Glade Run Lake conservancy members Becky Miller, left, and Dave Fowler talk at Glade Run Lake in Middlesex Township Thursday.

MIDDLESEX TWP — While their mission was accomplished — fish, fowl and frogs now inhabit the repaired Glade Run Lake — the lake's conservancy is far from finished.

Siggy Pehel, president of the conservancy, and board member Dave Fowler are beginning a project that they hope will result in the doubling of the lake property and the creation of a new, 2,000-acre watershed.

Pehel explained that it is imperative to protect the 52-acre lake, which was repaired and refilled after being drained in July 2011 due to dam deficiencies.

The conservancy raised funds, acquired grants, stumped for memberships and prodded politicians until the lake was triumphantly reopened one year ago.

Now, Pehel and Fowler want to protect the “gem of Middlesex” from the ever-increasing development in the township by buying properties adjacent to the lake, acquiring conservation easements from properties around the lake that contain feeder streams, and working with the county Agricultural Preservation Board to acquire agricultural easements from properties neighboring the lake.

A full story appears in the Butler Eagle.