U.S. corps ranger Looney is love with Lake Cumberland

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July 18, 2008

By BILL MARDIS, Editor Emeritus The Commonwealth Journal Fri Jul 18, 2008, 05:22 PM EDT

Somerset — Aside from the hum of a pleasure boat, the voice of Benton Looney is probably the most recognizable sound on Lake Cumberland.

The verbose Looney with a chamber of commerce personality — “there’s no place in the world I’d rather live than Pulaski County” — adds an extra touch to his job of promoting Lake Cumberland.

Officially a ranger/technician for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Somerset resource manager’s office, Looney is a self-appointed, unofficial “voice” of Lake Cumberland. During the past 10 years, he has evolved into a “star” on “Dial A Deal,” a popular early morning show on Somerset Radio Station WTLO. Using his cellular phone, he calls in and gives daily on-the-air, direct-from-the-water reports about the lake. His information includes the lake level and temperature, what type of bait fish are biting, or whatever you want to talk about related to the lake.

“JJ (the late Dial A Deal star JJ Johnson) and Jim (former station manager Jim Brown and Dial A Deal host) wanted me to call in every morning and give the lake conditions,” said Looney. “I started doing it as a courtesy ... people with boats and fisherman like to have the information.”

Looney loves to talk, and the lake-condition report can become a wider-ranging conversation with the Dial A Deal announcer. He has been trained in public speaking as a U.S. Army recruiter and is a natural on the radio.

Ownership of WTLO has changed — Brown has retired and JJ was killed in an automobile accident — but the regular lake conversations continue.

Looney says there is much to talk about.

“Fishing on Lake Cumberland is phenomenal!” he declares. “When the lake comes back up, I really believe all these grasses and beds of vegetation will result in a world record smallmouth bass being caught in Lake Cumberland.”

The 101-mile-long lake is currently being held about 40 feet below normal pool stage while repairs are being made at Wolf Creek Dam. The lower water level the past two years has allowed vegetation to grow on expanded banks.

The world’s largest smallmouth bass, probably lurking in Lake Cumberland, may well be hooked in the lake’s upper reaches in Pulaski County, Looney predicts.

“Fishing Creek, Buck Creek and Pitman Creek are prime examples of where some of these grasses have had time to germinate, (produce) seed and come up in multiples,” reasoned Looney. “It will be survival of the fittest,” he added. “There will be some monsters in there when the water comes up.”

Looney admits to be a bit vague with fishing information.

“If I give exact locations where fish are being caught, fishermen won’t talk to me ... they’ll shut me out,” he explained. “I talk in generalities ... I can’t be specific about where to cast a lure.”

Looney is optimistic about Lake Cumberland as a vacation Mecca even at its lower level.

“I see more Kentucky license plates (at camping areas),” he said. “That means (because of high gasoline prices) more people are coming here instead of going long distances,” he suggested. Some camping spots, not normally full, have recently been totally utilized during the weekend, he said.

Looney said Lake Cumberland is a family tradition. “Parents brought their kids here and the kids are bringing their kids here,” said Looney. “I see a lot of the same people using the lake year after year.”

Peace and tranquility are hallmarks of Lake Cumberland, Looney pointed out. He doesn’t make arrests — “If I need a citation, I can get a ranger (with arrest powers)” — but “we don’t have a lot of trouble.”

Looney, a retired Army master sergeant, has been with the Corps since 1991. He applied for the job with the Corps while he was being mustered out of the Army.

His official job description with the Corps is a formal “regulatory enforcement for voluntary compliance.”

“That means we are interested in taking care of our customers (visitors),” Looney explained. “We want them to have a good experience (on the lake) and take good memories home. We want tourists and locals –– everybody who recreates on the lake –– to enjoy themselves.”

Looney, despite his devotion to Lake Cumberland Country, is not a native Kentuckian. He was born in Oregon. His roots, however, extend westward to Kentucky.

“My dad is from Cumberland Gap. My mom is from Northern Kentucky.”

The westward movement of the family was the result of “my Uncle Ed” who got a job in California based on experiences he had in the Army. “Uncle Ed” got my grandfather a job as a groundskeeper at a country club in California and he sold his farm in Kentucky and moved out there.

Later, Looney recalled, his grandfather relocated to a strawberry farm in Oregon and “that’s where dad met my mother.” He said members of his family gradually migrated back to Kentucky and Looney ended up working in Pulaski County after he retired from a 24-year career in the Army.

Looney loves his job and goes out of his way to promote the area. “In Lake Cumberland, we have the greatest asset in the nation,” he declared.

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