Friends of Rouge seeking volunteers for hunt

Jan. 4, 2019  PLYMOUTH VOICE.

Plymouth Michigan News

Pre-registration for volunteers is required for the opportunity to learn about what lives under the ice in local Rouge streams while giving back by helping collect data on the health of the river.

Interested volunteers must pre-register by phone at (734) 927-4904 or spetrella@therouge.org.

Winter stoneflies hatch from streams in winter and are sensitive to pollution, making them good indicators of water quality. Friends of the Rouge volunteers have been looking for stoneflies every winter since 2002 and regularly find them in the healthier tributaries and occasionally in more impacted river sites

Volunteers will be meeting for the first time at Plymouth Arts and Recreation Complex, 650 Church St, Plymouth, MI 48170. There will also be a “Stonefly Refresher” from 10 a.m. until noon on Saturday Jan.12 at the same location to get people ready for Jan. 26.

The Stonefly Search is part of Friends of the Rouge long-term monitoring program that includes the Spring and Fall Bug Hunts. It is supported by the Erb Family Foundation, the Cliff Bar Family Foundation, Washtenaw County, the Michigan Areas of Concern Program Office of the Great Lakes, Department of Natural Resources, and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Rouge River covers 467 square miles in three counties and 48 communities in the metropolitan Detroit area and is home to 1.35 million people. Additional information: www.therouge.org.

Plymouth Voice.