MASSENA – Pro anglers, MLF staff and joined workers from the Louisville Recreation & Maintenance Department, in the rain at the Massena Intake Boat Launch in Massena, 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 Bass Pro Tour 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, Kentucky, 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 to help clean up the marina.

In all 119 pounds of trash was collected at both sites.

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 the outdoor spaces we all love. 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.