The lake is packed with pleasure boats, personal watercraft, and sailboats during daylight hours.
The lake also serves as a major attraction for bass anglers from Maryland and West Virginia. Night tournaments
are held nearly every weekend in the summer by various bass clubs and draw fishermen from miles away to compete.
The state of Maryland purchased the lake, with its 14-hundred acres of shoreline, from G.P.U. Incorporated for
$17.6 Million dollars in 2000. A State Park on the northern shore of the water serves as the main public access
point for the water. The area includes a four-lane ramp, two sizeable boat trailer parking lots, and vast courtesy
docks for loading and unloading. |
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