No, Deep Creek Lake is not going to be drained

Deep Creek Lake stewards are on guard for an invasion of non-native zebra mussels, but they aren’t about to drain the Western Maryland waterway because of it, as a widely shared article recently suggested.

The posting on breakingnews247.net — a website that suggests visitors “write an article and prank your friends for fun” — said boaters had unknowingly introduced the bivalves to the Garrett County lake. In response, state natural resources police planned to empty it this week, “the only recourse that we can take to potentially save the future of the lake,” the article said.

The truth is that introduction of zebra mussels to Deep Creek was recently thwarted, at least for now, and draining of the lake isn’t on the table.

“There is no truth to this story. fakenews,” Stephen Schatz, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources, wrote to many Twitter users who were sharing the article Tuesday.

Schatz said the department was alerted to the parody article late last week and focused its public messaging “on the fact that the lake and state park were open and operational.”

Friends of Deep Creek Lake urged supporters to report the article to Facebook, if they saw it shared on that social media site.

“There are efforts at all levels to confront this crazy misinformation,”. the group wrote on its Facebook page. “We ask you to help challenge this sick joke and, of course, if asked, set the person straight.”

The article has since been taken down.

Meanwhile, lake stewards are indeed on alert for boats that may be unknowingly harboring the bivalves, which are native to eastern Europe and Asia and have caused both ecological and economic damage across U.S. waterways since being introduced to the Great Lakes in the 1980s.

On July 9, stewards inspecting a boat that had recently spent the Fourth of July holiday on the Finger Lakes in New York found what appeared to be a zebra mussel in the vessel’s intake system, according to state natural resources officials. The officials later confirmed it to be the invasive species.

The boat owner agreed to clean the vessel before launching it into Deep Creek. The boat was inspected voluntarily through the Deep Creek Lake Launch Steward program, established in 2014 to raise awareness about the risks of introducing invasive species to the lake.

For more info, click here.

Comments

comments

Published by

Jay Ferguson

Who I Am My name is Jay Ferguson, and I am a lifelong resident of the Deep Creek Lake area. I am also co-owner of the real estate side of Taylor Made. I have been in the real estate business for 21+ years now and I LOVE what I do! I have to say, my career really took off when I co-founded the real estate side of Taylor Made in 2014. Its been an amazing experience, building a real estate company from the ground up and achieving so much so quickly! In August 2016, we purchased Long & Foster Real Estate Deep Creek, where I had started my career in 2000. In 2018, we on-boarded virtually every agent from Coldwell Banker Deep Creek Realty as they closed up shop and the real estate family grew even more! We now have over 40 sales agents and have expanded to West Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well. Taylor Made is the #1 vacation rental company at Deep Creek with over 475 vacation rental homes, and over one hundred thousand yearly visitors. Its amazing what we have accomplished using the principles of honesty, teamwork and customer service! Personally, my wife Jessica and I enjoy traveling and especially spending time in the outdoors, hiking and exploring the many diverse areas that Garrett County is naturally blessed with. We have raised two wonderful children here, Kayleah (22) and Noah (13). In the summer, we love spending time on the water with friends & family and enjoying the lake life! We are both active in our church, our community & local school activities, and we fill our schedule with plenty of volunteer efforts. I currently serve on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity. I am proud to say that I was named Deep Creek Time’s Favorite ‘Community Champion’ in 2019. I was also named Garrett County Realtor of the Year in 2018-19, as well. I really enjoy promoting my hometown. I am very proud of the resort area that has developed over my lifetime and look forward to growing the area even more! Deep Creek Lake has been described as ‘The Lake Tahoe of the east', and I think that speaks volumes about the potential to own property here! Deep Creek Lake isn't really a town or city by itself; it's comprised of three towns: Oakland, Swanton & McHenry, Maryland. I am very passionate about my hometown and am impressed with how many people know about it as we travel around the country. Deep Creek Lake is an amazing place to visit and even better place to live! During the pandemic in 2020, our market exploded and more and more people left their primary residence in the city to live here permanently. With distance learning in schools and tele-commuting becoming the ‘norm’, many more people were drawn to the area to ‘live where they love to play’. Why You Want Me Working for You: In addition to being an owner, I am consistently one of the top-producing agents in the entire area and the Associate Broker of record for Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales. I have 21+ years of experience and I am a problem solver. There aren’t many situations that I have not encountered and I have a strategy for almost every scenario that you may encounter. I have extensively trained in all areas of real estate & emerging technologies, and also have trained as an appraiser, as well as served as a full-time Broker. I have a strong knowledge of the industry, as well as many trusted local contacts & affiliations that allow me to perform at a very high level and deliver results. I have a great deal of respect for my peers in this industry and have strong working relationships that I would love to put to work for you. Call me to discuss your situation - I know I can be of great service to you & others you care about! Honesty. Integrity. Results. View all posts by Jay Ferguson