July 1, 2009
It’s Our River Day - Sept 19, 2009

- Photo from It’s Our River Day Brochure

It’s Our River Day is a day dedicated to increasing awareness and appreciation for the rivers of Illinois through the planning of activities and events and by cultivating education, recreation and conservation. It’s Our River Day takes place each year on the third Saturday in September.
Education, recreation and conservation are important to the health of our rivers. They are interconnected like a river within its ecosystem. It is important to keep the history and culture of life along the river alive, to continue to address the threats against its health, and to form new and innovative ways to provide access to the waterways for recreation.
With this in mind, communities and organizations are invited to celebrate your river by offering citizens a chance to contribute to the health of the watershed by providing organized activities and events annually on the third Saturday in September.
View the official It’s Our River Day brochure (PDF) or regester your event (Word document).




Recently, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources issued a notice of proposed rules concerning Dam Safety. These rules may affect landowners, businesses, and recreationist along the river; particularly part 3703 of the rules. Part 3703 of the new rules, state that there needs to be mandatory 350′ exclusion Zones around dams. Specifically the “Exclusion Zone” means a segment of the river, beginning 50 feet downstream of a dam and proceeding to a point 300 feet upstream of the dam, that no one is allowed to enter for any purpose, except those purposes exempted by this Part. This zone includes the spillway, gates, piers and other appurtenant dam works that are not designed for the express purpose of general pedestrian access.
The federally-mandated State Wildlife Action Plans are the first nationwide attempts to focus on preserving the habitat that all wildlife needs for survival. The plans are a major shift away from preserving single species to a strategy that would preserve the habitat necessary to prevent the loss of entire networks of interconnected wildlife.