Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on sewage treatment and sewer system improvements, habitat restoration, among other things. But the results have been generally disappointing, especially when it comes to fish recovery. Read the full story by the Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220204-hamilton-harbor
A Michigan’s city’s winter festival has been postponed because of too much winter. Due to the inclement weather, St. Joseph has postponed its 2022 Ice Fest until Feb. 25-27. The annual festival had been scheduled for this weekend. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220204-winter-fest
The Minnesota Public Facilities Authority awarded just over $180 million in the second half of 2021 to 26 Minnesota cities to improve water service and protect waterways. This funding resulting in a total of $193 million invested in Minnesota’s water ways during those six months. Read the full story by Red Lake Nation News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220204-facilities
Many of nearly 300 people who attended a 10-hour-long virtual public hearing spoke out against a $450 million plan to reroute an oil and gas pipeline across northern Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220204-pipeline
Northern Michigan University is working with the state to bring the Arctic grayling back to Michigan with research focused on finding the best in-stream incubators for the native fish. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220204-grayling
A big increase in cruise ships docking at Port Milwaukee is bringing around $6 million in improvements to help accommodate that traffic. And a major piece of that funding will be a $3.5 million grant to help expand maritime infrastructure for larger cruise ships. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220204-cruise
Lafarge and the City of Alpena, Michigan will receive $3.7 million as one of 25 grantees of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s port infrastructure development grants, awarded at the end of 2021. The investments in the Alpena port, and others across the nation, will strengthen supply chains and speed up delivery of goods to residents. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220204-lafarge-port
An animation from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) shows the growing ice coverage from Dec. 3 when there was almost no ice to Jan. 31 when the five lakes were 40% frozen over. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220204-ice-coverage
In order to learn more about what happens under the ice, crews from more than a dozen U.S. and Canadian universities and government agencies will make their way onto frozen sections of lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior during the week of Feb. 14. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220204-winter
The Michigan Department of Environmental, Great Lakes and Energy released the draft MI Healthy Climate Plan as an outline of how the state plans to reach Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s goal of getting the state carbon neutral by 2050. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-michigan-climate
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy will be performing a phase 1 environmental assessment at a potential redevelopment site in Alma. The environmental assessment will determine what, if any, types of contaminants are on the site and whether or not remediation will be required before the parcel can be reused. Read the full story by the Morning Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-egle-assessment
Jan. 26, 1837, serves as the day Michigan officially became the 26th state. The Great Lakes State has much to offer, but we don’t need to tell you that. To celebrate 185 years, check out some of these Detroit News’ Michigan Marvels. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-marvels
Rep. Chris Jacobs is leading a bipartisan effort to boost funding for a new federal effort to combat plastic pollution in the Great Lakes and other waterways around the world. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-plastic
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has completed its annual Great Lakes survey season, conducted on all of our Great Lakes waters from April to November 2021. The data from these surveys directly informs fisheries management decisions and future actions on Great Lakes waters. Read the full story by the Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-fisheries
A new report is recommending ways to protect an artesian aquifer in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, following a controversial proposal, that’s now being fought in court, to bottle and sell water from an artesian well in a Lake Superior watershed. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-report
A new bill in Congress would require the U.S. Coast Guard to train and prepare for oil spills on the St. Lawrence River. The bill seeks to extend the Coast Guard’s required readiness levels for the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River and some Great Lakes tributaries. Read the full story by North Country Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-bill
Researchers with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission say their surveys have found that many more endangered species could be affected by a proposed pipeline in Wisconsin than the oil company found in its own surveys. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-oil
Great Lakes steel production rose by 5,000 tons last week though output fell nationally. Locally, steel mills in the Great Lakes region, clustered mainly along the south shore of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana, made 634,000 tons of metal in the week that ended Jan. 22, up from 629,000 tons the previous week. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-steel
Cleveland City Council members voted Monday night to ban the release of 10 or more balloons in a setting — an eco-friendly move that’s been implemented in other cities. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220126-ballon
Cities from Milwaukee to Green Bay and small communities in Door County must confront erosion — a key portion of climate impacts that Wisconsin’s shoreline communities expect to cost at least $245 million over the next five years. Read the full story by the Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211222-shoreline
Officials on two Lake Huron islands denied Enbridge permission to install cameras to keep tabs on shipping traffic through the Straits of Mackinac and across the path of its underwater Line 5 dual pipelines – in one case at least partly because of controversy surrounding the company itself. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211222-line5-camera
An intertribal agency says Wisconsin’s draft environmental review for a planned reroute of an oil and gas pipeline across northern Wisconsin is incomplete and flawed. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211222-line5
The United States Coast Guard cutter Katmai Bay has been called upon to break up ice on Lake Superior ice in order to allow commercial traffic to safely navigate in and out of the Thunder Bay, Ontario, area. Read the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211222-icebreaker
Unless it’s, say, the Titanic, shipwrecks don’t often make it into commonplace lore. But one 109-year-old wreck deep in Lake Michigan’s chilly waters has wedged itself into the fabric of the Great Lakes, inspiring plays, stories, art, and even songs about its demise. And understandably so. Read the full story by Thrillist.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211222-shipwreck
Strong winds on Lake Erie create waves up to eight feet tall that crash onto the beaches of Presque Isle State Park, located four miles west of Erie, Pennsylvania. Surfers flock to the park when the waves form, even if the temperature is below freezing and the wind chill is below zero. Read the full story by The Washington Post.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211222-surfing
The sucker maybe not be a popular recreational fish, but the Great Lakes native works hard to contribute to the ecosystems of all five lakes as well as the creeks and streams feeding into them. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211222-shedd-fish
Kathy Johnson of Great Lakes Now reminisces on her journey to bring freshwater fish content to PBS and onto the national stage. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211222-fish
The Nature Conservancy of Canada says a stretch of shoreline on Manitoulin Island in Ontario is now protected land. The non-profit organization says the 76 square kilometre parcel is one of its largest single-property acquisitions in Ontario to date. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-manitoulin
A Wisconsin shipwreck a little more than 13 miles northeast of the Sheboygan Breakwater Lighthouse on Lake Michigan has been added to the State Register of Historic Places. Read the full story by the Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-shipwreck
Contradicting the historical conservation planning tenet that gave preference to protecting larger, more intact areas, a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science has shown that small, isolated patches of habitat are inordinately important for biodiversity conservation. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-habitat-patches
The curb appeal of the Great Lakes region is that it appears to be a relatively safe place to ride out the wild weather of the future, and climate migration may soon lead to increased city size in the Midwest. Planning in advance for a potential influx of people can alleviate the stress on cities as well as on their newcomers. Read the full story by Grist.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-climate-havens
Great Lakes steel production fell by 7,000 tons last week, while U.S. steel mills fell further under 85% capacity utilization. National steel output is now less than 20% higher than at the same time last year, when steel mills sank to just over half-capacity early in the coronavirus pandemic. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-steel
Researchers at The Natural Resource Research Institute in Duluth, Minnesota, said data shows a rise in air temperatures, causing a worrisome increase in water temperatures throughout the Great Lakes. Read the full story by KBJR-TV- Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-warming
Approximately 85,000 homeowners in the Great Lakes region will see rate reductions in their home flood insurance because of the National Flood Insurance Program’s new risk rating system. The new system, Risk Rating 2.0, was created to address inequities in flood insurance pricing in the old system, which was last updated in the ‘70s. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-flooding
A proposed plan to charge a royalty on bottled water produced from Michigan groundwater would put an estimated $250 million annually into a water trust fund to be used to replace lead lines, create water affordability plans, and provide emergency water funds. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-bottled-water
For the first time in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, biologists have found a nuisance algae called “rock snot,” or didymo. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-rock-snot
A poll by the Great Lakes Water Quality Board asked 4,500 Great Lakes residents in the U.S. and Canada to rate the current status of the environmental health of their favorite Great Lake, and more people think the Great Lakes are in bad shape than those who think they’re in good shape. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211208-health
The Cleveland area has once again has been featured in the national (game show) spotlight. The Great Lakes Science Center was part of a question on Jeopardy! Tuesday. Read the full story by WEWS-TV- Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211124-jeopardy
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is informing the public about the dredging it does at nine harbors along Ohio’s north coast by publishing aa newsletter that includes a map that identifies the location of each harbor in Lake Erie, the timing of the dredging sessions, and their contribution to the economy. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211124-dredging
If you visited the shores of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee in the 1970s and ’80s, chances are you saw it: a wedge of concrete about 3,000 feet off Bradford Beach, with the word “LOVE” painted on its side in big capital letters. How the “LOVE” got there was a mystery for decades. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211124-love-rock
Erie Hack, the months-long water-innovation competition from the Great Lakes region hosted by Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA), has culminated with the naming of two winning teams and over $60,000 awarded November 18. Read the full story by WaterWorld.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211124-eriehack
The Allegan County Health Department has lifted its cyanobacteria advisory on Swan Lake. A November 18 test conducted by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy determined that the lake’s microcystin levels were below detection levels. Read the full story by WXMI-TV- Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211124-cyano
While many local residents might be particularly interested in the Great Lakes program,the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act also has money to restore the environment in other areas of the U.S., plant many new trees and deal with global warming by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211124-bill
A judge has ordered an Upper Peninsula man to pay a $150,000 civil fine and restore wetlands on an island in the St. Marys River that regulators say were developed without a permit. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211124-wetlands
Scientists have discovered a Lake Superior refuge for a declining weasel-like carnivore. The American marten was rediscovered on Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands in 2014, several decades after it had disappeared. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211124-species
Lurking below the surface of Lake Erie is a ship graveyard that is estimated to include up to 2,500 vessels, with the earliest wreck dating to the 1800s when Lake Erie was part of the water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the upper Midwest. Read the full story by the Daily Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-eerie-erie
For just a few weeks in October, the fish technicians at the Platte River Fish Hatchery in Benzie County, Michigan, do egg takes on over 600 coho salmon males and females a day to eventually spawn new coho salmon. Read the full story by WWUP-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-salmon-eggs
The union local in Chicago representing Environmental Protection Agency employees across the Midwest is asking President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency and take major unprecedented actions to slow global warming. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-climate-emergency
Tough questions are being raised in Benton Harbor, a southwest Michigan city in the midst of a Flint-like water crisis caused by high lead levels in the municipal supply. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-benton-harbor
The Superior Watershed Partnership received a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant in the amount of $216,395 from the USDA Forest Service to create the Northern Tribal and Community Green Infrastructure Collaborative in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Read the full story by Radio Results Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-planting-trees
