Restoring The Mississippi

For five years now, Chad Pregracke, a 26-year old Illinois resident, has been on a heroic personal mission to clean up the Mississippi. His efforts have won him an award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

1 minute read

October 16, 2001, 10:00 AM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"For five years now, he has been hauling junk out of the Mississippi River" - refrigerators, washing machines, even a van. His team members "also have hauled in the top half of a school bus. One 1950 International Harvester truck. And at last count: 3,608 tires, 1,012 steel drums, 64 television sets, four canoes and two prosthetic legs...He started his river cleanup mission when he was just a few years out of high school...Now there's a nonprofit foundation, a board of directors and a roster of corporate donors to fund a $300,000-a-year budget...He's won a prestigious award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. His work has been featured on CNN and in Time and Life magazines."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan

Monday, October 15, 2001 in The Los Angeles Times

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Wastewater pouring out from a pipe.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage

Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

April 13, 2025 - Inside Climate News

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

People walking up and down stairs in New York City subway station.

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving

Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

April 18 - Scientific American

White public transit bus with bike on front bike rack in Nashville, Tennessee.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan

Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

April 18 - Bloomberg CityLab

An engineer controlling a quality of water ,aerated activated sludge tank at a waste water treatment plant.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding

The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.

April 18 - Smart Cities Dive