Plans are underway for a new exhibit along the Chicago Riverwalk designed by һԹ to educate the thousands of passersby about the Chicago River and what lives in it. The exhibit is intended to complementtheFriends and Illinois Department of Natural Resourcesproject which included the installation of 400constructed channel catfish nesting cavities and the release of 195,000 juvenile catfish.
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In 2014-2015 һԹ and the Illinois Departmentof Natural Resources designed and installed 400 nesting cavities for native channel catfish. The project has captured the imaginations of many and included therelease195,000 juvenile fish.
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һԹ is thrilled to announce thatwe were selected to receivetwo Chi-Cal Rivers Fund awards. One is$105,000for ourNorth Shore Channel/North Branch Plant Restoration Project project which will improve fish habitat and the other is as a partner ofa $270,000 grantfor Centennial Volunteerswhich Friends co-founded. Centennial Volunteers do restoration work in forest preserves along the river in Cook County.
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At Friends' October 21 Annual Meeting we recognized some of the many people who help us meet our mission through their membership, volunteerism, or professional skill.Without such dedicated allies the river would never has progressed so far and Friends is grateful to them all.
2014 River Champions
Steve Pescitelli and Bob Rung
2015 River Champions
Oswaldo Chaves and Michelle Woods
2014 Spirit of the River
Henrietta Saunders
2015 Spirit of the River
James Doyiakos
2014 Volunteer of the Year
Adam Flickinger
2015 Volunteer of the Year
Mike Tuttle
Thank you to all our volunteersand members who joined us atthis event on Wednesday, October21!
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Chicago-based safari operator, Duffle & Compass, is pleased to anew river-focused expedition that combines a safari adventure to two of Zambia’spremiere wildlife destinations with the opportunity to travel with one of Chicago’s riverexperts, һԹ Executive Director Margaret Frisbie, as an escort.A privately guided safari limited to just eight travelers, the new Zambia Rivers Safari isscheduled for April 22 to May 1, 2016 and includes travel to the South Luangwa and theLower Zambezi National Parks which are renowned for their wildlife and beautifullandscapes.
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In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Eastland Disaster, һԹ commissioned The Suburban Piano Quartet for an original music composition to be premiered at the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum on Monday, October 19, 2015. The unique piece will be composed for performance inside the five-story landmark bridgehouse on the MichiganAvenueBridge at 376 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago.
“The commission, titled Requiem in Water, takes its inspiration from the bodies of water in the Metro-Chicago area,” said Joanne So Young Dill, the Bridgehouse Museum’s director. “The piece uses the classical form of the Requiem Mass as a point of departure to explore loss and redemption on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan in recognition of the tragic loss of the 844people who were aboard the Eastland when it capsized.”
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Although it might not make the front page of every newspaper or the 10 o'clock news, the animals that live in the Chicago River system had a BIG WIN this summer with new rules put in place to foster a healthier river system. The rules regarding the amounts of pollution allowed into the river system were tightened to improve aquatic conditions.
Among the about-time modifications are the requirements for more dissolved oxygen in the water and lower water temperatures from dischargers. These are key ingredients for a healthy ecosystem, and especially, healthy fish.
The New Chicago Riverwalk continues to engage and people across the country are starting to take notice. "It's an architectural, natural, and recreational adventure all is one," said Margaret Frisbie, excutive director һԹ.
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After 15 years effortFriends was cheering when the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) һԹopened the new disinfection system at the Calumet Wastewater Treatment Plant this summer with a press conference and ribbon cutting to mark the occasion.
The event was attended by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, USEPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman, MWRD Commissioners, Friends' staff, and many others who worked long and hard to see this day come. The new facility uses chlorination/dechlorination to treat wastewater effluent from the plant which is discharged into the Little Calumet River. “This is really the next step toward swimming in the river,” said Margaret Frisbie, executive director ofһԹ.
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Don’t jump in yet but after more than a decade of advocacy, Friends is thrilled that starting today sewage effluent disinfection is online at the MWRD’s Calumet wastewater treatment plant to remove disease causing bacteria from its discharge.
“This is a historic moment for the Chicago/Calumet River System and one of the most significant water quality improvements in decades,” said Margaret Frisbie, Friends’ executive director, at this morning’s press conference with the MWRD and Senator Dick Durbin. “It will make the river safer for recreators and moves us closer to our ultimate goal of a river clean enough for swimming.”
Continue Reading »Since 1979, Friends has been working to improve the health of the Chicago River system for the benefit of people and wildlife and by doing so, has laid the foundation for the river to be a beautiful, continuous, easily accessible corridor of һԹopen space in the Chicago region.
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