Fernan Lake won't be around forever.

For the rest of our lifetimes, surely, but still.

It's on Bill Miller's mind, he said, that like all other lakes, the tree-hugged Fernan Lake will eventually fill in with silt and sediment. Because of its shallow 30-foot depth, it will go quicker than say Lake Coeur d'Alene or Lake Pend Oreille.

Let it, said Miller, a longtime lakeshore property owner.

But don't help it.

"It sounds very sad, but it's a natural phenomena," Miller said of the lake's inevitable end. "We just don't want to help it along any more than we have to."

That's the Mother-Nature-deferring attitude of the Fernan Lake Conservation and Recreation Association.

The 85-member group of Fernan Lake recreators and property owners simply vie to preserve the quality of the lake, said Miller, also a member. Few spots, he explained, offer abundant fish and wildlife just around the corner from Coeur d'Alene.

"I just think it's like Tubbs Hill in a sense. It's a very special place," Miller said. "A lot of people use it, and we need to treasure it just like we do our other local resources."

Susan Andrews was among the FLCRA founders back in 1997.

Property owners around Fernan Lake wanted to ensure its protection, she said, for the sake of the recreators and the residents' own parcels of peace and quiet.

"We talked to Fernan (Lake) Village, but they're in the city," Andrews said. "They said there's nothing they can do to help us, because we're in the county."

So they organized.

So far, the group's efforts have been part watchdog, part janitor.

It conducts a large-scale annual cleanup, just accomplished in May. The group also hired an attorney a couple years back to oppose a proposed campground over the watershed.

Members also approached East Side Highway District about posting signs about a new ordinance forbidding fireworks, shooting and fires along Fernan Lake Road, which the group celebrates.

"Fernan Lake had a reputation of a 'Come out and party' lake," Andrews said of years past, though she acknowledged the public's attitude has become more courteous.

Water quality monitoring is also a priority, which the group conducts with the Department of Environmental Quality.

Miller ventures out on his boat monthly, he said, to scrutinize water clarity and oxygen levels and harvest a sample.

"We can identify any problems that are possibly correctable," he said.

Miller just loves the lake, he said. He has lived there for 20 years, and you have to keep your own setting clean, after all.

"I think it's really a jewel for Coeur d'Alene," he said. "It doesn't have a lot of houses around it. It has kind of a wild feeling."

Use of the lake was evident even on Tuesday, as rain sheeted over the water.

David Mason and Elise Logan guided their fishing boat into the public launch. A lone fishermen stood at the dock baiting his hook.

"It's not quite as trafficked as Coeur d'Alene Lake," Mason said of why they picked the smaller lake.

Logan added that they often camp and fish there, to get away and see wildlife.

"It's just nice and relaxing," Logan said.

The lake is also healthy, confirmed Tom Herron, DEQ regional water quality manager.

With the FLCRA's help in monitoring, Herron said, the agency has tested that water clarity and phosphorous levels are improving.

Many citizen groups have kept tabs on the lake, Herron added, and he praised their enthusiasm.

"It's an important resource of the community, and an important economic feature," he said. "We want to try to keep it that way."

Help the lake

• Membership of the Fernan Lake Conservation and Recreation Association is $20 per family. For more information, e-mail Susan Andrews at Andrews@povn.com