StreamLeaders

If you’re concerned about the quality of water and diversity of animals in our region’s rivers and streams, sign up for StreamLeaders, a hands-on training course designed to enhance citizen participation in stream conservation. This year's StreamLeaders classes will take place at Spring Creek, in the Hadley Valley Forest Preserve, near Joliet, IL. (See the Google map below for the exact location. Click here to view a complete listing of course dates).

"A flowing stream may be the picture of tranquility, but a less idyllic story resides beneath the surface," explains Openlands' Roger Klocek, a freshwater mussel expert who will be leading this year's field study. Over time unchecked development has substantially degraded both urban and suburban waterways. Moreover, almost half of Illinois' threatened and endangered species are aquatic. Combine the two and you have a potentially devastating scenario.

But StreamLeaders work hard to help reverse this trend. Participants in the 2011 StreamLeaders class will continue a three-year study of the movement of aquatic animals, including fish, native mussels, and macroinvertebrates, into a newly re-meandered section of Spring Creek. (Click here to view the results of last year's survey.) Formerly channelized, or artificially straightened, for farming, this stretch of creek has been restored to a more natural condition by the Forest Preserve District of Will County, resulting in a slower flow of water, decreased erosion, and areas of slack water habitat.

In addition to learning how aquatic fauna are used to measure the health of a waterway, StreamLeaders will:

• Document the effect of restoration on aquatic communities;
• Use methods developed by state agencies to collect and interpret important biological data;
• Learn more about techniques used to restore degraded streams and steps to minimize continued damage; and
• Gain a greater understanding of how urbanization has impacted streams and rivers in the Chicago region.

The curriculum also covers topics such as the fundamentals of stream ecology, environmental advocacy, and stream monitoring. (Watch the video below to see what WBEZ science reporter Gabriel Spitzer learned when he joined the StreamLeaders class last summer.)

StreamLeaders courses and materials are free. Participants are asked to commit to at least two days of monitoring. To sign up for StreamLeaders or obtain more information about the project, please contact Openlands Greenway Coordinator Roger Klocek via e-mailor by phone at 312-863-6276. (For registration, please include your name, e-mail and mailing addresses, and telephone number.)

(Participants will meet at the parking lot designated by green arrow above.)

The 2011 StreamLeaders class is sponsored by Openlands and the Forest Preserve District of Will County.