The Committee to Save Bloody Run was formed (1983?) to fight a proposed re-alignment of U.S. Highway 18 around Marquette and McGregor, Iowa. The Iowa Department of Transportation and the Army Corps of Engineers argued that the project was necessary to hasten the flow of traffic along Highway 18 and to reduce heavy grain truck traffic through the business districts of McGregor and Marquette, Iowa. The Committee and its supporters argued that the potential environmental impact on Bloody Run Creek, the creek valley, wetlands, and endangered species was too great and the project should not go forward. Approval of the project hinged on the granting of a permit by the Iowa Conservation Commission (director, Larry Wilson). Timothy Mason of Marquette appears to have been the Committee's primary spokesman. The necessary permit was granted in 1984 and the road construction project was completed in 1989. Mr. Mason went on to become an advocate for another environmental cause, the preservation of the woodlands of Ferguson Tract near Yellow River Forest in Allamakee County, Iowa from commercial logging interests.
From the description of Records, 1983-1989. (Iowa Sate Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 52848691
