..."About 10 years ago, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources approached Ping about becoming a Lake Steward. At that time he was already a member of the Lake Clear Property Owners Association, which had been formed in 1981 when several home and cottage owners realized the lake was rapidly deteriorating. By 1981, the accumulation of pollutants in the lake, such as raw sewage, shampoo, soap, detergents, fertilizers, pesticides, and runoff from manicured lawns and farms, was causing serious problems. Ping was already monitoring the lake by taking chlorophyll tests and Secchi readings for lake water clarity for the Ministry of  the Environment.  When lake monitoring began in 1981,  the Secchi reading was only 2 metres and the chlorophyll level was high. Fifteen years later, as a result of persistent monitoring and clean-up efforts by local inhabitants, the Secchi disk reading was up to 6 – 7 metres and the tests for chlorophyll indicated the lake had returned to normal levels."... (for the full story about Ping and Jan's stewardship activities see page 11 in CPAWS Wildlife Friendly Waterfront brochure published in the early 2000s.)