North Fork of Fort Lauderdale's New River

In our video, Listen to the River, we feature our more recent volunteers and canoe cleanups of our cherished North Fork of the New River. Closing out the video are several montages which are hard to see due to the demands of the video format. As they feature the fine folks who were some of the founders of the coalition created to restore the North Fork, we decided to honor their dedication by reproducing them here in a larger format. (The link to the YouTube video, produced by Donna Kazo, is on our Home Page. Check it out!)

On this page, WRT honors that coalition and our past volunteers who worked so hard to set into motion the restoration of the North Fork of the New River, beginning in 2000. After discovering this little-known and much-abused tidal stream with its remnant Everglades vegetation providing a last stand for wildlife, WRT co-founder Dr. Tom Kazo began meeting with community leaders, representatives of government agencies, educators and others of concern. WRT donated use of our fleet of black canoes in early 2001 to the first river cleanups, along with our gear and experienced core volunteers.

For several years, one of the primary leaders in this coalition was Florida Atlantic University’s Florida Atlantic Planning Society, when FAU still maintained its downtown Fort Lauderdale Higher Education Complex. Two canoes were purchased by FAU for use by their students and Broward County purchased four; all of these are Mohawks, bought factory-direct when Mohawk Canoes were at their original location in Longwood, Florida. South Florida Water Management District oversaw the restoration; in 2007 it dredged the river, removed invasive vegetation from many areas along its banks, covered some stretches with riprap to hold the banks in place; and then planted natives which have grown so well that in 2023 they look as if they’ve always been there.

Above: In the center photo, Dr. Tom Kazo and WRT volunteer Adam Casper (also seen directly above, seated in front of the picnic table) are pulling the red canoe up the embankment. Ryan Kazo kneels by his solo WRT canoe on the upper right. Marci Monchek of FAU’s Planning Society was so well-regarded by the coalition that the two FAU canoes were given her nickname: “Munchkin.” She is seated behind the picnic table, second from right in the khaki ball cap.

Unfortunately, the names of some of the other wonderful people have been lost to time, but their spirit of cooperation and care for our North Fork lives on. Two decades later, WRT continues to uphold its role as Keeper of the River with canoe cleanups, the most recent being the 46th Annual Broward Waterway Cleanup in March, 2023.

Above: Dr. Tom Kazo with Broward Department of Environmental Protection’s Kevin Carter are in the center photo in front of the “Listen to the River” Adopt-A-Waterway sign; FAU professor Dr. Jaap Vos, who was key to the success of the coalition, is in the yellow shirt (and along with Kevin, in many other photos). Another valued member of the coalition, Broward Urban River Trails director John Rude is in the upper right hand photo in front of the black truck full of bags of trash pulled from the river, and several other photos. Donna Kazo is in the bottom left photo.

If the photos are not quite as crisp as may be found elsewhere on our website, it’s because they were created as montages by WRT Historian Donna Kazo around 2005-2009 and to be reproduced here were photographed in their entirety and then digitally enhanced.