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This story first appeared in HER Stories 2025, an annual special section that features Eastern Iowa women who have experienced powerful paths of achievement for themselves, their families and their communities.

Mary Beth Stevenson was recently on the Sac and Fox Trail along the Cedar River when she moved a toad to the side of the trail so it wouldn’t get hit by a bicycle.

This lifelong fascination with amphibians and care for wildlife ultimately led to Stevenson’s current job of restoring and preserving wetlands in the Cedar Rapids area.

“I was always a kid who was riding their bike to their local stream and catching crayfish and catching frogs,” said Stevenson, the watersheds and source wat

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