King County Sheriff Sue Rahr closed a four-mile stretch of the Cedar River Wednesday because of the danger errant logs and logjams pose to recreational users.

The river is closed between the eastern end of Southeast Jones Road at the Maple Valley Highway and 154th Avenue Southeast – the western end of Jones Road – at the Maple Valley Highway.

The western edge of the river’s closure is near Ron Regis Park in Renton.

The City of Renton is pressing King County to remove logs from the river, following two incidents in which logjams threatened two city bridges, including one this year against the pedestrian bridge at Riverview Park.

Renton is particularly concerned about logs that are chained together, which was done at King County levee-protection and habitat projects on the river. Mayor Denis Law asked that the county remove the chains from any logs in the river.

Deputies in the Sheriff Office’s Marine Unit posted the river starting Wednesday and will enforce the closure. Violating the closure is a criminal misdemeanor.

The county sheriff has the power to close a river to protect public safety but not to order the removal of logs, said Sgt. John Urquhart, a sheriff’s spokesman.

“The best thing we can do is close the river and keep people out of it so they don’t get killed,” he said.

There are four life-threatening logjams in this part of the Cedar River, according to Urquhart. They all appear to be naturally made, he said.

The most dangerous is upriver from the River Bend Mobile Home Park at 17410 S.E. Maple Valley Road, or State Route 169. It’s here that the Cedar changed course during January’s flooding and took down standing trees to create a significant logjam, he said.

Unsuspecting kayakers or other persons floating the river could easily be pulled under the logs by the currents and drown, he said.  Or their floats could get hung-up in the logs, necessitating a hazardous rescue, he added.

River activist Chuck Pillon of May Valley wasn’t surprised that Rahr closed the river. He’s been lobbying for years to remove the logs – including those placed by King County – because of their danger to recreational users.

Two kayakers lost their craft under the logjam near the mobile home park but swam to safety on Jan. 31.

“Exactly as we warned, there were two near drownings,” he said.

Urquhart said the county posted signs, “warning users to exit the river and portage around.”

For the current closure, the county will post at 19 locations, both before the logjams and below them.

“The reason to post after is we want to let potential users know who might stage a car at a take-out spot below the jams,” Urquhart said.

The stretch of river that’s now closed also is the location of the Cedar Rapids levee project, the likely source of chained-together logs that piled up against the two Renton bridges.

Two other areas involve logs spanning the river, and there is a spot where a narrow channel is filled with logs and other debris.

The four-mile section of the river will remain closed at least until flows drop and the King County Water and Land Resources Division and the Sheriff’s Office assesses the situation, Urquhart said.

Additional efforts to respond to the hazardous conditions can then be implemented, he said.