Prettyboy Reservoir

A man's body was pulled from Prettyboy Reservoir in Northern Baltimore County Thursday, police said. The body of a 26-year-old male who was reported missing Wednesday night, was recovered by drivers around 11:30 a.m., said police spokeswoman Cpl. Cathy Batton. His identity has not been released pending notification of his family. Police have not found any signs of foul play, she said, but the medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of death. Batton said the man's vehicle was found in the area, as well as his phone, keys and wallet.

Two kayakers who were injured after falling 200 feet over the face of the dam at Prettyboy Reservoir have been charged with trespassing. Paul K. Hare, 22, and Stephen D. Sparks, 21, both of Parkton, are charged with criminal trespassing and face $1,000 fines and one year in jail, said the Baltimore Environmental Police, which patrol the reservoir. "All things considered, they were lucky," said Officer Heidi Greenleaf with Baltimore Environmental Police. She said she could not recall a similar incident where boaters attempted to go over the dam. Greenleaf said it is unclear whether the men were purposely attempting to go over the dam, or did so accidentally, but that alcohol played a factor.

With marine, air and ground units, police and emergency personnel were attempting to locate a man who disappeared last night while trying to swim the width of the dam at Prettyboy Reservoir near Middletown in northern Baltimore County, authorities said. The man, whose identity was not divulged but who was described as in his 40s, was seen swimming across the reservoir near the dam's face about 9 p.m. by a female friend who called police after he disappeared from view, authorities said.

Tucked amid the woods of northern Baltimore County is one of Maryland's natural gems - the Big Gunpowder Falls, a nationally renowned trout stream that draws anglers from far and wide to try their skills and luck in the cold, rushing water. But some fishermen and fishing guides say they're having a harder time getting at this prized outdoor resource - though it's publicly accessible in Gunpowder Falls State Park - because of unusually heavy river flows that make it hard to fish or even stand at times in the water.

Governments in Baltimore, Baltimore County and Carroll County should intensify efforts to monitor water quality and preserve forests and farmland in the Prettyboy Reservoir watershed, according to a report released this week by a national conservation group. The Trust for Public Land spent more than a year studying the watershed, an 80-square- mile expanse in Baltimore County, Carroll County and York County, Pa., that serves 1.8 million water customers in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

A police dive team found a Hampstead man's body in the Prettyboy Reservoir in northern Baltimore County just after 1 a.m. today, authorities said. Frederick Stein, 44, of the 4000 block of St. Paul Road, drowned last night while trying to swim the width of the dam near Middletown. Stein was seen swimming across the reservoir near the dam's face about 9 p.m. by a female friend who called police after he disappeared from view, authorities said. He had been drinking, police said. A police helicopter equipped with a high-intensity searchlight and an infrared unit capable of locating a body -- even when it us underwater -- contributed to the search hours after darkness, authorities said.

Two men died and a third was missing and presumed drowned last night as a family fishing outing on Prettyboy Reservoir in northern Baltimore County ended in tragedy when their boat capsized, authorities said. A fourth man survived, swimming to shore after he was unable to save the others, according to a county Fire Department spokesman. The men had been drinking, and while one man was steering the boat another was rocking it back and forth when it capsized, plunging all four into the water, said Capt.

A plan by Loyola College to build a retreat center, three parking lots and 10 cabins in northern Baltimore County off Beckleysville Road has angry residents warning about storm water runoff, traffic and potential use of alcohol by people at the retreat center.Those concerns erupted this week, when 250 people turned out at a community meeting organized by the Prettyboy Watershed Preservation Society, formed to fight the center proposed for a narrow road near Prettyboy Reservoir."The main thing was the concern that this kind of commercial use would forever change the rural nature of our community," said Sharon Bailey, who lives near the 101-acre site.

Plundered beehives and ransacked bird feeders were the tell-tale signs. But for proof that a bear is roaming parts of northern Baltimore County, you can go to the tape. See the bear peek over the rim of the above-ground swimming pool. Watch it drink from the pond and scrounge for food. See it flop down on its haunches, sittin' and chillin' - right there behind Teresa Snodgrass' cabin in the woods. "He looked like a circus bear, really well-mannered," said Snodgrass, who captured the animal on videotape one recent evening at her family's home near Prettyboy Reservoir.

Dry conditions caused by a lack of significant rainfall have caused an increase in the number of brush and forest fires in the state, including a blaze that burned more than 20 acres of woodland Friday near Prettyboy Reservoir.The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has no immediate plans to reinstate the burning ban it imposed statewide for six days this month, said spokesman Bob Graham. But state forestry officials were concerned that windy conditions this weekend might turn some activities, such as lighting a charcoal barbecue, into fire hazards.

The start of the boating season at Liberty and Prettyboy reservoirs is being delayed from its scheduled start of March 1, because of ice on the boat ramps, according to the Baltimore Department of Public Works. The department, which oversees operation of the reservoirs, said a new opening date has yet to be determined. The season normally runs from March 1 to Dec. 31 at Liberty and Prettyboy reservoirs. The boating season at Loch Raven Reservoir begins April 4 and runs to Nov. 30, with a limited schedule after Labor Day. Boating at all three city reservoirs requires a valid boating permit.

Since the 1930s, warm weather and sunshine is a signal for many in Carroll and Baltimore counties to venture outdoors for biking, hiking fishing and boating trips in the Gunpowder River and Prettyboy watershed in the Hereford area. Spring has arrived just in time to help celebrate Prettyboy Reservoir Day this Saturday, April 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This year the Baltimore City Department of Public Works, the Prettyboy Watershed Alliance, Carroll and Baltimore County have joined forces for the one-day event as a part Earth Day celebrations and Baltimore Green Week.

A man's body was pulled from Prettyboy Reservoir in Northern Baltimore County Thursday, police said. The body of a 26-year-old male who was reported missing Wednesday night, was recovered by drivers around 11:30 a.m., said police spokeswoman Cpl. Cathy Batton. His identity has not been released pending notification of his family. Police have not found any signs of foul play, she said, but the medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of death. Batton said the man's vehicle was found in the area, as well as his phone, keys and wallet.

The state has added 82 acres to the Piney Run Rural Legacy Area in northern Baltimore County with the preservation of a farm near Falls and Gunpowder roads. The property, for which the state paid $507,000, becomes part of the 13,000 conserved acres adjoining Gunpowder Falls State Park and will add to the buffer for Prettyboy Reservoir, part of the drinking water supply for the Baltimore area. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources also announced plans to spend nearly $1.4 million for a conservation easement on 253 acres of the Bee Tree Preserve property, which is immediately adjacent to the Torrey Brown North Central Rail Trail in Baltimore County.

Prettyboy Reservoir -- Joe Butta reports similar conditions, water 7 feet down, with largemouth and smallmouth bass still suspended over deep water structures. They're best caught when they leave the structures to feed, with crankbaits, plastics or jigs. Liberty Resevoir -- Doug Geis at Old Reisterstown Bait and Tackle says anglers are catching smallmouth and largemouth bass, at weights as heavy as 6 pounds on live shiners and nightcrawlers. Catfish and white crappies are starting to pick up. He predicts cloud cover could help the number of catches.

The state has added 82 acres to the Piney Run Rural Legacy Area in northern Baltimore County with the preservation of a farm near Falls and Gunpowder roads. The property becomes part of the 13,000 conserved acres adjoining Gunpowder Falls State Park and will add to the buffer for Prettyboy Reservoir, part of the drinking water supply for the Baltimore area. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources also announced plans to spend nearly $1.4 million for a conservation easement on 253 acres of the Bee Tree Preserve property, which is immediately adjacent to the Torrey Brown North Central Rail Trail in Baltimore County.