River Cleanup Marks 25 Years of Saving the Rouge

Years ago, the Rouge River was seen as synonymous with a dump.

The 126-mile long river that stretches through 48 Michigan municipalities was not known for its superb nature scenes or rapids for kayaking. Instead, people spoke about the fact that the Rouge caught on fire due to pollution in 1969, and that it was so trash-filled that some Dearborn residents could not open their windows due to the smell.

But things have changed–mostly due to the efforts of the Dearborn-based nonprofit , which has spent the past 25 years working toward one goal: making the Rouge a clean, sustainable habitat for wildlife and natural resource for Michiganders.

This Saturday marks the 25th annual Rouge Rescue, during which thousands of volunteers at over 30 sites will take a few hours to pick up trash, plant native flowers and other greenery, and learn about why helping preserve the Rouge River is so important.

River Restoration Program Manager Cyndi Ross said that the goals of the Rouge Rescue have changed drastically over the years.

“Things have improved in many cases because volunteers have gone to these sites year after year to clean up trash,” Ross said. “So aesthetically, I think the river is much more attractive because people have learned that it is a valuable natural resource in the community, so they’re not dumping trash like they used to do.

“A lot of the work now is more of the restoration work that we’re doing, and trying to educate people about what they can do at home to try to protect water flowing into the river.”

These include simple things, like not draining car fluids or lawn chemicals into sewers, as well as picking up pet waste.

Efforts to save the Rouge are year-round for FOTR–and should be for residents of the cities the river runs through. But the Rouge Rescue provides a one-day chance to make a big impact.

“We have had as many as 3,000 volunteers and we average around 2,000 volunteers for the Rouge Rescue each year, so that’s a lot of hands,” Ross said. “It could not happen without that many people out there cleaning up the river. It makes a big difference.”

This Saturday, the Rouge Rescue will take place in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Canton, Northville, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Beverly Hills, Birmingham, Livonia, Novi, Wayne, Westland, Southfield and Ypsilanti. A separate Redford event will take place June 11.

“Each site across the communities engages people in different ways across the watershed,” Ross said. “Years ago, some of the headwater communities didn’t realize that the river they were working on was part of the Rouge. So I think the more we’re involving people in the communities, we’re creating awareness that it is part of the Rouge.”

In Plymouth Township, volunteers from local companies and Cub Scouts from Farrand Elementary School will join other residents to clean up at , where a detention basin for the Rouge is located. The group will meet from 9 a.m. to noon at the park, at 14435 Haggerty Road, to install native plants and mark storm drains in the local neighborhood.

Susan Vignoe, the township’s solid waste and public service coordinator, said the group will affix stickers to storm drains. These stickers include a message to not dump waste into the drains, as all water run-off in the area eventually makes its way into the Rouge River.

“We want people to know that the chemicals they may put on their lawn or from cars will end up in our water systems,” she said.

The native plantings help absorb any pollutants that make it through the drains and into the detention basin, which helps hold water during heavy rains before being washed to the river, Vignoe said.

She said Aisin World Corp. of America, a local automotive parts supply firm, is sponsoring the township’s Rouge cleanup day. The company is sending a group of volunteers, as well as contributing toward the purchase of the native plants. 

In Plymouth, organizers are seeking about 150 volunteers for Saturday to help with creek cleanup, stenciling storm drains and building bird, bat and duck houses at .

As for the other efforts, everything should go off without a hitch – if water levels continue to drop after last week’s massive flooding of almost every area of the Rouge. In Dearborn, Ford Field and the Henry Ford Estate were among the most heavily flooded areas. This Saturday, both are set to be Rouge Rescue sites.

“Water levels are dropping, so as long as we don’t get hit with anything else, we should be OK for Saturday,” Ross said. “It does alter some of the work plans for some of the sites, just because that sheer force of water that comes through there has really carried some of that debris downstream.”

But it’s nothing like the whole cars or pounds of trash groups used to pull out of the Rouge. And as the look of the river changes, so do attitudes toward it.

“I think 24 years of Rouge Rescue has helped shift (the stigma),” Ross said. “Some people still think of it as that open sewer, but more people now think of it as a natural resource, a place for recreation, a green space.

“When you change the appearance, you can change people’s attitudes.”

Plymouth

Date: 6/4/2011
Time: 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Location: Corner of Burroughs and Coolidge Road
Directions: On Burroughs, four blocks East of Main Street
Family Friendly: Yes
Volunteer Projects: Creek clean-up, storm-drain stenciling, building duck, bird and bat houses, planting trees and native plants and woody debris management.
Volunteers Needed: 125
Coordinator: Adam Gerlach & Chris Porman
Sponsoring Organization: City of Plymouth
Phone: (734) 453-7737
Email: agerlach@ci.plymouth.mi.us

Plymouth Township

Date: 6/4/2011
Time: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
Location: 14435 Haggerty Road
Directions: Take Interstate 96 to Newburgh Road and head west on service drive (Schoolcraft Road). Take Schoolcraft Road west to Haggerty Road.  Turn right (north) on Haggerty.  Park is on the left (west) side of road just past the freeway overpass.
Family Friendly: Yes
Volunteer Projects: Native planting, install storm drain markers, invasive plant removal/weeding.
Volunteers Needed: 40-50
Coordinator: Susan Vignoe
Sponsoring Organization: Charter Township of Plymouth
Phone: (734) 354-3270
Email: svignoe@plymouthtwp.org