Steve Moser grew up along the canal banks in Kewanee where he fished the Hennepin with his grandfather. He retired Thursday after 28 years as superintendent of the Hennepin Canal State Park.

“I was a fan of it from being a little guy on up,” said Moser, 60, now of Sterling. “I was lucky enough to get the [superintendent] position, and I fell in love with it even more … This is the second-best job I could have had [behind playing third base for the St. Louis Cardinals.]”

When he took the job, the Army Corps of Engineers recently had abandoned the commercially useless canal, and Illinois Department of Natural Resources had put little money into its upkeep.

The eastern 30-or-so miles were dry, with trees sprouting up from the canal bed. Levees were washed out and no one had the money to repair them.

“It wasn’t so much used as it was abused,” Moser said. But, “from small things come big things.”

Thanks largely to Moser’s advocacy, collaboration with area stakeholders, governments at all levels, and plenty of donations and volunteers, IDNR was able to repair the levees a few miles at a time, eventually refilling the canal and stocking it with fish.

“We were fortunate to be able to do it right,” Moser said.

Gary Wagle, 70, president and founder of the nonprofit Friends of the Hennepin Canal, sings Moser’s praises.

“There’s just all kinds of good things to say about the guy. … Because of him, we got to know the canal much, much better.”

Moser won’t take credit for transforming the waterway into a park – “I was in the right place at the right time for a lot of things,” he said.

Joanne Gernant, treasurer of the Friends, has been riding horseback along the canal’s towpath for 70 years. She calls the state park “my peacemaker.”

“Steve really wants to please all disciplines of recreation,” Gernant said. “I thought he was one of the gentlest, kindest people I knew. … The more I knew him, the more respect I had for him.”

Since 2003, Moser and his staff have had to work harder to maintain the park, plus thousands of acres of nearby wildlife preserves. In 6 years, IDNR has cut staff from a high of 22 to 13 this year, and no one has been announced to replace him, Moser said.

“I realize tough times call for tough decisions … but we’re spread really thin,” Moser said. “You can’t take a staff of 22 and cut it almost in half and expect to get the same quality of work.”

Among the projects Moser is most proud of are the levee repairs and paving towpaths, which were originally designed for animals to pull barges, turning them into bike trails.

He was at the visitor’s center in Sheffield when the Rock River Development Authority’s Rock Falls chapter asked what it could do to help restore the canal. That was 1988, and it marked the start of the trail initiative. To date, IDNR has finished 91 of the canal’s 105 miles.

“It’s just grown and grown to the point where it’s a part of the community, and that’s been rewarding.”

Help Moser
 celebrate

A retirement party has been planned for Steve Moser, who spent 28 years as superintendent of the Hennepin Canal State Park and largely oversaw its transformation from an abandoned shipping route to a popular bicycle, snowmobile and shipping path.

The party is from 4 to 7 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Latin American Social Club, 2708 W. Lincolnway, in Sterling.

SHEFFIELD, Illinois – A 100-year-old historical site could be a source of new money for the Quad Cities. Friends of the Hennepin Canal envision boats being able to transport tourists up and down a 50 mile stretch of the canal between Geneseo and Rock Falls. There are three locks along this section that need repair but Cathy Foes, member of the Friends of the Hennepin Canal, said they are 95% in tact. “An estimate we’ve been given, just a pie in the sky, $300,000. So you’re only talking three canals. It’s only $900,000.”

The Friends hope to attract fishing boaters and canoers to the canal as well as having RV Boats. These RV Boats, which would be purchased by an entrepreneur or community, will be about seven feet tall and wide and 30 feet long. This size boat will fit through the tunnels which are 12 feet in diameter. “Europe in the 80s spent a lot of money restoring their canals,” explains Foes. “It’s been an economic boom for them. It could be an economic boom for our community.”

The Hennepin Canal was to be a 400 mile shortcut to the Mississippi River. It was used to transport salt but never was used to its fullest commercial potential. With help from public, state and federal funds, this canal could be a money maker. Last year, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich tried to close part of the canal because of budget cuts. The Friends rounded up more than 5000 signatures to stop it.

Copyright © 2009, WQAD-TV

“The citizens here today are truly environmental heroes,” Quinn said.  “I am proud to salute them for the hard work they have done to show us that when it comes to making the Land of Lincoln a cleaner, better place – we can all make a difference.”

The 2008 Illinois Environmental Hero Award recipients include local groups:

Friends of the Hennepin Canal receive 2008 Environmental Hero award from Lt. Gov. Pat Pictured left to right are joanne Gernant, Geneseo, Duke & Bar Mueller, Milan, and Cathy Foes, Annawan.

• Friends of the Hennepin Canal worked to keep the Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park open in Sheffield, Illinois, which is one of several parks that were scheduled to close this year. The park is used everyday by many people to bike, fish and camp. School groups, boy scouts and girl scouts all use the park for recreation and educational purposes as well.

Friends of the Hennepin Canal is among four organizations to receive Volunteer of the Year awards from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

The awards go each year to individuals and organizations for exceptional volunteer service to the department and the people of Illinois.

IDNR officials said the award for the Friends of the Canal was for their work on observing the centennial of the canal last year.

“It appeared not much would be celebrated until a group of volunteers stepped forward,” according to an IDNR news release.

The release gave this account of the work of the Friends of the Canal:

“The Friends of the Hennepin Canal, a passionate group of canal advocates who joined forces some 10 years ago for a common cause, wanted something special to commemorate the centennial year. They have continually carried out being dedicated to preservation, recreation, history and education of the Hennepin Canal. They were already promoting awareness by coordinating monthly hikes along the 96-mile corridor and sponsoring an annual trails activity appreciation day, called Hikemabika, in October.

“But in this special year-long celebration they wanted to encompass as many communities, groups, and activities as possible. The kickoff for this effort was a noon luncheon, sponsored by the Friends, where 30-plus different representatives from communities and interest groups all along the canal were invited and encouraged to celebrate and coordinate the 100-year party.

“Examples of those who participated in the celebration are the communities of Colona and Wyanet who made the Hennepin Canal their main theme for their annual festivities; the city of Rock Falls added to their list of events, an equestrian group that promoted an enduro horse competition (that ended up drawing contestants from three states); a number of volks- marchers set up a series of registered hikes; another community planned a kids fishing tournament; and the Quad City Camera Club sponsored a centennial photo contest (the winning photo is now on display at the Hennepin Canal Visitors Center near Sheffield).

“The list of festivities and enthusiasm began to grow and the anniversary was becoming a season long event. The centennial year would bring something special and unique to the group’s annual October festival. The day centered around a 40-minute play on a floating stage anchored in the marina of the canal’s main complex behind the Visitor’s Center. (The Locktender play, a quality production, is presently being professionally edited and will soon be preserved on a DVD). “Complementing the play was a day full of activities in the main area including a 100K bicycle ride along the canal, a book signing, voyager canoe rides, a youth fishing tournament, self-guided interpretive trail hikes, three types of live music including a glass harpist, some art and photographic displays, old canal artifacts and photos by local historical societies and various antique collectors, and as a finale after the play – cake and ice cream for all. “Over 3,000 people took part in the canal’s birthday party. The Friends of the Hennepin Canal actively promote the site with their monthly hikes, annual special events, and power point programs, but they support the site with a monetary presence as well, donating a digital camera and funding a reprint of 20,000 trail brochures. They recently secured a grant to republish another round of trail friendly brochures. The 100th anniversary celebration never would have happened without the Friends of Hennepin Canal.”

Other organizations receiving awards were the Rock Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau; Kickapoo Mountain Bike Club, Champaign; and Big Island Soil and Water Preservation Association, Milan.  Volunteers were Wendell Stritzel of Marion, Dagmar Rutzen of DesPlaines, Mary Mitchell of Clinton, Wendell Kurr of Freeport and Marjorie Jessen of Rend Lake.