In the middle of the Friends of the Fox River’s (FOTFR) mission statement is “connecting people to nature.” Because FOTFR is in the business of building a watershed community of caretakers, the foundation of any Friends group is to develop those supporters/caretakers. Consequently, FOTFR invests in educational experiences to nurture connections between members of the … Read more
For thousands of years, humans have been able to live sustainably without technological aids. To do this required an intimate understanding of the local natural systems, probably much trial and error, and the passage of information from one generation to the next. Reverence and gratitude for the resources provided, the strong incentive to find food … Read more
Megaloptera, Trichoptera, Plecoptera… unless you’re a fly fisher, ecologist, or student who has taken part in our stream field experience, these words may sound like a foreign language. In fact, these are the Greek-based scientific names given to groups of aquatic macroinvertebrates. And if that made things even more confusing, aquatic macroinvertebrates are small, but … Read more
With apologies to Norman McClean and his A River Runs Through It, my column this month is going to be an autobiographical story consisting of several vignettes taken from my life experiences that illustrate what a critical role the Fox River has played in many aspects of my life over the years. I was inspired … Read more
The State of the Fox River 2025 is an annual presentation delivered in January to the public by Friends of the Fox River. It reflects the past year’s impactful activities, celebrates achievements, notifies of challenges, and guides actions to consider for the year ahead. For this article, it is presented as a list of significant … Read more
The Fox has been released and we have seen her early splendor. The fifth Friends of the Fox River Watershed Weekly this month comes at a perfect time for an update on Carpenter Dam, with an early look at the Fox River and public lands restored. It is also time for an urgent appeal. The … Read more
Join us at the next level of Being a Better Friend. Thank you again to all our Friends who offered generous financial support at the end of the year. That has given us some great momentum going into 2025. We intend to maintain all of our services and programming with plans to continue to grow. … Read more
The winter solstice marks a turning point from darker times into more light. For many, it is a time to reflect upon the past and move away from negative situations into a future of growth. This year on the solstice, I took a stroll at the Fox River location of the former Carpenter Dam which … Read more
For my column this month, I decided to look back on all the amazing things that I saw and photographed over the course of the last calendar year. The year presented me with a few unique opportunities including checking four items off my personal bucket list: 1) Photographing a total solar eclipse (in April), 2) … Read more
Every year brings Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR) challenges, surprises, and new opportunities to fulfill our mission. Bringing New Life Coming onto the Board of Directors was Cynthia Kanner. Cynthia was previously a FOTFR educator. Currently, she is serving as the first Executive Director of the Prairie State Conservation Coalition. She has already brought new … Read more
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