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The objective of this project is to improve physical fish habitat and water quality at Raystown Lake, Huntingdon County. The project will improve water quality by addressing point and nonpoint source pollution by building artificial shoreline habitat improvement structures. These shoreline habitat improvement structures are made out of rock rubble and make excellent habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms. The lake is a top boating destination but is severely impacted by boat traffic from the 1.5 annual visitors. A recent boating capacity study confirmed the lake has reached and exceeded its boating capacity, thus the pressure on the shoreline from boat generated wave action, in addition to prevailing wind action, results in severe shoreline erosion. USACE has completed several shoreline improvement projects as budget and personnel allow, but simply can’t maintain pace with shoreline loss. This project would provide significant support to those efforts. The project will also improve areas that lack submerged habitat at the lake. The submerged habitat will consist of rock rubble reefs, rock humps, rootwad humps, and felled trees. The combination of large amounts of rock and wood structures will make exceptional fish habitat. Habitat in the 20 foot contour is especially important at this lake because all trees and other natural habitat was removed during the dams construction. This created enormous devoid habitat areas at the lake. These devoid areas are the most productive zone for fish and aquatic organisms at the lake. The project will also create shoreline and boating access for both anglers and visitors of the park.

• Point source pollution
• Nonpoint source pollution
• Excessive nutrients
• Siltation
• Limited littoral structure

• Largemouth Bass, Crappie spp., Channel Catfish, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Striper, Lake Trout, perch, and Bluegill

Raystown Lake is an 8,300 acre lake that is owned and operated by the United State Army Corps of Engineers(USACE). It’s one of Pennsylvania’s (PA) largest lakes and is heavily used by recreational boaters and fisherman. This lake is a top fishing destination in the state and supports over 3 fulltime fishing guides. The lake is known for its impressive bass, striper, and lake trout fishery. The park receives over 1.6 million visitors yearly. In 2020, Seven points campground became the highest revenue generating campground in USACE.
The lake habitat project will improve the aquatic habitat at the lake in several popular areas. The projects major partners are the Friends of Raystown(FRL), Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission(PFBC), USACE, Juniata College, Pennsylvania Striper Association, and the National Fish Habitat Partnership. PFBC staff will use both a specialized rock barge and land based heavy equipment to improve eroded shorelines. They will also create rock and rootwad humps in areas that lack any significant structure. Through this projectsthese “aquatic deserts” will be transform into areas that support increased fish populations with greater species richness.

The projects at Lake Raystown will be completed by several different techniques. The first method will be to use PFBC land based heavy machinery. The PFBC will use its equipment to build shoreline deflectors and boat mooring access. The shoreline devices stabilize the bank by dissipating wind and wave action at the lake. The rock used gives interstitial space for both fish and aquatic organisms. This will greatly enhance shoreline habitat while reducing current and future erosion issues. Landbased shoreline habitat improvements sites will also include mooring areas. These mooring areas will greatly increase angler use and access at the very popular campground sites.
The second method will be to use an aquatic rock barge. The rock barge is capable of holding up to 20 tons of rock and rootwads. This rock barge will be able to access remote shoreline that aren’t feasible to reach by any other method due to rugged terrain. The barge will create huge rock reefs and rock piles which will also significantly improve the aquatic habitat at the lake in areas that are severely devoid of habitat.
The last method will be to use specialized habitat boats which will place volunteer constructed artificial habitat improvement structures throughout the lake. These habitat improvement structures will be constructed by local partners and volunteers. These types of projects have been very successful and have been done on an annual basis for the last couple decades.

PFBC will be responsible for ensuring that all artificial habitat structures are placed appropriately. They will measure structures placed, feet of shoreline improved, time spent on the project by both the project volunteers and project partners, total acreage enhanced, funding used, and other important parameters. The Juniata college will be responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of rock rubble humps for spawning walleye. The availability of walleye spawning habitat in the lake is limited and annual stocking of fry is required to sustain the population from overfishing. The construction of improved reefs through this project provides an excellent opportunity to increase the availability of suitable spawning habitat; thus in turn increasing nest productivity and population stability.

This project will take advantage of PFBC and USACE media platforms. Project details and information will be sent through social media, newspaper outlets, local lake organizations, fishing clubs, and other media outlets. These outlets will help draw the necessary volunteers to complete the volunteer scale portion of the project. Videos completed from this project will be used as an educational tool so that the local public can learn about what improvements were done at the lake. It will also be used as a training tool for which PFBC can use to show other lake owners how to address shoreline improvement issues at their lake and the processes involved. Raystown staff can also highlight these videos at their amphitheater and interpretive contacts which have drawn up to 26,000 people a year. Scuba diving will also be done by local residents and PFBC staff to highlight fish usage of these submerged structures.

• Feet of eroded shoreline improved, number of completed artificial habitat structures, artificial habitat acres impacted

PA Fish and Boat Commission

The Pennsylvania Fish and boat Commission will provide technical assistance, planning, site selection, permit acquisition, funding, construction and placement of habitat structures, grant assistance, management plans, reporting, and other assistance needed to complete this and future projects at the lake.

• USACE-Support-Letter.pdf
• Raystown-Lake-Fish-Habitat-Improvement-Plan-Revised-11-19-19.pdf
• RFHP-Support-Letter-2021-Raystown-Lake.pdf

PFBC- $6000 will be used for volunteer scale projects wood and concrete blocks.
PFBC- $6000 will be used for Large Scale Project materials. Items like rock, chain, cable, fasteners, and other products to complete projects.

Juniata College- They will use $15,000 to complete a study on the usage of reefs for spawning walleye. This will cover staff time, travel, supplies, and equipment to complete this multi year study
Juniata College- Students participate in the annual lake habitat improvement project at the lake. They are estimated to have $1944 of in-kind costs

Friends of Raystown- Youth and Adults will participate in the annual lake habitat improvement project at the lake. They estimate to have $720 of in-kind cost to administer this grant. They estimate $5640 of in-kind costs.

Student Conservation Association- Students participate in the annual lake habitat improvement project at the lake. They are estimated to have $1800 of in-kind costs.

Huntingdon Visitors Bureau- Youth and adults will participate in the annual lake habitat improvement project at the lake. They are estimated to have $1680 of in-kind costs

Friends of Reservoirs- Raystown Lake Consent Order Funding administered by FOR is available to use for project materials, staff time or contractor cost, equipment needs for the project, and any other cost related to habitat projects at the lake. Funding is in hand and available to use when needed. The majority of the materials funding will go toward rock. Total funding available is $259,299.

US Army Corps of Engineers- Estimated contractor cost of USACE for Twin Hollow effort - this will provide shoreline angler access and access for people with disabilities ($22,000), Tree/vegetation planting ($10,000), Stone ($3,500), Block (user picnic/site access) ($3,500) for a total of $39,000. The annual crib project and tree felling will have an in-kind value of $11,600. Outreach given by staff will have a $6,000 in-kind cost. Estimated administrative cost is $1,536.

Pennsylvania Striped Bass Association- Adults participate in the annual lake habitat improvement project at the lake. They are estimated to have $3,240 of in-kind costs.