This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Nicholas Simon, Great Lakes Echo
Efforts by politicians to create a hunting season for eastern sandhill cranes in both Wisconsin and Michigan are stirring debates among hunters, farmers and birders.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/eastern-sandhill-cranes-hunt/
Approximately 85,000 homeowners in the Great Lakes region will see rate reductions for the first time because of the National Flood Insurance Program’s new risk rating system, experts say.
The flood insurance program is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It provides coverage to property owners, renters and businesses to help them recover from floods faster.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/flood-risk-assessment-reduce-insurance-rates/
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/
The Great Lakes region wasn’t always the freshwater realm we know today: rewind to a couple centuries ago and it was actually covered in tropical seawater. That’s why many of the fossils found in the area today are portions of coral reefs and ancient sea creatures.
“When you think of Michigan or Illinois, you imagine cold and snow, but it wasn’t always that way.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/fossil-great-lakes-coral-remnants/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full-story:
Illinois:
The state of Illinois’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to invest over $29 million in wastewater and drinking water projects for the first quarter of the 2022 fiscal year.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/drinking-water-news-roundup-algae-blooms-dnr/
Shipping companies and ports around the world and on the Great Lakes are launching sustainability efforts to lessen their environmental impact, combat climate change, and improve their efficiency and images. With support from the Solutions Journalism Network, Great Lakes Now Contributor Kari Lydersen is reporting the four-part series “Sustainable Shipping.”
Read them here:
Are voluntary efforts enough to improve port sustainability?
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/sustainable-shipping-port-milwaukee-the-wind-green-energy/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/pfas-news-covid-vaccine-minnesota-businesses-new-york-standards/
“The legend lives on…”
Nov. 10 has been an unassailable part of Great Lakes culture and history since 1975 when the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior with its entire crew of 29 and was immortalized in the famous song by Gordon Lightfoot.
The ship went down in Lake Superior, near Whitefish Point, but it’s a piece of history that connects people all around the region who care about the lakes and their history or have experienced their own loss.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/edmund-fitzgerald-shipwreck-memorial-service-2021/
This story is the third in a four-part series looking at sturgeon restoration efforts.
Lake sturgeon restoration efforts are taking place across the Great Lakes basin.
But what that restoration looks like is entirely dependent on location and other factors, such as whether or not any lake sturgeon remain in the area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/sturgeon-restoration-starting-anew-in-sturgeon-and-saginaw-bays/
This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.
By Mario Koran, Wisconsin Watch
Mike Kahr, an engineer and owner of Death’s Door Marine, has watched Lake Michigan’s water levels fluctuate during his 40-plus year career. But even the veteran engineer hasn’t seen the lake’s water levels swing from low to high quite this rapidly.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/calls-protect-shorelines-lake-michigan/
This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.
By Mario Koran, Wisconsin Watch
Mike Kahr, an engineer and owner of Death’s Door Marine, has watched Lake Michigan’s water levels fluctuate during his 40-plus year career. But even the veteran engineer hasn’t seen the lake’s water levels swing from low to high quite this rapidly.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/calls-protect-shorelines-lake-michigan/
This story is the second in a four-part series looking at sturgeon restoration efforts.
Lake sturgeon restoration efforts are taking place across the Great Lakes basin.
But what that restoration looks like is entirely dependent on location and other factors, such as whether or not any lake sturgeon remain in the area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/sturgeon-restoration-streamside-hatcheries-manistee-milwaukee-maumee-rivers/
The operator of a Michigan oil pipeline said it temporarily shut down Line 5 Tuesday after protesters warned the company that they planned to turn an emergency valve.
Video posted on social media showed someone with a hard hat and a wrench inside a fenced area in Tuscola County, 90 miles north of Detroit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/ap-enbridge-michigan-pipeline-protests/
This story is the first in a four-part series looking at sturgeon restoration efforts.
Lake sturgeon restoration efforts are taking place across the Great Lakes basin.
But what that restoration looks like is entirely dependent on location and other factors, such as whether or not any lake sturgeon remain in the area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/sturgeon-restoration-studying-michigan-wisconsin-populations/
This story is the first in a four-part series looking at sturgeon restoration efforts.
Lake sturgeon restoration efforts are taking place across the Great Lakes basin.
But what that restoration looks like is entirely dependent on location and other factors, such as whether or not any lake sturgeon remain in the area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/sturgeon-restoration-studying-michigan-wisconsin-populations/
This article is part of a collaboration between The Alpena News and Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television to bring audiences stories about the Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron and its watershed.
LUDINGTON (AP) — The SS Badger backed into its dock Oct.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/ss-badger-makes-final-lake-michigan-crossing-of-season/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/pfas-study-michigan-wisconsin-minnesota-billions-transparency/
This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.
By Isaac Wasserman, Wisconsin Watch
Carnetta Galvin and Melody Homesly stood on Galvin’s porch holding glasses of wine on an August evening. It was Galvin’s birthday, and the best friends’ laughter reverberated from their corner of the brick apartment and into the streets of the Darbo-Worthington neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/madisons-starkweather-creek-wisconsin-polluted-waterway/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and
towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to
everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/drinking-water-indiana-iron-michigan-lead-nuclear-ontario/
Ron Meyer and Jerry Gunderson had already spent decades collecting different items when they learned about the trilobites turning up in a quarry just outside Milwaukee in 1984. The two men, friends since childhood, took a trip to the active quarry site and spoke with the foreman about any fossils that might have been found.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/09/fleshy-quarry-fossils-wisconsin-watery-past/
Drinking water systems in small and more diverse communities nationwide are less likely to receive state funding through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, according to a recent report.
Through the fund, the EPA awards grants to each state and the states add a 20% match, according to the agency.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/09/report-disparities-drinking-water-fund-distribution-inequity/
Six Native American tribes sued Wisconsin on Tuesday to try to stop its planned gray wolf hunt in November, asserting that the hunt violates their treaty rights and endangers an animal they consider sacred.
The Chippewa tribes say treaties give them rights to half of the wolf quota in territory they ceded to the United States in the mid-1800s.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/09/ap-6-tribes-sue-wisconsin-november-wolf-hunt/
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/
On a calm morning in late summer 2019, Jim Bailey was kayaking on Lake Superior near Thunder Bay, Ontario, when he found himself paddling through thick green scum, the likes of which he’d never seen in those waters. Puzzled, he headed into the open bay where he could see green patches stretching out about 3 kilometers.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/lake-superior-summer-algae-bloom/
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Days of heavy rain this month overwhelmed Milwaukee’s sewer system, sending millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into area rivers and Lake Michigan.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that storms on Aug. 6 triggered the overflow and more rain on Aug. 7 and Aug. 8 prolonged the flow.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/ap-sewer-overflow-wastewater-lake-michigan/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/pfas-action-act-senate-study-arctic-ice/
For decades, Green Bay Wisconsin National Guardsmen stored munitions and trained new recruits in a stucco-clad, Chicago Street building built in 1918.
Now, the building is home to hundreds of fish babies.
The Farmory, an urban farming nonprofit, is the only indoor fish hatchery in Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/farmory-wisconsin-indoor-fish-farming-declining-fish-populations/
This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.
By Coburn Dukehart, Wisconsin Watch
The No. 1 factor for acute gastrointestinal illness in Kewaunee County’s private drinking water wells is cow manure, according to a federal study released today.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/cow-manure-sickness-contaminated-wells-wisconsin/
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Strong thunderstorms caused widespread damage across Wisconsin, left tens of thousands without power and triggered tornado warnings.
The severe weather stretched from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan and began Wednesday evening in northwestern Wisconsin. By 2 a.m. Thursday, the numerous tornado warnings around the state had expired.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/ap-severe-weather-wisconsin-widespread-damage/
The Great Lakes are great for many reasons – their economic power, the lifestyle they provide millions of residents, as a getaway for tens of millions visitors and the livelihood it offers hundreds of thousands in lakes-related industries.
And then there’s the water. Summer sees the lakes filled with people soaking, swimming, skiing – and boating.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/boating-budget-great-lakes-recreation/
Six sailors from Ontario, along with three from Wisconsin and one from Illinois are in Japan and ready for the Olympic sailing competition.
Great Lakes Now Host Ward Detwiler spoke with three of them in advance of their travels:
Here’s how to watch and follow these Great Lakes sailors in the Games:
Reports from World Sailing
US Sailing Olympic Homepage
Sail/Voile Canada Olympic Homepage
Links to Live Coverage:
CBC Streaming Schedule for Sailing Events: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/sailing/streaming-schedule
NBC Olympics Streaming Site for Sailing Events:
https://www.nbcolympics.com/schedule/sport/sailing
Events and Schedules for the Great Lakes Sailors – start times for sailing events are 11 p.m.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/watch-great-lakes-sailors-2021-olympics/
When the Milwaukee River Lake Sturgeon Reintroduction Project began 16 years ago, success wasn’t immediately apparent.
Having a solid scientific foundation for the project wasn’t the problem: sturgeon were raised in the Milwaukee River so they would return there to spawn when the time came. The problem was that lake sturgeon don’t return to a river to spawn for around 15 years.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/ways-see-touch-appreciate-sturgeon-great-lakes-region/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/pfas-epa-fracking-ontario-cleanup-action-act-house/
As President Joe Biden tries to advance his high-profile legislative agenda in a sharply divided Congress, a low-profile bill that could help the Great Lakes region is progressing with bipartisan support.
If passed, it could finally help the region shake its Rust Belt image.
The legislation is the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/legislation-investment-tech-research-great-lakes-cities/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin regulators can impose operating conditions on factory farms and consider high-capacity wells’ cumulative environmental impacts when deciding whether to grant permits, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The decisions mark a major win for conservationists and clarify that the Department of Natural Resources has broad authority to protect Wisconsin’s waters.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/ap-dnr-farm-conditions-well-impact/
On first attempt to reach Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Research Biologist David Fielder, he wasn’t monitoring fish populations or water quality. He was busy with a perch basket lunch.
The yellow perch is a staple of Great Lakes commercial and recreational fishing, and Friday fish fries.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/yellow-perch-low-populations-wisconsin-michigan-fishing/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
MOLINE, Ill.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/lead-pipes-illinois-minnesota-grand-jury-flint-water-line-3/
For some, getting to contribute to scientific research might sound like a far-fetched possibility.
Jason Frenzel, stewardship coordinator at the Huron River Watershed Council, is one of the countless people working to change that assumption.
The HRWC is one of many organizations in the Great Lakes region that offer people, most with little prior scientific training, the opportunity to participate in science.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/citizen-science-opportunities/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Federal officials have designated a huge swath of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coastline as a National Marine Sanctuary to protect historic shipwrecks in the area, Gov. Tony Evers’ office announced Tuesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will publish regulations designating 962 square miles from Kewaunee County south to Ozaukee County as a sanctuary, Evers’ office said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-noaa-wisconsin-coastline-national-marine-sanctuary-designated/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/pfas-bottled-water-makeup-filthy-fifty-list-corporations-toxic-packaging/
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/
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — More than 500 wells on French Island have been contaminated with some level of PFAS chemicals, according to final results of state testing.
The La Crosse Tribune reported Friday that 538 wells on the island just west of La Crosse showed some level of the chemicals and 165 of them had levels above the state’s recommended 20 parts per trillion hazard standard.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-tests-pfas-contamination-500-french-island-wells/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Department of Natural Resources issued new consumption warnings Wednesday for fish taken from the Yahara chain of lakes and waterways in Dane and Rock counties after tests showed elevated levels of PFAS contamination.
The advisories apply to fish taken from Wingra and Starkweather creeks, lakes Monona, Kegonsa, Waubesa, Upper and Lower Mud lakes and the Yahara River downstream to the Rock River.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-wisconsin-dnr-pfas-fish-consumption-warning/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Algal blooms have forced health officials to close five Madison-area beaches.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday that the first tests of the season revealed blue-green algae blooms at beaches at BB Clarke, Olbrich and Warner parks and the Hudson Park lake access point.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-algae-blooms-wisconsin-beaches/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/drinking-water-bottled-lead-infrastructure-bill-streams/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/pfas-news-professor-stories-study-high-levels-fertilizer/
A little more than a year ago the nation’s media outlets, including Great Lakes Now, were reporting on the widespread closures and restrictions being enacted across Great Lakes states. There were complete or partial closures and restrictions at nearly all public parks, preserves and other lakes-related facilities. Bars, restaurants and many stores and businesses were locking their doors.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/great-lakes-tourism-recreation-covid-19-2021/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Illinois American Water is investing over $2.7 million to upgrade the Pontiac area water system.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/drinking-water-michigan-hackers-pennsylvania-water-systems-illinois-ohio/
As the global climate warms and water scarcity mounts, Great Lakes water is more valuable than ever before.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/great-lakes-water-diversions-future-possibilities/
