Banner Marsh HREP, Illinois (Credit: Jerry Milam)

With spring’s longer and warmer days, many of us are getting out to enjoy Illinois’ multitude of  diverse rivers and streams.  These winding  waterways are often the closest, perhaps the only, bit of natural landscape that many Illinois residents have for recreation and rejuvenation.

A few of us might still be stuck inside, scrambling to finish our tax returns. This year, whether you are writing a check to, or waiting for a check from, Uncle Sam, you may wonder how your tax dollars are being spent, and if they are being spent wisely, when it comes to protecting Illinois’ rivers. {Continue Reading »}

Whether you have visited the Upper Mississippi River once, or lived next to it all your life,

we invite you to enter an essay contest: “Our Upper Mississippi River: Connection, Inspiration, Transformation.”

Share your experiences with, and connection to, this natural wonder. How has the river inspired you? How has the Upper Mississippi River changed your life? How do you protect this river you love?

Your input is important!

Who: Illinois Lieutenant Governor’s Office and Prairie Rivers Network

What: Public comment session for the Wabash River Strategic Plan

When: Monday, October 17th, 2011, 5:30-7:30 PM

Where: Danville Public Library, 319 N. Vermilion St. Danville, IL 61832

Earlier this year, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor partnered with the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center and the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs to develop a Wabash River Strategic Plan, which outlines important economic and environmental issues facing the region. The plan provides recommendations to the Wabash and Ohio Rivers Coordinating Council and focuses on seven topics:

• Business, industry, and agriculture
• Habitat
• Human resources
• Hydrology
• Recreation
• Research and monitoring
• Water quality

During the meeting, we will discuss the goals, objectives, and actions that relate to each topic. Your comments and recommendations will improve our ability to develop a plan that serves people living in the region. Click here to see if you live within the Wabash and Ohio Rivers region.

Please contact Elliot Brinkman of Prairie Rivers Network at (217) 344-2371 or ebrinkman@prairierivers.org if you plan on attending the public meeting, or if you would like additional information. If you are unable to attend the meeting, you may click here to provide comments online.

Flowing for over 500 miles from its west-central Ohio headwaters to its confluence with the Ohio River in southern Illinois, the Wabash River is the largest un-dammed river east of the Rocky Mountains. For those living along the Wabash, planning to protect and enhance the river’s future has become a necessary priority. 

Earlier this summer, the Office of Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon conducted a survey of residents in the Wabash River watershed as an initial step in gathering public input that will help direct future watershed planning efforts. Almost 250 people responded from all 18 counties that lie within the watershed’s boundaries. {Continue Reading »}

More press is covering the new Big Price – Little Benefit report released by Prairie Rivers Network and partners condemning proposed expansion locks along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

Read press coverage from the Daily-Journal.com by seraching on “Prairie Rivers Network.”

You can help spread the word by sharing this post with a friend.

Yesterday, Prairie Rivers Network and our partners in the Nicollet Island Coalition released a report condemning proposed expansion of 7 of the 29 locks that aid navigation along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers got Congressional authorization in 2007 to double the size of the locks, at a potential cost to taxpayers of $2.2 billion. Our report shows that the modest benefits the project aims to achieve can be achieved much more cheaply through other means. View our press release here. Download the Big Price – Little Benefit report here.

Tri-States Public Radio (Macomb, IL) covered the story.

The toll on river health of the Corps-maintained navigation system on the Upper Mississippi River is tremendous – the 29 locks and dams have altered the free-flowing and dynamic river between Minneapolis and St. Louis into a static series of enormous, homogeneous reservoirs. {Continue Reading »}