Jude Harrington, Supervisory Park Ranger at Baltimore Districts Raystown Lake in Pennsylvania, is the winner of the 2014 Legend Award. He was nominated by his peers at the lake for his extremely high standards, his ability to create and build partnerships and his commitment to the Corps natural resources mission.

More than 30 years with the Corps, Jude has helped make Raystown, also this years Project of the Year, a model for the Corps recreation program by paying attention to his customers needs and creating recreation opportunities they want. Even though Raystown is a comparatively small lake, at just 8,300 acres, and is more than four hours from Philadelphia, the closest major city, its Rangers host almost 1.5 million visitors per year.

He has led and been involved in dozens of special recreation events, including boat regattas, the annual "Wheelin Hunt" for disabled hunters, and Dirt Fest, a mountain bike event that annually draws more than 3,000 cyclists.

Jude also led numerous asset improvement projects at the lake. He initiated a program to upgrade the Seven Points campground and helped turn it into a national recreation destination that is now the #1 revenue producing campground in USACE according to Recreation.gov. Jude and the park ranger team he leads played an integral part in designing and constructing the Greenside Walking trail. This 2.5 mile trail, constructed from 38,000 recycled tires, links 19 facilities (visitor center, beach, amphitheater, campgrounds, etc.) within the Seven Points Recreation Area. The trail also connects to the award winning Allegrippis Trail, a 32-mile carpeted roller coaster built by the Friends of Raystown, which draws mountain bikers from all around the country.

Jude might be proud of his achievements in recreation but he becomes passionate when he speaks of his favorite environmental project at the lake: the partnership with The American Chestnut Foundation (ACF) to restore this once dominant tree after it was made almost extinct by an Asian blight over 100 years ago.

The project now boasts four orchards tucked into the lakes 21,000 acres, and the chestnut seedlings are maintained by a core of dedicated volunteers and students from Juniata College, which maintains an environmental science field station at Raystown. When asked if he had consumed a Raystown chestnut, Jude said no, I almost feel like they are sacred. In the fall volunteers annually harvest two truckloads of burrs and comb the seeds out for the ACF, which in turn uses them in their comprehensive backcross program.

At the heart of Judes many achievements is his ability to cultivate enduring, supportive relationships among Raystowns many active partners. The Friends of Raystown is a group of local volunteers that form the cornerstone of the projects partnership program. Other groups include RMBA, the local chapter of the International Mountain Bicycling Association, and the Marklesburg Volunteer Fire Company who worked with project staff to raise over $100,000 to purchase an underwater camera for rescue and recovery operations. Total value of contributions from Raystowns partners added up to more than $1.7 million in 2014, and almost 250 volunteers offered their services to the lake.

Jude cites the Raystown Conservation Education Program (RayCEP) as a model example of how partnerships can contribute to the Corps missions. Juniata College works closely with the Friends of Raystown, local businesses and the Corps to fund and manage an environmental education outreach program. This program uses two college interns to bring interactive nature programs to the park visitors. You should see the kids respond when RayCEP interns bring live turtles onto the swim beach or a black snake into the playground area. It sounds like a cliché, but these partnerships really work, Jude commented.

It is quite apparent that Jude is proud of Raystown Lake and proud of the agency he works for. According to Jude, job satisfaction is not difficult to find, simply get out of the office and talk to the visitors. Jude described I recently spoke to a gentleman who said my family grew up on this lake, we have caught fish, had broken arms and even got lost on the trails. Now my daughter insists on getting married at the overlook because she says the best times of her life have taken place at this lake. It is comments like that that make a career worthwhile.