Michigan environmental advocates are making the case to continue funding for climate research as the federal government looks to drastically reduce its workforce. Attorneys have filed multiple lawsuits against firings and argue that funding cuts threaten the health of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250305-funding-cuts
Canada-U.S. relations are at a historic nadir in 2025, but, despite the two countries’ spiraling political relationship, construction is pressing on for the enormous Gordie Howe International Bridge — a mammoth representation of this once-unbreakable alliance planned to connect Michigan and Ontario. Read the full story by blogTO.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250305-border-crossing-status
The state of Michigan announced that 32 projects will share $3.6 million in funding through the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program for efforts that address the prevention, detection, eradication and control of aquatic and terrestrial invasive species. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250305-michigan-grant-program
The common tern, a small colonial waterbird that breeds in the Great Lakes basin, was designated as a threatened species in Michigan. Human disturbance and displacement by other species are to blame. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250305-endangered-terns
The Brandon Road Project, a billion-dollar project to block invasive carp from entering Lake Michigan, has been halted over worries the Trump administration will pull their end of the funding. Read the full story by Outdoor News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250305-carp-barrier-hault
Wisconsin-based walleye-farming and aquaponics firm, Aqua Garden, has signed the 100% Great Lakes Fish Pledge, a commitment by fish farmers and processors to sell all parts of their fish in an effort to reduce byproduct waste. Read the full story by SeafoodSource.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250305-fish-pledge
Last week’s cuts to staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are raising alarm among Great Lakes advocates, who say critical water quality and weather forecasting efforts will be compromised. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250305-noaa-layoffs
Research continues to find the cause of Lake Michigan’s mysterious holes that were found while looking for a shipwreck in summer 2024. Read the full story by WGBA – TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250305-lake-michigan-sinkholes
Chautauqua County in New York is continuing to help the village of Fredonia explore the possibility of getting water from Lake Erie. The Chautauqua County Water District would like to sell water from Lake Erie to the village of Fredonia. Read the full story by the Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250305-fredonia-water
The Trump administration has its government-shrinking sights set on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where around 800 employees have been tapped for termination. Included in these job cuts are staff from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Read the full story by CNN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250228-noaa-job-terminations
The Palisades plant, located on Lake Michigan, was shut down in 2022 but will restart activities and add two smaller reactors in 2030. Once completed, the two additional small reactors would generate 600 megawatts of power combined. Read the full story by the Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250228-nuclear-power
A new bill introduced in the Minnesota Legislature by Republican Rep. Tom Dippel aims to transfer funds to support water treatment for PFAS removal in plants in Hastings, Minnesota. However, according to Democratic Rep. Rick Hansen, the fine print actually changes the decision-making from the settlement to individual state legislators and could “pit town against town and neighbor against neighbor.” Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250228-pfas-funding
Permits for hundreds of energy projects may be fast-tracked by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Trump administration, including plans for the Line5 pipeline project in the Great Lakes and a fossil fuel plant in Superior. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250228-energy-projects
Research suggests the concentration of microplastics in Lake Erie rivals the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The particles are present in all five Great Lakes, but there’s no coordinated, regionwide effort to monitor the pollutant. Read the full story by Ideastream Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250228-microplastics-research
Ice fishing has not been possible on Presque Isle Bay off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, for the past three years as the winters have been too warm and ice too thin or nonexistent. This year, in some parts of Presque Isle Bay, ice was 14 inches thick. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250228-erie-ice-fishing
Winds off the Great Lakes into the U.S. snow belts have been more potent than normal, according to a NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory analysis. Lake Ontario is still mostly ice free, providing a source of continual snow if the cold keeps coming. Read the full story by The Washington Post.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250228-snowy-season
Native to a small area of the Ohio River watershed, the rusty crayfish was most likely introduced to Lake Michigan as fishing bait. In just a few decades the species has achieved utter dominance over the native crayfish that were once found off Chicago’s lakefront but are now nearly nonexistent. Read the full story by WTTW – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250228-rusty-crayfish
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicts that water levels for the Great Lakes will continue a seasonal drop until April. Once spring-like weather begins, most of the Great Lakes are predicted to see a rise in water levels. Read the full story by the Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250228-water-levels
A project to keep invasive carp species from reaching the Great Lakes could be in jeopardy as the state of Illinois halted its work, seeking assurances from the Trump administration that federal funding for the more than $1.1 billion project will not be revoked. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-carp-barrier-halted
The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has objected to permitting Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 reroute under the Clean Water Act, saying the project will violate the tribe’s water quality standards. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-line5-tribal-opposition
Waves of Yemeni immigrants came to the United States in the 1950s and 1960s settled in Michigan to work in the Great Lakes shipping industry. Today, around 30,000 people of Yemeni heritage are believed to live in Michigan. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-great-lakes-sailors
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, Ohio, recently introduced a bill, with a frequent Republican ally, requiring the federal government to promote cultural and historic attractions in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-great-lakes-bill
A team of 20 divers scoured 40,000 square meters of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. In just two weeks, the team found, identified, marked, tagged, and relocated every native freshwater mussel within their search area. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-mussel-surveys
Iceboats, some a century old, are the speedsters and yachts of frozen lakes. Iceboating flourished in Madison, Wisconsin, partly because of the city’s lakes and a culture that embraced wintertime activities. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-iceboat-speed
The sea lamprey nearly destroyed fishing in the Great Lakes. The new 90-minute film “The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery,” tells the story of the people who tackled the mystery of why lake trout, one of the most prized fish in the Great Lakes, nearly vanished. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-sea-lamprey-documentary
Michigan’s Great Lakes are 33.19% covered in ice, the highest coverage so far in 2025 with Lake Erie in the lead, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said. Altogether, the Great Lakes are seeing more ice this year compared to 2023 and 2024. Read the full story by Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-ice-cover
This year’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week is February 24-28, 2025. Anyone who enjoys gardening or the outdoors needs to stay informed. Read the full story by the Utica Observer-Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-spotted-lantern-fly
A White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo Monday left states, universities, nonprofits, lawmakers, public officials and average citizens struggling to understand the implications of a broad stop on trillions in federal grant spending. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-omb-confusion
The International Joint Commission’s Great Lakes Science Advisory Board proposes regional coordination to systematically measure Great Lakes microplastics. This would be a huge win for the fight against microplastics, which are adversely affecting the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Buffalo Rising.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-microplastic-monitoring
President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose a stiff 25% tariff on Canadian imports. If this trade war gets underway and escalates, the integrated flow of Great Lakes maritime trade is at risk of a breakdown. Read the full story by Forbes.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-canadian-good-tariff
Photographer and one-man-documentary-crew, Daryl Granger, started telling the story of Port Dover, Ontario’s commercial fishery. After months of work, he released the award-winning two-hour documentary, Netting the Waters, which “sets the record straight” about commercial fishing on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-fishing-documentary
After years of preparation, state officials have identified three cool-water river systems where they will reintroduce Arctic grayling to Michigan. It will take years to know whether the experiment succeeds. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-grayling-return
The documentary Bad River is about the Bad River Band of Chippewa Indians fight for sovereignty and ongoing battle with Enbridge, whose Line 5 runs through about 12 miles of the reservation. A Tribal Elder is traveling to showings of the film and hauling a 60-foot banner with him to raise awareness along the way and collect signatures to show how much support there is to end Line 5. Read the full story by WLUC-TV-Marquette, Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-line5-banner
On January 29, Lee Zeldin was sworn in as 17th Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). During his Senate confirmation hearing, he was asked about many environmental problems that the U.S. is facing including PFAS pollution. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-epa-administrator
Every year from April to November, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is on the Great Lakes, surveying the important and diverse Great Lakes fisheries. Information collected directly informs fisheries management decisions and provides data to help gauge the success of past actions. Read the full story by the Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-2024-fisheries-survey
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative welcome Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch and Michigan City, Indiana, to its growing coalition of more than 260 mayors and top elected local leaders working to advance the socioeconomic and environmental health of communities in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin. Read the full story by WIMS – Michigan City, Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-michigan-city
In late January, winds were blowing offshore near Chicago and pushing ice away from the coastline. Areas of thin dark ice closer to shore transitioned into patchy areas of bright white ice away from shore that had piled up forming a rough surface. Read the full story by the SciTechDaily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250131-unexpected-freezeing
Humans once hunted caribou on a land bridge that’s now submerged under Lake Huron. Research in this area has uncovered new findings, including a peat bog containing preserved prehistoric DNA. However, with long-term funding in question, these discoveries could end before researchers can unlock more of Lake Huron’s secrets. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250103-huron-secrets
Since the 1950s, chemical lampricides have kept invasive sea lamprey populations at bay, but the lampricides will eventually become ineffective. Michigan State University is studying lamprey breeding habits, hoping to find a way to sterilize the invasive fish. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250103-lamprey-reserach
In 1878, a 178-foot ship full of rye encountered fierce winds, stuck a shoal, and sank. A shipwreck enthusiast found the ship and 36,000 bushels of rye that went down with it which is now being reintroduced in Michigan to create craft whiskey. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250103-rye-seed-recovery
Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Northeast Ohio is turning 50, and celebrating the milestone by highlighting decades of expansion, development and environmental preservation. Read the full story by Ideastream Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250103-environmental-stewardship-anniversary
Ohio Division of Wildlife officials have released their 2024 trawl survey indexes for Lake Erie’s two most-sought sportfish: yellow perch and walleye. This year’s results bring an end to a streak of wildly successful hatches for walleye. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250103-walleye-population-down
The U.S. National Ice Center released its 2024-2025 seasonal outlook, predicting slightly below to near normal ice conditions across the Great Lakes — a turnaround from last season’s record-breaking absence of ice. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250103-ice-forecast
After experiencing its largest oil spill since 2012, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is navigating cleanup and increasing opposition for Enbridge’s line 5 plans. Other Wisconsin energy news includes coal plant operation extensions and a new bill concerning how nuclear energy is labeled. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250103-wisconsin-energy-news
Michigan’s 40-page annual State of the Great Lakes report outlines several accomplishments as well as issues to be tackled in the future in order to improve the environment of the Great Lakes and the well-being of the people who drink, fish, and swim in the region’s waters. Read the full story by WCMU – Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250103-michigan-report
A mapping initiative dubbed Lakebed 2030 supports ongoing efforts to make the Great Lakes region more resilient to climate change. The project is working to identify areas prone to erosion, flooding or damage from shifting lake bed sediments that are caused by extreme weather events. Read the full story by WPR – Madison, Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250103-mapping-efforts
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last week issued an opinion affirming that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has the authority to conduct inspections to ensure compliance with their rules, following a lawsuit accusing the department of violating the Fourth Amendment by taking soil and water samples without a warrant. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241223-wetland-project-inspections
More details have emerged about Enbridge’s Line 6 oil spill in Wisconsin, as well as drone footage captured earlier this week by an activist who works to protect waterways. The estimated size of the spill increased from 2 gallons to 69,300 gallons, and may change again. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241223-oil-spill
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is looking for deals to create more green space in populated areas as part of an updated public lands strategy. The goal is to equitably provide public access to green space, wildlife habitat and public hunting closer to where people live, department officials say. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241223-public-land-aquisitions
The city of Grand Rapids has received a permit from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for its Grand River restoration project. The project will restore rapids, significantly improve aquatic habitat and connectivity, and provide increased access for people to enjoy the Grand River. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241223-river-restoration-project
