From yesterday's News-Gazette:
"Illinois has a lot of rivers. They are ecologically important. It all starts with rivers. If you protect rivers you have to reach out and try to address the things that affect them," says Eric Freyfogle, a professor of law at the UI and a Prairie Rivers Network board member. The organization is the Illinois affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.
"The organization has grown quite substantially over the last decade – it's gone from 1 1/2 staff members to 5 1/2 staff members," he adds. "Our huge strength is that we really do science right. We're very strong on science and also on the law side. You have to do your legal homework when it comes to land use issues."
Based in new offices in Champaign, the Prairie Rivers Network has about 400 members who are known for their loyalty.
"We raise well over $100,000 a year. We depend totally on private donations. We have no endowment. Our strategy is to keep fundraising costs to an absolute minimum and make a direct appeal to our main fundraisers. The pitch I give at our annual dinner is, 'You give us your money and we put it to good use. You know exactly where it goes,' " Freyfogle says.
Discuss.
