In Illinois, the city of Evanston’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan Implementation Task Force signed off on the current draft of a Lakefront Protection Ordinance to set a unified policy to regulate development and protect natural habitats and shoreline along Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Evanston RoundTable.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-lakefront-protection
Edmund Fitzgerald was a businessman in Wisconsin and the president of Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee, which owned the ship. His roots in the Great Lakes ran deep, with several relatives working in the maritime trade. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-edmund-fitzgerald
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission voted Thursday to expand the areas where people can spearfish lake trout, northern pike and walleye. Starting in April 2026, anglers will be allowed to spearfish for the three gamefish in parts of Lake Erie and Lake Superior and expanded portions of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-spearfishing-access
New industrial plants in St. Thomas, Ontario, will need a $400-million upgrade to the water system serving the area, and property owners in London and Elgin might be on the hook to pay for the upgrade. Read the full story by The London Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-water-upgrade
The S.O.N.S. (Save Our Native Species) of Lake Erie Fishing Club received around 1,500 brown trout from the Linesville Fish Hatchery in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The fish are only a few inches in size, and will be cared for at the hatchery until they’re ready to be released into Presque Isle Bay. Read the full story by WJET – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-trout-hatchery
The Ohio Lake Erie Commission is now accepting applications for grants of up to $50,000, which are available to local governments, research institutions and nonprofit groups for projects that will improve water quality, restore habitats, and strengthen the long-term sustainability of Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-sustainability-grants
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation says 1,000 young lake sturgeon were released into Cattaraugus Creek this week as part of a long-term plan to reestablish the fish in one of its former spawning grounds along Lake Erie. Read the full story by Fingerlakes1.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-sturgeon-release
A new documentary, “Gales of November: Diving the Edmund Fitzgerald,” premiered Wednesday night, drawing on archival footage from an expedition in the mid-1990s to revisit the wreckage. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-fitzgerald-documentary
Pre-proposal submissions for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) yearly fisheries habitat grants are now being accepted. Each year, the DNR allocates $1.5 million in fisheries habitat grants to governments and nonprofit organizations around the state. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-fisheries-grants
According to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, the Edmund Fitzgerald’s 200-pound bronze bell was recovered on July 4, 1995, through a joint expedition. Every year, the original bell is tolled 29 times in honor of the 29 men who perished. Read the full story by WXYZ – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251107-fitzgerald-bell
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Oct. 29 approved energy company Enbridge’s plans to reroute an aging oil pipeline around a northern Wisconsin tribal reservation. Enbridge wants to build a new 41-mile segment of pipeline around the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to replace a 12-mile segment that now crosses tribal land. Read the full story by Iron Mountain Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-army-corps-approves-enbridge-pipeline-wisconsin
Construction is now underway on a $2.2 million project approved this summer for a new trail in Plainfield Township, Michigan. When completed, it will help connect a network of pedestrian trails running from Lake Michigan to mid-Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-construction-project-trail-system-lake-michigan
Michigan regulators have finalized stricter pollution controls for the state’s largest livestock operations following a multi-year legal battle over how factory farms manage animal waste. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-michigan-tightens-farm-pollution
A unique dataset of shipwreck sonar scans, captured by researchers from the University of Michigan and Michigan Technological University, has been selected for inclusion in the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot. The dataset, known as AI4Shipwrecks, is one of only ten chosen for the national initiative focused on advancing artificial intelligence. Read the full story by Hydro International.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-lakehuron-shipwrecks-american-ai-research
A new study from Loyola University Chicago finds that muskrats – the humble, semi-aquatic rodents long overshadowed by beavers – may play a crucial role in restoring the health of the Great Lakes wetlands. Read the full story by WBBM – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-loyola-study-greatlakes-wetlands-muskrats
U.S. Congressional committees have approved the Great Lakes Fisheries Research Reauthorization Act in both the House and the Senate, clearing them for full votes in both bodies. The legislation would authorize funding for the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Great Lakes Science Center for another five years. Read the full story by SeafoodSource.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-us-congressional-committees-greatlakes-fisheries
Butterfly populations are in decline across the continental U.S., dropping by 22% between 2000 and 2020. To help combat that trend, the John Ball Zoo launched its Great Lakes Rare Butterfly Program in 2021 to protect the region’s most threatened species. Read the full story by the Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-grandrapids-zoo-greatlakes-butterflies
Each year, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources allocates $1.5 million in fisheries habitat grants to governments and nonprofit organizations around the state. Pre-proposal submissions for the yearly fisheries habitat grants are now being accepted. Read the full story by the Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-state-soliciting-fisheries-habitat-projects
American Cruise Lines’ American Patriot cruise ship, built in 2025, will stop in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, four times in 2026 on the Lake Michigan & Upper Peninsula cruise line, one of the company’s three Great Lakes cruises. Read the full story by The Post-Crescent.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-sheboygan-lake-michigan-cruise-ship-2026
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Lake Superior Nov. 10, 1975, and killed all 29 men aboard. It’s a modern maritime tragedy that has echoed for decades. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251105-edmund-fitzgerald-fifty-years-ago
Several formal ceremonies will mark 50 years since the fateful day since the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251103-fitzgerald-memorials
The risk of an Edmund Fitzgerald-type disaster is never zero, but improvements in weather forecasting, Great Lakes bottom mapping, and other safety technology make such a disaster far less likely. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251103-fitzgerald-disasters
Theories about how the Edmund Fitzgerald sank range from striking a shoal and suffering bottom damage, to flooding through the freighter’s hatch covers, to rogue waves, and to structural flaws in the ship. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251103-fitzgerald-mystery
Lake trout have made a strong recovery in Lake Superior thanks to successful lamprey control. This has allowed the Fond du Lac Band to resume subsistence netting for the first time in over 160 years. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251103-superior-trout
They’re known as the gales of November, and they conjure images of hurricane-force winds, towering waves, ice-cold temperatures, and bobbing ships. Maritime historians estimate they are responsible for roughly half of Great Lakes shipwrecks. Read the full story by The Sault News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251103-november-gales
Environmental activists and lawmakers are pushing for action as abandoned boats are being left on the shores of Wisconsin’s rivers and lakes. Wisconsin law does not currently require swift removal of abandoned boats from state waters. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251103-abandoned-boats
Two Ontario fisheries facilities along Lake Erie are getting $10 million facelifts to protect local fisheries and jobs. Planned improvements include replacing aging infrastructure, expanding facility space, and incorporating new technologies to improve efficiency and safety. Read the full story by CK News Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251103-ontario-fisheries
One of the last remaining large urban coastal wetlands on Lake Ontario received a $1.61 million boost from Ottawa this year, with work restoring the health of under-threat Second Marsh in Ottawa already underway. Read the full story by INsauga.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251103-ontario-wetlands
Environmental professionals, business leaders, and others discussed the challenges facing the Great Lakes at the 18th annual Freshwater Summit in Traverse City, Michigan. One focus at the summit is how climate change could impact the health of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WPBN/WGTU-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251103-freshwater-summit
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved energy company Enbridge’s plan to encase a segment of an aging oil pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel. Read the full story by ABC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-usace-line5-approval
Environmental groups are blasting what some are calling a “premature and unlawful decision” by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to approve federal permits for the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline project in northern Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Examiner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-line5-reactions
In Lakewood, Ohio, the city is looking ahead to a storm sewer outfall project to curb Lake Erie shoreline erosion. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-lakewood-sewer-project
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is proposing to reduce the number of whitefish that commercial fishers can take from Lake Michigan as the population has seen a dramatic decline in the past two decades. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-whitefish-harvest-limits
Great Lakes cruising is expected to generate $300 million in economic impact from the region in 2026, according to a forecast by Cruise the Great Lakes, the region’s cruise marketing program. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-cruising-growth
More than five years after first announcing stricter controls on industrial farm pollution meant to keep pollutants out of Michigan’s waterways, state environmental regulators will finally start enforcing the controls. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-farm-pollution-regulation
A plan is underway to build a massive artificial intelligence data center in Washtenaw County’s Saline Township to support OpenAI. A chief criticism of data centers has been their high usage of water and power. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-michigan-ai-datacenter
As of late October, most of the Great Lakes are experiencing lower-than-average water levels, with Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron showing some of the most notable declines. Read the full story by SooToday.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-water-levels
Hellbenders, North America’s largest amphibian, are an endangered species and an indicator of good water quality in Ohio’s streams. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium recently released 116 eastern hellbender salamanders as part of a program that stretches back a decade. Read the full story by the Akron Beacon Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-hellbender
On Michigan’s Beaver Island, located in Lake Michigan, the cost to ferry a vehicle back and forth to the mainland can be a steep deterrent to removing broken down cars that end up leaking fluids into the water supply. A recent project is cleaning up the clunker cars. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251031-beaver-island-junkcars
Lawmakers from around the Great Lakes are hoping to make the area a little greener. Members from the Great Lakes Commission planted trees on Tuesday near Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth, Minnesota. It’s part of a regional goal to plant 250 million trees around the Great Lakes by 2033. Read the full story by Northern News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-commission-tree-planting
Far from Gulf Coast hurricanes and California wildfires, Chicagoland seems like a safe place to be in a warming world. But is it? Read the full story by WBBM-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-chicaog-climate-haven
At least 89 confirmed fair-weather waterspouts and funnels were reported to the International Centre for Waterspout Research this past week, but continued activity is unlikely. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-waterspouts
More than 300 students from schools in Ohio and Michigan learned about different careers associated with the Great Lakes as part of the National Museum of the Great Lakes’ career fair event. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-career-fair
Construction of a proposed data center in Hermantown, Minnesota, just off the shore of Lake Superior would include up to four buildings housing equipment on more than 200 acres. Some are concerned about the non-disclosure agreements protecting the interest and trade secrets of companies constructing this center. Read the full story by the North Shore Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-superior-data-center
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum located in Paradise, Michigan, is closing out what appears to be a record-breaking season on Friday with ticket sales possibly surpassing 80,000 before the season ends. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-museum-ticket-sales
Earlier this month, the state of Illinois announced it had acquired land needed to move along the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, a $1.15 billion barricade aimed at keeping invasive carp from entering the channel that connects the Mississippi River Basin with the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Outdoor News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-brandon-road-project
Behind thick museum glass at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum sits a 200-pound bronze bell, the centerpiece of an exhibit honoring one of Lake Superior’s most famous maritime tragedies. Read the full story by the MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-fitzgerald-bell
The Great Lakes Writers Festival has been bringing together students, readers, writers and authors since 1991. This year, the two-day festival, which is free of charge, will include readings, book signings, master classes and open mic sessions. Read the full story by the Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-gl-writers-festival
Throughout November, Studio 23 Gallery, an art studio in Bay City, Michigan, is presenting the biennial exhibition “50 Artists of the Great Lakes Bay Region.” Read the full story by the WCMU Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251029-great-lakes-artists
Sea lampreys—invasive, leechlike creatures that once nearly destroyed the Great Lakes’ fishing economy—are kept in check by a small U.S.-Canadian program. Will it survive Trump’s slash-and-burn campaign? Read the full story by The New Yorker.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251027-lamprey-control
