Public Meeting This Saturday
Your input is needed! Join Wayne County Parks and the Alliance of Rouge Communities for a public input event. Learn about potential habitat improvements to Inkster park and how the public will benefit. The focus of the Inkster Park Design project is to use the park areas to connect key neighborhoods and communities with the parks and the habitat being restored there.
When: Saturday, November 8 at 10 AM
Where: Inkster Recreation Center
Become a Master Rain Gardener – Live Online!
Design your own rain garden step-by-step during class. Become the neighborhood expert!
Protect your home against flooding & help birds, & butterflies with a RAIN garden! You will learn *everything* you need to know to create your own rain garden. That includes lessons learned from more than 2,000 rain gardens built by homeowners just like you! Learn what works and what doesn’t. Ask questions in our live class! Visit a rain garden in person! Neighborhood virtual breakout rooms and Facebook group for discussion/homework. Earn your certification – including a t-shirt and sign – by building your own rain garden or adopting a public rain garden.
LOCATION: LIVE VIRTUAL Classroom with In-Person Tours
DATES: Five Thursdays, Feb 26, March 5, 12, 19, 26, 2026.
TIME: 10am – Noon. Optional office hours 9-9:45am.
2025 Fish Monitoring Complete
Your fish team completed sampling at 20 sites, selected based on delisting criteria, habitat restoration project sites, round goby migration, and locating the endangered redside dace. A total of 3,859 fish were captured over the course of the season. The most commonly captured fish were round goby (763), creek chub (481), and common shiner (449); the least commonly captured fish were black crappie, channel catfish, golden redhorse, and yellow bullhead. Most of the sites were dominated by tolerant species, and only a few intolerant species were found. This year, we began “Fish Friday” social media posts to garner interest and support for the fish that live in your River.
Baby Mussel a Sign of Hope
FOTR’s monitoring team periodically samples for “bugs” around Fordson Island ever since we helped to remove 21 abandoned boats in 2010. We have not been there since 2018 so we were happy to get out this fall.
Our sampling brought up a tiny “clam” that we suspected was a rare freshwater mussel. The photo was shared with freshwater ecologist David Strayer while attending his mussel identification class. He gave us the exciting news that this was indeed a freshwater mussel and identified it as a very young “lilliput” mussel. Lilliputs are small (1 1/2 in. long) as their name suggests but this one was REALLY small (1/2 in. long) because it is not quite one year old.
Lilliput mussels are endangered in Michigan and critically impaired. Finding an endangered mussel species reproducing in the midst of industry is a symbol of hope for the restoration of the Rouge and a testament to all of your hard work to restore the river.
PARC Rain Gardens
Have you seen the rain gardens at PARC? They are looking wonderful thanks to YOU! Throughout this year, 50 fantastic volunteers came out to maintain these rain gardens. Events were held monthly, and volunteers removed weeds, picked up trash, and learned about native plants!
Are you interested in seeing these awesome gardens, learning about native plants and weeds, and making a difference for your Rouge River? Stay tuned for more PARC garden maintenance days next year!
New Rain Garden at Salina Elementary
Friends of the Rouge teamed up with students and teachers at Salina Elementary school to install a beautiful new rain garden on campus. Students learned all about how rain gardens help capture and filter stormwater to keep their river clean, before coming outside to help plant. With the help of the Salina teachers, every student was also able to paint a garden brick that now lines the rain garden’s edge as a cheerful border for their garden. We are excited to watch their personalized, living classroom grow and bloom!
FOTR Apparel
Looking to represent your Friends of the Rouge? Great news! You can now order your own FOTR gear that ships directly to your door. From baseball caps to sweatshirts, you can show that you are a friend to your hometown River. Click the button below to explore the official Friends of the Rouge Merch options today!
Rouge River Supporters
A better River is made possible thanks to these
supporters and in thanks to caring Friends like you
Upcoming Events
Saturday, Nov 8 at 10 AM: Inkster Park Public Input Meeting
Saturday, Jan 24 at 10 AM: Stonefly Search (Registration Coming Soon)
Thursdays from Feb 26 – March 26: Become a Master Rain Gardener
Partner Events
Nov 9, 2 PM
SE Chapter of Michigan Botanical Society: Rouge River Revived
Nov 12
Huron River Watershed Council: State of the Huron
Nov 15, 10 AM – 2 PM
Sidewalk Detroit: Restore the Woods: A Community Stewardship Day
Nov 19, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
EGLE: MiEnviro Portal: What is it and How to use it
Nov 29, 9 AM
Detroit Bird Alliance: Belle Isle Winter Birding
Dec 16, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
EGLE: Submitting Complaints and Reporting Environmental Concerns
Now through Oct 1st, 2026
Western Michigan University: Participatory Science Opportunity PFAS Foam Study on Lakes
Job Opportunities
Friends of the Rouge Development Director
Other Job Opportunities:
Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundation: Great Lakes Program Officer
For other job opportunities please visit:
Great Lakes Email Groups – Great Lakes Commission
Conservation Job Board – Find Conservation & Environmental Jobs
Categories
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News & EventsLearn more about upcoming FOTR events and projects
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NewslettersThe Rouge Rundown is our biweekly newsletter. Click to read past editions.