Rouge Rundown – July 8, 2026: Daylighted Rouge | Speaker Series | Rain Garden Class & More

Join us for our biennial fundraiser Heart of the Rouge: Our Ruby Anniversary — celebrating 40 years of protecting and restoring your hometown River.

When: Thursday, August 13th; 6pm-9pm
Where: Sorensen Rec Area of Rouge Park
Tickets: $100 member | $140 nonmember

Jack Nissen, host of FOX 2 Detroit’s Brother Nature, will be on hand to guide you through the evening as our emcee!

Spend an evening in Rouge Park with interactive river experiences, great food, drink tickets, live music, and a silent auction featuring local art and unforgettable experiences.

Let’s honor the past and invest in a brighter future for the Rouge.

In partnership with the City of Dearborn, the Rain Gardens 101 workshop on Saturday, July 18th, will provide an intro for all who are interested in learning more about rain gardens. 

The free, one-hour presentation will take place at the Henry Ford Centennial Library from 11 AM – 12 PM. No need to bring anything with you, except note-taking supplies if interested.

Spend a Saturday morning out in the garden to celebrate ladies!

On July 25th from 9 AM – 12 PM, volunteers will start the day sprucing up the beautiful, well-established gardens then make bouquets from your favorite flowers in our gardens to take home with you! Enjoy some fresh morning air, great conversation, and learn about native plants!

Everyone is welcome. Snacks and tools will be provided. 

On June 15, the FOTR Fish Team surveyed the fish community in the newly daylighted Rouge River at Northville Downs. We caught 176 fish, 11 species. Two of the species are intolerant to pollution –  rainbow darter and mottled sculpin.   Other species included largemouth bass, bluegill, creek chub, white sucker, johnny darter, brook stickleback, blacknose dace and bluntnose and fathead minnow.  The number of fish, diversity of species, and presence of sensitive fish are all good indications that “daylighting” this stretch of stream is benefitting the fish community as they will no longer have to make their way in the dark.

Join Friends of the Rouge and the Inkster Task Force for the 3rd annual Inkster Summer Magic paddle trip and health fair. On August 8th, launch from Venoy Dorsey Park in Westland and paddle downstream to Colonial Park in Inkster. Registration is free for the first 20 participants compliments of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks, use the button below to sign up now!

There will be a health fair at Colonial Park with free resources available from 9am-1pm, no registration is required to attend the health fair.

Thank you to all the bug hunters for making the 2026 Spring Bug Hunt such a success! With your help, we were able to sample 49 sites overall with 98 participants. The average Stream Quality Index (SQI) for sites was FAIR (29). Seventeen sites rated GOOD, twenty-six sites rated FAIR, and six sites rated POOR. Taxa averaged 12 families per site, and 2 Ephemeroptera/Plecoptera/Tricoptera per site.

Looking to join us for the next one? The 2026 Fall Bug Hunt will take place on Saturday, October 10th. Registration will open soon! 

Funding for the event was provided by the communities of Beverly Hills, Farmington, Livonia, Northville Township, Novi, Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Southfield, Troy, Birmingham, Washtenaw County Water Resources, EGLE and the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and the Alliance of Rouge Communities.

Your monitoring team partnered with a Dearborn-based community organization, MetroSwaps, to host a walk at Ford Field Park in Dearborn on June 11th.  Attendees learned about the Rouge River, native and invasive plants found along the trail, and of course the frogs and one toad that live in the watershed. FOTR appreciates the support and partnership with MetroSwaps and the Dearborn community.

Check back next spring for future Frog & Toad Walks!