Help Us Build Mussel Mass!
Giving Tuesday - Donations Matched
Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, and thanks to our wonderful friends at Tito’s Handmade Vodka, all donations between now and midnight on December 3rd will be MATCHED up to $2,500! How does this money help us, you ask? The total matched funds would be enough to support:
Wild Mile Workshops for Summer 2025, and
S’mores Night supplies for all of 2025, and
Educational materials for 2025 and 2026, and
Dog food for Bubba Tucker, our stalwart Head of Goose Relations, for all of 2025
This year has been our most successful to date - we’re really feeling the love from our river community. If you want to help support even greater achievements next year, consider donating before midnight on December 3rd!
Mussel Madness! Mollusk Mania!
It's the most wonderful time of the year... Gravid freshwater mussel season! Every winter, we drag our diligent volunteers out to the forest preserves to search for pregnant Giant Floater Mussels. This year we had our most wildly successful season yet - we hit our permitted limit within an hour of starting the search!
These mama mussels will be transferred to a lab where their babies will be raised until they're old enough to be released into our submerged habitats on the Wild Mile next summer. The parents will be gently returned to the river, in the same location from which we retrieved them.
If you want to learn more about the mussel-rearing process and our efforts to establish them in urbanized waterways, check out this YouTube video!
Photo Contest Deadline Extended
The deadline for our 2024 Photo Contest had been extended to December 5th! To be eligible, photos must have been taken within the 2024 calendar year, within a reasonable range of either an Urban Rivers project or related activity/event. We’ll be choosing winners in the categories of People, Wildlife, and Landscape, in addition to an overall champion. Click the button below to enter your photos - winners will be announced on Friday!
December Events Calendar
Just two more Wild Mile events before our staff starts disappearing for the winter holidays! Event descriptions and RSVP links can always be found on the events page of our website.
Wild Mile Walking Tour: December 11th, 5:30 - 6:00pm
Wild Mile S’mores Night: December 11th, 6 - 7:30pm
Office Insights
Not-So-Wild Life
Our wildlife cameras are motion-sensitive, meaning they inevitably capture their operators at some unflattering angles. So enjoy! If you want more of this kind of content delivered right to your inbox every month, sign up for a recurring donation of any amount and we’ll add you to our exclusive wildlife camera club newsletter!
Thank You, and Happy Holidays!
As our staff looks forward to the holidays after a busy year, we’re also reflecting on some wonderful moments of connection and community throughout 2024. Thank you so much for being part of our river family - we wouldn’t be where we are today without you!
Happy holidays, and we’ll see you in 2025!