Wildfires are not just a problem in the western United States. Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota have vast amounts of forestland, and forested portions of the region have a mixed-pine ecosystem that is home to many fire-loving coniferous trees such as the jack pine. Read the full story by the Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201109-wildfires
As a region whose economy relies heavily on tourism, Ohio’s Lake Erie area has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic. To stay viable, businesses in the area pivoted to offering more socially distanced outdoor activities for visitors. Read the full story by the Fremont News Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201106-erie-tourism
The Minnesota Supreme Court must decide whether the company planning to build the state’s first copper mine engaged in “sham permitting” and intentionally misled state regulators about the intended size of the mine. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201106-polymet
A new wetlands project in Sandusky County, Ohio that plans to turn 54 acres of frequently flooded farmland into a public nature preserve will begin next week. The property was purchased by the Black Swamp Conservancy and will provide habitat for a diversity of wildlife. Read the full story by the Fremont News Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201106-h2ohio
A recent study found that the invasive round goby fish in the Great Lakes can eat juvenile invasive zebra and quagga mussels and prevent mussel colonization of bare rocks. The findings suggest possible pathways for preventing the spread of invasive mussels. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201106-goby-eat-mussel
The 1940 Armistice Day storm on Lake Michigan was among the deadliest storms to cross the lake, sinking multiple ships and claiming 164 lives. As the 80th anniversary of the event approaches, a new exhibit in Holland, Michigan, will commemorate the stories of the lives and boats that were lost. Read the full story by Second Wave Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201106-holland-diver
A small group of people lined a patch of grass in the moorings for the U.S Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock Thursday night in Port Huron, holding signs and flashlights and waving small American flags. They were waiting for the return of the Hollyhock, which left 74 days prior for the East Coast to help with post-hurricane reconstruction of ports and waterways. Read the full story by the Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201106-uscgc
While Wisconsin does have a history of occasional large wildfires, like the one in 2013, wildfires in the state are less common than the west due to climate, rainfall, and forest ecology. Read the full story by WPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201106-wisconsin
The Community Foundation of Marquette County in Michigan announced the completion of four rain gardens in the city of Marquette that will improve stormwater retention in the city and prevent pollutants from entering Lake Superior. Read the full story by the Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201106-marquette-raingarden
The largest initiative to clean plastic from our Great Lakes and waterways is happening in several marinas across Georgian Bay with what appear to be floating trash bins. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-georgian-bay
While large tributaries get lots of attention from researchers and regulatory agencies, a research team from the University of Wisconsin found that small streams were largely ignored despite playing a large role in feeding algal blooms and in nearshore water quality. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-small-streams
The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio is offering special guided tours for “The Fitzgerald Experience” this weekend to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, Ohio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-edmund-fitzgerald
We Energies of Milwaukee, Wisconsin will retire the oldest part of its coal-fired power plant complex in Oak Creek in 2023 and 2024. The We Energies Oak Creek generating site occupies 1,000 acres on the shore of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Business Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-we-energies
Ducks Unlimited Canada has purchased the almost 200-hectare (488-acre) St. Luke’s Marsh, one of the few remaining coastal wetlands on Lake St. Clair in Southwestern Ontario. Read the full story by Chatham This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-st-lukes-marsh
By the time the 2020 shipping season ends more than 150 ocean-going vessels, or salties, will have dropped anchor in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Read and hear the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-thunder-bay
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler writes about the agency’s efforts to restore and maintain the overall health and ecosystems of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201105-epa-anniversary
Long-lived chemicals that were banned years or even decades ago in the U.S. and Canada are still turning up in the bodies of fish and migrating terns in the Great Lakes, and they continue to affect the health of those threatened birds. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201104-lingering-chems
The Canadian federal government announced Tuesday that it is contributing $14.8 million toward flood prevention in LaSalle, Ontario. Rising water levels in Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie mean that LaSalle is increasingly vulnerable to floods. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201104-ottawa
Small municipalities in northeast Ohio should work together and combine their drinking water supplies to improve operational efficiencies and provide affordable drinking water to their residents. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201104-regionalize
Two Québec forestry firms have been fined a total of $40,000 after a judge found they had destroyed the habitat of an endangered species of frog, the western chorus frog, in La Prairie. Read the full story by the Montreal Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201104-quebec-forestry
While wildfires in the West are usually larger, the forests in Michigan and Wisconsin have frequently seen large uncontrolled burns, some as recent as 2013. Like forests out West, forests in the Great Lakes region are dependent on recurring fires for ecological health. Read the full story by The County Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201104-lake-levels
Researchers with the Michigan DNR recently conducted an electrofishing survey in Port Sanilac and Lexington harbors to track populations of salmon and other fish present in the area. Read the full story by Sanilac County News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201104-electric-fishing
The Great Lakes produced a new high record in its number of 232 waterspouts from Sept. 28 through Oct. 4. It tops the previous highest waterspout outbreak of 88 waterspouts in the month of August. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201104-waterspouts
One of Lake Michigan’s most visible shipwrecks is the Francisco Morazan, a German cargo boat that ran around in 1960 on South Manitou Island. Read the full story by KNIN – Wichita Falls, TX.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201104-shipwrecked-boat
The level of Lake Superior dropped 2.8 inches in October, more than double the usual 1.2-inch decline, the International Lake Superior Board of Control reported Tuesday. Read the full story by Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201104-lake-superior-levels
Those living and working along the Lake Michigan shoreline are breathing just a little easier as the monthly average water level was about three quarters of a foot below last year’s October record. Read the full story by WHBL- Sheboygan, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-lake-levels
The Marquette Regional History Center will livestream a presentation by local dive enthusiasts on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. November is Shipwreck Month for the History Center, and Lake Superior harbors a large number of those. Read the full story by The North Wind.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-shipwreck-month
Opposition to a proposed quarry in Severn Township, Ontario continues to grow. It isn’t common for the Couchiching Conservancy to publicly voice opposition to projects, but the proposed quarry is too close to the McDarker Wetland, one of the conservancy’s properties. Read the full story by Barrie Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-quarry
High winds are in the forecast yet again this week, as a gale warning remains in place for western Lake Erie while a strong wind warning is in effect for Lake St. Clair. There is a risk that waves could damage shoreline protection works and cause erosion all along the Lake Erie shoreline in Ontario’s Chatham-Kent and Elgin County. Read the full story by The Gananoque Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-gale-erie
Sarnia has approved an engineering report for a creek that’s almost choked off at Lake Huron, city council decided last week. Read the full story by The Sarnia Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-clogged-creek
Incredible slow-motion video shows just how big the surge of Lake Michigan gets as high winds create waves that nearly overwhelm the Ludington lighthouse. Read the full story by WKFR- Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-ludington
48 acres of nature along Lake Michigan will soon be open to the public now that the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy and the South Haven Area Recreation Authority have completed their acquisition of the Porter Legacy Dunes. Read the full story by WSJM-Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-dune-area
The Kalamazoo River flow below Morrow Dam will be reduced to a mere trickle several times this month while utility divers replace dam gates. River flow will be reduced to about 100 cubic feet-per-second — an unprecedented reduction, say local anglers. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-kalamazoo-river
Last week’s announcement by the Trump administration to end federal endangered species protections for gray wolves was met with resistance from some Minnesota leaders and conservation groups. One of those groups said the fight isn’t over. Read the full story by WXPR-Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-gray-wolf
Biologists from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Central Michigan University have started working toward that goal with a project to propagate, or rear, snuffbox at Consumers Energy’s Webber Dam on the Grand River, near the town of Lyons in Ionia County, Michigan. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-nutrient-trapping
The Ottawa SWCD has partnered with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Great Lakes Commission to launch two new nutrient trapping programs, which are promoting practices intended to intercept and hold water, nutrients and sediments in and on farms fields to mitigate loss running off to Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-nutrient-trapping
The agency searching for a location for an underground storage facility for about three million spent nuclear-fuel rods says it has reached a “milestone” in regard to one of the potential Ontario sites on its narrowed short list. Read the full story by The Chronical Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-nuclear-waste
The corpses of song birds migrating south while using Lake Michigan as their interstate and GPS are being found after colliding with Milwaukee buildings. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-milwaukee-birds
Strong winds caused big waves at Lake Michigan Sunday afternoon and evening. Waves could be seen crashing over Grand Haven’s south pier, which caused flooding. Read the full story by WOOD-TV- Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-michigan-waves
Anglers will have the opportunity to catch trout on remote lakes in northeastern Minnesota following helicopter-based fish stocking efforts this fall. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-minnesota-stocking
After the Department of the Interior announced Thursday the delisting of the Grey Wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), management for wolf populations will be handed over to state jurisdiction in 60 days. In Wisconsin, the Department of Natural Resources will handle the task. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-wisconsin-wolves
During an online PFAS summit, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy aquatic biologist Brandon Armstrong announced that PFOS is showing up more often and in greater concentrations in fish. . Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-pfas-fish
Governor Gretchen Whitmer spent time on the campaign trail in Traverse City, Michigan Thursday, talking about water quality issues while stumping for a state house candidate. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-water-quality
The U.S. Coast Guard is reminding people of the dangers presented by cold weather as cold air and water temperatures significantly decrease survival time for anyone immersed in the water or exposed to the elements. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-coast-guard
Construction for FishPass hasn’t started just yet, but Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and other project partners celebrated the project’s start in Traverse City, Michigan. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-fishpass-traverse-city
Michigan non-profit organization Stand Up for Great Lakes made a $13,000 donation to Paddle Antrim. The donation will be used to help bring awareness to the chain of lakes in Antrim County and help keep them clean. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-antrim-county
Participants in this year’s St. Lawrence River Institute’s River Symposium Science Day in Cornwall, Ontario, learned about the important waterway and the impact it has had on Akwesasne residents over thousands of years. Read the full story by The Gananoque Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-river-symposium
In Ontario, Waterfront Toronto announced that the new Cherry Street North bridge has been completed, and is embarking on a journey down the St. Lawrence from Nova Scotia to Toronto for installation. The bridge will connect the new “Villiers Island” to Toronto and the revitalized Port Lands. Read the full story by Toronto Urbanized.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-Toronto
Walpole lsland First Nation is planning to establish a commercial fishing industry. Walpole Island is an island and First Nation reserve in southwestern Ontario, on the border between Ontario and Michigan. Read the full story by The Courier Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-chief
A $2.9 million cleanup of contaminated sediments along the Detroit River will help bring a new look to the Motor City and set the stage for the completion of the Riverwalk by linking two popular waterfront parks. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-motor-city
