Down By The Lake
The Accomplishments of Charelston Lake
Charleston Lake has a long history of community-based volunteer involvement in all aspects of life on the lake. For the past 150 years, concerned citizens and users of the lake have taken part in activities sponsored by the lake association. Volunteers have placed shoal markers for public safety, and have assisted in data collection for monitoring water quality and assessing the state of the fishery. In the 1950s, as the public began to place more value on natural resources, government became involved in conservation programs. However, since that time, there has been a gradual ebbing of programs for fisheries, private land forestry and wildlife management as governments have sought to reduce spending and deficit. During this same time, citizen involvement in conservation has gradually increased, with volunteers taking more and more leadership in matters that affect their environment. In that regard, the lake association has recognized the complexity of issues and the level of sophistication required to deal with them. This has lead to the development of a lake planning process for Charleston Lake.
The process of developing a master plan for the lake is as important as the end result. To be successful, it must engage the entire lake community.