Volunteers removed trash, planted native plants, pulled invasive plants in an effort to improve the Rouge River on Saturday, June 5th.

Thanks to the work of thousands of volunteers the Rouge River flows a little cleaner today.  This past Saturday thousands of volunteers converged on the banks of the Rouge River to clean up trash, restore stream banks with native vegetation, remove non-native invasive plants from the river's floodplain and learn how their actions impact the health of the Rouge River.  

This annual river clean up event, known as Rouge Rescue, is coordinated by Friends of the Rouge, a local non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration and stewardship of the Rouge River.  Rouge Rescue brings people of all ages together from across the 47 communities in the Rouge River Watershed to work toward a common goal of improving the Rouge River for generations to come. 

"Everyone seemed to have a great time and accomplished a lot of work in spite of the swarms of hungry mosquitoes reported at all 36 work sites on Saturday" says Cyndi Ross the River Restoration Program Manager for the Friends of the Rouge.  "I can't thank everyone enough.  It is great to see so many people come out to care for our Rouge River."

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