Rouge Rundown10.30.2024

Bring your Heart to Heart of the Rouge!

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.

Spend a Saturday in the Garden

Get your hands in the dirt! From 9 AM – 12 PM on Saturday, July 25th, 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.

Join the Fun!

Rain Gardens to the Rescue – Final Call!

The application deadline is fast approaching! This free, five-series workshop will dig deeper into the world of rain gardens. Workshop attendees will meet every Saturday in August at the Henry Ford Centennial Library to learn and design their own rain garden.

The classes are open to all! A limited number of applicants from Dearborn will receive a residential-sized or community-scale rain garden, supplies, and installation support for their gardens. Please apply by July 24th at 5 PM. Details of the workshop can be found on the registration page.

Inkster Summer Magic

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. Click the button below to register for the paddle!

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

See you on the River!

FOTR Fish Team Shows off at Fish Conference

June 10-12, the FOTR Fish Team traveled to southwest Ohio to attend the annual North American Native Fishes Association Conference. Bob Muller and Phil Kukulski have been attending this conference for many years and thought it would be a good opportunity for the FOTR Team to see new species of fish and show others how well we catch fish in seine nets. Friday sessions were filled with interesting presentations on fish movement, dams, micro-fishing and more. On Saturday, participants spent the entire day finding fish in rivers throughout the area. It was a treat to see colorful darters we do not see in the Rouge like variegate (pictured at left), tippecanoe, greenside, banded, fantail and bluebreast. Several staff family members were also able to attend and join in the fish fun.

More about NANFA Conference

Fall Native Plant Market: Pre-Sales Now Open!

Pre-order beautiful native plants and more NOW for Fall! Save the date for the pick-up and same day Fall Native Plant Market with local vendors selling a variety of native plants on Saturday October 3 at Keep Growing Detroit Farm. Find what’s right for your yard today!

ORDER DEADLINES:
Order your pick-up native plant flats by Wednesday, September 2.

Shop Now!

Scientific Paper Published about Round Goby

Lian Anderson, current PhD candidate at UM-Ann Arbor, recently published a paper about the movement and impact of Round Goby on the native fish population in the Lower Rouge following the removal of the Wayne Road dam in 2012. Lian was able to use the extensive data set that FOTR has collected, in addition to collecting her own data. Congratulations to Lian for getting this paper published, what an amazing accomplishment!

Read the Paper Here

Foxes hidden in plain sight?

Michigan is home to two fox species: the red fox and the gray fox, which is more elusive and could be more rare than previously thought. The DNR would like your help locating gray foxes, so if you’ve seen them, in the past or recently, the DNR would like to hear from you. According to the DNR, gray foxes can be distinguished from red foxes by their grizzled gray coat, black-tipped tail and reddish coloration on the neck, chest and legs. You can submit your observations using the link below.

Oak Park Garden Tour

This Sunday, July 26, from 1 PM to 5 PM is the Oak Park Garden Tour featuring 29 gardens – ⅔ with native plants and ¼ with rain barrels, 14 organizations offering information and inspiration, and 12 vendors selling native plants, food and beverages, and arts and crafts. Friends of the Rouge will be at Site #1 with the watershed terrain model, interactive games, promos for upcoming programs, and more. This is a free kid-friendly festival Growing Verdant Vibrant Community! Garden Tour curious? Click the buttons below to view the map brochure and read the thoughtful garden descriptions!

Garden Tour Info

Garden Tour Map