Education

river Santa

The Fox River’s Gift List

By Gary Swick, President  Many years ago I was given a wood carving from an anonymous source. The accompanying note read: “This is the River Spirit. It only speaks to children and a few select adults. You are one of those.“ So I was sitting by the Fox River wondering what it has on its … Read more

Meet Your Neighbors: Season of the Witch

By Jack MacRae Witch Hazel was one of my least favorite Looney Toons characters.  She wasn’t a deep thinker like Foghorn Leghorn or a slapstick genius like Yosemite Sam.  But I do like her namesake shrub.  Witch Hazel was named after an attractive tree native to our understory of our wooded lands.  Blooming during the fall, this … Read more

St. Charles WWTP discharge

How Does the River Flow?

From time to time Friends of the Fox River receives questions thru our website or Facebook page about the river, pollution and other watershed related issues. Here’s a question we received that FOFR  Director Art Malm researched and answers. J. Faust asks: Do you have an estimate of the volume the many water reclamation districts … Read more

Mill Creek watershed map

Mill Creek Watershed

By Holly Hudson, Senior Aquatic Biologist, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning The 31 square mile Mill Creek watershed includes portions of four municipalities (Batavia, Campton Hills, Geneva, and St. Charles) and five townships (Batavia, Blackberry, Campton, Geneva, and St. Charles. The primary land uses in the watershed are agriculture (30%), residential (26%), and open space … Read more

fall leaves

The Seasons of the Fox River

By Gary Swick Personally, I love living in a region that has distinct seasons. Walking ankle to waist deep in a stream on a hot summer day is always a refreshing experience, and something my children always loved. On a calm fall day, gliding in a kayak or canoe on the Fox River is incredibly … Read more

Meet Your Neighbors: Nighthawks

By Jack MacRae The nighthawks are dining.  They appear at dusk in our October skies, swooping, darting and snatching bugs in their big mouths.  As neotropical migrants, nighthawks are on their way to Argentina where they’ll hang with the gauchos for the winter. Common nighthawks are slim, medium sized birds with big black eyes, long wings and short legs.  Their … Read more

What Will It Look Like?

By Art Malm, FOTFR Board Member Maybe the first question asked by almost anyone considering dam removal is “what will it look like?”. There aren’t many people left in the Fox Valley who remember what the Fox looked like before the dams were built. Doubtful their grandparents did either. The best way to know what … Read more

students in the stream

What is Education For? Citizen Empowerment

By Gary Swick It’s back-to-school season for Friends of the Fox River (FOFR) and our team of educators is geared up to teach more than two thousand students how to collect water quality data in their schools’ local streams. Our “Watershed Watchdogs” education program is composed of lessons in traditional topics like local geography, natural … Read more

Northern-Redbelly-Snake-by-Digby-Dalton

Meet Your Neighbors: Cute Baby Snakes

By Jack MacRae 20th century scientific research into Kindchenschema showed that humans consider baby animals as inherently cute. It has something to do with the size and proportion of their facial features. I think this idea is especially valid with new born northern red belly snakes. I mean, OMG, they’re totes adorbs.  When they emerge from … Read more