As part of an access grant that the Port Authority received through the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission construction continues on Erie’s Bayfront as crews fix Holland Street Dock and restore recreational areas. View the full story by WJET – TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210114-pennsylvania-dock-construction
The price increases will raise more funds for beach upkeep, freeing up more money for needed improvements at the city’s other parks, city staff said. The first year of paid parking raised roughly $500,000 last summer. Read the full story by the Muskegon Chronicle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210114-michigan-beach-improvement
The Port of Thunder Bay shipping season closes today, marking the completion of the Port’s most successful year in over two decades. Annual cargo volumes tallied 10.2 million metric tonnes (MMT), exceeding the ten million mark for the first time since 1997. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210114-shipping-season
MV American Courage, a 634-foot Great Lakes self-unloading bulker, is the largest ship ever to perform automatic dock-to-dock operation. This follows a decision by its owner —American Steamship Company, a subsidiary of Rand-ASC Holdings LLC —to fit the 1979-built ship with Wärtsilä SmartMove solutions for hands-off transit along the Cuyahoga River in Ohio. Read the full story by Marine Log.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210114-shipping-automatic-docking
The wait continues for the second phase of the Little Lake cleanup project in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin’s Sunset Park. Lake Michigan’s high water levels have seeped in during the past two years, deepening the normally shallow water body and helping to mitigate water-quality issues. Read the full story by DredgeWire.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210114-restoration-wisconsin
Federal officials say a bird called the interior least tern is being dropped from the endangered species list, after conservation efforts have boosted the interior least tern’s numbers in recent decades. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210114-endangered-tern-bird
A recently signed federal law will provide $11.6 million to begin restoration of the 1.25-mile creek, officially known as the South Fork of South Branch of the Chicago River. The investment in ecological health will benefit both people and wildlife. Read the full story by Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210114-chicago-restoration
The agency is looking to fund 10 large-scale projects as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a multi-agency project that provides funding for projects affecting Great Lakes states, with at least $300,000 grants. Read the full story by the Indiana Environmental Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210114-epa-grant-pollution
Skokie, Illinois is implementing new “smart water technology” that could save the village millions of gallons of water and hundreds of thousands of dollars annually through continuous monitoring of water main leaks. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-skokie
For the next five years, we won’t have to play the annual game of impressing on our leaders how important the Great Lakes are, not only to us, but the country and planet. We can focus our energy into protecting and enjoying them.. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-funding
Many complain Michigan’s new restrictions on commercial fishing would shut down their businesses. The state supplies much of the Great Lakes’ whitefish, and there are warnings of looming shortages. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-fishing
A new project meant to help the water quality in Lake Erie is taking root in Hancock County, Ohio. Just south of Liberty-Benton High School, the Hancock Parks District is transforming a 100-acre farm field into 100 acres of restored wetlands. Read the full story by WTOL-TV- Toledo, Ohio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-hancock
Michigan’s Van Buren State Park has grown by 17 acres under a new agreement with an adjacent nature area. County officials approved a 25-year lease, which will add 340 feet of additional lakeshore to park’s existing mile-long stretch along Lake Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-van-buren
Lake Erie’s current ice coverage stands at less than 1%, much below average going back the past 40 years. Read the full story by WOIO-TV- Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-erie-freeze
A bill currently being evaluated by a Michigan House committee would make it easier for homeowners in Michigan to apply for permits to protect their property from high water on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-erosion-permits
The Soo Locks will be closing at midnight on Friday, Jan. 15, marking an end to Great Lakes shipping for another season. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Sault Ste. Marie, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-soo-locks
The Great Lakes as a whole continue to slowly drift lower on water levels. The few Great Lakes that have been in record high water territory this past year are easing away from those milestones. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-water-levels
Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, his health director and other ex-officials have been told they’re being charged after a new investigation of the Flint water scandal, which devastated the majority Black city with lead-contaminated water and was blamed for a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210113-flint
In a letter to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Enbridge Energy stated that it will not stop operations on its Line 5 oil pipeline despite Gov. Whitmer’s November revocation of the pipeline’s 67-year-old easement and her May deadline for the line’s closure. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-enbridge
Michigan’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund has hundreds of millions of dollars available in funding to support Michigan municipalities seeking to upgrade and repair their wastewater infrastructure. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-cwsrf
The U.S. Coast Guard wants to replace one of its oldest cutters on the Great Lakes but delays in funding and congressional appropriations mean that a replacement boat may be several years away. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-coast-guard-cutter
The U.S. Justice Department announced charges against a Flint, Michigan-based oil processing company for dumping leachate into Flint’s sewer system in violation of the company’s discharge permits. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-usjd-flint
Akron Council has given initial approval of a deal to allow horizontal drilling and fracking under 475 acres of public land at the La Due Reservoir, which is upstream from the city’s main drinking water supply along the Cuyahoga River. Read the full story by the Akron Beacon Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-akron
The Lake Erie Agriculture Demonstrating Sustainability (LEADS) initiative in Ontario announced $2.58 million in available funding for farmers to adopt environmental sustainability and water quality improvement practices in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-leads-initiative
After cancelling Great Lakes cruises in 2020 and 2021, Viking Cruise Lines is offering booking for 2022 cruise voyages from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Read the full story by Radio K102.5 Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-cruises
The new law provides support for local communities facing rising water levels, coastal erosion, and flooding that have put homes, property, and communities at risk, and caused millions of dollars in damages. Read the full story by DredgeWire.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-peters-bill
With three lake freighters in for maintenance work, this will be the busiest winter in years for the Port Weller dry docks, according to officials at Heddle Shipyards, which has operated the dry docks for the past three years. Read the full story by the St. Catharines Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-port-weller
The ship was originally used to launch and retrieve test torpedoes and targets before being decommissioned from the U.S. Navy in 1995. It was then transferred to the Naval Sea Cadet Corps and was renamed the United States Naval Sea Cadet Ship Grayfox in 1998 when it came to Port Huron. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210112-black-river
A bill has extended the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through 2026, a program which was previously set to end at the conclusion of the 2021 fiscal year. The bill will increase the program’s current funding level from $300 million to $375 million in the next fiscal year and increases funding by $25 million per year until it reaches $475 million in 2026. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-first-nation-water
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water safety advisories for their previous water supply. Read the full story by The Canadian Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-first-nation-water
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has organized a pilot program to keep boating access sites plowed this winter at more than two dozen popular Upper Peninsula ice-fishing locations. Read the full story by the Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-winter-fishing-access
Microplastic particles, typically studied as aquatic pollutants, are also common in coastal dunes on Great Lakes’ shorelines, according to a new study. Read the full story by the Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-microplastics
Mild temperatures this winter delayed the start of ice fishing season for much of northern Michigan, but hardening ice has anglers ready to break out their shanties and ice augers. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-ice-fishing-season
Point Pelee National Park on the shores of Lake Erie in Ontario is closed for two weeks for an annual white-tailed deer cull with Indigenous partners to control the hyperabundant species. Read the full story by the National Parks Traveler.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-point-pelee
When the city’s pools closed this spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, an Ontario resident took to Lake Ontario to swim — and he hasn’t stopped during the winter months. Read the full story by the Toronto Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-lake-ontario-swimmer
A company that owns the Au Train Hydroelectric dam in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula recently released a statement about why it is attempting to transfer ownership to state jurisdiction and what can be expected with that transfer. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Au Train, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-dam-license
Outdoorspeople have a lot to hope for in 2021 including the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine and plans that are moving forward for Great Lakes fisheries management. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-outdoors-in-2021
The Toronto Zoo has teamed up with the Coastal Centre and Green Goderich to provide a free educational webinar on aquatic species at risk in the Great Lakes on Monday, January 18. Read the full story by the Blackburn News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210111-great-lakes-webinar
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has signed an agreement with the State of Illinois to begin early work on an $858 million project to prevent the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210108-asian-carp-agreement
The increased popularity of winter angling in the past decade or more is placing unprecedented pressure on some of Minnesota’s most productive walleye lakes, among them Upper Red, Lake of the Woods and Mille Lacs. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210108-winter-angling
Wisconsin’s longest-running bald eagle watching extravaganza is going virtual for 2021, with programming available throughout January and February. Read the full story by Wausau Pilot & Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210108-eagle-watching
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in northern Michigan is seeking public input on a restoration project for Sand Point. Read the full story by WJMN-TV – Munising, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210108-restoration-project
As the shipping season on the Welland Canal that connects lakes Ontario and Erie winds down, the icebreaking season kicks off on the Great Lakes, says the Canadian Coast Guard. Read the full story by the Welland Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210108-icebreaking
The USACE selected Camp Perry on the shores of Lake Erie as a test site for a project which focuses on locating and mapping old military munitions – including some that could still be live. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210108-lake-erie-munitions-study
The federal appropriations bill for the 2021 fiscal year, signed into law this week, included $26.5 million to test for lead in schools and child care centers, a nod to the legacy of the Flint water crisis, which lifted the issue of lead in drinking water into the national spotlight. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210108-lead-in-schools
Among the most talked about proposals in New York State’s Trout Stream Management Plan is the creation of a statewide, catch-and-release, artificial-lures-only trout fishing season from Oct. 16 to March 31. Read the full story by New York Upstate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210108-ny-trout-fishing
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources calls winter the “unsung hero of seasons,” and encourages people to try out winter camping at select state parks and recreation areas. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210108-winter-camping
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday signed into law a bill to put in place a structure to monitor and coordinate various programs designed to fight toxic algal growth in Lake Erie and problems in other Ohio waters. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210107-lake-erie-bill
Residents from Peshtigo, Wisconsin, have reached a $17.5 million settlement with Tyco Fire products and two other companies over widespread PFAS contamination to compensate residents to exposure to PFAS stemming from the use of firefighting foam in the area. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210107-peshtigo
The Canadian Coast Guard’s annual icebreaking season on the Great Lakes, which provides assistance to the shipping industry, is underway. Working in partnership with the United States Coast Guard (USCG) District 9, the Canadian Coast Guard has two icebreakers assigned to the Great Lakes for the entire winter season. Read the full story by Marine Log.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210107-ccg
