With a La Niña in place this winter, what does that mean for the Great Lakes? Will they freeze over? Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020123-ice-forecast
Great Lakes ports handle millions of tons of cargo a year, linking the Upper Midwest with the wider world via international commerce. But they are underutilized and have tremendous potential to have even greater economic impact, according to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers CEO, who appeared on a panel on regional competitiveness. Read the full story by The Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020123-maritime-insdustry
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is urging caution around Great Lake piers, breakwaters, and jetties, especially during times of high wind and waves. Read the full story by WSJM – St. Joseph, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020123-great-lakes-dangers
Michigan land managers are about to reopen their public lands playbook, making revisions that will guide the next six years of decisions about where the state owns land, and how it manages the land it owns. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020120-public-lands
According to environmental law experts, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a strong case against Enbridge Energy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the oil will stop flowing through Line 5 anytime soon. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020120-line-5
According to Ontario’s Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, proposed changes to the Conservation Authorities Act have the potential to put people and the environment at risk, removing conservation authorities’ ability to independently appeal decisions made around permits and municipal planning applications. Read the full story by Orillia Matters.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020120-province
Three Chatham-Kent, Ontario, residents are among the 20 people whose stories are told in an online documentary photography exhibition that showcases deep personal connections with Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Chatham Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020120-erie-documentary
The Port of Duluth-Superior is on course to set another record for wind cargo shipments as about 525,000 tons of blades and tower parts are expected to move through the port by the end of the year. That blows past last year’s single-season record of 306,000 tons. Read the full story by the Duluth Star-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020120-wind-turbine
The controversial owner of four dams in Michigan’s Midland and Gladwin counties — including two that failed in May, causing catastrophic flooding — has agreed to give up ownership of the dams to a two-county group of lakefront owners. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020120-dams
In a step to improve accessibility and further enhance a crown jewel of Michigan State Parks, Friends of Ludington State Park is raising funds to purchase and install a universal access kayak launch at the Hamlin Lake beach. Read the full story by Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020120-kayak-access
Lake Michigan is emblematic of the myriad issues facing all of the Great Lakes as the climate continues to change. Surging water levels have collapsed bluffs, swamped coastal dune lands, erased beaches and damaged homes, businesses, docks, trails, campgrounds and sewer systems. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020120-erosion
Milwaukee’s three-masted, wooden schooner Denis Sullivan may never sail again. The vessel’s operator, Discovery World, posted on Instagram that the last of its crew have been let go and the popular floating classroom is heading into winter with an uncertain future due to losses caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Read the full story by WDJT-TV Milwaukee.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-sailing
Once again, water was a must-mention this fall for candidates of both major parties seeking to represent Michigan in public office. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-water-pollution
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently confirmed a new detection of invasive hemlock woolly adelgid at Ludington State Park in Mason County, it announced in a press release Wednesday. Read the full story by the Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-ludington-invasive
The Minnesota Supreme Court denied a request from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to add several documents into the record that would have supported a clay liner for the tailings basin of PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mine. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-polymet-dam
On Sept. 23, Northwestern University students in Evanston, Illinois received an email from Facilities Management that the University would begin an emergency coastal stabilization project along the perimeter of the campus bordering Lake Michigan. Read the full story by The Daily Northwestern.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-illinois-stabilization
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed the Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 2020 which would strengthen the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) ability to help communities impacted by disasters. Read and view the full story by WHEC-TV- Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-fema-response
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is continuing to monitor state highway M-116 on the Lake Michigan coast of the northwest Lower Peninsula, and with recent erosion and fluctuating water levels on Lake Michigan, it’s keeping a closer eye on the highway. Read the full story by the Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-michigan-erosion
While the winds battered Michigan, mother nature got busy creating breathtaking natural sand sculptures along the shores of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WBCK – Battle Creek, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-sand-sculptures
Amidst a challenging 2020 navigation season, overall tonnage across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System is down 7.9 percent compared to this time last year. Read the full story by the Maritime News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-us-agriculture
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urges caution around Great Lake piers, breakwaters and jetties, particularly during times of high wind and wave events. Read the full story by WLUC -TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020119-high-water
As high water levels persist in the Great Lakes, Michigan communities are revisiting their coastal land use policies that allowed residents to build homes precariously close to the shoreline, with devastating consequences when Great Lakes water levels inevitably rise. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-land-use-planning
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s move to shut down the section of the Line 5 oil pipeline that runs through the Mackinaw Straits relies on the state’s public trust doctrine that compels state authorities to protect the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-public-trust
The Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association has published an online interactive map of lighthouses in the Great Lakes region. The map lets users learn more about the history of the lighthouses and information for visiting. Read the full story by WKFR – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-lighthouse-map
The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, Ontario, launched a major fundraising campaign to renovate their new waterfront home and announced plans to acquire a Titanic-era steamship that will serve as a centerpiece for the new museum. Read the full story by Global News Canada.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-museum
National Geographic featured Isle Royale on Lake Superior as on the top places to visit in 2021 and described the island as “a best-kept secret of a national park” and “edge-of-nowhere remote.” Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-isle-royale
The city of Flint and two other defendants joined the $600-million Flint water crisis settlement the state of Michigan announced in August, bringing the total value of the settlement in the lead poisoning case to $641.2 million. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-flint-settlement
Following public opposition to the planned construction of a nuclear waste storage facility near Lake Huron, the Canadian federal government has launched a new initiative aimed at finding long-term solutions for the growing quantity of radioactive waste produced by Canada’s nuclear reactors. Read the full story by the Times Colonist.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-nuclear-waste
A new mapping tool from The Nature Conservancy shows areas with habitat and ecosystems in Michigan that can adapt to allow native species to thrive. The map also highlights connecting corridors that would allow species to move safely within and between these climate-resilient areas. Read the full story by the Metro Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-resilience-maps
Volunteer search and rescue teams on Lake Ontario have responded to a record-breaking number of rescue missions this year as more Ontario residents flocked to the lake this year for “staycations” during the pandemic. Read the full story by Y108 – Hamilton, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-marine-rescues
Three drownings in Lake Michigan this past summer and more than a dozen water rescues has prompted City Council members in South Haven, Michigan, to form a committee to examine whether changes need to be made to the current beach and water safety plan, including adding lifeguards to the beach. Read the full story by The Herald-Palladium.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020118-south-haven
U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) today applauded Senate passage of his bipartisan legislation to update the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WLNS – TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-great-lakes-bill
Over the decades, wetlands and other water bodies in Cook County, Illinois, have decreased by a third, while swamps and marshes have been drained or converted into lakes and ponds, causing havoc for wildlife, according to a recent study by a group of graduate students and their professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-chicago-landscape
Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s announcement Friday that she will revoke the 1953 easement allowing the controversial Line 5 twin oil and gas pipelines to continue operation on the Straits of Mackinac lake bottom isn’t winning her fans among Canadian officials. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-line5
The policy debate over algae-forming farm nutrients in the western Lake Erie region drew a familiar face from the national political scene on Monday when U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) appeared as a featured speaker on a virtual seminar sponsored by the Environmental Law & Policy Center. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-cafo
WLS-TV Channel 7 in Chicago, Illinois, has partnered with National Geographic as they release a special cover story on “Saving Our Great Lakes” to discuss some of the challenges facing this precious natural resource. Read and hear the full story by WLS-TV- Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-natgeo
South Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada went to court Monday to argue it shouldn’t have been convicted of twice violating the Endangered Species Act by its 2017 raking and reshaping endangered piping plover beach habitat. Read the full story by The Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-plover-esa
A Canadian company has launched a new dog food product that provides pooches with protein while removing an invasive species from North American waterways. Read the full story by Seafood Source.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020117-carp-dog-food
The Great Lakes Commission is granting Fort Wayne $200,000 for the Colonial Heritage improvement project. Read the full story by WANE-TV – Fort Wayne, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-oil-pipeline
Ontario minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines says the province is “profoundly disappointed” with the Governor of Michigan’s decision to shut down the Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straight of Mackinac and will work to keep the pipeline flowing. Read the full story by CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-oil-pipeline
The days may now be numbered for the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, but state regulators say permitting for the company’s proposed tunnel project is not affected by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s move to shut down the pipeline by terminating the easement that allows it to cross the lakebed. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-line-5-shutdown
An algal turf scrubber could be the solution to a problem that threatens to suffocate the ecosystem of the Great Lakes: algal blooms. The algal turf scrubber filters water over a designated area for algae to grow and eventually be harvested for use as biofuel. Read the full story by the Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-algae-biofuel
Urban wetlands in the Greater Toronto Area are under threat by a recent warehouse building proposal. Read the full story by The Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-wetlands-under-threat
The Great Lakes region contains one-fifth of the world’s freshwater supply. Environmental groups say that abundance will make states such as Minnesota a high priority for other regions wanting to bolster their dwindling supplies. Read the full story by Public News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-minnesota-water-supply
Area growers can take their farm management to the next level and help improve Western Lake Erie Basin water quality by taking part in a new cost-sharing funding opportunity to achieve nutrient and sediment reduction goals outlined in the S.S. LaPointe Watershed Management Plan. Read the full story by The Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-lapointe-drain
Environmental DNA is a genetic material Great Lakes researchers have used to detect the presence of species for about the last 10 years. Now it’s playing an increasingly important — but sometimes controversial — role in monitoring invasive species. Read the full story by the Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-edna
Daniel Gildea didn’t set out to find a shipwreck. But when he deployed his underwater equipment to Henderson Bay in Lake Ontario, New York, there it was: a three-masted wooden schooner that dated back to the mid-18th century. Read the full story by Pacific Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-shipwreck-discovery
It was a historic day on the Red Cliff Reservation Saturday as the band opened their first fishing company to share the fish caught in Lake Superior with the rest of the Northland. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Bayfield, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2020116-red-cliff-band
Canadian oil transportation giant Enbridge may soon lose its permission to operate a controversial, aging, oil and gas pipeline on the Straits of Mackinac lake bottom. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Dan Eichinger on Friday notified Enbridge that a 1953 easement allowing it to operate dual pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac to transport petroleum and other products is being revoked and terminated. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201113-michigan-line-5
Parry Sound-Muskoka’s MPP Norm Miller has introduced a Keeping Polystyrene Out of Ontario’s Lakes and Rivers Act at Queen’s Park. This is a private member’s bill designed to reduce polystyrene pollution by requiring any polystyrene foam used in the construction of docks and rafts to be fully encapsulated. Read the full story by Parry Sound North Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201113-pollution-plastic-ontario
