Rouge Rundown - June 28, 2023 - News that's Fishy | Water Trail Action | Your River Address and More!
June 28, 2023 ROUGE RUNDOWN
Thank You for Celebrating with Friends!
Thank you to each of the Volunteers, Members, and Friends who celebrated with Friends last Thursday!
It was a wonderful evening gathering to recognize the amazing work you make possible and the 10+ year Members, and the Best Friend of the Rouge awardees: Olivia Williams, “The PARC Champions”, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, Motor City Canoe Rental, Laura Wagner, and Erma Leaphart!
Connect the Lower Rouge Water Trail!
You can help clean and open safe routes on the Lower Rouge River Water Trail in your community! Join Friends for a Logjam Workday on July 8 to be a part of connecting 29 miles of the Lower Rouge for accessible paddling and recreation.
You are invited to join the Lower Rouge Habitat Restoration project with a special volunteer experience: protect newly planted sapling trees with lightweight weed mats. This is the perfect event for you and a loved one, or a team of coworkers/clubmates/extended family. Spend a wonderful day along the banks of your beautiful Rouge River and make an impact for its better future and yours.
Friends of the Rouge and Outdoor Afro Upcoming Paddle Trip!
Join Friends of the Rouge and Outdoor Afro for an unforgettable paddle trip on the Rouge River! The trip will be on Saturday, July 15, 2023 from 9:00am – 12pm. The Lower Rouge River Water Trail launch location will be announced in the weeks before the paddle trip. Motor City Canoe and Kayak will provide livery and shuttle services. If you are bringing your own boat, there is a $10 shuttle fee. It is $40 to rent a kayak or canoe.
Thank you Friends: LaNita’s Pocket Park Rain Garden Planting a Success!
Thanks to the amazing Friends who planted LaNita’s Pocket Park rain garden on June 17th! Close to 1,800 square feet of rain garden is now planted with burgeoning bushes and friendly ferns. The more natural style of this rain garden will be a beautiful contrast to the pollinator garden previously planted on site with its clear plant delineations.
This past Saturday Friends took a memorable trip down the Rouge in celebration of National Canoe Day! Paddlers explored the Lower Rouge Water Trail and many participants tried paddling for the first time on the Ford Field Pond! Thank you to all of the incredible Friends and partners who made this special event a success! Join the next paddle trip.
Friends of the Rouge will survey road crossings along the Lower Branch of the Rouge River to determine if they limit fish passage and natural river flow.
This project—the Lower Rouge River Culvert Inventory to Improve Fish Passage—is the first step to identify potential perched and improperly sized culverts. These problematic culverts will then be prioritized for future projects & funding to help fish “get to the other side”.
Road crossing surveys will follow Great Lakes Road Stream Crossing Inventory protocol. This project will have the additional benefit of filling a large data gap in southeast Michigan.
Friends of the Rouge welcomes Jacqueline Kristofik to the team as one of the new Restoration Assistants! Jacqueline is a Michigan native and University of Michigan graduate with her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science.
Jacqueline worked in various labs during college and supported research in plant-animal interaction before leading her own research in aquatic microbiology. Jacqueline most recently worked in native ecosystem restoration, where she worked to restore the health of Michigan native wildlife. She believes in everyone using their unique skills and passions to serve their own community. Welcome Jacqueline!
Watershed Wanderings – Your River Address – by Colleen Sturm
Across the watershed, a network of small streams, creeks and shallow drains crisscross neighborhoods, schoolyards, parks and commercial centers. These small waterways feed groundwater, rain run-off and snowmelt into the main river. Often identified by a streetside sign, each stream, creek and drain may be thought of as the surrounding community’s river address – a.k.a., the community’s most important water asset.
When functioning as intended by nature, these tributary waterways rise and fall with the rhythm of the seasons. They collect clean, fresh water and create a multitude of aquatic habitats by bubbling that water through a winding course of rocks, gravel, sand, mud, aquatic plants and shallow pools. Ideally, the many, and varied, micro-habitats serve as nature’s nurseries for fish, turtles, frogs, toads, dragonflies and more. Ideally, these small tributaries feed the entire river system with clean water that eventually flows into our drinking water systems. And, as the sign says, these most neighborhood waterways are ours to protect.
