Re-wilding The Chicago River

A project designed to re-wild the Chicago River and connect Chicagoans to natural spaces, the Shedd Aquarium Kayak for Conservation program is the first stewardship-based kayak program on the Chicago River. Once seen as a desolate dumping ground, this river has improved significantly since the passing of the Clean Water Act in 1970. This program works with Urban Rivers, a local nonprofit that installed floating wetlands into the river to change the public's perception of the Chicago river and get people to appreciate this waterway as more than just a historic industrial tool for ship navigation. ‘