A bipartisan task force that brought together environmentalists, the energy industry and others released its recommendations Wednesday for how Wisconsin might bolster its economy while addressing climate change. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-wisconsin-climate-task-force
The Great Lakes Commission has issued a grant to Ohio’s Ottawa Soil and Water Conservation District to address runoff concerns into Lake Erie through the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-nutrient-trapping
A project aimed at reducing the number of invasive quagga mussels in Lake Michigan near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has proved successful, providing important takeaways for groups involved in the ongoing effort to combat Great Lakes invasive species. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-invasive-mussels
A new report outlining a common agenda for protecting the Lake Erie watershed in Pennsylvania was recently released by the conservation nonprofit organization PennFuture with the help of a dozen environmental and community groups and advisors. Read the full story by The Alleghany Front.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-pennsylvania-erie-watershed
The Southland Water Agency in South Holland, Illinois sent a letter Thursday to the mayor and City Council of Joliet, Illinois, contending that the city could reduce its water delivery costs by joining the system the agency is already developing to distribute Lake Michigan water to the south Chicago suburbs. Read the full story by The Herald-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-joliet
The city of Muskegon, Michigan, is considering spending $13,600 on a new alert system to warn beachgoers of hazards. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-muskegon-hazard-lights
Indiana’s plans to clean up coal ash sites are insufficient, leaving toxins that could further poison drinking water and the environment, according to a new report by the Hoosier Environmental Council. Read the full story by The Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-indiana-cleanup
Some University of Minnesota students, faculty, and alumni have been fighting development of the Enbridge Energy Line 3 pipeline for years, citing concerns about the environmental impacts of oil spills and the health risks and effects on Indigenous communities. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-line-3
The Great Lakes Conservation Coalition is criticizing the U.S. EPA’s ballast water rule proposal which would exempt cargo ships that only travel in the Great Lakes from having to treat their ballast water to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-epa-proposal
Applications to Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy for shoreline protection permits tripled this year compared to 2019. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-lakefront-protections
The mayor of Waukegan, Illinois, is chairing the recently formed Mayors Water Equity Commission of the binational Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, exploring ways to make fresh water more accessible and less costly. Read the full story by The Lake County News-Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-waukegan-water-quality
Lake Superior water levels continued to drop in November, but more slowly than usual, as the big lake continues with higher-than-normal water levels. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-superior-water-level
A new 214-acre “quiet” recreation area on Lake Michigan and featuring a large inland lake near Muskegon, Michigan, could be open to the public next year. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-muskegon-park
The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, a water safety nonprofit, is rolling out an online learning program to give water safety presentations to schools throughout the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana TImes.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-water-safety
A project supported by the Stratford Perth Community Foundation in Ontario is helping landowners in the region shore up their properties to provide environmental benefits, add bank stability, and improve the quality of water that ultimately ends up in Lake Huron. Read the full story by The Beacon Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-restoration-project
The Saugeen Ojibway Nation has now been joined by more partners in an effort to stop the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, from cutting back the dunes at Sauble Beach on Lake Huron and installing a concrete-block retaining wall. Read the full story by The Owen Sound Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-sauble-beach
A Minnesota regulatory panel on Friday denied a request from two tribes to prevent Enbridge Energy from moving forward with its contentious Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement, which broke ground this week after receiving its final state permit. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-line-3
The government of Ontario estimates that “hundreds of thousands” of the province’s lakes, islands, beaches, bays and other geographic features still don’t have an official name, and anyone can make a name submission to the Ontario Geographic Names Board. Read the full story by CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-ontario-lakes
Milwaukee’s three-masted, wooden schooner Denis Sullivan may never sail again. The vessel’s operator, Discovery World, posted on Instagram that the last of its crew have been let go and the popular floating classroom is heading into winter with an uncertain future due to losses caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Read the full story by WDJT-TV Milwaukee.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-sailing
Once again, water was a must-mention this fall for candidates of both major parties seeking to represent Michigan in public office. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-water-pollution
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently confirmed a new detection of invasive hemlock woolly adelgid at Ludington State Park in Mason County, it announced in a press release Wednesday. Read the full story by the Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-ludington-invasive
The Minnesota Supreme Court denied a request from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to add several documents into the record that would have supported a clay liner for the tailings basin of PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mine. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-polymet-dam
On Sept. 23, Northwestern University students in Evanston, Illinois received an email from Facilities Management that the University would begin an emergency coastal stabilization project along the perimeter of the campus bordering Lake Michigan. Read the full story by The Daily Northwestern.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-illinois-stabilization
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed the Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 2020 which would strengthen the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) ability to help communities impacted by disasters. Read and view the full story by WHEC-TV- Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-fema-response
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is continuing to monitor state highway M-116 on the Lake Michigan coast of the northwest Lower Peninsula, and with recent erosion and fluctuating water levels on Lake Michigan, it’s keeping a closer eye on the highway. Read the full story by the Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-michigan-erosion
While the winds battered Michigan, mother nature got busy creating breathtaking natural sand sculptures along the shores of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WBCK – Battle Creek, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-sand-sculptures
Amidst a challenging 2020 navigation season, overall tonnage across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System is down 7.9 percent compared to this time last year. Read the full story by the Maritime News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-us-agriculture
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urges caution around Great Lake piers, breakwaters and jetties, particularly during times of high wind and wave events. Read the full story by WLUC -TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-high-water
U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) today applauded Senate passage of his bipartisan legislation to update the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WLNS – TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-great-lakes-bill
Over the decades, wetlands and other water bodies in Cook County, Illinois, have decreased by a third, while swamps and marshes have been drained or converted into lakes and ponds, causing havoc for wildlife, according to a recent study by a group of graduate students and their professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-chicago-landscape
Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s announcement Friday that she will revoke the 1953 easement allowing the controversial Line 5 twin oil and gas pipelines to continue operation on the Straits of Mackinac lake bottom isn’t winning her fans among Canadian officials. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-line5
The policy debate over algae-forming farm nutrients in the western Lake Erie region drew a familiar face from the national political scene on Monday when U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) appeared as a featured speaker on a virtual seminar sponsored by the Environmental Law & Policy Center. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-cafo
WLS-TV Channel 7 in Chicago, Illinois, has partnered with National Geographic as they release a special cover story on “Saving Our Great Lakes” to discuss some of the challenges facing this precious natural resource. Read and hear the full story by WLS-TV- Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-natgeo
South Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada went to court Monday to argue it shouldn’t have been convicted of twice violating the Endangered Species Act by its 2017 raking and reshaping endangered piping plover beach habitat. Read the full story by The Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-plover-esa
A Canadian company has launched a new dog food product that provides pooches with protein while removing an invasive species from North American waterways. Read the full story by Seafood Source.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-carp-dog-food
The largest initiative to clean plastic from our Great Lakes and waterways is happening in several marinas across Georgian Bay with what appear to be floating trash bins. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-georgian-bay
While large tributaries get lots of attention from researchers and regulatory agencies, a research team from the University of Wisconsin found that small streams were largely ignored despite playing a large role in feeding algal blooms and in nearshore water quality. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-small-streams
The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio is offering special guided tours for “The Fitzgerald Experience” this weekend to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, Ohio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-edmund-fitzgerald
We Energies of Milwaukee, Wisconsin will retire the oldest part of its coal-fired power plant complex in Oak Creek in 2023 and 2024. The We Energies Oak Creek generating site occupies 1,000 acres on the shore of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Business Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-we-energies
Ducks Unlimited Canada has purchased the almost 200-hectare (488-acre) St. Luke’s Marsh, one of the few remaining coastal wetlands on Lake St. Clair in Southwestern Ontario. Read the full story by Chatham This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-st-lukes-marsh
By the time the 2020 shipping season ends more than 150 ocean-going vessels, or salties, will have dropped anchor in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Read and hear the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-thunder-bay
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler writes about the agency’s efforts to restore and maintain the overall health and ecosystems of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-epa-anniversary
Biologists from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Central Michigan University have started working toward that goal with a project to propagate, or rear, snuffbox at Consumers Energy’s Webber Dam on the Grand River, near the town of Lyons in Ionia County, Michigan. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-nutrient-trapping
The Ottawa SWCD has partnered with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Great Lakes Commission to launch two new nutrient trapping programs, which are promoting practices intended to intercept and hold water, nutrients and sediments in and on farms fields to mitigate loss running off to Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-nutrient-trapping
The agency searching for a location for an underground storage facility for about three million spent nuclear-fuel rods says it has reached a “milestone” in regard to one of the potential Ontario sites on its narrowed short list. Read the full story by The Chronical Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-nuclear-waste
The corpses of song birds migrating south while using Lake Michigan as their interstate and GPS are being found after colliding with Milwaukee buildings. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-milwaukee-birds
Strong winds caused big waves at Lake Michigan Sunday afternoon and evening. Waves could be seen crashing over Grand Haven’s south pier, which caused flooding. Read the full story by WOOD-TV- Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-michigan-waves
Anglers will have the opportunity to catch trout on remote lakes in northeastern Minnesota following helicopter-based fish stocking efforts this fall. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-minnesota-stocking
After the Department of the Interior announced Thursday the delisting of the Grey Wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), management for wolf populations will be handed over to state jurisdiction in 60 days. In Wisconsin, the Department of Natural Resources will handle the task. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-wisconsin-wolves
During an online PFAS summit, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy aquatic biologist Brandon Armstrong announced that PFOS is showing up more often and in greater concentrations in fish. . Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-pfas-fish
