Residents and advocacy groups are asking the federal government for a hearing to try to stop the Palisades nuclear plant in Southwest Michigan on Lake Michigan, officially shut down in 2022, from reopening. No closed nuclear plant has ever reopened. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-nuclear-petition
The search and recovery team that found a crash victim and airplane lost 17 years ago in Lake Huron said it’s hoping to help even more people find their lost loved ones. Great Lakes Search and Recovery, a nonprofit that searches for people lost in the water, tries to bring closure to families. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-search-and-recovery
The Lake Michigan yellow perch population remains very low, and angler catches are far below historical averages. The drops are linked to the arrival of zebra and quagga mussels in the 1990s. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-perch-population
Visitors to Lake Erie beaches have been puzzled by a flood of dead fish – particularly sheepshead, also known as freshwater drum – with thousands washing ashore in areas near Port Bruce and Port Stanley, Ontario. Experts suggest the die-offs were due to upwelling in hypoxic areas of the lake. Read the full story by the London Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-dead-fish
A Chicago water commissioner hopes to put to rest the belief that Great Lakes water, now, or at any point in the future, will be used to solve the water woes of the western United States. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-water-opinion
Several journalists recently gathered at the Ohio Sea Grant/Ohio State University Stone Laboratory research facility for an annual overview of a multitude of issues affecting the world’s 11th largest freshwater lake. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-erie-issues
If you’ve walked along the Milwaukee lakefront in the past few weeks, you might have suddenly found yourself amid a swarm of dragonflies. The insects are making their yearly migration south, which includes a several-week stretch passing through Milwaukee. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-dragonfly-swarms
Four piping Plover fledglings graduated out of captivity and made it onto a northern Michigan beach this summer, joining a record-breaking nesting season across the Great Lakes. A total of 124 wild chicks fledged, or grew wings large enough to fly. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-plovers-fledged
The Great Lakes Way is an interconnected set of greenways and water trails stretching from Port Huron, Michigan to Toledo, Ohio on western Lake Erie. Its purpose is to help reconnect people with continentally significant natural resources, promote outdoor recreation with its many benefits, and foster a stewardship ethic. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240904-great-lakes-way
This week, blue-green algae blooms were spotted in the waters of Lake Superior in St. Louis Bay and Little Sand Bay in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Those sightings followed a bloom spotted last week off Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin. While common in inland rivers and ponds, the algae are fairly new to Lake Superior. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240830-lake-superior-habs
Great Lakes winters are trending warmer and the storm systems are wetter, according to research from the University of Michigan. Read the full story by WMUK – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240830-winter-trends
A Presque Isle County steel fabricator has won a $5.85 million contract to build the R/V Steelhead II, a new fisheries research boat, for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The 66-foot, steel-hulled vessel will replace the S/V Steelhead, a 56-year-old survey vessel used to gather Great Lakes fishery management data. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240830-research-vessel
More than 154,000 comments have been submitted on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ environmental assessment of Enbridge’s proposed 41-mile reroute of its Line 5 around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s land. Interested parties have until Aug. 30 to submit comments. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240830-line5-public-comments
In Ontario, toxic blue-green algae that closed public access to the water along Beach Boulevard this week is the first such discovery along Hamilton’s stretch of Lake Ontario in at least a decade, if not longer. Read the full story by The Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240830-rare-algae
The volunteer lead Great Lakes piping plover monitor at Chicago’s Montrose Beach was recognized by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as one of 11 outstanding volunteers of the year. Read the full story by WTTW – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240830-plover-volunteer
The Ohio Department of Health reported on Thursday that multiple Lake Erie beaches in northeast Ohio were put under a bacteria contamination advisory. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240830-beach-advisories
Approximately 72 hectares of land formerly occupied by a coal-fired power plant in Mississauga will soon be home to the longest Canadian pier in the Great Lakes. The pier will jut 600 meters into Lake Ontario and is part of the Lakeview Village, which is currently being built along its shores. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240830-longest-pier
Many people are starting to lose hope that the gator of Lake Erie will ever be captured or seen again. Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority officials said it has not confirmed any sightings of it, but expressed hope that it is safe if it is still out there. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240830-alligator-sightings
Geneva Lake in Walworth County, Wisconsin, has long been known for its clear, deep water and scenic location. And now it has an unwelcome distinction: it is the first Wisconsin inland lake documented with quagga mussels, according to state and local officials. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-quagga-mussels
The Sloughs — or Ogaakagonike in Ojibwe — are a series of Wisconsin tributaries chock full of wetlands that are home to the only wild rice bed in Lake Superior. As threats like climate change and extractive industries encroach on Lake Superior, the power of place has never been more important for the Ojibwe. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-the-sloughs
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced Monday that his administration is proposing to bring the state’s drinking water standards for PFAS in line with new federal regulations unveiled earlier this year. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-pfas-standards
This month, a team of scientists confirmed there are more than 40 sinkholes on Lake Michigan’s lakebed in the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. The sinkholes are valuable natural laboratories that can help scientists learn more about Earth’s early history before there was oxygen. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-sinkholes
Although this year’s cruise season is winding down in Cleveland, Ohio, there are plenty of reasons for optimism in 2025. The Port of Cleveland has announced that Victory Cruise Lines is coming back to the Great Lakes after a year-long hiatus, with 30 planned ports of call on the North Coast in 2025. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-cleveland-cruises
Knox County, Ohio, farmers are among the more than 3,000 producers protecting Ohio’s water quality through the H2Ohio nutrient management program. Farmers will develop and implement a Voluntary Nutrient Management Plan that will reduce phosphorus runoff, a major contributor to algae blooms. Read the full story by the Knox Pages.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-h2ohio
A $1.45 million federal project will help communities across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan prepare for floods by building up resilience along the Lake Superior coast and reestablishing the land’s ability to store water and release it slowly. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-flooding-grants
Minnesota’s iconic Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior has transformed itself over the last few years. New to the popular lighthouse is a walking tour and a new exhibit on the history of the Native American people who were there long before the 114-year-old tower. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-split-rock-lighthouse
The largest lake sturgeon in the history of Michigan’s annual state survey was captured last week. The monster fish was 75.2 inches long, or about 6-foot, 3 inches, which made it the largest sturgeon by length that the survey has ever recorded. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240828-sturgeon
The placid water of Rondeau Bay in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, is at risk of being exposed to the punishing and turbulent waves of Lake Erie. The barrier beach that divides the bodies of water is being eaten away by erosion. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-beach-eroding
Two Michigan legislators have introduced bills that would limit sand mining and make it far more difficult to develop on critical sand dunes. The legislation is expected to be officially introduced in September. Read the full story by the Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-sand-legislation
Opposition is growing over a proposal to redesignate the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore as Wisconsin’s first national park. Local governments and the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have come out against the bill, raising concerns about the proposal’s effects on the environment, tribal treaty rights, housing, and infrastructure. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-apostle-islands
A cargo ship has run aground near Kahnawà:ke on Montreal’s South Shore after it experienced a mechanical failure. The unfortunate incident does not pose a threat to the environment and no injuries have been reported, but the ship is blocking cargo traffic. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-ship-stuck
Dozens of historic shipwrecks are submerged in Lake Michigan within the bounds of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Exploring them just got easier: this month, crews installed buoys and mooring lines near 19 of the most popular shipwrecks. Read the full story by Smithsonian Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-shipwreck-buoys
Generators at dams built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were shut down decades ago. Michigan has been removing more of those obsolete dams in recent years, but dam removal is no easy task. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-dam-removal
The impact of climate change on physical landscapes is the tip of an iceberg, and the psychological effects on individuals and communities are beginning to emerge. Stories from around the Great Lakes highlight the effects of climate change stress. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-climate-stress
A fourth-grade boy recently made a startling beachside discovery along Lake Superior: bones. Erosion is eating away at the shoreline of Lake Superior and has begun to encroach on graves at Scandia Cemetery in Duluth, Minnesota. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-cemetery-eroding
This month, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation added a brand-new feature to the official “HuntFishNY” app called the “TACKLE BOX.” This feature provides anglers with one stop for waterbody-specific information on fishing regulations, stocking, fishing/boating access sites and more. Read the full story by the Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-huntfishny-app
A new wetland restoration project has been completed at Little Portage Wildlife Area in Ottawa County near Port Clinton, Ohio. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources project is meant to improve water quality while benefiting surrounding communities and revitalizing the area’s ecosystem. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-h2ohio-project-completed
Help is on its way for New York’s Finger Lakes to enhance water quality and combat harmful algae blooms. On Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced $42 million to protect and enhance water quality in the eastern Finger Lakes region. Read the full story by Finger Lakes Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240826-finger-lakes-funding
The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan announced Thursday it has released a smart phone app to guide people toward safe consumption of Great Lakes fish. The app provides personalized recommendations for eating fish from Lakes Huron, Michigan, Superior, from inland lakes in northern Michigan and northern Minnesota and store-bought fish. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-fish-app
The Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Technological University and members of the Great Lakes Smart Ships Coalition will gather to deploy an autonomous surface vessel in hopes of finding the wreckage of a 1968 plane crash in Lake Superior. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-autonomous-vessel
Over the last week there have been numerous occasions when the Lake Michigan car ferry, S.S. Badger, has encountered boats that failed to give way. In some cases, the captain of the S.S. Badger was forced to take action to avoid a collision. In response, officials are imposing temporary fishing prohibitions. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-ferry-collision
Efforts by Pennsylvania Game Commission staff, and others, to bring an orange-legged, extirpated bird home to Erie County have “terned” out well. It is an uncommonly common milestone. Read the full story by Gettysburg Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-tern-return
Five hundred young sturgeon reared from a facility opened by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michigan State University were released last week at four locations in the Saginaw River system. Read the full story by Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-young-sturgeon
In 2023, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed a law, which set aside $125 million to remediate per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS). However, Republicans in the state legislature now disagree to the terms, and it’s been over a year that these funds have been frozen. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-pfas-divide
At the Great Lakes Experience VIP Fishing Day two weeks ago, held at Chadwick Bay in Dunkirk, New York, several charter captains, in collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, showcased the record-breaking fishing season on Lake Erie this year. Read the full story by the Observer Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-erie-fishing
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, removed a spare set of miter gates, constructed for the Davis and Sabin Locks, from the St. Marys River this summer. The miter gates were hidden in the river for over 80 years and weighed about 350,000 pounds each. Read the full story by Big News Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-amry-corps
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission has put together a team of researchers from Michigan State University and other universities to work on FishPass, a project that broke ground in May and will replace a local dam in Traverse City, Michigan. The goal is to let fish like walleye and lake sturgeon into the Boardman-Ottaway River while keeping out invasive species like sea lamprey. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-vampire-fish
A federal judge has sentenced an Ohio business owner to one year on probation and a $5,000 fine for illegally dumping a hazardous ammonia-containing substance into the Scioto River near Kenton. The crime killed more than 40,000 fish. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240823-illegal-dumping
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has updated an online tool that maps which communities may be most susceptible to adverse effects from pollution. The tool was first released in 2022 and updated this month after seeking public comment. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240821-environmental-justice-tool
As political programming continues at the Democratic National Convention, city and Indigenous leaders from across the U.S. and Canada met in the Windy City to discuss a different issue — the future of water use and environmental health in the Great Lakes basin. Read the full story by Courthouse News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240821-water-testing
