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Thursday, April 5, 2012
Greetings
from FREP! |
| Please visit our
Website
for additional information and updates on activities shared in
this newsletter |
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| FREP ACTIVITIES |
| FREP Noon Network |
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 Noon -
1:30 PM
Program:
Norris
Woods Creek Stabilization and
Water Quality Improvement Project
Presenter:
Denis Kania, Natural
Resource Manager,
St. Charles Park District
Location:
Meet first at Pottawatomie Community Center
8 North Avenue, St. Charles, IL 60174
We will then go to Norris Woods Nature Preserve
for a walking tour (hiking shoes recommended!) |
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Above, Norris
Creek erosion
Below, after the stabilization |
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The St. Charles Park District
stabilized the streambanks and streambed of a 1,700 foot
segment of Norris Woods Creek, a tributary of the Fox
River, located in the Norris Woods Nature Preserve in
St. Charles Township, Kane County, Illinois.
The project also included reconfiguration of accumulated
sediment in an on-line pond to facilitate installation
of wetland plant species to slow and filter streamflow;
reconfiguration of a basin located in the lower third of
the project site into a vegetated swale to collect and
filter runoff before discharging to the creek; and
development and installation of two interpretive signs.
This project received EPA 319 Grant funding. |
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| FREP Membership Meeting |
Wednesday,
May 16, 2012
1 PM
Program: FREP’s
Role in Helping MS4 Communities
Address NPDES Phase II Requirements
Presenters:
Matt Bardol, P.E., CFM, CPESC, D.WRE
and Rob Linke, P.E., CFM
Location: Village
of Oakwood Hills Village Hall
Website
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| Future Dates |
FREP Noon Network
Wednesday,
June 20, 2012 Noon - 1:30
PM
Program: Jelkes
Creek Watershed
Location: Meeting
site TBA
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FREP Annual
Picnic & Social Activity
July, 2012
Plans are in the works for
a picnic combined with a Kane County Cougars Game
We will share details
in our next Downstream |
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FREP members, potential members, and the general public
are welcome to attend the FREP Noon Networks and meetings and programs.
Learn more
about activities in the watershed and network with others.
You
are welcome to bring your lunch to the Noon Network
programs. Reservations are not required.
FREP Meeting Minutes can be found
HERE.
Program
Presentations Online: Many past Noon
Network and meeting program presentations can be found in pdf form on the FREP Website
HERE. |
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Proposed Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge **UPDATE** |
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has completed their two-year study
and have recommended that a new wildlife refuge be established
on the Illinois-Wisconsin border! The
Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge will be the closest
refuge to the Chicago, Rockford, and Milwaukee and metro areas,
fitting nicely with the USFWS’s policy to establish refuges
easily accessible to people living in urban areas.
The Fish & Wildlife Service is recommending refuge lands which
would link with and expand on existing lands already protected
by the McHenry County Conservation District (Illinois) and
Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources in order to provide large
blocks of habitat for prairie species like Dickcissel, Henslow's
sparrow and short-eared owl, the savanna-loving red-headed
woodpecker, and wetland-dependent species like pied-billed grebe
and the federally endangered Whooping crane.
We are in full agreement with the USFWS, the landscape of the
Hackmatack area IS a national treasure worth preserving for
future generations! The proposed refuge will bring tourism, jobs
and new economic opportunity to our region as well as providing
new educational and recreational opportunities to the citizens
of both states.
The USFWS is soliciting public input on the
proposed refuge until April 27, 2012
Friends of Hackmatack Website
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Hackmatack Page - visit this page, read
the details, and then provide your comments
Also, send your support via Sierra Club
HERE |
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EPA 319 Grants FFY13 for the Fox Watershed |
FREP is organizing the submission of a
package of grants to EPA 319 Grant Program for
FFY13. FREP has helped coordinate and assist
with grant submissions every two years for many
years.
Since 1995, the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency (IEPA) has awarded over $8M in
Nonpoint Source Pollution (NPS) Control Program
“Section 319” funds to help support more than 55
implementation and planning projects valued at
over $12M within the Fox River watershed.
Individual project costs, including local match,
have ranged from about $20K to nearly $2M. |
An informational 319 Grant Workshop was
presented at our Feburary 15, 2012 FREP Noon
Network
CLICK HERE for a pdf of the Workshop
Presentation. |
| Details about the grant process is in this
brochure:
FREP 319 Grant Guide for FFY 2013 |
If you are interested
in preparing a grant proposal and have
questions, and/or would like to arrange for a
technical assistance consultation, please
contact:
Deanna Douhaluk
Chair, FREP Water Resources Committee
Hey and Associates
ddoohaluk@heyassoc.com (773)
693-9200 x13 8755 W. Higgins Rd., Suite 835,
Chicago, IL 60631 |
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| Grant Timeline |
• Feb 15 – July 25,
2012: Technical assistance available from
FREP Water Resources Committee via phone, e-mail
• March 21, April 18, May
16, June 20 2012: Technical assistance
available from FREP Water Resources Committee
members in person following the FREP Membership
meetings and Noon Networks on these dates
Please request consultation in advance for these
meetings OR arrange for another time
• August 1, 2012:
Final applications due at Illinois EPA by close
of business
• August 3, 2012:
Electronic copy of final applications due to
Chair of FREP Water Resources Committee
• August 3 – 20, 2012:
Review by FREP Water Resources Committee,
comments submitted to Illinois EPA
• Early 2013: Grant
announcement by Illinois EPA
• Mid 2013: Grant
agreements signed with Illinois EPA |
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| Visit our
319 Grant Page for more information and
updates |
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FREP Membership Roll for 2011-12
THANK YOU, ALL! |
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New this year, we are
posting our renewing and new members on the
FREP Membership 2011-12 Roll on our website, and share the
current list with you here.
There are links for those members who
have websites. |
Michael Ander, Friend,
Sleepy Hollow
Paul Anderson, Friend, Geneva
Matt Bardol,
Geosyntec Consultants
Barrington Area Conservation Trust
Barrington Area Council of Governments
Batavia Park District
Campton Historic Agricultural Lands,
Inc./Garfield Farm
Campton Township
Cardno ENTRIX
John Church, Friend, Oswego
City of Elgin
City of Geneva
Linda Cole, Friend, Aurora
The Conservation Foundation
Crystal Lake Park District
DeKalb County Forest Preserve Commission
Deuchler Environmental, Inc.
Dundee Township
Engineering Resource Associates, Inc.
Environmental Defenders of McHenry County
Flint Creek Watershed Partnership
Fox Metro Water Reclamation District, Oswego
Fox River Water Reclamation District, Elgin
Fox Valley Park District, Aurora
Geneva Park District
Barbara Gore, Friend, Aurora
Ted Gray,
Living Waters Consultants
John Frerich, Friend, Batavia
Adam Hansberger,
Alpine Landscape
Hey & Associates
Fred Houdek, Friend, Elburn
Holly Hudson, CMAP
Kane County Development & Community Services
Dept
Kane-DuPage Soil & Water Conservation District
June Keibler, Volunteers for Dundee Township
Open Space |
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Kendall County Forest Preserve District
Kendall County Soil & Water Conservation
District
Lake County Forest Preserve District
Lake County Stormwater Management Commission
Lake in the Hills Sanitary District
Kerry Leigh, Village of Oakwood Hills
Rob Linke, Friend, St. Charles
Julie Long, Friend, St. Charles
McHenry County Conservation District
McHenry County Conservation Foundation
North Cook County Soil & Water Conservation
District
Oswegoland Park District
Jason Pettit, Friend, Aurora
Pizzo & Associates, Ltd.
Larry Rakunus, Friend, St. Charles
River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles
St. Charles Park District
Nancy Schumm, Friend, Lake Barrington
Kent E. Sims, Friend, Bolingbrook
Laura Stuart, Friend, Batavia
Tyler Creek Watershed Coalition
United City of Yorkville
Village of Algonquin
Village of Fox River Grove
Village of Lake Barrington
Village of Millbrook
Village of Oakwood Hills
Village of Oswego
Village of Port Barrington
Village of Sleepy Hollow
Village of South Elgin
West Chicago Park District
Nancy Williamson & Steve Byers, Friends, Village
of Lakewood Hills
Witness Tree Native Landscapes, Inc.
Wills Burke Kelsey Associates
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| Watershed Planning |
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A number of Fox River subwatershed groups are in various stages
of developing, completing, and implementing plans for their
watersheds. FREP continues to be a central source of information
for these activities and will post meeting dates and
information, and news of new planning here in the
Downstream and on our website
HERE. |
The following Watersheds are having regular meetings.
Please check the links for information about meeting dates: |
Tyler Creek Watershed
Webpages
Jelkes Creek Watershed Meeting TBA
Webpages
Woods Creek Watershed Study Stakeholders
Website
Silver & Sleepy Hollow Creeks Watershed
Coalition
Webpage
Spring Creek Watershed
Website |
| EPA Website that
should be helpful to all the planners:
Healthy Watersheds |
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| Other Activities & News of Interest |
| If you have an
activity or event you'd like FREP to share on
our Website or in the Downstream, please email
the information to Becky at:
foxriverinfo@comcast.net |
Friday
April 13, 2012
8:30 AM - 2:30 PM |
Natural Lawn Care
and Sustainable Landscape Workshop
McHenry County Government Administration
Building
Conference Rooms A, B & C, 2200 N.
Seminary Ave., Woodstock, IL
FEE
Registration Flyer
Presented by Lawn to Lake, Chicago
Metropolitan Agency For Planning,
McHenry Co. Water Resources,
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant,
Environmental Defenders of McHenry Co.,
Sierra Club, McHenry Co. Watershed
Roundtable, Silver & Sleepy Hollow
Creeks Watershed Coalition, Northern
Regional Groundwater Protection Planning
Committee |
Saturday
April 21, 2012
11 AM - 4 PM |
Earth Day
Celebration
Prairie Education Center
112 Behan Road, Crystal Lake |
Saturday
April 21, 2012 |
Earth Day and
Annual Fox River Clean Sweep
from Elgin to Aurora &
points in between
Sponsored by Sierra Club Water Sentinels, and many others
Website
More details here next month |
Friday & Saturday
May 4 & 5, 2012 |
Elgin's Green Expo
-- Watershed Wanderings
Website
A program designed to update
legislators, municipal boards and staff,
engineers, developers, and citizens
about the Fox River Watershed, its
threats, and proposed projects to
restore the watershed. |
Sunday
June 10, 2012 |
Annual
Pedal-Paddle through the Prairie
Sponsored by McHenry County Conservation
Foundation
Website |
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Of Special Interest |
From Geneva Park District:
Island Park Bridge
Construction Requires Park Closure in
June The Geneva Park District
received an Illinois Transportation
Enhancement Grant to replace the north
bridge at Island Park. Island Park and
the Fox River Trail will remain open
through June 11, 2012, with construction
beginning and complete park closure on
June 15, 2012, concluding in late fall
2012. In the interest of safety, the
construction will necessitate the
re-routing of the Fox River Bike Trail
as well as complete park closure,
including the pavilion, playground and
restrooms. Detour of the Fox River Trail
will be clearly marked and a map of the
detour is available online at
www.genevaparks.org.
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From the
Illinois Environmental Council
Newsletter:
Sustainable Funding for the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Eight years of budget cuts have halved
the IDNR budget. Efforts are underway to
supplement the general revenue fund
portions of the IDNR budget with user
fees such as park entrance fees or
passes and service or consulting fees
related to department operations. State
Representative Frank Mautino is leading
negotiations on this effort, involving a
huge number of interests, including
Partners for Parks and Wildlife – a
coalition of environmental, open space,
hunting and fishing, and recreation
advocates. Two bills have passed related
to this effort, including
HB404, which reduces IDNR’s
statutorily mandated programs and
HB5789, which allows IDNR to collect
park entrance fees. IEC and our
affiliates are actively involved with
negotiation on this critical effort.
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From
Water Efficiency - The Journal for Water
Resource Management:
Footprints and
Funding
On the heels of World Water Day, a new
report by Frost and Sullivan reveals
that amidst “growing global concern
about water quality and scarcity,” the
reduction of water footprints at the
corporate and industrial level is
“emerging as a competitive tool for food
and beverage manufacturers”
Full article |
The Citizen's Guide to
Preserving the Fox River is available at more than 100 distribution points along
the Fox River and in the watershed.
CLICK HERE to find out where you can pick
up your FREE copy.
You can also read the online version of The Citizen's Guide
on the website
HERE.
The companion website
preservethefox.org contains many pages
of information to help you learn about what people can do in
their homes and communities to help preserve and protect the beautiful
Fox.
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RiverWatch Citizen
Scientist Program - Spring
Workshops
HERE |
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Funding Opportunities |
DEADLINE APRIL 6!
U.S. EPA Technical Assistance to
Facilitate Green Infrastructure
U.S. EPA is now accepting letters of
interest from communities interested in
receiving direct assistance for projects
that facilitate the use of green
infrastructure to protect water quality.
The total EPA assistance available
through this RLI is approximately
$950,000, and will be distributed among
10-20 projects. The value of the
assistance available to each project
will be approximately $50,000 -
$100,000. Letters of interest must be
received by April 6, 2012.
Website
Request for Letters of Interest (PDF)
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SCALE Grant from
IEPA to support Stream Cleanups
It’s easy and with the SCALE grant from
IEPA, you can get funding for supplies!
Stream clean ups are a great way to get
your community involved and invested in
improving water quality. Pick a day,
get some people together, and pick up
some trash!
Details HERE
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Becky
Hoag,
Communications Manager, Fox River Ecosystem Partnership
630-482-9157
foxriverinfo@comcast.net Please
Email me if you have an Email to add to our mailing list.
FREP WEBSITE:
foxriverecosystem.org
This newsletter is posted on the FREP Website on the
Downstream Newsletter Archives Page |
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