In a marketing event Wednesday, Illinois officials announced the focus-group-approved name for the prolific invasive species, Asian carp: now rebranded as Copi. Read the full story by The Washington Post.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-copi
Lake Michigan sediment cores reveal changes to the Great Lakes over the past few hundred years. Significant changes can be observed from both humans and invasive quagga mussels. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-human-impact
University of Texas researchers are looking at the indirect impacts of 6PPD-quinone, an antioxidant added to car tires to prolong their life, on Great Lakes fish. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-tire-chemicals
Lake whitefish in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have a recruitment problem. Since the early 2000s fewer young whitefish have been making it to adulthood. Fewer adults mean fewer fish for commercial fishers to catch. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-whitefish
Nearly every piece of microplastic pulled out of Lake Ontario is tracked and recorded by the dozens of University of Toronto students participating in a study that pulls more than 10,000 pieces of microplastics out of the lake each day. Read the full story by the CTV National News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-microplastics
Climate change-fueled weather such as extreme storms will provide a direct threat to contaminated waste storage sites, nuclear power plants and industrial facilities at multiple sites on the shores of Lake Michigan, according to a new report. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-hazardous-waste
A group of Great Lakes mayors say Ontario should prioritize the maritime transport sector. The group, which represents more than 150 Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River mayors, says the Ontario government needs to create an effective Marine Strategy. Read the full story by CFLZ – Fort Erie, Ontario.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-marine-strategy
Reports of harmful algal blooms have increased in Michigan in recent years, and state officials have tips on how to keep an eye out for them. Read the full story by WXPR – Ironwood, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-algal-blooms
Tawas Point Lighthouse, located in Northern Michigan, rested on the edge of the point looking over Lake Huron when it was built in 1877. Over the years, the lighthouse began to almost recede into the peninsula, through a process called accretion. Read the full story by WRKR – Portage, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-lighthouse
The availability of expanded federal infrastructure resources offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the Upper Midwest to protect current and any potential residents. Read the full story by Crain’s Chicago Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220624-climate-refuge
Nine African scientists took part of the first in-person cohort of the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education’s African Women in Science program. This exchange program allowed state and federal agencies in the Great Lakes an opportunity to learn from and work with the African scientists. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-african-scientist-exchange
A Wisconsin Sea Grant fisheries specialist explains how invasive species have altered Lake Michigan’s fisheries. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-fisheries
Great Lakes piping plovers Goo and Gabby have returned from their winter territory to the shores of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan to nest and raise a family. Thanks to Sleeping Bear Touring Co, it’s possible to learn first-hand of piping plover behaviors, charms, perils and conservation practices. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-piping-plover
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, an oil spill temporarily closed shipping traffic on the St. Marys River between Ontario and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-oil-spill
More than a dozen teams of scientists from the U.S. and Canada collected samples of ice, snow and frosty lake water in a coordinated scientific event called Winter Grab, a research effort to assess the winter conditions of the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair. Now they are beginning to analyze results. Read the full story by National Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-winter-grab
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers proclaimed June as “Invasive Species Action Month.” The campaign is designed to encourage Wisconsinites to help prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species that harm Wisconsin’s native wildlife, wetlands, forests, prairies, lakes and rivers. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-invasive-species
A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researcher says hundreds of homes in southeast Wisconsin could end up in Lake Michigan. Now, there is an effort to protect it. Read the full story by WITI-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-shoreline-protection
A Wisconsin judge agreed to keep on hold his ruling from April that prevented state regulators from requiring businesses and others responsible for pollution by PFAS chemicals to investigate and clean up the contamination. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-pfas
Shore erosion is a natural process for lakes, but one that was made worse during high water levels. Shoreline erosion risks damaging both infrastructure and fish and wildlife habitat. Read the full story by The Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-erosion
Presque Isle State Park in Pennsylvania will receive federal funding to replenish sand on peninsula beaches this summer. Although the money is coming a little later this year, that should have minimal effect on swimming in Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-presque-isle
The Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois Departments of Natural Resources recently concluded a multi-year law enforcement investigation into the poaching and over-harvesting of hundreds of vulnerable spawning lake whitefish from the Menominee River. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-poaching
Visitors to the Lake Michigan shoreline in southeast Wisconsin have been welcomed over the past week by the unmistakable scent of dead fish as hundreds of dead alewife wash up on shore. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-alewife
The Lapeer Conservation District in eastern Michigan received a grant through the Great Lakes Aquatic Invasive Species Landing Blitz, a weeklong outreach event held throughout the Great Lakes basin to raise awareness about preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species. Read the full story by The County Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-landing-blitz
Mayflies are beginning to hatch and emerge from the depths of Lake Erie, with swarms so dense they were detected on weather radar over the lake. Read the full story by WOIO-TV – Cleveland, OH
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-mayflies
The significant fluctuations in Lake Michigan’s water levels are causing shoreline damage and erosion to Chicago beaches. Listen to the full story by WTTW – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-chicago-beaches
The U.S. Army Corps is shoring up eroded beaches this summer along Lake Michigan using dredged sand from harbor mouths. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-dredged-sand
A new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign focused on how high lake levels influence the bidirectional flow of the Chicago Area Waterway System and its connection to the Mississippi River basin. Read the full story by The Center Square.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-study
Enbridge and the Canadian government are trying to circumvent Tribal rights and avoid a mandated shutdown by the State of Michigan by calling upon a 1977 pipeline treaty. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-line-5
Environment Career Days at Monroe Middle School in southeast Michigan provided students an opportunity to collect and analyze water samples on Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-career-days
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed a bill into law that will require life rings to be placed along the state’s Lake Michigan shoreline to prevent drownings. Read the full story by the Lake & Mchenry County Scanner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-life-rings
Ohio state regulation of streams that flow temporarily after rainfall will be restricted under legislation signed into law by the governor. Environmental groups largely opposed the legislation, saying the streams play an important role in maintaining water quality. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-stream-regulation
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) first decided to introduce coho and Chinook salmon in the 1960s to control an invasive fish called alewife. Most of the salmon are naturally reproduced but the DNR still stocks salmon to keep up with demand, with plans to release 1.6 million fish this year. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-salmon
Failing septic systems can allow contaminated water to seep through the earth into nearby bodies of water, causing water quality issues throughout Michigan. This problem is made worse by the state’s lack of septic system regulations. Listen to the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-septic-systems
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division reported on the dwindling yellow perch population in Saginaw Bay, during one of the 2022 Lake Huron Regional Fisheries Workshops. Read the full story by the Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-yellow-perch
Michigan officials have released their 2022 “Eat Safe Fish” guides and there are several notable updates. The state says the guides can help Michiganders plan their fish consumption to minimize exposure to chemicals that can build up in fish, while still getting all the health benefits of eating fish. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-eat-safe-fish
The Brooklyn Dam on the River Raisin in southern Michigan once supplied hydroelectricity to run a factory but now is targeted for demolition by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Read the full story by WSYM-TV – Brooklyn, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-dam
Around $1.8 million in fisheries habitat grants administered by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources will be shared between 12 fish habitat conservation projects across the state. Read the full story by The Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-fisheries-habitat
Billions of dollars are needed to fix Michigan’s drinking water systems in the rural towns that rely on wells for drinking water instead of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-drinking-water
Thanks to $20,000 earmarked by Congress, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be looking at the Two Rivers Harbor located on Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shore to determine federal interest in further studying the harbor’s infrastructure. Read the full story by Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-two-rivers-harbor
Known as Mama Duck, the “World’s Largest Rubber Duck” is set to make two appearances in Michigan over the summer, along the shores of lakes Huron and Superior. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220504-rubber-duck
Sometimes called “the coral reefs of the northern forest,” vernal pools are bodies of water that hold the key to sustaining a multitude of plant and animal life, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. They may at first appear as leaf-littered ponds, but a closer look reveals a magical array of species beneath the surface. Read the full story by the Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-vernal-pools
In January, Michigan State University received a $1.9 million grant to look at toxicity in PFAS, and researcher professor Cheryl Murphy will lead the multi-institutional team of researchers conducting the study. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-pfas-study
As the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement reaches its 50-year anniversary this week, much in terms of protections and improvements must still be tackled in the years ahead, according to a newly formed group of activists, the Citizens Environment Alliance. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-great-lakes-agreement
Two popular West Michigan buoys are back on the water after spending the winter away. Boaters and swimmers can check the buoy before they head to the lake for conditions like wind speed, air temperature, water temperature, and more. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – South Haven, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-weather-buoys
A voluntary conservation program will be relaunched in the Western Lake Erie Basin, Lake Macatawa, and Saginaw Bay watersheds through a partnership among Michigan state and federal agriculture agencies and regional conservation districts. The effort is expected pull in $40 million in federal funds toward protecting land and water resources. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-fund-water-quality
The movement of two native fish species called suckers are being studied in a northern Michigan river as part of a larger studies to see how fish move into, through and out of the Ottaway River, and the impacts they have on nutrient and energy dynamics. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-sucker-study
The Great Lakes Boat Building School on the northwest corner of Lake Huron in Michigan’s eastern Upper Peninsula is expanding to meet the needs of Michigan’s marine industry. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-marine-industry
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources cannot enforce one of its key environmental protection tools, known as the “spills law,” without first creating a definitive list of hazardous substances approved by lawmakers, a Waukesha County judge ruled Tuesday. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-state-cleanup
The International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board has confirmed that it will host two virtual public meetings in mid-April to review winter and early spring conditions and shared updated forecasts for the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River basin. Read the full story by WWLP-TV – Messena, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-public-meeting
If you find yourself fascinated by shipwrecks, it may surprise you to learn just how many shipwrecks you can find around Michigan and even in some that can be visited by paddle boat. Read the full story by WKFR – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220413-shipwrecks
