By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Elk Rapids is surrounded by water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/elk-rapids-wants-to-help-its-shoreline-through-new-state-climate-corps-program/
It was 2010 when after a decade of lobbying by Great Lakes advocates, federal funding in the U.S. to restore the Great Lakes began to flow to the tune of $475 million.
Beneath the radar in that first year, Central Michigan University received $10 million to lead a team of regional scientists who would study coastal wetlands that had been severely degraded over time.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/06/landmark-great-lakes-coastal-wetland-program-continues-restoration-drive-that-began-in-2010/
In his book “Great Lakes Champions: Grassroots Efforts to Clean Up Polluted Watersheds,” John Hartig looks at how 14 Great Lakes residents are working to restore some of the region’s most degraded areas. While significant challenges remain, there is much to celebrate, including the return of sentinel fish and wildlife species, lower contaminant levels in fish and wildlife populations, and greater public access to these waters.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/05/book-club-celebrating-environmental-success-stories-in-the-great-lakes/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that February 2023 was Earth’s fourth-warmest on record.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/04/great-lakes-moment-decreasing-great-lakes-ice-cover-consequences/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Daniel Schoenherr, Great Lakes Echo
The ecological success of artificial reefs in Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay could teach people how to restore fish populations across the world.
Ellen Marsden, a fisheries and wildlife expert from the University of Vermont, spearheaded the construction of 29 reefs built with small stones – cobble aggregate – in Thunder Bay in 2010.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/03/artificial-reefs-bring-wild-lake-trout-to-lake-huron/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/03/restoration-projects-proposed-saginaw-bay-watershed-settlement-money-corporate-polluters/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
On that September day in 1998, more than 1,000 rain-soaked and determined people stood up for what they felt was right.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/03/great-lakes-moment-the-event-that-saved-humbug-marsh/
By John Flesher, Associated Press
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The Great Lakes have endured a lot the past century, from supersized algae blobs to invasive mussels and bloodsucking sea lamprey that nearly wiped out fish populations.
Now, another danger: They — and other big lakes around the world — might be getting more acidic, which could make them less hospitable for some fish and plants.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/01/ap-atmospheric-carbon-lakes-more-acidic/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Have you ever gone for a peaceful walk along a creek or lake and been spooked by the sound of what you think is a pterodactyl?
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/01/great-lakes-moment-great-blue-herons-stony-island/
By John Flesher, AP Environmental Writer
DETROIT (AP) — In a bustling metro area of 4.3 million people, Yale University wildlife biologist Nyeema Harris ventures into isolated thickets to study Detroit’s most elusive residents — coyotes, foxes, raccoons and skunks among them.
Harris and colleagues have placed trail cameras in woodsy sections of 25 city parks for the past five years.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/12/ap-extinctions-shrinking-habitat-spur-rewilding-in-cities/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Today, many educators are experimenting with unique forms of instruction to increase student engagement in the classroom and encourage critical thinking.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/great-lakes-moment-video-game-teaches-watershed-management/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/republicans-democrats-environmentalists-more-wetlands/
Editor’s Note: Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television. This month’s article is a combination of excerpts and a preview of his new book, “Rouge River Revived: How People are Bringing Their River Back to Life,” which chronicles how citizens are leading an effort to restore their river in metropolitan Detroit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/great-lakes-moment-rouge-river-revived/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
A class of chemical compounds that are no longer produced in significant quantities nor being used in the manufacture of new products, called polychlorinated naphthalenes, or PCNs, has been found in herring gull eggs in the St.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/great-lakes-moment-herring-gull-eggs-detroit-river/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Native freshwater mussels have experienced dramatic population declines in the Great Lakes due to habitat degradation, water pollution and the introduction of invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/07/great-lakes-moment-mussels-detroit-river/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/endangered-piping-plovers-need-human-help/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
The practice of rewilding is frequently carried out in wilderness areas, but cities like Detroit are beginning to reintroduce native species of plants and animals to enhance biodiversity and reap all the benefits of making nature part of everyday urban life.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/great-lakes-moment-rewilding-metropolitan-detroit/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Caroline Miller, Great Lakes Echo
High water and ice scouring has shifted native wetlands inland and opened a door to invasive species along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coast.
A new study documents the first sighting of the invasive species, European frogbit, in Wisconsin and says that it could threaten native plants, fish and invertebrates.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/rising-water-lake-michigan-wetlands-invaders/
On the cool morning of April 25, doctoral student Eric Ste Marie from the University of Windsor’s department of integrative biology went out for a walk with his partner along the Detroit River prior to an anticipated long day in his lab. Much to his surprise, he saw an animal pop its head out of the water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/river-otters-detroit-river/
By Matthew Brown, Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials have agreed to craft a new habitat plan for the snow-loving Canada lynx that could include more land in Colorado and other western states where the rare animals would be protected, according to a legal agreement made public Tuesday.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ap-canada-lynx-protections-deal/
By David Eggert, Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state of Michigan sued the owner and operator of a hydroelectric dam, alleging that its mismanaged drawdown of a lake to do repairs created sediment that has choked a 30-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River, impeded recreational use and threatened public safety.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/ap-dam-owner-sediment-kalamazoo-river/
By Matthew Brown and John Flesher, Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont (AP) — A judge restored federal protections for gray wolves across much of the U.S. on Thursday, after their removal in the waning days of the Trump administration exposed the predators to hunting that critics said would undermine their rebound from widespread extermination early last century.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/ap-judge-protections-gray-wolves/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/red-bellied-snake-endangered/
For 20 years, the mystery behind what was killing coho salmon in Seattle’s urban creeks seemed unsolvable.
Every time it rained, fish would begin swimming in circles, floating belly up just a few hours later. Scientists looked at heavy metals, various chemical contaminants, water temperature and oxygen levels, but none of these things were the problem.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/great-lakes-fish-populations-tires/
Once living on the brink of extinction, the Kirtland’s warbler is now thriving thanks to collaborative conservation efforts.
The Kirtland’s warbler is one of the largest and rarest songbirds in North America. This handsome yellow-and-gray warbler is named for Dr. Jared Kirtland, on whose farm near Cleveland, Ohio, the first specimen was collected in 1851.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/great-lakes-moment-warblers/
By Michael Casey, Associated Press
HOLDERNESS, N.H. (AP) — Navigating her boat toward a wooden platform floating in an idyllic New Hampshire lake where “On Golden Pond” was filmed, biologist Tiffany Grade spotted what she had feared.
An olive brown loon’s egg with black speckles was sitting on an nest, abandoned by its parents and with no chance to hatch.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/ap-pcbs-threat-wildlife/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Contradicting the historical conservation planning tenet that gave preference to protecting larger, more intact areas, a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science has shown that small, isolated patches of habitat are inordinately important for biodiversity conservation.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/small-habitat-patches-ecological-impact/
By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press
America needs to rethink and reduce the way it generates plastics because so much of the material is littering the oceans and other waters, the National Academy of Sciences says in a new report.
The United States, the world’s top plastics waste producer, generates more than 46 million tons (42 million metric tons) a year, and about 2.2 billion pounds (1 million metric tons) ends up in the world’s oceans, according to the academy’s report.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/ap-science-report-plastic-oceans/
By Laura Gersony, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/climate-change-trout-streams-nation-anglers/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
When the Ashtabula River and Harbor was identified as a Great Lakes pollution hotspot, or Area of Concern, in 1985, few people thought the day would ever come when it was cleaned up and no longer a detriment to the community and Lake Erie.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/great-lakes-moment-lessons-ashtabula-cleanup/
Rivers, streams and lakes are warming, casting a dark shadow on the future of coldwater fish in the Great Lakes region. To save them, state and federal agencies around the Great Lakes are investing millions in these fish.
Currently, the Great Lakes are home to coldwater fish like ciscoes, walleyes, suckers, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, chinook salmon and coho salmon.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/09/warming-water-grant-programs-fish-habitat-conservation/
North America has 3 billion fewer birds today than five decades ago, according to a recent scientific study.
That loss equates to more than a quarter of the continent’s entire bird population, and the research documenting the decline has shown that it may be worse than first realized.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/north-america-bird-population-habitat/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Sugar Island sits like a gemstone on a jeweled necklace of islands surrounding the southern end of Grosse Ile – the largest island in the Detroit River.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/sugar-island-history-habitat-restoration/
This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.
By Jim Malewitz, Wisconsin Watch
Archeologists have unearthed human remains of Native Americans who lived up to 2,500 years ago during excavations of the Sheboygan County site along Lake Michigan where Kohler Co.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ancient-human-remains-kohler-golf-course-wisconsin/
A Wisconsin State Park bordering the shoreline of Lake Michigan is teeming with dunes, preserved wetlands and protected plant species. It’s a great view – making it an ideal neighbor for a new golf resort that one of the state’s manufacturing giants has been fighting for years to build.
Kohler-Andre State Park is located in Sheboygan County and comprised of two state parks, Terry Andrae State Park and John Michael Kohler State Park.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/wisconsin-lake-michigan-dune-shoreline-golf-course-development/
MICHIGAMME TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A conservation corridor with links to existing protected areas is planned for a remote region in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula.
The nonprofit Nature Conservancy said the 6,172-acre (2,497-hectare) Wilderness Lakes Reserve in the Michigamme Highlands area is being expanded by 4,854 acres (1,964 hectares) of forest and wetlands.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-conservation-corridor-planned-michigan/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
The United States and Canada now have over 40 years of collaborative history in use of an ecosystem approach to protect and restore the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/international-ecoystem-approach-restoration-great-lakes/
There’s a bird emergency in the Great Lakes region, according to the National Audubon Society, but the nonprofit bird conservation organization is hoping to change that.
“This really is a bird emergency,” said Nat Miller, Audubon Great Lakes’ director of conservation. “We don’t think that’s hyperbole. As often is the case, birds currently serve as an indicator for larger environmental problems and today they’re telling us it’s a critical time now to act to save the wildlife, water and way of life in the Great Lakes region.”
In an effort to reduce this alarming trend, scientists and conservationists with The National Audubon Society recently released a wide-ranging and comprehensive blueprint to address climate change, pollution and other detrimental man-made effects on Great Lakes wetlands and coastal areas – and their bird populations.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/birds-wetlands-coastal-great-lakes-habitat-restoration/
WASHINGTON (AP) — Roughly a sixth of the planet’s land and freshwater area now lies within protected or conservation areas, according to a United Nations report released Wednesday.
Next comes the hard part. The world needs to ensure that those regions are actually effectively managed to stabilize the climate and to curb biodiversity loss while also increasing the total area of protected places, scientists say.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/ap-protected-areas-sixth-earth-land-freshwater/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
As daylight lengthens and water temperatures slowly begin to warm, walleye overwintering in Lake Erie take their cue that it is time to spawn.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/walleye-frenzy-detroit-river/
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded grants to Central Michigan University and Clarkson University to continue monitoring coastal wetlands and fish contaminants throughout the Great Lakes basin.
Central Michigan will receive $10 million to monitor approximately 1,000 wetlands over the next five years.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/04/ap-epa-great-lakes-grants-central-michigan-clarkson/
Waterfowl hunters began buying them nearly a century ago. Just after that, collectors joined the fun.
Since its inception in 1934 when Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act into law, the duck stamp (as it’s commonly known) has garnered more than $1 billion for habitat conservation in the national wildlife refuge system.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/04/duck-stamp-impacts-great-lakes-nationwide-refuge/
Last year when the Midland dams gave way, more than 21 billion gallons of water rushed into the Tittabawassee River. More than three and a quarter billion gallons of that ended up in the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/wetlands-property-damage-save-lives-floods/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Taylor Haelterman, Great Lakes Echo
High school students, community groups and Lake Superior State University will use landscaping this summer to reduce pollution flowing into the St. Marys River.
The project recently received $250,000 from the United States Forest Service as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a program that protects Great Lakes drinking water and habitat.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/02/university-st-marys-river-clean-green-boost/
Coastal wetlands have largely disappeared in many areas surrounding the Great Lakes. But in this Facebook Watch Party, originally broadcast live on Friday, Feb.5, 2021, learn more about restoration projects on Lake St. Clair and on the Rouge River in metro Detroit.
This watch party is part of an ongoing series of “first Friday” events, co-hosted by Great Lakes Now, the Belle Isle Conservancy and WDET-FM 101.9, Detroit public radio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/02/watch-party-coastal-wetlands-part-1/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Yue Jiang, Great Lakes Echo
They glide over the lake, waiting for the best time to catch fish.
In the blink of an eye, they dive into the water without hesitation.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/02/u-s-canadian-researchers-birds-conservation-research/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
As recently as the 1980s, a small backwater on the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River in Trenton, Michigan, was so polluted and toxic that scientists named it the Black Lagoon.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/02/beavers-detroit-river-black-lagoon-restoration/
Images related to Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects are powerful and well-known: jumping Asian carp, overflowing sewage and pollution flowing into waterways and lakes, invasive mussels clogging water infrastructure and blanketing shipwrecks.
But with its hundreds of millions of federal dollars, the initiative is helping to prevent non-native species from invading, support clean up, restore habitat and more.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/federal-tax-dollars-funding-great-lakes-restoration-initiative/
By Rachel Fritts, Eos
This story originally appeared in Eos and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
Everything wears away in time, but human activities like farming can dramatically accelerate natural erosion rates.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/european-colonists-dramatically-increased-north-american-erosion-rates/
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A program that has pumped $2.7 billion into healing long-term injuries to the Great Lakes environment has received authorization from Congress to continue another five years.
The U.S. Senate voted unanimously Sunday to extend the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, as the House did earlier this year.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/ap-congress-5-year-extension-great-lakes-cleanup-program/
