DIRECTOR’S NOTES
For decades, Prairie Rivers Network (PRN) has been a voice for Illinois’ rivers, land, and wildlife and 2024 was no different. We fought alongside communities like yours to secure stronger coal ash protections, protected clean water from agricultural and industrial pollution, and pushed Illinois forward in the clean energy transition. We defended rivers, wetlands and aquifers, rang the alarm about drifting pesticides across our landscapes, and stood up for every person’s right to a healthful environment. 2024 was a year of enormous growth and PRN seized every opportunity to deepen our impact and strengthen our muscles to battle the challenges ahead.
Prairie Rivers Network stands as a beacon of hope, resilience, and community-powered change. As we reflect on 2024, it’s clear we’re not just responding to threats – we are building a stronger, more resilient, and just future for Illinois. From launching grassroots campaigns to publishing groundbreaking scientific reports, our network has grown in depth and reach, thanks to the steadfast support of our dedicated members and funders.
Your investment – in time, action, and resources – powers our mission to protect water, heal land, and inspire change. Together, our community is creating a lasting legacy that future generations will be proud of. I invite you to read through the past year’s highlights to see the power of our collective work in action in hopes it inspires you to lean in with Prairie Rivers Network as we work to address the mounting challenges ahead.
With deep gratitude,
A year of opportunity at every bend
Throughout 2024, Prairie Rivers Network continued our commitment to expanding statewide by expanding our network, deepening community connections, and addressing environmental issues with innovation and urgency.
Protecting Water: Clean Water Forever
- Launching Water Quality Monitoring: We kicked off a new water quality monitoring initiative with our members and the Environmental Working Group, helping communities assess the threats of agricultural pollution and call for additional water monitoring efforts as prescribed in Illinois’ State Water Plan.
- Defending the Mahomet Aquifer: With our partners Eco-Justice Collaborative and many others we launched Protect the Mahomet, a campaign to ban carbon sequestration through and sequestration under Illinois’ only sole source aquifer.
- Pond Creek Victory: In Southern Illinois, our advocacy secured stronger pollution limits and transparency for the Pond Creek coal mine–a win for water and people.
- Reclaiming Abandoned Mine Lands: Thanks to once-in-a-generation federal multi-year investment, we led education and outreach efforts to help communities benefit from programs to clean up abandoned coal mines.
- Community Power on Coal Ash: Our historic coal ash rules came to life with the first public hearings in 2024 – a first step to finding community-informed solutions to this legacy pollution. We helped community members advocate for cleanups, providing technical and policy support to ensure coal ash is handled safely and transparently.
- Campaign Growth: We continued to grow our Clean Water Forever campaign through presentations, coalition building, and advocacy calling for stronger wetlands protections and river access.
Healing Land: From Herbicides and Coal Mines to Habitats and Resilience
- Hidden in Plain Sight: We released Hidden in Plain Sight, a powerful report on six years of monitoring tree and plant injuries from herbicide drift. The report fueled statewide and national conversations, with exclusive coverage from the Chicago Tribune and many more.
- Zombie Mines No More: Our new zombie mine legislative platform is fighting for cleanup of inactive coal mines that have lingered without restoration for years.
- Quad Cities Climate Assessment: Our new report, Navigating Climate Challenges in the Quad Cities, is guiding community leaders towards investments in nature-based solutions and long-term resilience for generations of community members to come.
- Supporting Transitioning Coal Communities: We helped coal communities apply for CEJA’s Energy Transition Community Grants, providing a critical lifeline and roadmap to support a post-fossil fuel thriving future.
Inspiring Change: Movements for Justice and Resilience
- Growing our Team and Network: We set a priority to ensure our team and our network is more reflective of the people, places, and environmental challenges facing the people of Illinois and made significant progress. With PRN staff now strategically located in Southern Illinois to Champaign to the banks of the Mighty Mississippi to Lake Michigan, we are better able to engage and activate people across the state.
- Awareness Through Art and Action: With the Save Our Trees Coalition, we launched a creative awareness campaign on the emotional, financial, and ecological toll of herbicide drift. Events included public art installations, yard signs and a benefit concert, building widespread public momentum and urgency to address agricultural pollution.
- Illinois Climate Jobs Coalition: We helped launch a new policy platform for the Illinois Climate Jobs Coalition, advancing real, community-informed and worker-centered climate solutions across the state.
- Community Technical Assistance: Through the Great Lakes Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC), we supported dozens of communities as they navigated environmental, clean water, and energy opportunities presented in the historic Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- Rural Electric Co-op Accountability: Our new Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative Scorecard is holding rural utilities accountable for their pollution and promoting transparency amongst users. By empowering communities with information and tools to advocate for clean energy and a voice in the decision making process, PRN hopes to build stronger climate leadership across rural Illinois.
2024 Financial Snapshot
Revenue = $1,604,874
Donations = 26%
Grants = 63%
Endowment Payout, Interest, Other = 11%
Expenses = $1,618,215
Programs = 77%
Fundraising = 15%
General & Admin = 8%
PRN Endowment = $573,008
This financial snapshot shows our 2024 operating revenue and expenses plus the current value of our endowment at the end of the year. Note that Prairie Rivers Network ran a Board-approved deficit in 2024 to focus on growing our team and resources to meet the rising challenges ahead. This investment has allowed our team to expand and deepen impact across our priorities.
Our financial statements are audited each year by an independent certified accountant and are available along with our Federal 990 at prairierivers.org/about-us.
Looking Forward in 2025
As the first few months of 2025 have proven, the road ahead will not be easy. As the opportunities we seized upon in 2024 are illegally terminated or undermined by a new federal administration determined to give polluters their wishlists, PRN is here to defend. This new administration brings uncertainty at every hour of the day – from environmental rollbacks of our bedrock environmental protections, to investing in failed energy sources of the past – PRN is here with our commitment to science, justice, law, collective action and YOU!
In every corner of Illinois, we are inspired to see people stepping up and leaning in with Prairie Rivers Network – testing their local waterways, planting seeds of resilience, raising their voices, and working together to build a better future; one we will be proud of. That’s where our hope lives: in you and this network of people working together to protect Illinois.
Together, we are more than ready. With the continued support of our members and the collective power of our network, we will defend what we’ve won, fight for what we need, and create bold, lasting change that honors future generations.
Let’s meet the moment with courage, compassion, and conviction – because the future belongs to those who protect it.
