MASSENA, N.Y. – Professional anglers from the Bass Pro Tour, Major League Fishing staff and the Louisville (N.Y.) Recreation & Maintenance department participated in the Johnson Outdoors Clean Earth Challenge on Monday. The event – held in conjunction with the BPT event at the St. Lawrence River – challenges people to get outdoors and take simple conservation actions to help preserve and restore the outdoor spaces we all love.
The crew worked in the rain at the Massena Intake Boat Launch to help clean the surrounding park and boat launch area. Fortunately, not a lot of trash needed to be picked up as the park was deemed one of the nicest and cleanest facilities that the BPT has visited, according to MLF Operations Manager Kim Edwards.
“Kudos to the entire team at the Louisville Recreation & Maintenance Department that keeps this boat launch area clean and beautiful, year-round,” Edwards said. “It was so great to see how well these locals take care of their facilities. We had so many volunteers to participate in and help with this event, and you can truly tell just how much upstate New York cares about their parks and outdoor areas.”
In addition to the Johnson Outdoors Clean Earth Challenge event in New York, staff at MLF headquarters in Benton, Ky., also participated in the challenge and spent the afternoon outdoors cleaning up the Kentucky Dam Marina. Despite sweltering temperatures that were in the mid 90s, 27 employees helped to gather trash and debris.
“This was such a fun day,” said MLF Tournament Director Alan Gray. “We truly have some great sponsors and partners that care about the outdoors, and I am so blessed to be a part of a company that enjoys giving back.”
The National Wildlife Federation and Johnson Outdoors teamed up to launch the Clean Earth Challenge in 2022 to inspire people to get outdoors and take simple conservation actions to help preserve and restore outdoor spaces. Johnson Outdoors is calling on all fellow outdoor enthusiasts to get involved by collecting trash and helping to reach the goal of removing 10 million pieces of litter from the great outdoors.
