Links

The links below will help you find more information on environmental/conservation organizations, general river resources, governmental agencies and their resources, including specific resources for Mississippi River Restoration, and where to find more educational information about your watershed and watershed management.

Environmental & Conservation Organizations/Groups

American Rivers – Mississippi River

Audubon UMR Campaign

Canton Area Citizens for Environmental Issues (citizen coal group)

Citizens Against Longwall Mining (citizen coal group)

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Conservation Foundation

Ecology Action Center (McLean County)

Enviornmental Law and Policy Center

Enviornmental Working Group

Friends of the Illinois River

Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR)

Green Lands, Blue Waters

Heartland Coalfield Alliance (citizen coal group)

 Illinois Audubon Society

Illinois Environmental Council

Illinois Water Resources Center

Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

The Izaak Walton League of America – Save Our Streams

Living Lands & Waters

Mississippi River Basin Alliance (MRBA)

National Wildlife Federation

Openlands Project

The Nature Conservancy in Illinois

Sierra Club – Illinois Chapter

Stand Up To Coal (citizen coal group)

River Books, Maps and Programs from River Lorian

General Information

• The Glossary of Water Resource Terms
• What Our Water’s Worth

Government Agencies & Resources

• Illinois Natural History Survey
• The US Environmental Protection Agencymaintains many sites with information and automatic mapping interface for locating sources of water and other pollution and runoff:
  • Surf Your Watershed – Find information about the watershed you live in
  • Envirofacts Data Warehouse – One stop source for environmental information
  • Enviromapper – Map of various types of environmental informatio for a specific area
  • Citizen’s Information Center – Learn how healthy your enviornment is
• USEPA Nonpoint Source Pollution: http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS
• USEPA Region 5 water: http://www.epa.gov/r5water
• USEPA Action Plan for hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico: http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/
• USEPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds: http://www.epa.gov/owow/
• USEPA Illinois Permit Database: http://www.epa.gov/ARDR5/permits/ilonline.htm
• Illinois Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.state.il.us
• U.S. Geological Survey: http://www.usgs.gov
• USEPA National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and the NPDES permitting program: http://www.epa.gov/npdes

Illinois Department of Natural Resources Education Program

• An educational guide to the “Streams of Illinois” poster. This is a fun look at some of the many species you can find in our streams.
• A lesson on the aquatic endangered and threatened species in Illinois. Learn more about the rare plants, fish, mussels, insects, and mammals that can be found in Illinois.

Identify Unique Natural Resources in Your Watershed

Many Illinois Department of Natural Resources documents, such as Critical Trends Assessment Program (CTAP) reports, are useful in learning about our healthy waters, wildlife and lands. You can also search the Illinois Natural History Survey collections and databases to find plants and animals that have been collected in your watershed, dating back to the 1800s. The fish, crustacean, insect, and mussel collection databases will allow search queries by stream, and these are extremely useful tools. Learn more about where you live and the wonderful wildlife in your watershed.

Vegetation and Wildlife

• Midwestern aquatic Life
• Fishes of Illinois
• Birds of Illinois
• Endangered and Threatened Species in Illinois
• Wetlands

Mississippi River Restoration

Government:

US Army Corps of Engineers:

St. Paul District EMP

Rock Island District EMP

St. Louis District EMP

National Great Rivers Museum

Upper Mississippi River System – Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP)

US Geological Survey:

Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program

Great Rivers Field Station (Illinois Natural History Survey)

Illinois River Biological Station (Illinois Natural History Survey)

EPA: Upper Mississippi River American Heritage Rivers

Federal Inter-agency Stream Restoration Working Group

Illinois Department of Natural Resources – Office of Water Resources

Illinois River Coordinating Council

Organizations:

Fishers and Farmers Parternship for the Upper Mississippi River Basin (pdf)

National Great Rivers Research and Education Center

Upper Mississippi River Basin Association (UMRBA)

Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee

Northeast Midwest Institute

Watershed Management

• USEPA Watershed Management Certification

Introductory/Overview Modules

• Principles of watershed management
• Ecosystem services: benefits to human societies

Watershed Ecology Modules

• Introduction to watershed ecology
• Protecting instream flows: how much water does a river need?
• Stream corridor structure

Watershed Change Modules

• Nonpoint source pollution with Nitrogen and Phosphorus
• Agents of watershed change

Analysis and Planning Modules

• Introduction to watershed planning
• Overview of watershed monitoring

Management Practices Modules

• 8 Tools of watershed protection
• Agricultural management practices for water quality protection
• Forestry best management practices in watersheds

Community/Social Context Modules

• Getting In Step: A Guide to Effective Outreach In Your Watershed
• Top Ten Watershed Lessons Learned
• Introduction to the Clean Water Act tools for watershed protection