128 Policies and Regulations on the Fox Irene Park Policies and regulations are oftentimes required for natural regions, which may need to be protected from humans. The Fox River is no exception to this as numerous government agencies tried to regulate the Fox River through a series of policies. Whether it was by helping preserve the nature of the Fox River or prioritizing human-centered corporations, numerous bills have been passed or proposed in Illinois regarding the Fox River. Though the state government extended its powers by proposing laws that both preserved the ecology of the river and helped human corporations, the laws have primarily been intended to help the Fox River ecosystems, rather than prioritizing human advancements. As a matter of fact, many bills focused on helping the ecology of the Fox River passed with immense support. An early example is from 1833, when Senators Benjamin Howland and Henry L. Brush proposed that a mill dam be built across the Fox River.1 Ultimately, through the debate of other legislators, the final vote decided that the Fox River was “indisputably a navigable stream…any obstruction imposed by the action of this Legislature would affect injuriously the citizens of that region” and the bill did not pass the House.2 Though the reasons were because the residents living around the Fox River would be disrupted if too many people started using the Fox River as transportation for trade services, it still saved the river from being overburdened with a dam. Dams can have negative impacts on the ecosystems they are placed in. They often trap 1 Benjamin Howland and Henry P Brush, “Internet Archive,” Internet Archive § (2014), https://archive.org/details/journalofsenateo09illi/page/312/mode/2up?q=fox. 2 Ibid.
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