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August 29, 1999
A year later, they're still telling river's storyMinnesota River paddlers educate others about the river's conditionBy SARA SYVERSON Journal Staff Writer FORT RIDGLEY -- No phones ringing off the hook, no voice mail to answer, no television set to CNN, it was no average day at the newspaper... just miles and miles of river straight ahead for two Mankato journalists set out on a 330-mile canoe trip last year. They went to see what life on the river was really like. A little over one year later, these two men are using their experience to educate others about the river and the environment. Saturday afternoon Tim Krohn, a Mankato Free Press writer gave a slide show presentation at Fort Ridgely State Park which told the story of his 12 days on the Minnesota River with John Cross, a Free Press photographer. So far, the men have done approximately 35 slide shows of their trip to river and community groups in southern Minnesota, according to Krohn. Krohn has been with the Free Press for 18 years and Cross has been at the newspaper for 24 years. The trip, after two year's preparation, began in Ortonville and ended near St. Paul on Harriet Island. The men wrote daily articles on their experiences on a laptop computer and sent them back home to Mankato via cell phone and rolls of film were picked up daily by someone who met the pair along the river at various points. "I had written so many stories about the river and done environmental articles on it," said Krohn, "I thought the trip would be a good way to show people what the river actually looks like and what changes there are in the river." Krohn said he had read a good deal about river improvements and government programs for river cleanup such as a federal and state program called CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program). Although he lived in the Mankato area where the Minnesota River runs through, he had not yet seen the river from his own perspective. "It's hard to visualize the river until you go down it,. It looks pretty different from one end of the river to the other," said Krohn, "We saw what other communities were doing as far as cleanup projects and river restoration projects." At various points along the river the men took water purity samples using a 60cm-tall tube. The tests measured the amount of soil and other matter suspended in the water. The first day of the men's trip was challenging. "We walked about two miles with the canoe," said Krohn. Branches blocked the river and the men had to portage around obstacles. Other experiences like passing through river rapids, enduring sand chiggers, and trying to sleep near the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport while noisy airplanes passed overhead -- very likely, made the trip a memorable one for the men. The roots of 70-80 year old trees from the floods of 1993 and 1997 and soil erosion were visible along the banks of the river and they also noticed that less land along the river is being used for agriculture than there once was, according to Krohn. As part of the trip, Krohn and Cross, met with city officials, a tribal leader, environmental leaders and activists. "All the people along the way were interested in what we were doing. People wanted to talk to us," said Krohn. When asked whether he (Krohn) would do it again, he said, "It's one of those trips that is fun and rewarding, but it's not a trip I'd do again for a couple years."
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