Terry Dodge Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 Once a month for about the last 5 months there has been a handful of people in the village of Cherry Valley meeting with concerns for the Kishwaukee River in Winnebago County. In the beginning about all they had was an idea. Myself, Paul T. and Jude attended a meeting in early December to discuss the possibilities and answer any questions of this committee applying for a grant through the ISA Grant Program. This committee started out with a good idea in mind but seemed to be confused on which avenues they wanted to travel. To keep a long story short, I just want to inform anyone interested that they will have a power point presentation on Tuesday, Feb. 7 @ 7pm. in Cherry Valley at the Cherry Valley City Hall. I attended a meeting tonight (2/2/12) and must admit that I was impressed with their progress. They seem to have their direction figured out and are putting things together nicely. If you get a chance and are in the area, try to attend this meeting on Feb. 7th. and hear what they plan to accomplish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted February 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Power point presentation on Tuesday, Feb. 7 @ 7pm. in Cherry Valley at the Cherry Valley City Hall. I'm there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted February 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 If there is anyone in the N.W. Region that might be interested ( I work 2nd. shift)......... (sent to me in an email) Friends, Friends of the Kishwaukee River will be having its first meeting this Thursday, February 9, at Cherry Valley Village Hall at 6:30 p.m. We are a new organization comprised of concerned individuals and organizations that will work to promote and enhance good stewardship of the river and the surrounding lands, encourage safe and responsible recreation, protect its watershed from degradation, and increase the community's appreciation of its natural beauty. Our primary goal for 2012 is to address the litter and safety concerns caused by people on floating on inner tubes between Baumann Park and Kishwaukee River Forest Preserve in Cherry Valley, Illinois. We are looking for several dedicated individuals who are interested in serving on the 2012 FOTKR Executive Committee and helping to protect one of our region's greatest natural assets. Those individuals who have agreed to work with FOTKR so far are: Paul Gorski, WebmasterNathan Hill (Kishwaukee River Ecosystem Partnership)JoAnn HudsonJamie Johannsen, Publicity and Community Relations Chair (Winnebago County Forest Preserve District)Jim Johannsen, Chairman (Natural Land Institute)Katie Townsend (Four Rivers Environmental Coalition) Several of the current committee members also served on the Kishwaukee River Advisory Committee, which will be giving a presentation to the Cherry Valley Village Board tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6:30 p.m regarding the problems caused by the "tubers" and potential solutions. We envision the committee to be comprised of 8-12 individuals, each with his or her own set of skills, talents, and experiences, and from a variety of backgrounds. We are especially interested in those individuals who: - Have experience in the fields of environmental education, land and water preservation/conservation, ecology, environmental advocacy, or law enforcement.- Use the Kishwaukee River for recreational activities such as canoeing, kayaking, tubing, or fishing.- Own riverfront property, property near the river, or property in its watershed. The Executive Committee will be meeting on the second and fourth Thursdays of February and March (Feb 9, Feb 23, Mar 8, Mar 22). The frequency of later meetings has yet to be determined. Individuals interested in working with Friends of the Kish and protecting our river should call Jim Johannsen at 815-601-5567 or respond to this email. If you are unable to attend this Thursday's meeting but are interested in serving on the committee, please call or email. For your reference, a draft of our 2012 strategic plan that will be revised and ratified this Thursday is attached to this email. Sincerely, Jim JohannsenChairman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgoodmanii Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Are these meetings only for those on the committee? I'm interested in getting involved at some level just not committee work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted February 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 They (the committee) have been told that we (the N.W. members of the ISA) will help with sign postings and river clean ups. I'll be keeping in-touch with these people and posting info as I get it. Thanks tgoodmanii for offering to help when needed. I'll let you know. If you would like to attend a committee meeting to hear whats going on just let me know and I'll try to set it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim J Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 This is nice stuff. We could use some signs and conservation work in that area. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted February 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Here in the N. W. Region, the WCFPD is kind of picky about us putting up signs. They do have information stations at most parks with an older signs in them............ These signs are a paper type version (see the staples). Do we have a paper version of the new signs we are currently using? I believe WCFPD does not want us to pound post into the ground and put up sign because of fear we would be followed by other organizations wanting to put up some kind of sign. If we have a paper version of our signs then I would like to give the newer version to WCFPD to replace the old signs. I am going to hit them up about posting signs at popular roadside stops within their property. Could somebody put up a picture of the signs we post? A close-up picture would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Ferguson Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 We don't have any paper versions of the sign but I can send you an electronic version that you can take to a local print shop and see if they can print some up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted February 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Thanks Scott but not necessary. After further review, I have noticed that there are hard copies of other signs posted in these information stands (see yellow sign under ours in picture) that are screwed in. I plan to contact WCFPD to see if they would like to replace the old faded paper type signs with our newer hard signs. I also plan to ask permission to post signs at popular roadside hot spots where no signs are present. From what I understand we here in the Northwest Region have had problems with WCFPD as far as getting their approval for posting our signs. I am going to attempt to build a relationship with them and hopefully get the OK to display our signs along with (underneath) their signs which already have posts. That way we would not have to sink any new posts. I believe the sinking of other posts on Forrest Preserve property is the thing they don't like. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim J Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Terry, Since I'm a bad boy we always did it then saw what happened. We never once got any flak from forest preserves or park districts. I'm not saying to do it and I think working with them is good. Try to impress upon them that the IDNR paid for some of these and their logo is on the sign. I believe that having the IDNR logo on there keeps FP and PD from taking them down. Basically it's like an approval from the IDNR. We have signs in the PD and FP in Naperville (which some people think is _____ town) and if they let them stay I think that's a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted February 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Noted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 another path to look at is just having them posted during the closed season at the hot spot locations, even tho alot of info is on the sign the closed season is most important. rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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