If you have not yet done so, the DOT extended the deadline to comment on the Highway 100 project next to the Rock Island Preserve and through the Cedar River Green Belt until Monday, October 1, 2001.  My suspicion is they extended the deadline because the Chamber of Commerce president here, Ron Corbett, needed more time to try to get letters supporting the project.

Some of the areas of criticism of the project that you might consider are:  (1) noise, light, vibrations, fragmentation, and pollution will harm the Rock Island Preserve.  The freeway is planned to be built within 83 feet of the preserve.  Stand by a freeway near you, within 83 feet, and try to imagine being in a state preserve.  (2) a native prairie and the habitat for the Byssus skipper, a butterfly, would be destroyed.  We need to protect every acre of native prairie that we can because of the species it supports, like the Byssus skipper, and because it is so critically endangered in Iowa.  (3) the cost - $86 million for an 8-mile freeway - compared to other budget priorities.  (4) the lost opportunity to finish the Cedar River green belt - from Ushers Ferry (a living history village) through Chain of Lakes Park to Wickiup Hill (a native American village site) - as a regionally important recreation area without a freeway in the middle.

Other than the environmental review process, the next steps in this process will involve review by the state DNR for a permit to remove the Byssus skippers; a section 404 permit for wetlands; and possible changes in the Cedar Rapids city council; all to be followed by litigation if necessary.  Letters to Governor Vilsack, encouraging him to protect the state preserve and the Byssus skipper, would be helpful.  If you are willing and able to help on one or more of those venues, please let me know.

Rob Hogg
Cedar-Wapsie Group
2750 Otis Road SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
(319) 247-0223 (h)
(319) 362-2137 (w)

>>> Jane Clark <[log in to unmask]> 09/24 1:46 PM >>>
Today.....................
To express your opposition to this project to the Iowa Department of
Transportation (IDOT) . . . . send letters to James Rost, IDOT, 800 Lincoln
Way, Ames, IA 50010 no later than September 24, 2001. In addition to the
environmental and quality of life issues noted above, other areas for
possible comment include the lack of need for the project, especially at the
cost of $86 million, and the additional traffic it would add to Collins
Road. Emails may be sent to Mr. Rost at [log in to unmask]

Rob Hogg is chair of the Cedar-Wapsie Sierra Group.
Posted by Jane Clark

http://DesMoinesRegister.com/news/stories/c5917686/15965758.html 

Save the Rock Island Prairie

               I commend the Iowa Natural Resources Commission for
               asking the Department of Transportation to find another
               route for the proposed Iowa Highway 100 extension west
               of Cedar Rapids because of the threat it poses to the Rock
               Island Prairie and the adjacent native-prairie habitat that
is
               home to the Byssus skipper butterfly ("Resources Unit
               Wants Prairie Spared from Road," Sept. 6).

               The Highway 100 extension would not only harm the
               preserve, it would cut through the heart of the Cedar River
               Greenbelt at a price tag of $86 million, or more than $550
               per man, woman and child in the Cedar Rapids area.

               Given the current budget situation, other priorities could
               use this money.

               The Cedar River Greenbelt is one of our state's greatest
               natural treasures. This should be a selling point to convince
               young people to stay in Iowa or return to the state, not
               ruined with an unneeded, overpriced and destructive
               freeway.

               Rob Hogg,
               2750 Otis Road S.E.
               Cedar Rapids
----------------------------------------------------------------
Rock Island Botanical Preserve and The Cedar River Valley

The Cedar-Wapsie Group of the Sierra Club needs your help to defend the Rock
Island Botanical Preserve and to protect the Cedar River Valley from the
proposed $86 million Highway 100 freeway project. This project, if built,
would locate a freeway immediately adjacent to the Rock Island Botanical
Preserve next to Xavier High School, destroy a native sand prairie that is
home to the threatened Byssus skipper and other prairie species, and cut
through the heart of the Cedar River Greenbelt north of Seminole Valley
Park. On the west side of the river, the project would cross Morgan Creek
and
Silver Creek, endanger the Hanging Bog Preserve, and take the Holland
Orchard and many homes in Wienicke Circle.

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