After a long search for a new owner, the Tahquamenon Falls Train and Riverboat Tours company in McMillan Township, Michigan, has officially shut their doors for good. Read the full story by WCMU Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-riverboat
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is busy passing coho salmon through the lower weir on the Platte River at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with the onset of the annual fall migratory spawning run. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-platte
The Canadian government says it’s trying to slow the spread of invasive species through a regulation that partly took effect this week. But the rule is drawing some flack from American commercial shippers in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WCMU Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-invasive-species-spread
In Ohio, the Maumee River and other Toledo-area waterways are one step closer to meeting restoration goals outlined by a 1987 U.S.-Canada agreement, in part because Glass City Metropark is being used for some of the soil dug out of the Toledo shipping channel. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-river-restoration
An elementary school at Naval Station Great Lakes that needs significant improvements including AC installation and accessible drinking water, is being demolished and rebuilt. Read the full story by WGN – TV – Chicago, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-school-rebuild
The peach-blossom jellyfish appears to be growing and expanding its northern range in British Columbia thanks to recent warm summers. There isn’t enough data yet to say for sure, but the population’s recent growth could pose a threat to juvenile salmon food sources. Read the full story by My Cowichan Valley Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-invasive-jellyfish
Lake Erie, the smallest of the Great Lakes by volume, recently put on a show when it turned a vibrant green, a stark departure from its usual deep-blue hue. The green tone of the water poses a serious health risk, as it is the result of a dangerous algae bloom growing in the lake. Read the full story by The Travel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-erie-algae-bloom
Researchers have uncovered fascinating insights into the lives of prehistoric Native Americans who made camp in the Great Lakes region around 13,000 years ago. Read the full story by Newsweek.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-native-american-history
The Great Lakes Museum director emeritus, Mr. Gillcrist, made significant efforts to preserve Great Lakes history over the past 25 years which earned him the 2024 C. Patrick Labadie Award for Historic Preservation from the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-museum-director-award
A harmful algae bloom has formed on Ford Lake bordering the city of Ypsilanti in Michigan. The County Health Department says people and pets should avoid swimming in water that has scum or mats of algae. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-harmful-algae-ford-lake
Earlier this weekend, an intense X-class flare happened on the sun’s surface which could spark a strong wave of Northern Lights activity over the Great Lakes early this week. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-geomagnetic-activity
The Biden administration on Friday asked an appeals court to revive a Trump-era rule that lifted remaining Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the U.S. Read the full story by WLUK – TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240916-grey-wolve-hunting
According to a recent study, the presence of algal blooms or E. coli in Ohio’s waterways can drive away visitors and the tourism dollars they bring with them. Researchers studied the economic impact of beach closures in Lake Erie in 2019 when Lake Erie beaches saw a 20% reduction in visitors, costing the area around $22 million in tourism dollars. Read the full story by WOUB-TV – Athens, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-tourism-impacts
Two marine historians in Wisconsin discovered sinkholes in Lake Michigan that are 500 feet underwater and 600 feet wide. Theories on the formation of the sinkholes range from glaciers to ages of intense pressure. Read the full story by WTMJ-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-lake-sinkholes
Steelhead experts in Erie, Pennsylvania, believe anglers should expect to see large, heavy fish this fall and winter as the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) works on a plan to get back to stocking 1 million fish each year. This year, the PFBC reduced its annual stocking by about 20% as it works on a plan to raise more fish solely in the Lake Erie water basin. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-steelhead-stocking
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District’s New Lock at the Soo project awarded a $222.7 million contract for the next construction phase to Kokosing Alberici Traylor, LLC of Westerville, Ohio. The contract award will allow for construction to proceed to have a fully functional lock with a completion date in 2030. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-lock-construction
Offshore from Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern University set up a yellow turbidity curtain – which may be mistaken for an oil spill contamination boom – in Lake Michigan. The curtain will prevent silt and sediment from flowing out of a construction zone and protect the shoreline from erosion. Read the full story by Evanston Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-erosion-protection
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $1.5 million contract to Michigan-based Ryba Marine Construction Co. to dredge the federal navigation channel in Barcelona Harbor on Lake Erie near Westfield, New York. Dredging will focus on the mouth of the harbor and address shoals currently impacting navigation. Read the full story by WRFA – Jamestown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-dredging-contract
The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council are hosting the annual Nmé Celebration on Saturday in Wolverine, Michigan. The event will include a farewell to “Gimiwan,” the Watershed Discovery Center’s resident sturgeon, which will be released into the Sturgeon River along with hundreds of juvenile sturgeon. Read the full story by the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-sturgeon-release
Erieau, Ontario, residents are worried erosion will erase Rondeau Bay’s so-called “barrier beach” because the pier at Erieau prevents sand from naturally moving east to build up the barrier. Residents are calling on upper levels of government for help because a quarter of the beach falls under the Canadian federal government’s domain. Read the full story by The Chatham Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-beach-erosion
Lake Ontario from Cape Vincent to Pultneyville, New York, has been declared a National Marine Sanctuary. The federal designation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the 16th so-called “underwater park” in the country and the first in New York waters. It protects more than 1,700 square miles of lakebed while still allowing for shipping, boating, fishing, and other recreational activities. Read the full story by WSLG – Gouverneur, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-marine-sanctuary
At Kettle Moraine Springs Hatchery in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, hundreds of thousands of salmon and trout are raised each year, playing a critical role in sustaining the fish population in Lake Michigan. The hatchery raises 340,000 steelhead for Lake Michigan, stocking 25 different tributaries to the lake. Read the full story by WISN-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240913-fish-hatchery
On Monday, Michigan Technological University launched the pioneering mission of an Autonomous Surface Vessel. Data supplied by its high-resolution sonar will aid in mapping the Great Lakes, assessing repair needs of underwater structures like harbors and bridges, and keeping shipping channels clear. It is also expected to locate multiple archaeological sites from the more than 200 never-found Lake Superior shipwrecks to remnants of civilizations that lived on the shores of a much smaller lake a thousand years ago. Read the full story by Second Wave Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202409011-autonomousvessel-greatlakes-map
City officials in Norton Shores, Michigan, have approved a contract to start work on a new path connecting two parks along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The Lake Harbor Trail will connect P.J. Hoffmaster State Park with Lake Harbor Park, using a new 8-foot-wide path. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202409011-trail-connecting-lake-michigan
A $2 billion cleanup in Lake Superior to address pollution from historical copper mining is still in the works. Stamp sands are a waste byproduct from processing copper, and off the Keweenaw Peninsula, they cover 1,426 miles of shoreline and lake bottom, partially suffocating a natural reef. A plan to dredge all stamp sands from the bay and truck the material to a nearby landfill is still in its early stages. Read the full story by WCMU – Mount Pleasant, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202409011-buffaloreef-cleanup-decadeslong-project
The Cheboygan Lock, which provides access between Lake Huron and Michigan’s Inland Waterway for recreational and commercial watercraft, will close for much of the fall and winter for restoration work and reopen in late spring 2025. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202409011-cheboygan-lock-temporarilyclosed
Every September, Michigan’s rivers and streams burst with life as tens of thousands of salmon make their annual migration from the Great Lakes. This natural event, rooted in decades of deliberate fishery management, provides a significant economic and ecological impact in the state. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202409011-wildlife-michigan-salmon
The Army Corps of Engineers is expected to deliver its flood mitigation results for the Huron River by the end of September. The results are based on four years of data collected by the group “Residents Working Against Huron River Flooding.” Read the full story by WHMI – Howell, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202409011-armycorp-flood-mitigation-huron-river
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who have studied invasive species in lakes for decades published a summary of key findings in the journal BioScience in August. In their recent analysis, the authors presented broad takeaways from their past research, reasoning that understanding the proliferation and impacts of invasive species in the lakes can inform policies and management strategies. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202409011-um-madison-invasivespecies-wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials released a final environmental impact statement on the Canadian energy firm Enbridge’s plans to reroute an oil and gas pipeline around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation. The 898-page document released Friday relied on 10,000 pages of materials that reflected hours of testimony and more than 32,000 comments submitted to the DNR. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-pipeline-impact-statement
Researchers from the governments of Canada and Quebec released a report monitoring the state of the St. Lawrence River from 2018-2022. It found that the state of health of the river remains fragile and certain indicators, such as water temperature and oxygen saturation, show worrying signs of deterioration. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-stlawrence-water-quality
Researchers at Michigan Sea Grant, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Michigan state agencies recently published a study identifying the top 10 most invasive species in the Great Lakes. Read and listen to the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-invasive-species-research
Canadian pipeline company Enbridge recently agreed it would not act on a 2021 permit from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy approving its Line 5 tunnel project. The Bay Mills Indian Community led a challenge to the permit, prompting a review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that delayed the proposed tunnel construction timeline. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-permit-redo
On Thursday, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approved a $15 million plan to pipe water from the Green Bay Water Utility through Hobart to the village of Pulaski. The state says the move will improve water quality and bring Pulaski into compliance with state regulations. Read the full story by WGBA-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-water-pipeline
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries biologists caught a 75-inch, 125-pound sturgeon – the biggest ever caught by the DNR – during a state survey in Lake St. Clair. None of the 17 sturgeon netted by the survey had been tagged before, providing another indication of the lake sturgeon’s population. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-sturgeon-survey
Leaders from the Wisconsin cities of Franklin and Oak Creek have agreed to a new contract through which the Oak Creek Water and Sewer Utility will provide Lake Michigan water to the Franklin Municipal Water Utility for the next forty years, replacing the previous thirty-year contract from 1994. Read the full story by WISN-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-water-deal
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday celebrated the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s designation of the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary – the first to be designated off New York State’s coast. The sanctuary will cover over 1,700 square miles of state waters in eastern Lake Ontario and protect approximately 43 known shipwrecks and one submerged aircraft, spanning centuries of history. Read the full story by the Finger Lakes Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-marine-sanctuary
Hundreds gathered as the Gun Lake Tribe released roughly 160 hatchery-raised lake sturgeon into the Kalamazoo River on Friday. The fish eggs were collected in April 2024 from mats put in the Kalamazoo River by the Tribe’s Environmental Department. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-sturgeon-release
As a National Historic Landmark, the SS Milwaukee functions as a travel through time for visitors who climb abroad to hear her maritime history. For the first time since she returned to Muskegon in 1998, the ship is offering haunted tours taking place Fridays and Saturdays in October. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240909-steamship-tours
Cleveland Metroparks in Ohio, along with partners, recently unveiled plans to open a state-of-the-art community sailing center, aimed at increasing lakefront access for residents and breaking down barriers to the sport. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-clevelandmetroparks-sailingcenter-2026
The Adopt-a-Beach program, an initiative to keep litter and waste out of the Great Lakes, has passed a milestone. Volunteers with Adopt-a-Beach have removed more than 10 million pieces of litter from Great Lakes beaches and shorelines since 2003. Read the full story by WSGW – Saginaw, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-litter-removed-greatlakes
After nearly a decade of waiting, Oswego County, New York, is celebrating the designation of the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary and inviting the public to join in the festivities. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-noaa-lake-ontario-sanctuary-designation
Michigan environmental advocates are hailing a “groundbreaking” settlement to a civil rights complaint filed with state regulators over the expansion of a hazardous waste facility in Detroit. The settlement requires EGLE to deny a license to a hazardous waste facility, including the renewal of a license, if it will have an “unlawful impact on human health and the environment.” Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-michigan-civilrights-settlement
Fertilizer made from city sewage has been spread on millions of acres of farmland for decades in states across the country, including Michigan. Scientists say this fertilizer can contain high levels of PFAS, and the national scale of farmland contamination by these chemicals is only now starting to become apparent. Read the full story by The New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-foreverchemicals
An ultra swimmer nicknamed The Shark was back on shore Wednesday, having given up on yet another quest to cross Lake Michigan after 40 hours in the water. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-ulraswimmer-lakemichigan
The remains of the 131-year-old Minnehaha shipwreck are easy to spot as they peek out of the sand along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Manistee County, Michigan. The Minnehaha ran aground and was broken apart by waves in October 1893. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-shipwrecks-lakemichigan-beach
Hydrilla, a rapidly growing invasive plant that’s prohibited in Ontario, has been discovered for the first time in Canada in the Hillman Marsh Conservation Area in Leamington, Ontario. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-invasiveplant-canada
Ludington State Park is known for its seven miles of sandy Lake Michigan beachfront, an iconic lighthouse, and a one-mile stretch of the Big Sable River, popular for fishing, paddling and tubing. It’s one of Michigan’s most popular state parks, and it’s now getting $3.2 million in upgrades. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-ludingtonstatepark-upgrades
In Detroit, Michigan, Wayne County Commissioners issued a resolution calling for an end to shipping irradiated waste into the county. A statement from the chair calls for “a common-sense solution that protects residents and the nation’s largest fresh water supply.” Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240906-radioactivewaste-waynecounty
Drownings in Michigan this summer have once again put a spotlight on water safety in a state with the nation’s longest freshwater coastline and an abundance of inland lakes. As of Thursday, the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project has tracked 77 Great Lakes drownings in 2024 compared to 85 Great Lakes drownings from last year. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-water-safety
