http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/iowa/fredonia/ Fredonia, IA News http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/iowa/fredonia/content/29cadd9351ffa1c6475de3d9237db8c9.html In one of the gross nomenclature injustices in state history the Cedar River flows 29 miles from here to the Mississippi under the name of its largest tributary the Iowa RiverEarly Iowa mapmakers whose errors resulted in the Cedar's designation as a tributary of the Iowa could not have reached their mistaken conclusion had they visited the junction and witnessed the Cedar's absorption of a river half its sizeThough each river travels 300 miles to their union just above this Louisa County hamlet the Cedar drains 7870 square miles and discharges an average of 4064 cubic feet of water per second The Iowa drains but 4375 square miles and discharges on average 2300 cubic feet of water per secondJames Martin 32 of Cedar Rapids who paddled the length of the Cedar two years ago was recently asked his thoughts as he passed into the socalled lower IowaI was thinking 'Why don't they call this the Cedar' he repliedAbove the junction the wide sandy snagstudded Cedar does not remotely resemble the swift rockbottom river upon which Gazette photographer Jim Slosiarek and I began our journey in northern IowaWith an average width of about 200 yards the Cedar here is at least five times wider and its velocity is less than half that of its rambunctious Mitchell County counterpartIn the sandchoked lower Cedar our kayak hulls often scraped bottom forcing us to seek the deeper water of outside bends where the current albeit diminished still seethes through the branches of submerged trees hissing its constant warning: WATCH OUTAfter overturning our canoe early in our voyage I never totally relaxed and because of my preoccupation with making the most of limited time I did not fall far enough under the river's spell to go with its flowReflectionsWe started Sept 16 under the full harvest moon with 12 hours and 26 minutes of daylight and an average high temperature of 75 degrees We concluded Oct 15 under the full hunter's moon with 11 hours and 6 minutes of daylight and an average high temperature of 64 degrees While the days shortened and cooled and the foliage turned from green to gold and red the river remained at low height and flow and retained its reddishbrown diatominfused hueBecause of prior commitments our voyage was not a true uninterrupted expedition Instead we paddled representative stretches as our schedules permitted Of the 11 counties through which the Cedar passes our course took us into all but Chickasaw and I believe we saw the river's best and worstFor the same reasons that Jim and I had to see the Cedar piecemeal full voyages of the Cedar are rarely attempted and I know of only two people and8212; Martin and his lifelong friend Brian Emerson 32 of Madison Wis and8212; who have seen the Cedar all of a piece Having accompanied them on the first quarter of their 2006 expedition paddling 80 miles in four days with everything needed to sustain me packed in a 13foot kayak I can attest to the magnitude of their accomplishmentI regret that Jim and I did not fully experience what Martin calls the highlight of their expedition and8212; the feeling of oneness with the river and moving at its pace Getting in tune with natural rhythms not racing from one deadline to the next was a rare pleasure Martin saidWitnessing the contrast between pristine and spoiled sections of the Cedar was the highlight for Emerson who spent much of his summer helping his dad John Emerson proprietor of Emerson Locksmithing and Specialty Hardware 428 First St SW clean up after the flood that immersed downtown Cedar RapidsThough my exposure to the Cedar was less than Martin and Emerson's I share their belief that it's a good river that could be a lot better with improved conservation practices throughout the watershed and expanded access for recreationistsThe hard armored unwelcoming aspect of the river in both Waterloo and Cedar Rapids discourages enjoyment of what should be the central attraction of both communities http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/iowa/fredonia/content/6aefae5b20a9deca4d40cd5bc53bc01c.html Though effusive praise marks the earliest written records of the Cedar River concerns about the quality of its water and its overall environmental health continue to mountThe Cedar is one of our big concerns said Susan Heathcote water program manager for the Iowa Environmental Council a coalition of environmental groupsWith its large watershed and several cities along its course the Cedar is plagued by both agricultural and urban impacts Heathcote saidThe river's degraded health she said is apparent in high nitrate concentrations which pose problems for cities like Cedar Rapids whose drinking water comes indirectly from the river and in the decline of the river's mussel populationsThe river also absorbed massive infusions of raw sewage in the weeks after the June flood pushing bacterial concentrations to astronomical levelsThe river's modern maladies contrast sharply with the impressions of early visitorsIn point of beauty and fertility the Cedar River valley is unsurpassed by any portion of the United States Maj William Gordon declared after a trip through the region in 1835Lt Albert Lea who crossed the river and its tributaries that same year was equally impressed with the rich meadows deep forests projecting cliffs and sloping landscapes which presented the finest picture on earth of a country prepared by Providence for the habitation of manIn the first professional publication on Iowa's water quality and fish populations Seth Meek declared in 1892 that the Cedar in his judgment is the finest stream in IowaThough the Des Moines River is larger the Cedar excels in swiftness of current in being bordered to a greater extent in timber and being fed by a larger supply of springs and spring brooks wrote Meek who conducted his research during a fouryear stint as an instructor at Coe College in Cedar RapidsReferring to an area then known as the slough now Cedar Lake Meek wrote It is the great fishing ground for the small boys of Cedar Rapids If attended by a fair degree of luck they may be seen on their homeward trips with a string of small bullheads and sunfishes as long as the average boy himselfIn June and July the fishing is good enough to entice men day after day into the water waist deep just below the dam at Cedar Rapids he wrote These men seldom fail to come out except with a respectable string of black bass walleyed pike or channel catBut even in the 1890s Meek saw ominous trendsThe soil since loosed with the plow is much more easily washed into the streams than when it was covered with the stiff native sod The more thorough underdraining and the surface ditches enable the water after heavy rains to find its way at once into the large creeks and riversMeek also observed that rivers are becoming to some extent the sewers for the large cities http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/iowa/fredonia/content/42db68cf2086e1a2aa9fe29c049627d6.html Polling places are open Tuesday for the general election to pick a president for the US along with several national state county and local offices The polls in all Plymouth County's voting http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/iowa/fredonia/content/2db2dbd7400f4254eed658cd25d49391.html More people are voting absentee in Plymouth County than ever before As of Wednesday afternoon the absentee ballot count in the county auditor's office was 3899 hundreds more than the record In http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/iowa/fredonia/content/6ae8ca8fdb5885a9da4bcff65ff4796e.html In Plymouth County voters will decide one race for the county board of supervisors in the Nov 4 general election The race for the District 5 seat has two candidates: incumbent Jim Henrich R of http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/iowa/fredonia/content/7dfd14c91b2ad6d2753d03a75a029092.html MUSCATINE Iowa What would Jesus do if he wore a deputy sheriffs uniform and carried a gun http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/iowa/fredonia/content/9945015523dfca835ecbab5fa893f316.html Le Mars Community School District voters will go to the polls Tuesday to choose two people to fill open school board seats and to decide whether the school should start an Instructional Support Levy http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/iowa/fredonia/content/8b53dac9c2912ef2826c0145bd5e6367.html School board elections for Plymouth County school districts will be Tuesday Sept 9 In the Le Mars Community School District polling places will be open from 7 am to 8 pm where voters will