Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
The Eastern Seaboard has the East Coast Greenway and the Appalachian Trail.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/06/great-lakes-moment-creating-a-u-s-great-lakes-waterfront-trail/
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/05/the-legacy-of-chief-blackstone-ojibwe-resistance-in-great-lakes-history/
Significant areas of the Earth’s surface across continents are gradually sinking and that process brings environmental, social and economic consequences to urban centers in the United States. Great Lakes cities Detroit and Chicago are among those at risk.
That’s the conclusion of a recent study conducted by Columbia University researchers, published by the science journal Nature Cities.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/05/sinking-cities-great-lakes-cities-not-immune-from-under-recognized-threat/
I Speak for the Fish is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/05/i-speak-for-the-fish-sturgeon-vs-salmon-prioritizing-native-great-lakes-species/
A fledgling birding festival that hatched 15 years ago has become an international event drawing visitors from around the world to northwest Ohio. While the stars of the show at the Biggest Week in American Birding (BWIAB) are migrating warblers, there are dozens of other species which draw crowds from every state and continent including wading and shore birds, tanagers, songbirds, waterfowl and raptors.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/05/everything-you-need-to-know-about-biggest-week-in-american-birding/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
There is always room to improve program effectiveness and efficiency in government, as well as business, nongovernmental organizations and other institutions.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/05/great-lakes-moment-government-downsizing-defunding-and-deregulating-at-what-environmental-cost/
Chequamegon Bay plays a significant role in our human lives, including past residents like the Huron and Ottawa; and current residents, the Ojibwe-Anishinaabeg, who have gathered and made history there for a millennia. An oblong, shallow bay (61 feet at the deepest point), on the south shore of Lake Superior, the water also holds dark history as a federal Superfund site.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/04/chequamegon-bay-superfund-site-history-impact-importance-to-indigenous-communities/
Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in the Great Lakes region. Check back for more PFAS news roundups every other week on our website.
On April 15, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff were told to cancel tens of millions of dollars worth of pending and active grants.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/04/epa-nixes-pfas-grants-teases-new-strategy/
For National Park week, Ian Solomon recounts his time visiting Isle Royale for a much-loved episode of Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/04/visiting-least-visited-national-park/
Alberto Rey’s artistic passions are wide-ranging. But water and wildlife may most succinctly describe them. The retired State University of New York — Fredonia professor of art has waded into drawing, painting, ceramics and filmmaking all while diving headfirst into the deepest affection for the natural world.
The 64-year-old Cuban-born artist moonlights as an Orvis-endorsed fly fishing guide on Western New York’s Lake Erie tributaries.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/04/alberto-rey-art-all-about-earth/
Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in the Great Lakes region. Check back for more PFAS news roundups every other week on our website.
On Tuesday, April 1, Susan Crawford won Wisconsin’s contentious Supreme Court election.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/04/susan-crawfords-wisconsin-supreme-court-win-could-be-a-win-for-pfas/
Change is happening since Donald Trump took office and began making good on campaign pledges to reduce the size and scope of the work of the federal agencies that serve the country.
And the 50-year-old focus of the U.S. EPA to protect the environment has not been immune.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/04/experts-explain-criticality-of-regional-epa-office/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
April 22, 1970 was the first Earth Day. On that day, two boats — one with an American flag representing American autoworkers and one with a Canadian flag representing Canadian autoworkers — met in the middle of the Detroit River to hold a wake, symbolizing the death of the river from pollution.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/04/autoworkers-long-history-of-protecting-our-environment/
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/03/she-makes-maple-sugar-right-now/
On March 14, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that perhaps Lake Erie should be changed to Lake Ohio.
According to reporting from Cleveland.com:
“Anybody think if there’s a Lake Michigan, maybe there should be a Lake Ohio around here?” Ramaswamy said, about 13 miles away from Lake Erie.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/03/could-lake-erie-really-become-lake-ohio/
Rainbow trout and steelhead are two of the most popular sport fish in the Great Lakes. They also hold three spots on my lifetime list of all-time great dives.
An 8-inch juvenile rainbow was the first fish I ever hand-fed in the Great Lakes. My partner, Greg Lashbrook, and I had fed fish before at several different Caribbean dive resorts.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/03/i-speak-for-the-fish-is-it-a-rainbow-trout-or-a-steelhead/
Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in the Great Lakes region. Check back for more PFAS news roundups every other week on our website.
On March 5, Canada released its final State of PFAS report, and announced that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) would be added to the toxic substances list.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/03/cancer-causing-pfas-to-be-added-to-canadas-toxic-substance-list/
In 2024 when Donald Trump as a presidential candidate proposed piping water from British Columbia, Canada to California, his statement was largely dismissed as campaign rhetoric.
Once he was elected, Canadians started paying attention but the potential water grab was seen as logistically and politically problematic and unlikely to gain traction.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/03/trump-threatens-great-lakes-agreements-between-u-s-and-canada/
It is widely known by lovers of the Great Lakes that their unique shape was caused by glaciers melting and receding northward. That was approximately 20,000 years ago. However, new research published in Geophysical Research Letters suggests this treasured landmass started forming hundreds of millions of years ago, long before the theory of plate tectonics, when Pangea likely separated into the continents we recognize today.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/03/stunning-new-research-reveals-the-great-lakes-pre-date-north-america/
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of San Francisco in a case about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) sewage permits issued under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The court ruled that the EPA’s “end-result” water pollution permits are too speculative and that the EPA overstepped its authority in the case of San Francisco v.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/03/what-a-recent-supreme-court-ruling-could-mean-for-the-future-of-the-clean-water-act/
It seems like every year winter creeps forward into being one of my favorite seasons. It’s not lost on me that this budding love affair began once I gained the courage to venture into Northern Michigan during the months almost everyone will tell you to avoid. The truth is: Metro Detroit isn’t made for the cold and snow, so I’m allowing the North Woods to change my mind.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/03/ian-outside-a-detroiters-journey-to-calumet-for-copperdog/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
Common terns are known for their aerial acrobatics, performing rapid turns and swoops to the delight of those watching.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/03/great-lakes-moment-detroit-river-common-terns-under-threat/
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/02/nibi-chronicles-invisible-borders/
Just-announced staff cuts and hiring freezes from the Trump administration will jeopardize the ongoing success of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) decades-long battle against sea lamprey, according to officials. While states, provinces and U.S. and Canadian tribes are involved in the labor-intensive efforts, the USFWS performs most of the in-stream treatments in the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/02/lake-trout-recovery-in-superior-sign-of-lamprey-removal-success/
I Speak for the Fish is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/02/i-speak-for-the-fish-hornyhead-chubs-are-cooler-than-their-name-implies/
Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in the Great Lakes region. Check back for more PFAS news roundups every other week on our website.
On February 5, New York state lawmakers announced a group of five bills aimed to reduce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure for New York residents.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/02/new-york-proposed-pfas-legislation-other-great-lakes-states-efforts-combat-forever-chemicals/
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/02/protecting-the-protectors/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
In the 1960s, an oxbow was eliminated in the lower Rouge River when a concrete channel was built to move stormwater out of the watershed.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/02/great-lakes-moment-rouge-river-oxbow-enhances-education-the-henry-ford/
In the Great Lakes region alone, Ducks Unlimited (DU) has been involved in hundreds of projects in the past decade that involve either the conservation of wetlands through acquisition, or the restoration and management of wetlands. These projects — always in concert with public and private partners, universities and other organizations — seek to establish or conserve the maximum amount of acreage possible with available funds.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/how-ducks-unlimited-became-heroes-of-the-conservation-movement/
Ryan Schwegman is a relocation specialist but don’t ask for his help if you’re moving, unless you are an endangered species.
Schwegman is COO of BioSurvey Group, LLC. in Oxford, Ohio. He manages a team of commercial and scientific divers who travel across the Eastern United States, relocating threatened and endangered species before river restoration projects begin.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/the-history-of-the-button-industrys-impact-on-freshwater-mussels/
I Speak for the Fish is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/i-speak-for-the-fish-why-do-mudpuppies-matter/
Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in the Great Lakes region. Check back for more PFAS news roundups every other week on our website.
A new study out of Notre Dame shows that some smart watch wristbands, often labeled as waterproof, contain unusually high levels of “forever chemicals.” In a university press release, it was noted that nine out of the 22 bands tested, showed elevated levels of a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS).
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/study-shows-smart-watch-wristbands-contain-pfas-meanwhile-epa-tracks-nine-new-versions-of-forever-chemicals/
Candidates for president of the United States address many issues on the campaign trail as they criss-cross the country pitching their policy agendas.
The economy, healthcare and immigration were among the leading topics in the runup to the 2024 election. However, it’s uncommon for a candidate to talk about the availability of water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/trumps-aggressive-water-statement-riles-unites-canadians/
Catch the latest energy news from around the Great Lakes region. Check back for these biweekly Energy News Roundups.
Chicago’s commitment to using 100% renewable energy at city-owned buildings went into effect Jan.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/energy-transition-small-wins-uncertainty-upper-midwest/
A recent Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan report documents substantial progress in creating The Great Lakes Way — an interconnected set of greenways and water trails stretching from Port Huron, Michigan on southern Lake Huron to Toledo, Ohio on western Lake Erie.
In 2000, the Community Foundation polled metropolitan Detroit communities about obstacles to building greenways.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/great-lakes-moment-connecting-people-to-nature-through-the-great-lakes-way/
Picasso’s Guernica bursts forth in a jumble of body parts, animals crying out in pain and heavy layers of historical context, created to tell the story of a physical battle. The original oil painting is 11.5 feet tall by 25.5 feet long and can be seen in person at the Reina Sofía Museum, Spain’s national modern and contemporary art center in Madrid.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/12/the-right-to-consciousness/
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of stop-motion animated film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I Speak for the Fish columnist Kathy Johnson creates a whimsical remix of the classic holiday jingle. Check out her previous columns.
You know darters and daces and pickerel and gar
Catfish and chub and cisco and char
But do you recall
The most famous fish of them all?
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/12/i-speak-for-the-fish-sammy-the-red-nosed-sucker/
On Wednesday, December 5, the Biden administration updated the New Chemicals Regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to reporting by Rachel Frazin of The Hill, this aims to prevent a family of chemicals (or chemical cousins) known as PFAS from being approved through Low Volume Exemptions, “abridged reviews given to chemicals that will only be produced in small quantities.”
Meanwhile, according to recent reporting from The Guardian, the incoming chair of the Senate environmental committee said in a hearing last week that she would target portions of new PFAS regulations.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/12/pfas-roundup-biden-administration-updates-chemical-regulations-for-pfas-while-trump-allies-already-voice-plans-to-roll-them-back/
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/breaking-point-minnesotas-mining-legacy-includes-massive-lake-of-wastewater/
Great Lakes Now recently sat down with Margot Fass of the non-profit group, A Frog House. Located in Pittsfield, New York on the banks of the Erie Canal and on the edge of the Lake Ontario sub-basin. A Frog House helps to encourage ecological education, local advocacy and collaboration around clean water and thriving wetlands.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/5-reasons-to-build-a-backyard-frog-pond/
I Speak for the Fish is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/i-speak-for-the-fish-how-native-americans-are-saving-lake-sturgeon/
Over 77% of voters in Minnesota approved an extension of the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF), that will continue to pay for conservation efforts for another 25 years. Funding for this casts a wide net, from outdoor education and trail investments, to invasive species and PFAS removal. The ENRTF was approved as an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution of the State in 1988, and generates funding from the Minnesota State Lottery.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/pfas-roundup-minnesota-votes-to-continue-conservation-and-pfas-cleanup-indiana-ends-firefighter-foam-collection-program/
A 2022 report titled Promises Half Kept at the Half Century Mark, by the Environmental Integrity Project, released on the Clean Water Act’s 50th anniversary said the law is “falling short of its original goals.”
Michigan, for example, has the 4th largest number of impaired lakes, reservoirs and streams assessed for water contact recreation in the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/can-environmental-law-move-beyond-bedrock-1970s-legislation-while-adapting-to-current-and-future-challenges/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
In the era of climate change, many Detroit homes and churches face challenging stormwater fees.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/great-lakes-moment-sacred-grounds/
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/nibi-chronicles-manoomin-as-medicine/
Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Dan Kildee introduced The Veterans Exposed to Toxic PFAS Act in July of 2023. Recently, Vice President Kamala Harris announced her support for the bill as a part of her presidential campaign. If passed, this would make it easier for veterans who were exposed to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) while serving to access medical benefits and disability.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/pfas-roundup-vice-president-harris-supports-michigan-led-plan-to-provide-medical-care-for-military-victims-of-pfas/
I Speak for the Fish is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/i-speak-for-the-fish-wheres-the-line-in-fisheries-research/
The 2024 presidential election campaign is in the homestretch and results in the Great Lakes states of Michigan and Wisconsin could determine the winner. Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump covet the electors in both states and polling indicates they could go either way.
Great Lakes Now selected three key topics — Great Lakes restoration, Line 5 and groundwater — and asked veteran policy experts Rob Sisson and Lana Pollack for their views on how a Harris or Trump presidency may deal with them.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/what-a-trump-vs-harris-presidency-might-mean-for-the-great-lakes/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
From a distance, I caught a glimpse of a relatively small elongated furry animal moving along the shoreline of the Detroit River.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/great-lakes-moment-mink-thriving-along-the-detroit-river/
How fish adapt to life in large urban rivers, like the Chicago River, is one of the questions Dr. Austin Happel is trying to answer at the Shedd Aquarium.
“Knowing where different fish species are hanging out, we can look around that area and kind of understand what that habitat looks like and what it’s providing for them,” Happel said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/how-do-fish-survive-in-large-urban-waterways-like-the-chicago-river/
