Menu

Knox County Farm Bureau gave its members the opportunity to float down one of Ohio’s Scenic Rivers on July 11.

Bob Gable, Knox County Farm Bureau’s ag ecology chair, lead the canoe float down the Kokosing River. The purpose of the float was to show the high quality of the river and how local farmers keep it clean. In order to be deemed one of "Ohio’s Scenic Rivers," the river must be of high quality with above average biological diversity.

Gable, who also works for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, held a fish shocking demonstration. This is a method of putting a controlled current into the water to shock the fish. This helps in sampling the diverse number of fish in the river. He also talked to the members about macroinvertebrate sampling which also gives a good indication of the biological diversity.

The most important lesson learned on the float is that in most cases, farmers are not bad for the water. In fact, Gable said, most of Ohio’s Scenic Rivers are in agricultural watersheds.

"This shows farmers are taking care of the water. We don’t see degradation of the watersheds until they are urbanized," said Gable. "That fact helps us to show farmers that this is the time to protect the rural character of Knox County and its natural resources."