The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has objected to permitting Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 reroute under the Clean Water Act, saying the project will violate the tribe’s water quality standards. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-line5-tribal-opposition
Waves of Yemeni immigrants came to the United States in the 1950s and 1960s settled in Michigan to work in the Great Lakes shipping industry. Today, around 30,000 people of Yemeni heritage are believed to live in Michigan. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-great-lakes-sailors
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, Ohio, recently introduced a bill, with a frequent Republican ally, requiring the federal government to promote cultural and historic attractions in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-great-lakes-bill
A team of 20 divers scoured 40,000 square meters of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. In just two weeks, the team found, identified, marked, tagged, and relocated every native freshwater mussel within their search area. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-mussel-surveys
Iceboats, some a century old, are the speedsters and yachts of frozen lakes. Iceboating flourished in Madison, Wisconsin, partly because of the city’s lakes and a culture that embraced wintertime activities. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-iceboat-speed
The sea lamprey nearly destroyed fishing in the Great Lakes. The new 90-minute film “The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery,” tells the story of the people who tackled the mystery of why lake trout, one of the most prized fish in the Great Lakes, nearly vanished. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-sea-lamprey-documentary
Michigan’s Great Lakes are 33.19% covered in ice, the highest coverage so far in 2025 with Lake Erie in the lead, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said. Altogether, the Great Lakes are seeing more ice this year compared to 2023 and 2024. Read the full story by Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-ice-cover
This year’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week is February 24-28, 2025. Anyone who enjoys gardening or the outdoors needs to stay informed. Read the full story by the Utica Observer-Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250217-spotted-lantern-fly
New York state lawmakers announced a group of five bills aimed to reduce PFAS exposure. The five bills would: ban the use of PFAS in consumer and household products, cosmetic products, and menstrual products; regulate PFAS as an air pollutant; and require the disclosure of PFAS levels in all permitted facilities discharging waste. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-new-york-pfas
In a sweeping proposal, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced Tuesday that his budget will include more than $145 million to address PFAS contamination. The bulk of the money would fund PFAS testing for municipal drinking water systems, but it would also help private well owners test for the chemicals. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-wisconsin-pfas
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources gets a good chunk of its budget from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. But licenses aren’t selling like they used to, and some are wondering: even if fees go up, how long will this system work? Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-dnr-funding
Last year, Vice President J.D. Vance, then an Ohio senator, was part of a bipartisan coalition calling to increase funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Advocates hope he hasn’t changed his mind. Read the full story by WBEZ Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-glri-funding
Aamjiwnaang First Nation and the Canadian federal government will work together on a pilot project to address environmental racism and contaminants in the air, water, and soil. The nation, located in Sarnia, Ontario, has spent decades fighting to stop pollution from a cluster of petrochemical plants known as Chemical Valley that surround it. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-aamjiwnaang-pollution
The Palisades nuclear plant, which sits on the Lake Michigan shore near South Haven, Michigan, stopped operations in 2022. The unprecedented proposal to bring the shuttered nuclear plant back online reached a new level Wednesday as a panel of federal administrative judges heard arguments over the regulatory process for the proposal. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-palisades-restart
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has proposed additional water quality protections in Oakland County, Michigan, amid a years-long dispute with neighboring Macomb County over accusations of sewage discharged into the Red Run Drain, contributing to beach closures and the growth of large masses of algae in Lake St. Clair downstream. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-county-sewage
Lake Erie is more than 90% covered with ice but that doesn’t mean it’s safe to be walking on the frozen water. Conditions are particularly hazardous for fishermen at least for the next few days, as winter weather is expected to bring shifting winds that will blow the ice around. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-erie-ice
Several Metro Detroit water systems exceeded the previous lead limit of 15 ppb in 2024, with more communities nearing the new 12 ppb standard, while Republican lawmakers in Congress aim to repeal Biden’s lead regulations via the Congressional Review Act, potentially barring federal mandates on lead service line replacement or stricter lead limits in water. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-michigan-lead
More than 300 dead wild birds have been discovered in five Michigan counties, including Allegan, Shiawasee, Ingham, Eaton and Washtenaw. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources doesn’t expect serious impacts to Michigan’s duck, goose or swan populations statewide, although areas where waterfowl concentrate in the remaining ice-free water may see more die-offs. Read the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250214-avian-flu
The oldest known Great Lakes piping plover was recently spotted at her favorite wintering grounds on the Atlantic shore in Georgia. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-oldest-pipingplover-basks-southernsunshine
As expected, companion legislation aimed at reauthorizing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was reintroduced into the U.S. Senate this week. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-greatlakes-reauth-bill-senate
Minnesota is giving its water quality standards a fresh look. With public input in their hands, officials are under pressure to add language about nitrate levels, a move some said is long overdue. Read the full story by Public News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-minnesota-nitratestandards
Winter surfing in Sheboygan, Michigan, sometimes called the Malibu of the Midwest, is unique in that it’s not as particular about which way the wind blows. The Great Lakes surf season peaks in fall and winter when the wind creates some of the biggest waves of the year. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-wintersurfers-embrace-cold
The Port Authority recently began requesting proposals from entrepreneurs/individuals interested in both operating the bayfront landmark and bringing new business/activity — such as a retail shop or a restaurant — to the iconic waterfront landmark and its surrounding area. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-bicentennialtower-erie-portauthority
A recent study has found dozens of previously unknown “forever chemicals” in the fish, mussels and waters of Lake Huron, revealing more contamination than previously realized. Now researchers are scrambling to understand the health and environmental effects of these chemicals. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-researchers-chemicals-pfas-greatlakes-fish
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said it stocked the state with more than 46 million fish in Ohio’s lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. That’s 6 million more than what was stocked in 2023. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-ohio-restockedwaterways-fish-2024
Eight new H2Ohio wetland grants totaling $7.7 million were announced by the DeWine administration Tuesday. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-northwest-ohio-h2ohio-wetlandprojects
The Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie are a critical piece to the ever-important Great Lakes shipping industry. Each year, from late March through mid-January of the next year, hundreds of ships go through Lakes Superior and Huron, up and the St. Mary’s River transporting tens of millions of tons of cargo. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-ships-soolocks-2024
In December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the first construction contract had been awarded for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River near Joliet, Illinois. The work includes installing underwater defenses to keep invasive carp from getting into the Great Lakes. However, the first phase of the project has now been postponed due to the “anticipated lack of federal funding” under the Trump administration. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-funding-uncertainty-greatlakes-invasivecarp-trump
Workers who administer the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental justice program were put on leave last week, raising concerns about federal grants for pollution-burdened communities. Amid proposed federal cuts, a bipartisan group of Great Lakes lawmakers are trying to protect the authorized $475 million funding levels for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-funding-uncertainty
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s $83 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 targets roads, education, and economic growth, while also tackling environmental and justice issues like affordable drinking water and septic code, crucial yet often overlooked by citizens. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-michigan-budget
For over 40 years, efforts to stock the lake sturgeon in the St. Louis River, Minnesota, have been underway, but the local population remains below management goals. A new partnership aims to bolster the number of mature sturgeon living in Lake Superior and the river estuary by rearing them in their very waters. Read the full story by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-sturgeon-partnership
Water levels of the upper Great Lakes are expected to drop to near or significantly below their historical summer averages for the first time in nearly a decade, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-water-levels
New grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to Great Lakes states to measure harmful chemicals such as PFAS, pesticides, and metals from groundwater in marginalized communities are facing uncertainty under increased White House scrutiny on federal spending. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-biomonitoring-grants
The chaos surrounding the future of scientific research in the Trump administration’s first weeks has meant a bumpy beginning for a new program where ice fishing anglers and others on the frozen Great Lakes record ice thickness for research. Read the full story by Grist.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-ice-research
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is calling on ice fishing enthusiasts to take care after a rash of fatalities involving recreational vehicles. The DNR tracked six fatal incidents involving utility task vehicles (UTVs) over the last month, four involving vehicles breaking through the ice. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-ice-fatalities
With the arctic blast at the end of January, the ice coverage on Lake Erie went from nearly 30% to over 80% in just four days. Now, Lake Erie ice coverage is at 91% and the total Great Lakes ice coverage is currently at 27%. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-erie-ice
A lure and fishhook that together stretch 22 feet hangs from a stairwell ceiling at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Large Lakes Observatory. The lure was made by a first mate of the Blue Heron research vessel to draw attention to the oversized problem of invasive species in the lake and the Blue Heron‘s role in invasive species research. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-big-lure
A large, clear yellowish glob located in Michigan’s Thunder Bay along Lake Huron may “look strange,” but U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff was pleased to share its findings with the public anyway. The Alpena Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office reported a bryozoan colony that its crew happened to catch in a net. Read the full story by CBS Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250210-bryozoan-colony
Scientists have teamed up to stock whitefish eggs in northern Michigan rivers to help the dwindling species rebound. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250207-whitefish
Federal funding supporting the clean energy transition has become embroiled in President Donald Trump’s executive orders and the court decisions blocking them. Companies and advocacy groups that rely on the funding are in disarray. The Great Lakes region — an emerging hub for energy technology manufacturing — is no exception. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250207-clean-energy
While satellites can see where the ice is, it can be difficult to measure its thickness. Now, a new effort to fill in that gap is underway, led by the nonprofit Great Lakes Observing System. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250207-ice-research
Uncertainties continue to swirl as planned tariffs of 25% against sales of goods from Canada and Mexico have been postponed for 30 days to allow more time for negotiations. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250207-tariffs-shipping
The Trump/Vance administration is moving to fire or force out more than 20% of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chicago staff, including officials who enforce clean air and water laws and others dedicated to helping poor communities disproportionately harmed by pollution in the Midwest. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250207-epa-staffing
The Ohio EPA and the U.S. EPA are defendants in a lawsuit arguing the two agencies failed to have an effective plan to prevent dangerous amounts of phosphorus from occupying Lake Erie. Read the full story by Public News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250207-ohio-lawsuit
For the second time in roughly 30 years, oil wells leaking into a Michigan lake have been plugged, according to the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250207-oil-wells-plugged
Since last Thursday, seven red-breasted mergansers were admitted to the Wisconsin Humane Society Wildlife Rehabilitation Center with symptoms consistent with the bird flu. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250207-bird-flu
Policy experts say Michigan is insulated from a Congressional effort to repeal recent federal requirements that expedite lead service pipe replacements thanks to a state rule which requires that all lead lines to be removed within 15 years. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250207-lead-pipes
Canada and the U.S. are being asked by the science advisory board for the International Joint Commission to designate microplastics as a chemical of mutual concern under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250205-us-canada-greatlakes-microplasticpollution-takeaction
An increasing goose population within cities and suburban areas is raising concerns about the effects of their poop entering waterways. Goose poop contains high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which in large quantities cause eutrophication, or the growth of algal blooms in water bodies. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250205-moregoosepoop-moreproblems
Ashland County is set to host an event focusing on the retailer’s role in implementing H2Ohio’s nutrient management plans. Read the full story by the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250205-conservationchat-h2ohio
