The opening of the long awaited Chicago Riverwalk made headlines with a press conconference hosted by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel with retired U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, and Friends' executive director, Margaret Frisbie.

Friends' of the Chicago River was thrilled to join Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanual for the grand opening of the Phase 2 Chicago Riverwalk. Friends' founders called for a continous Chicago River trail when we were founded in 1979 and this charamatic section is key to the concept. 

Just weeks after the US Army Corps of Engineers received hundreds of public comments in support of a 44 acre ecosystem restoration project at Bubbly Creek, they pulled the plug because of a perceived conflict with a potential remediation project happening nearby.

The South Branch and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal are ripe with potential and the "Chicago Life" reporter Christopher Johnson from the New York Times/Wall Street Journal worked with Friends to discover how in On the Environment.

The Chicago Riverwalk is a new sensation and the Chicago Architecture Foundation invited Friends' executive director, Margaret Frisbie, to join Riverwalk architect, Carol Ross Barney, and city planner, Benet Haller, to speak about its role and evolution.

Friends' 10th annual Big Fish Ball was a smash success with hundreds of river-enthusiastic civic leaders enjoying fancy drinks, river animals, bat cave, delicious dinner, and an afterparty river cruise along the river at the Merchandise Mart on Riverside Drive.

Watch for beautiful blue lights illuminating Chicago buildings this month in honor of the 10th anniversary of Friends' Big Fish Ball. This gala event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for river improvements and created a network of river advocates who are Chicagoland's corporate leaders. 

June 1 kicked off Friends' summer lunchtime lecture series, Understanding the New Chicago River, taking place Mondays at our Bridgehouse Museum. Highlighting how much healthier and more accessible the river is now than it was a few decades ago, topics include river wildlife, water quality, river-edge parks and recreation and what's new with Asian carp.

This week The Forest Way, the on-line newsletter for the Forest Preserves of Cook County, ran a story about Friends' bat colony project. Friends has been working with Forest Preserve staff on habitat initiatives that help native species reproduce more effectively.

Check out this great river piece on Mike Stephen's Outside the Loop with Friends' executive director, Margaret Frisbie (the segment starts at minute 9:43).  Mike's piece captures the magic of the river and opportunity presented through Great Rivers Chicago where individuals from across the city and the region are invited to imagine a vision for Chicago's Rivers.