Highlights and News

The Year of the Smallmouth Bass by Pat Kirmse

A warm March rain raised the temperature of the Fox River to 47 degrees and the 15″ Smallmouth Bass started to stir. She was 5 years old and had survived another Illinois winter, the coldest and snowiest in her life. Fortunately there were no heavy midwinter rains that would have blown her out of her … Read more

Victory for the Watershed as Lawsuit Is Dropped!

Contacts: Jan Strasma, Citizens Against the Sprawlway 630-863-6669 Dave Jakubiak, Environmental Law & Policy Center 312-795-3713 Gary Swick, Friends of the Fox River 815-370-0026 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WITHDRAWS PRAIRIE PARKWAY APPROVAL, ENDING FEDERAL FUNDING FOR THE HIGHWAY PROJECT The federal government has rescinded its approval of the proposed Prairie Parkway which would connect I-80 and I-88 in Kane, … Read more

Cleaning the Fox River

Cheerleaders Meet the Fox River

Mud, garbage, tires, hot and dirty—not what you usually think of when you think of High School Cheerleaders. On Sunday, July 29th at Fox River Shores Forest Preserve in Carpentersville, 30 Dundee Crown Varsity and Junior Varsity cheerleaders used canoes and went on foot to collect the trash in about 3 hours on a very warm … Read more

Prairie Parkway Project Information

Various routing alternatives for the proposed Prairie Parkway connecting I-88 and I-80 are currently under consideration by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). The Friends of the Fox River has a vested interest in evaluating the potential impact that construction of such a freeway may have on the streams in the Fox watershed on or … Read more

Why Volunteering Monitoring Data Matters

By Cindy Skrukrud Clean Water Advocate, Sierra Club (Illinois Chapter) The Fox River Study Group, a multi-stakeholder group (Friends of the Fox River, Sierra Club, Fox River (Elgin area) and Fox Metro (Aurora area) water reclamation districts, Kane County, Fox River towns, Fox River Ecosystem Partnership, Illinois EPA) has engaged the Illinois State Water Survey … Read more

Water Quality Issues of the Fox River

From IL Water Quality Report 2002 Stream Segment ID and Endpoints Potential Causes of Impairments Potential Sources of Impairment D-35, IL/WI state line to Grass Lake PCBs Unknown D-23, Pistakee Lake to Stratton Dam PCBs-H Unknown DT-22, Stratton Dam to Tower Lake Drain mouth PCBs-H, nutrients-S, inorganic nitrogen-S, siltation-S, flow alteration-S, habitat alteration (other than … Read more

May 2010

For Immediate Release Event: Monitor with your Mother Sunday 5/9, 10am – 2pm Fox River Shores Forest Preserve Carpentersville For more information, contact Gary Swick 815 370 0026 Mothers Day is next Sunday; Forget the Flowers, Bag the Brunch, & Can the Candy Join us to try something different on Mothers Day. The 11th annual … Read more

March 31, 2010

For Immediate Release The Friends of the Fox River announce: Fox Rescue River Clean-Up Call for Volunteers! Saturday, April 17th 2010 9:00 – 1:00 For the first time in the history of the organization, the Friends of the Fox River are teaming up with folks in the northern-most section of the watershed and conducting a … Read more