In 2002, over 10 years ago, GORP.com published an article "Water Trails, Paddling Paths of America" by Mark Leger.  The following excerpt includes a definition of water trails, along with a sense of their value to both environmental stewardship and outdoor recreation.

"The splash of your paddle and a bird call is all you hear: solitude. You're on the water, following a route paddled by countless others.

"Water has always been a connector: a trader's route, an explorer's journey, a traveller's escape. Nowadays, with the boom of canoeing and kayaking, it's an increasingly popular form of outdoor recreation. Following the lead of organized hiking trails, in recent years organizations have emerged to mark and maintain water trails.

"North American Water Trails, Inc. is a national coalition of organizations and individuals committed to creating water trails. They define a water trail as". . . a stretch of river, a shoreline, or an ocean that has been mapped out with the intent to create an educational, scenic, and challenging experience for recreational canoers and kayakers." A water trail can be almost everything a hiking trail can be: short or long, primarily historic or scenic, challenging or laid-back.

"One thing that all of these groups have in common is a mission of environmental stewardship: citizens actively care for the landscape and educate others on ways to cherish it. According to Dave Getchell, author of the Modern Water Trails, a guide to establishing and maintaing recreational waterways, "We're stressing the stewardship, in other words taking care of the resource and doing everything as low impact as possible."

"An important way to learn about a body of water is to simply be in it, which is where the recreational dimension of water trails enters the picture."

You can start your day at Toolesboro Mounds & Museum with an optional program about Burris City, a once thriving town at the junction of the Iowa and Mississippi Rivers. Then head down the Iowa River to learn even more about the role these rivers have played in our local history from Kathy Dice, Louisa County Conservation naturalist.  

For thousands of years, people used the Iowa River to travel up to the heart of Iowa. We'll explore the ancient and colorful past of this river as we travel to where it meets the mighty Mississippi.  As we paddle, we will talk about the Woodland people who built the mounds along both rivers. Along the way we will point out and discuss why rivers were so important to people through time, not only for transportation, but for food, tools and recreation as well. We will end our trip at the Toolesboro Boat Landing to view up-close the old site of Burris City.

We'll paddle about 6 miles on the Iowa River Water Trail,  starting at Cappy Russell Access near Oakville. When we get to the Mississippi River, we'll paddle just a short way up the river to the Toolesboro Access. This will take us to the Odessa Water Trail - two water trails in one trip!!

This trip is an official Odessa and Iowa River Water Trail event cosponsored by Louisa County Conservation, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Pathfinders RC&D. The event is free but all participants must be registered in advance.

Shuttling service will be available to anyone who needs it but we ask that you arrange for just one member of your party to use the shuttle. Details will be provided in the information packet. 

When: Saturday,September 21, 2013, 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM (you will need to arrive about an hour early to get your car to the ending point and be ready to go at 1:00) 

Where: Cappy Russell Access near Oakville to Toolesboro Landing on the Mississippi River

Who: Though not a difficult paddle, consider your paddling abilities since there is a short jaunt upstream; kids ages 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult 

Fee: FREE, thanks to funding from the Iowa DNR Rivers Program

Canoes Available: A limited number of canoes/kayaks are available, if you don't have your own boat; You will be able to reserve one during the registration process.

Registration: Register online or call Louisa County Conservation at 319-523-8381

Registration deadline: registration closes Wednesday, September 18 at NOON.

Space is limited and registration is required so sign up soon!

The September 21, 2013 Dragoon River Romp will include cleaning a stretch of the river from the lower Fraser boat ramp to the Waterworks boat ramp. Volunteers will meet at 7 Oaks Recreation at 7:30 am.  At the conclusion of the cleanup, all volunteers will be transported back to Seven Oaks for lunch and awards presentation.  The event should end around 2:30 pm.

This event is free, but numbers are limited, so please preregister with Coordinator Lois Powers at 515-433-0591, email kbcb@boonelandfill.org or visit http://www.boonecounty.iowa.gov/index.as...x?page=373. 

In a continued effort to ensure safety, volunteers under the age of 18 must be in a canoe with a volunteer 18 or older. We will limit the number of paddlers to 100 and the number of land based volunteers to 45.

The Dragoon River Romp is a Keep Boone County Beautiful event. The vision of KBCB is a cleaner and more beautiful county. Our mission is to protect and preserve the beauty and quality of life through partnerships between citizens, business, neighborhoods and government and to continue to foster PRIDE in our County's environment. The Dragoon River Romp, which will be celebrating its 8th anniversary in 2013, embodies this mission.

Over the past 7 events the efforts of our volunteers resulted in 23.68 tons of trash being removed from our beautiful Des Moines River and its banks. Much of the trash is recycled and the remainder is deposited at the Boone County Landfill.

The event is planned to encompass both river-based and land-based cleanup teams. This provides additional opportunity for volunteers to become involved. An educational aspect is always included in the Dragoon River Romp. This event reinforces a commitment to protecting the environment and raises awareness about relationships of proper solid waste disposal and watershed protection.

Join us on Tuesday, September 24 for an adventuresome afternoon & evening as Dr. Jim Pease tells tales about the unique critters and wildlife that live in and along the Iowa River in Hardin County.  

Jim has paddled Iowa's rivers since age 12 and is a wildlife & interpretive specialist who will help you find and understand the critters that call the Iowa River Greenbelt home.   See below for more background on presenter Dr. Jim Pease.

Following the presentation there will be a hike along the nature trail at Calkins Nature Center to the river to see if Jim can conjure up some critters.   The indoor session and hike are limited to 20 participants.

An optional paddle will follow the presentation & hike at approximately 6:00 pm for a "round trip paddle" in and out of Weaver's Cove in Iowa Falls.   Maximum number of canoes/kayaks is 12.

Paddlers may use their own canoe/kayak/paddle/PFDs or contact Mary Hyland at 641-373-6302 to reserve one of the 6 canoes/paddles/PFDs provided by Hardin County Conservation on a first-come/first-served basis.   Everyone will be required to wear a PFD while on the water.

What to bring/wear:  Tennis shoes or hiking boots, and if paddling, shoes you do not mind getting wet, bug spray, water, sun glasses, jacket, and anything else you may need to be comfortable in the woods and/or on the river, plus an adventuresome attitude!

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF canoes/kayaks FOR THE PADDLE IS 12.  Please indicate the number
of boats for you and "friends" when you register.

This event is free, but preregistration is required.  This event is sponsored by Hardin County Conservation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

ONLINE REGISTRATION will be open until openings are filled or Friday September 20th.  

After that date, please contact Mary Hyland at 641-373-6302.  

Click on the link below to register. 

PRESENTER:  Dr. Jim Pease has over 3 decades of experience as a front-line interpreter, professor of interpretation, and writer and consultant on many interpretive and environmental education projects.  He has taught thousands, from youth through senior citizens, in formal and non-formal settings, written dozens of publications for professionals and lay people alike, and communicated by a regular statewide radio program, TV segments, podcasts, and websites.  His experience includes teaching interpretation to undergraduate and graduate students for 24 years, research on impact of interpretive and education strategies, over two decades as an Extension Wildlife Specialist, director of Iowa's NatureMapping and master Conservationist programs, and fifteen years in youth development and natural resources.  He helped design and coordinate Iowa's new Master River Stewards program with Iowa Rivers Revival.  Now retired from Iowa State University, he consults on a variety of projects, leads international trips, and can be heard monthly on Iowa Public Radio's "Talk of Iowa" program.

Find more information about Hardin County Conservation and Calkins Nature Center, at: http://hardincountyconservation.com   

Find more information about the Iowa River Greenbelt Water Trail at: http://www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/uploads/riverprograms/Iowa%20River,%20Hamilton%20Co.pdf?amp;tabid=868 

Trying SUP was popular  at the 2012 Expo.

The Expo has grown in popularity each year, and organizers expect this free event to experience its biggest year ever, providing thousands of children with their first opportunity to try SUP, canoeing or kayaking. 

Besides paddling, kids will be able to try their hand at activities involving fishing, fossils, live animals, camping skills, wildlife, and conservation.  All valuable skills for future "water-trailers."

Mike Delaney needs volunteers to help in the Water Sport Village again this year. Contact Mike at mikedelaney1@mac.com. 

Iowa DNR River Programs Outreach Coordinator Todd Robertson could use a few (2 or 3) volunteers to help put lifejackets on kids and to help them get in and out of boats. Contact Todd at 515-979-9538 or email todd.robertson@dnr.iowa.gov. 

More info at: http//www.iowadnr.gov/InsideDNR/SocialMediaPressRoom/IowaOutdoorExpo.aspx    

Photo by Todd Robertson
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The Iowa Environmental Council will explore new ways to build momentum for clean water, clean energy, and a healthy environment during its annual conference "At the Tipping Point," to be held October 11, 2012, starting at 8:30 at Drake University's Olmsted Center in Des Moines.  National freshwater restoration expert Joe Whitworth leads a day of speakers and networking focused on making measurable progress for clean water in Iowa as well as building on the state's national leadership in wind energy by expanding use of solar energy.

A native Midwesterner, Whitworth is president of The Freshwater Trust, a Portland, Oregon based organization that is working to redefine the way we think about protecting water and soil to achieve greater results, faster.  The organization has developed strategies for water quality credit trading programs as well as an innovative, patented online platform to manage the funding, permitting, and implementation of restoration projects.

The Council's conference is known for bringing together a unique cross section of Iowa's environmental community for a great networking experience.  Many Iowa Environmental Council member organizations and others share ideas about other ways Iowans are making progress.  Discounted registration is available to Council members and students, and everyone can save with early bird registration that continues through Labor Day.

For more info, visit www.iaenvironment.org or call 515-244-1194, extension 210.

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Businesses and public agencies who want to support this campaign can request posters and decals from Iowa DNR by calling Todd Robertson at (515) 979-9538 or sending a request to Todd.Robertson@dnr.iowa.gov. 

Thanks to David Kesler for this report on the 2013 Mussel Blitz:

This year's Mussel Blitz was held August 19-22 on the Wapsipinicon River between Central City and Waubeek.  The "base of operations" was at Wakpicada Park, just south of Central City, where there is a boat ramp and even camping. 

Scott Gritters of the Iowa DNR coordinated people from the Iowa DNR, Army Corps of Engineers, Minnesota DNR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Linn County Conservation Board, and a motley crew of volunteers from the region in an effort he described as, "herding cats."  The objective of the Mussel Blitz was to quantitatively sample the mussel fauna (using quadrat sampling and timed searches), looking especially for the Higgins eye pearlymussel (Lampsilis higginsii), a federally endangered species. 

In 2002 the Wapsipinicon River was one of 10 sites chosen for introduction of Higgins-eye mussels.  Besides being part of this mussel's native distribution, the "Wapsi" was free of zebra mussels, whose devastating effects were being seen in the Mississippi River.  (Note: If your equipment has been in the Mississippi or other area with zebra mussels, you must completely decontaminate your things with bleach!)  Between 2002 and 2008 juvenile Higgins eye larvae were stocked in the "Wapsi" from host fish releases.

So what did this year's Mussel Blitz find on the Wapsi and how are the Higgins eye mussels doing?  Gritters and his crew found almost 2000 mussels from 11 species. Of these, there were 14 Higgins eyes!  More importantly, the finding of three very young Higgins eyes (albeit freshly dead) shows reproduction by this endangered species in the Wapsi.  It looks like, after a decade from its inception, the program to save the Higgins eye pearlymussel from extinction may be working. 

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Leland Searles shared this photo, titled "The Verdant Turkey River."

Starting north and west of Elkader, the Turkey flows southeast to the Mississippi through geologically and historically interesting areas.

Downstream from Elkader is the Motor Mill, constructed from local limestones that lie near the surface. 

The river flows through the "driftless" area of Iowa, meaning that there is little to no glacial deposit on the bedrock here. The soils that formed came from a mix of river-deposited sands and silts, the slow weathering of the bedrock, and windborne loess. The Turkey flows through a narrow valley with some cropland on its narrow terraces, woods on the bluffs, and fossil-bearing limestone outcrops. 

There are plans to develop stretches of the river for recreational activities, in part to boost the area's economy and in part to preserve the unique natural history along its length. Canoeing and kayaking currently take place on a river that has some mildly exciting riffles and opportunities to view birds and other wildlife.   

Leland M. Searles, Consultant and Photographer, Leeward Solutions LLC, offers services including Wetlands Delineation (USACE Certified), Native & Invasive Plant Evaluation, Photography (Commissions, Freelance), Ecosystem Management, Air Quality Policy & Regulation.

Find info about the Turkey River WT at http://turkeyriver.org/ 

Kip Hoffman found and photographed these beautiful flowers on a sandbar on the Mississippi River near Dubuque.  Dave Hillman pursued identification through Jim Pease, who secured this confirmation by Deb Lewis at the ISU herbarium: "It's Hibiscus laevis, which I learned as H. militaris -- a striking name to go with the common name of halberdleaf rosemallow.

The leaves of the similar flower H. moscheutos are seldom lobed, and if they are, the lobes are short."

Read more about Rose Mallow at: http://ionxchange.com/products/HIBISCUS-MILITARIS-%7C-Rose-Mallow.html