|
|
Wed., April 13, 2022
FREP Noon Network Noon - 1:30 PM
Location: Via ZOOM
Program: COP26 - What was accomplished? A local perspective
Presenter:
Gary Cuneen of Seven Generations Ahead
|
|
Wed., May 11, 2022
FREP Membership Meeting & Program 1 PM
Location: TBD
Program: Regional Climate Action Plan & Local Communities
Presenters: Edith Makra, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus; Batavia Alderwoman Abby Beck;
and others
|
|
Wed., June 8, 2022
FREP Noon Network Noon to 1:30 PM
Location: TBD
Program: Online Kane County Drainage Mapping
Presenter: Rob Linke
|
|
July 2022 FREP Annual Picnic
We have not set a date or place for this event. If you have a suggestion for a location that shows off our Fox Watershed, please email Becky at info@foxriverecosystem.org
|
|
This week I was an observer for a prescribed or controlled burn at a wetland restoration site. While it was a relatively cold day for a burn, the humidity was low, and we had a steady east-southeast wind – which were the perfect conditions for burning this particular site. The burn went very well with about 70% burn coverage of the wetland area – which for wetland or prairie burns in our region is pretty good. As if on cue, as soon as the contractor’s burn boss said we were done and his crew could wrap it up – western chorus frogs started calling from the wetland despite the chilly weather. It was a sign that spring is coming, and that the frogs didn’t mind the fire at all.
Fire is one of those things that at first glance, or to the untrained eye, appears to be a harmful thing. But it is an essential ecological management tool in the Midwest – one used for millennia by the indigenous people of our land. If used correctly and judiciously, it is very beneficial and not harmful. If you were able to join us for our One Earth Film Fest screening you saw in the film how the native American people used fire as a management tool, not very differently than our land management agencies do today.
We must use the tools in our ecological management toolbox, learn more from our indigenous peoples, and collaborate to better manage the biodiversity in our landscape. And realize that things that at first may seem to many like something bad, can be something good. We just have to discern the good things, and act to keep our watershed and our planet healthy.
Earth Day 2022 is this month. This is the moment to act – to change it all — the business climate, the political climate, and how we take action on climate. Now is the time for the unstoppable courage to act to preserve and protect our health, our families, our livelihoods, and our planet. A green future is a prosperous future. We need to act boldly, innovate broadly, and implement equitably. It’s going to take all of us. All in. Businesses, governments, and citizens — everyone accounted for, and everyone accountable. A partnership for the planet. The Earth Day 2022 Theme is Invest In Our Planet. What Will You Do? (see earthday.org for more information).
Send your ideas for a FREP Earth Day, and tell us, what will you do?
Jeff Mengler
FREP President
|
|
We had great events in March. Our One Earth Film Festival virtual film screening of "Inhabitants" was on March 12th. The 10th Annual Fox River Summit was held March 17th in Burlington, Wisconsin.
Photos below are of Summit Keynote Speaker John Jansen, Senior Geophysicist/ Hydrogeologist at Collier Geophysics; and FREP President Jeff Mengler of Hey and Associates.
Watch for a date for the Fox River Summit 2023 and more collaboration with our Wisconsin Fox Watershed partners.
If you missed seeing "Inhabitants", it is being shown at another virtual film festival April 21st. Check out details on our website's film page HERE.
|
|
We truly appreciate your support and are grateful to all who have sent in their dues for 2021-22. If you aren't on our website's FREP Membership Roll (LINK) we hope you will respond by renewing your membership or joining FREP.
Statements for renewal for 2022-23 will be sent out to current members in June.
Membership can be initiated or renewed online and dues paid via PayPal at:
|
|
Early-bird dues special. If you join FREP starting April 1st,
it will count for your 2022-23 membership.
|
|
It was good to be back in person at the 10th Fox River Summit where Karen Miller presented an update on the Fabulous Fox! Water Trail and shared a table with FREP. The Core Development Team (CDT) of the FF!WT is looking for individuals with knowledge about the flora and fauna of the Fox River in Illinois to write a small section for the Management Plan. Please contact Karen Miller to assist.
|
|
The Team has also been spreading the word at The Conservation Foundation’s A River Flows Through It series and the Friends of the Fox event at the Carpentersville Dam. The CDT is seeking funding to print brochures for the upcoming paddling season. We are also working with our consultant, Map Hero, to develop signage for the 80 access sites along the Fox River.
Consider attending our next monthly virtual meeting on Tues. April 12th at 1:00 PM. Contact Karen for more information.
If you would like more information or learn how to get involved, please contact
|
|
Fox River Subwatershed News |
|
|
|
Indian Creek
Watershed-based Planning
Update for March 31, 2022
|
|
The final pieces of the watershed resource inventory (WRI) are coming together. CMAP staff have completed mapping of Poss Lake’s shoreline assessment data and are in the middle of preparing the various maps and tables that will summarize the stream physical conditions and stormwater detention basin assessments field observations. The project’s modeling consultant, Geosyntec, has completed documentation of the pollutant load estimates from current and future projected land uses in the planning area and is updating their report. An interim final WRI will be submitted to Illinois EPA at the end of March, with a final WRI due by the end of April.
Concurrently underway is the development of the watershed-based action plan which aims to identify potential water quality-based on-the-ground projects, outreach and education activities, and planning and policy recommendations. Included projects thus become eligible for federal grant assistance (e.g., Clean Water Act Section 319h Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program grants). Opportunities for local and state funding and technical assistance (e.g., Illinois EPA’s Green Infrastructure Grant Opportunities program, CMAP’s Local Technical Assistance program) are enhanced as well. Keep an eye on this space and through special announcements for information about participating in the public engagement opportunities and sharing your knowledge and vision for the watershed!
|
|
Above: The Batavia Spur of the Illinois Prairie Path crosses over Indian Creek south of Fermilab.
|
|
Video of our February 9th program
Legislative Update with Jack Darin, Chapter Director, Sierra Club of Illinois
Eliot Clay, State Programs Director, Illinois Environmental Council
Thank you Jack & Eliot!
|
|
Video of our January 12th program
Local Government’s Approach to Meeting the Evolving Stormwater Requirements in the State’s NPDES / MS4 Program
Panelists:
Rob Linke, P.E., Kane County Dept of Environmental & Water Resources;
Scott Kuykendall,LEED AP BD+C, McHenry County Water Resources,
Mark Phipps, P.E. City of Aurora Public Works Department
|
|
November 10, 2021 FREP Presentation by Art Malm:
Freeing Our Fox! - a discussion of dams on the Fox River in Illinois
|
|
|
|
The Fox River Study Group's 2021 Annual Report is now available at this LINK
FRSG announces the securing of $250,000 in funding for the Army Corps of Engineers to complete their Fox River Connectivity and Habitat Section 519 Illinois River Basin Ecosystem Restoration Program Feasibility Study. In November 2021 the FRSG entered into an agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources under which the FRSG will supply the local cost-share funds to complete this important study.
|
|
Chicago Wilderness is Calling All Community Scientists and Conservation Organizations: The City Nature Challenge Is Almost Here
We need your help organizing events to document the wildlife that calls our communities home. Together, we can break last year's amazing record!
The City Nature Challenge, a global biodiversity competition, takes place from April 29 through May 2, 2022. It's a great opportunity for you to engage city residents and visitors in learning about their local nature. Your event also helps researchers and land managers better understand and protect urban nature. CLICK HERE for more information.
|
|
Community Recycling Information |
|
|
|
Becky Hoag, Communications Manager
Fox River Ecosystem Partnership
Please email Becky if you have an email to add to our mailing list or content to add to the next monthly Downstream.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
