Month: April 2018

checking wq to protect

People + Legislation = Water Quality Protection

by Gary Swick Having access to clean water is a need for all living things. The natural environment provides that through the hydrological cycle. Humans routinely interrupt that process and threaten their own water quality. It is the mission of Friends of the Fox River to protect our watershed through education, restoration, research, and advocacy. … Read more

mucket

The Fox’s Formerly Phenomenal Filtering Freshwater Mussels

By Arthur Malm It has been 100 years since the passage of Illinois’ Sanitary District Act of 1917. That Act allowed voters to petition for a referendum to form a sanitary district and build treatment plants to “conduce to the preservation of the public health, comfort and convenience”(1).  Since that Act’s passage great strides have … Read more

water drop

Finding Harmony with the Fox River

by Gary Swick McHenry County Green Drinks recently invited Friends of the Fox River to talk about paddling the Fox River. We decided that our Executive Director Gary Mechanic would talk about the physical aspects of paddling, and I would offer a spiritual perspective. I’m a spiritual guy, but I’m also a science guy. I … Read more

Meet Your Neighbors: Spring Cuties

By Jack MacRae Ephemeral Flora Spring beauties (claytonia) are true cuties. They’re wee little flowers found in our mature oak and maple woods. Look close and you’ll see five peppermint pink striped petals that form a saucer shape corolla, two soft green sepals that form the calyx, and five stamens with pretty in pink anthers. They … Read more