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| Download a copy of the resolution to establish the
river trail. I was thrilled to receive a signed resolution from Emmet County on
2/25/99, from Palo Alto, Boone, Humboldt and Mahaska counties in March, and Pocahontas in
April, from Van Buren in
May, Wapello in July, AND Webster County Conservation Board and Marion County Conservation
Board in August. Polk County, Warren, Monroe, and Lee County Conservation
endorsed the trail in September. All counties with the exception of Dallas have
signed the resolution as of 5/1/00. Cities, counties, organizations, and government
agencies along the river are welcome to sign and return the resolution to me. Now
that we have all of the counties, I'd like to see us put up the signs!! The Des Moines River Greenbelt Commission has recognized the river trail, and has formed a committee to move forward on design and placement of signs and production of a river trail brochure. The committe will meet in October and November, and proposals will be discussed in December. The river is once again perfect for paddling. The stretch between Sycamore and Birdland is perfect for paddling, and I have enjoyed several trips this summer. I've also been from Harriet St. to Yellow Banks, Yellow Banks to Bennington, Bennington to Elk Rock, Elk Rock to South Lake Access, Eveland to Eddyville, Bonaparte to Farmington, Farmington to St. Francisville, Fraser to Saylorville, Rutland to Humboldt, and Dolliver to Fraser. See the Trip Report section for more details. I've done 200 miles of the Des Moines since 1/1/99, and I plan to do the length as soon as I recover from throat surgery. Join with conservationists and newspapers all along the river in making the Des Moines River the longest recreational trail in Iowa. Thanks to the Des Moines Register (and Linda Fandel and Juli Probasco-Sowers) for publishing the river trail opinion piece on Sunday, April 4 and August 7. . More than 300,000 Iowans were informed about the potential of the river trail. I have had hundreds of visitors and thousands of page views, as has Ruth in Keokuk. The Ottumwa Courier had a full page editorial on August 1, which was much appreciated. Ruth Egeland has done a fantastic job of putting together our logo, a photoessay and a cyberpaddle that tell the story of the river trail in an exciting and appealing way. Thanks also to Ruth for putting up the Central Iowa Paddlers Club newsletter. Thanks to Dick LeCroy of Des Moines, I presented the river trail to the Greenbelt Commission, the DNR and the Army Corps of Engineers on March 19. The response was very positive. I learned that bicycle trails along the river cost about $1 million per mile. That means that nature has given us a $400,000,000 trail to share with the world. The dedication of the Ding Darling Greenway at Prospect Park was held on June 23, the cooperative effort of city, county, state, and federal participants. The Ottumwa Courier has information about "Swift Water Days" and has shown a keen interest in the river trail. They had a major event on August 14, 1999. The Des Moines River Restoration Committee has started a
campaign to restore the dam and pump house at Rutland, and to greatly expand the park
facilities. They had a great fund raiser on July 10, 1999. |