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FREP programs are free and open to the public
Reservations are not required (except appreciated for the picnic)
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Wednesday, July 10, 2024
FREP Annual Picnic & Program; 3 PM
Location: Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve in Kane County,
42W797 Rohrsen Rd, Hampshire, IL 60140
Grilled meats and beverages provided.
Please bring a dish to share (appetizer, salad, side or dessert) and your own table service to cut back on disposables.
RSVP to info@foxriverecosystem.org appreciated to help us with planning.
Friends/guests are welcome.
The 757 acre Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve is situated in the heart of a rapidly developing critical growth band of townships located in central Kane County.
Across the gently rolling terrain are lands that long ago knew prairie flowers and grassland birds. The plow has erased most of the native Illinois landscape here. However, extensive restoration efforts are healing the land back to its former glory. Through the changing seasons, an amazing array of biological diversity can be observed at this site.
More about Muirhead Springs: https://kaneforest.com/location/muirhead-springs
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President's Message from Jeff | |
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I invite you all to join us for our annual FREP picnic on Wednesday July 10, 2024 beginning at 3pm at Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve in Kane County. We will begin by hearing from Kane County Forest Preserve District staff about all the amazing ecological restoration that has occurred at this 757-acre preserve you may not have heard of before. A large part of the preserve is a wetland mitigation bank, which provided a revenue source for the Forest Preserve District to complete the restoration work. Then after hearing about the restoration of this preserve, we’ll have our FREP picnic. All are welcome to join us. Please bring a dish to share and FREP will provide meats, condiments/buns, and beverages. If you have dietary restrictions, please let us know or feel free to bring your own food.
Looking ahead, for our August Noon Network, I will share my experiences working on the clean-up and ecological restoration from a local (though not in our watershed) crude oil spill over the last 14 years. Then in September, we will learn about the open space referenda on many of our ballots in Kane County this fall, from our friends at The Conservation Foundation and the forest preserve district.
In October, join us to learn about the re-introduction of the American bison into some of our local preserves. In November I strongly encourage all to join us in exploring the results of FREP’s visioning work and help us to chart our course for the next decades.
Finally, I want to urge everyone to be diligent in seeking the truth, and the real facts. In the wake of the recent presidential debate, and as I drive by all the save-the-dams signs, I am troubled by all of the “misinformation” bombarding us all. Let us all search for the real facts and reality, and offer a narrative to counter the unfounded stories told by some.
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Jeff Mengler
FREP President
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Wednesday, August 14, 2024
FREP NOON NETWORK; Noon - 1:30 PM
Location: Kane County Government Center Auditorium,
719 S. Batavia Ave, Bldg A Geneva, IL
Program: A Local Crude Oil Spill Clean Up and Restoration – what happens,
what to expect
By: Jeff Mengler, Hey & Associates
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Wednesday, September 11, 2024
FREP NOON NETWORK; Noon - 1:30 PM
Location: TBD
Program: Kane County 2024 Open Space Referenda
By: Brook McDonald, Dan Lobbes, The Conservation Foundation
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FREP Membership --- FY 2024-25 | |
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Annual Membership Dues Statements were mailed out June 24th
to all current members for our FY2024-25 Membership
Thank you to all who have already responded!
We will be creating and updating the 2024-25 Membership Roll
on our website soon HERE
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Membership can be initiated or renewed online and dues paid via PayPal at: FREP Membership Form.
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It's official -- The Fabulous Fox! Water Trail - is now a National Park Service Water Trail
After several years of dedication by the Core Development Team to make this possible, the Fabulous Fox! Water Trail has been designated a new recreational water trail by the National Park Service's National Trail System.
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Hope you are getting out and enjoying the Fabulous Fox! Water Trail this summer | |
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If you would like more information or learn how to get involved, please contact
Karen Ann Miller at: millerkaren@co.kane.il.us.
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Presentation from April 10, 2024
Program: Update on Fox River Fishery and Review of Dam Removal Projects in Northeastern Illinois: Benefits to Fish and River Ecosystems
Presenter: Tristan Wildloe, IDNR
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Presentation from February 14, 2024
Program: Bats of the Fox Valley
Presenter: Tara Hohoff, Project Coordinator, Illinois Bat Conservation Program
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Presentations from January 10, 2024
Program: How to Find Funds for your Watershed Projects
Presenters:
Jeff Edstrom, Team Leader, Environmental Protection Specialist,
Nonpoint Source Unit, Watershed Management Section, Bureau of
Water, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Nancy Williamson, Friends of Hackmatack, Former IDNR Grants Administrator
Michele Zimmerman, Assistant Public Works Director, Village of Algonquin
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Presentation from November 8, 2023
Program: Equity in Nature Access and Environmental Justice
Presenters: Alison Paul and Kyla Muhammad, The Conservation Foundation
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November 10, 2021 FREP Presentation by Art Malm:
Freeing Our Fox! - a discussion of dams on the Fox River in Illinois
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Watershed Management Board (WMB) Request for Proposals FY2024 Project Proposals Due Sept. 13, 2024
The Lake County Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) is accepting request for proposals for Watershed Management Board (WMB)funded projects for Fiscal Year 2025.
Proposal Submission Deadline: 2 p.m. on Friday, September 13, 2024, via the
SMC INFLOW portal.
SMC staff will review all proposal submissions based on the project prioritization criteria and will make recommendations to the WMB for their approval of projects at the November 20, 2024 WMB meeting. Project proposals recommended for funding by the WMB will be forwarded to the December 2024 SMC meeting for final approval and funding appropriations.
New to the INFLOW system? SMC is hosting an INFLOW Instructional Webinar and Q&A on Tuesday, August 27 at 10 a.m. Register now
For more information, visit SMC's website.
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We are excited to announce that The Conservation Foundation's Art of the Fox Initiative is launching round 2! You may recall the initiative first started with a series of scenic paintings by artist Joel Sheesley and the accompanying 'A Fox River Testimony' book. This second iteration will focus on PUBLIC ART that is accessible, celebrates diverse local voices, and continues to connect people to place & nature through art. The goal is to highlight the beauty, importance, and diversity of the Fox River and the communities the river runs through.
For the first public art project, The Conservation Foundation is partnering with the Batavia Public Art Initiative to bring a series of nature-inspired murals to previous window spaces of the Jeffery D. Schielke Government Center, a historic windmill factory. Now, as a government building, the grounds are a community gathering space, a public river walk, and a wildflower sanctuary. This is planned to be the first of many community public art installations along the Fox River.
The Call for Artists has been released! As the intent of this project is to celebrate both community and nature's diversity, we encourage artists who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, queer, trans, non-binary, disabled, parents, are/have been system-impacted, are immigrants, and/or that have been typically underrepresented in our community to apply.
Please share with any local interested artists! Deadline to apply is July 19.
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It's Our Fox River Day is Saturday, September 21, 2024
Looking for groups to host activities to celebrate throughout the watershed LINK | |
Community Recycling Information | | | |
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Becky Hoag, Communications Manager
Fox River Ecosystem Partnership
info@foxriverecosystem.org
Please email Becky if you have an email to add to our mailing list or content to add to the next monthly Downstream.
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