In it for the Long Haul
Friends' Executive Director Margaret Frisbie at LaBagh Woods in Chicago.
After several years of too warm winters, the early snow this year brightened the mood at Friends of the Chicago River. The big equipment required for our landscape scale restoration projects needs frozen ground and without it, we are forced to postpone these life building practices which benefit people, water, and wildlife by rebuilding the natural ecological systems that once thrived here. Natural landscapes are complex tapestries of plants, soil, minerals, mycelium, and more which provide homes for wildlife, places for people to find solace and health, and they capture valuable rainwater before it runs off to cause damage through erosion and flooding. Rebuilding natural systems is a core focus of Friends of the Chicago River. Over the years we’ve had a tremendous impact on the landscape in partnership with government agencies such as the Forest Preserves of Cook County; community groups including the North Mayfair Improvement Association; and countless, wonderful, and dedicated volunteers. Landscapes north, south, and southwest thrive because of our joint efforts to heal them.
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Decades of Work and Fostering New River Champions
Beyond the river’s edge, Friends has changed the landscape too— the human one that forsook the river generations ago and repurposed it to serve a place for sanitation and shipping for a city and suburbs that grew up around it. To change course, we secured Chicago’s first river protection act in 1983 and have carried on engaging and educating the public, policymakers, and businesses so that they too would understand the river’s importance to ecological and community health. We have fostered new generations of environmental stewards who will champion the river in the years to come.
Healing a River
Yet, our journey is not over and we still need your help. The last 45 years of Friends of the Chicago River has been an upswing. The river is teaming with life because of it. But rivers are not healed in one-year timespans—or even five or 10. Healing a river is a longtime endeavor which is made harder in our rapidly changing world, with increasing environmental challenges and new threats to the rules that protect us.
Our Right to a Healthy Planet
So please consider supporting us today. Your donation will serve as a powerful statement of commitment to preserving nature and to our work, which is not just about protecting a waterway; it’s about ensuring a healthy, sustainable region and our right to a healthy planet and a bright future for all.
Thank you,
Margaret Frisbie, Executive Director
