Cedar Creek Canoe Day
“That was so much fun!” Even rain setting in couldn’t dampen the spirits of participants of the 2016 Cedar Creek Canoe Day. Complete with all the canoeing mishaps, nearly 100 people enjoyed exploring one of DeKalb County’s most beautiful natural resources.
The DeKalb Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) began looking into the idea of a canoe trail in the fall of 2012. This exciting project would combine conservation and recreation to create a canoe trail on Cedar Creek through the City of Auburn. The conservation would come from identifying areas along the route that required stream bank stabilization and working with the County Surveyor to complete the work. The recreation would result from the canoeing opportunity created. A bonus would be the education and enjoyment that come from connecting people with nature. A consultant was hired to assist with researching such a project and by January of 2015 we had an initial plan for the project.
Since that time the DeKalb SWCD has gathered a group of significant stakeholders, formed a steering committee for the project, gained political and financial support from the County Commissioners, completed the acquisition/donation of 4 acres of property to be developed into the north access site, assisted the County in submitting an IDNR LARE grant for a feasibility study, and most importantly…….. successfully hosted Cedar Creek Canoe Day on June 4, 2016!
The project is far from finished but it is just another example of how the DeKalb SWCD continues to provide “Leadership in Conservation” for our community.