2009 River Heroes Honored

At our Riverkeeper Bash on September 10th, we honored our 2009 River Heroes.  Our River Heroes are individuals and businesses who have made outstanding contributions to our local waterways.  We thank them for putting in the extra effort to helping achieve swimmable, fishable rivers.

Sigma Environmental and Engberg Anderson have been great partners on our Emmber Lane River Access and Restoration Demonstration Project. This Project is aimed at coming up with a  permanent solution to minimize accumulation of garbage and debris in the northwest corner of the Emmber Lane Bridge on the Menomonee River, and to turn an eyesore into a community asset. This project will create a small boardwalk and pier to provide river access, improve fish and wildlife habitat by planting wild rice and other emergent vegetation, improve aesthetics by removing trash accumulation, and create educational opportunities. Sigma and Engberg staff (in particular James “Chip” Leedom and James Stearns) has contributed significant amounts of their own time and expertise to ensuring the completion of this project, which has been challenged by both engineering and fiscal constraints. We hope to finish construction of the Emmber Lane project this year!

Tomas Kelnhofer of Hayes Bilingual Elementary School, along with his wife Liliana Kelnhofer and Ms. Roselia Hernandez, have created an impressive 5th grade curriculum centered on raising awareness of the Kinnickinnic River and engaging students, teachers, families, and local residents in efforts to improve this important asset to their community. Tomas’s energy and passion for the environment is contagious; he really cares about his students and their future, and helps them understand their importance as youth stewards of the river and their neighborhood. Tomas and the Hayes’ Team have been actively involved in river clean-ups, planting of the Cleveland Park rain garden, and other local efforts to engage the community in improving the Kinnickinnic River and its local neighborhoods.

Barb Agnew, or Butterfly Barb as she is fondly known, has spearheaded local efforts to protect the Milwaukee County Grounds for migrating monarch butterflies as well as other species of wildlife that use this important natural area that surrounds the confluence of the Menomonee River with Underwood Creek. Barb helped form Friends of the Monarch Trail, which creates access to this special habitat and also educates children and the community about the importance of protecting these wild spaces for monarchs and other wildlife. Given pending plans by the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee to acquire a portion of the grounds for their engineering campus, Barb continues to lead the fight to ensure that the monarch habitat and natural areas of the Milwaukee County Grounds are protected.

Nik Kovac, Alderman for the 3rd District in the City of Milwaukee, is shaping up to be a true leader on environmental issues. Nik is leading efforts to create a permanent overlay district to  protect and preserve the natural areas along the Milwaukee River Corridor between the former North Avenue Dam and the city limits at Silver Spring Drive and to improve public access to this natural resource. We are hopeful that the official Milwaukee River Greenway Corridor Overlay District legislation will be passed this year with Alderman Kovac’s leadership.  Nik has also been a leader in stopping efforts to privatize our publicly operated Milwaukee Water Works to solve the City’s short-term financial issues, and has also spoken out in favor of protecting other local rivers and our lakefront.