Promoting “universal access,” the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy has been pursuing a goal to preserve the outdoors for everybody as a part of their Campaign for Generations, a $71.4-million, six-year fund-raising effort that will end on June 30. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210527-trails
This challenge is now complete! Thank you to everyone who contributed!
Wisconsin
http://www.usgs.gov/news/finished-tnmcorps-mapping-challenge-city-town-halls-wi
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/humans-ncei-tamara-houston
How attached you are to your community can determine how motivated you are to tackle climate change.
The post Attachment to your community can motivate climate change action first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/05/27/attachment-to-your-community-can-motivate-climate-change-action/
Note: This blog is part of a periodic series of updates from Don Jodrey, the Alliance’s Director of Federal Government Relations, with his view on Great Lakes policy from Washington, DC.
A call to increase drinking water and wastewater infrastructure funding was near the top of the Alliance’s annual list of federal legislative priorities. And now the issue is front and center in Washington.
Before I share a rundown of where legislation stands, first a quick refresher on the issue. Communities across the Great Lakes region continue to grapple with crumbling, antiquated drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, which includes drinking water and sewage treatment plants and the pipes that carry water to and from our homes. It’s not just a Great Lakes problem. Our nation’s drinking water infrastructure is woefully in need of repair. In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s drinking water system a “C minus” and said that much of our drinking water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. But, fixing infrastructure is expensive. The eight Great Lakes states need $188 billion over the next 20 years for improvements, upgrades, and repairs to this infrastructure
Back in March, President Biden unveiled a massive infrastructure spending proposal – the American Jobs Plan – and his FY22 budget also includes investments in drinking and wastewater infrastructure. The President’s budget and legislative proposals respond to our advocacy on behalf of Great Lakes citizens who deserve clean and affordable drinking water and clean water for recreation. The key question now is, how will the Congress respond to the President’s efforts to invest in fixing our massive infrastructure problems?
The initial legislative action in Congress is encouraging and it’s notable that one of the first bi-partisan bills to pass the United States Senate last month centered on water infrastructure needs. The Senate’s Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 passed the Senate 89-2 and proposes to spend $35 billion over five years to upgrade drinking and wastewater infrastructure around the country and to target communities most in need in doing so. The Senate’s proposed $35 billion investment is a good first step to address the needs of the Great Lakes, but we know that more is necessary. The bill still has hurdles before it can become law as it has only passed the Senate.
The House of Representatives is also tackling infrastructure legislation. In an encouraging development, two committees in the House are currently considering larger water-related investments. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021 and the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act together propose to invest $101 billion in drinking and wastewater infrastructure. Committee hearings and markups – the process by which legislators debate bills by suggesting rewrites or amendments – are underway.
But where is all this going and how will it come together? The President’s American Jobs Plan proposed $111 billion for drinking and wastewater infrastructure spending over eight years, and that amount is much larger than either the Senate or House legislation considered to date. The President’s plan is being met with some resistance in Congress, with concerns being expressed by some House and Senate members over cost and scope of the plans. It is very much a subject of legislative negotiation and discussion with compromises still to be reached. But as with any domestic investment of this size and scale, this negotiation is to be expected.
So we remain engaged in the legislative process to inform Congress of our water needs. And, you can too. Hundreds of Great Lakes advocates sent letters to their Members of Congress in late April and it’s not too late to weigh in. It’s important that Congress hear from people like you as they debate these bills. We make it easy for you to send a letter in our Great Lakes Action Center.
The post Water Infrastructure Front and Center in Washington, DC appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2021/05/water-infrastructure-front-and-center-in-washington-dc/
The cities of Saginaw, Michigan, and Muskegon, Michigan, are resuming water shutoffs for failure to pay water bills. The change comes after a statewide pandemic moratorium expired at the end of March. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-shutoffs
With summer quickly approaching, popular tourist destinations across the Great Lakes region are fully opening for business and hoping to attract tourists to the many recreational opportunities along the lake shoreline. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-tourists
University of Toronto researchers released plastic bottles with GPS trackers into the Toronto Harbor with the hope of monitoring the bottles’ travel throughout Lake Ontario. The research will inform the movement of garbage across the lake and improve waste management. Read the full story by Yahoo News Canada.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-plastic-bottles
The Michigan Climate and Energy Summit brought out Michigan’s two US Senators to discuss the federal government’s response to climate change, including the impact of President Biden’s stimulus plan on addressing Great Lakes protection and tackling climate impacts of the region’s agriculture and forestry industry. Read the full story by WWUP -TV – Sault St. Marie, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-climate-summit
When Lake Michigan water levels were high in the 1960s, one resident in St. Joseph, Michigan, adopted a unique strategy for creating a breakwall to prevent erosion: piling junk cars on the beach to stabilize the shoreline and prevent bluff erosion. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-car-graveyard
Chicago’s 22 beaches along Lake Michigan will re-open to the public for the first time since September 2019. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-chicago-beaches-open
A panel of experts on invasive grass carp convened at this week’s Great Lakes Fishery Commission annual meeting discussed strategies for removing grass carp from the northwest Ohio waterways and installing structural barriers to prevent the further spread of carp. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-grass-carp
The removal of the Pucker Street Dam on the Dowagiac River in Berrien County, Michigan, heralded the return of salmon and steelhead fish to upstream breeding grounds. The dam removal will support the fishery industry by improve fish breeding. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-remove-the-dams
President Biden proposed billions in funding to replace the nation’s lead water pipes. Flint, Michigan, is an example of how to fix the problem and the challenges that could slow progress. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-lead-pipes
Even as water levels drop on Lake Michigan, coastal erosion continues to damage the shoreline and impact infrastructure and buildings along the coast. Read the full story by WXMI-TV—Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210526-water-levels
Note: This blog is part of a periodic series of updates from Don Jodrey, the Alliance’s Director of Federal Government Relations, with his view on Great Lakes policy from Washington, DC.
A call to increase drinking water and wastewater infrastructure funding was near the top of the Alliance’s annual list of federal legislative priorities. And now the issue is front and center in Washington.
Before I share a rundown of where legislation stands, first a quick refresher on the issue. Communities across the Great Lakes region continue to grapple with crumbling, antiquated drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, which includes drinking water and sewage treatment plants and the pipes that carry water to and from our homes. It’s not just a Great Lakes problem. Our nation’s drinking water infrastructure is woefully in need of repair. In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s drinking water system a “C minus” and said that much of our drinking water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. But, fixing infrastructure is expensive. The eight Great Lakes states need $188 billion over the next 20 years for improvements, upgrades, and repairs to this infrastructure
Back in March, President Biden unveiled a massive infrastructure spending proposal – the American Jobs Plan – and his FY22 budget also includes investments in drinking and wastewater infrastructure. The President’s budget and legislative proposals respond to our advocacy on behalf of Great Lakes citizens who deserve clean and affordable drinking water and clean water for recreation. The key question now is, how will the Congress respond to the President’s efforts to invest in fixing our massive infrastructure problems?
The initial legislative action in Congress is encouraging and it’s notable that one of the first bi-partisan bills to pass the United States Senate last month centered on water infrastructure needs. The Senate’s Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 passed the Senate 89-2 and proposes to spend $35 billion over five years to upgrade drinking and wastewater infrastructure around the country and to target communities most in need in doing so. The Senate’s proposed $35 billion investment is a good first step to address the needs of the Great Lakes, but we know that more is necessary. The bill still has hurdles before it can become law as it has only passed the Senate.
The House of Representatives is also tackling infrastructure legislation. In an encouraging development, two committees in the House are currently considering larger water-related investments. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021 and the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act together propose to invest $101 billion in drinking and wastewater infrastructure. Committee hearings and markups – the process by which legislators debate bills by suggesting rewrites or amendments – are underway.
But where is all this going and how will it come together? The President’s American Jobs Plan proposed $111 billion for drinking and wastewater infrastructure spending over eight years, and that amount is much larger than either the Senate or House legislation considered to date. The President’s plan is being met with some resistance in Congress, with concerns being expressed by some House and Senate members over cost and scope of the plans. It is very much a subject of legislative negotiation and discussion with compromises still to be reached. But as with any domestic investment of this size and scale, this negotiation is to be expected.
So we remain engaged in the legislative process to inform Congress of our water needs. And, you can too. Hundreds of Great Lakes advocates sent letters to their Members of Congress in late April and it’s not too late to weigh in. It’s important that Congress hear from people like you as they debate these bills. We make it easy for you to send a letter in our Great Lakes Action Center.
The post Water Infrastructure Front and Center in Washington, DC appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2021/05/water-infrastructure-front-and-center-in-washington-dc/
The 2019-20 Great Lakes Commission Annual Report includes remarks from Chair Sharon Jackson and Interim Executive Director Erika Jensen. The Commission’s annual reports traditionally include remarks from our chair and executive director as well as information regarding revenues, expenses, and commissioners.
Download PDF | Published May 2021
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/library/2019-20-glc-annual-report
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Jim DuFresne, Great Lakes Echo
At some point in our lives, we all can use a little help down the trail — aging baby boomers, a toddler, a parent pushing a stroller, an expectant mother, somebody who walks with a cane, somebody else who suffers from asthma.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/great-lakes-trails-friendlier-disabilities/
Fish and Wildlife Service News
Fish and Wildlife Service News
http://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ref=%0Amichigan-and-missouri-recovery-champions-honored-for-work-to-save-&_ID=36915
The food industry may be getting closer to the introduction of lab-grown, or cultured, meats.
The post Advocates look to labs for replacements to farm-raised meats first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/05/26/advocates-look-to-labs-for-replacements-to-farm-raised-meats/
Canada has nine sailors heading to the Olympics, six of which hail from the Great Lakes. Sarah Douglas is one of them.
“I’m excited, you know, I’m trying to treat it like any other competition,” Douglas said, “I think with the restrictions that we have, it’s going to be easier, the less distractions, but I’m just going out there to race.”
Douglas, a Toronto native who grew up in Barbados, will be competing in the Laser class in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/douglas-lake-ontario-tokyo-olympics/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261A12D68C8.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261A1393A90WI.GRBSPSGRB.8f818784d021d951be537fbb8c450382
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/
More fishing trips could cause more damage to native fish populations in the Canadian portion of the Great Lakes than aquatic invasive species, according to a recent study. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-fish-population
On the western edge of Lake Erie is a green, oily sludge that comes out regularly every summer and lasts into the first month of fall. It’s an issue that will require regional collaboration to solve. Read the full story by WJBK – TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-lake-erie
The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in Portage, Indiana was one of eight ports in the United States to win a Pacesetter Award for its performance during the 2020 shipping season. Read the full story by The Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-port-award
Environmental advocates are urging Detroit, Michigan’s City Council to take action on an ordinance that aims to safeguard the Detroit River by imposing stricter rules for companies operating along the waterway. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-detroit-river
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin emergency dredging of Lake Michigan’s St. Joseph Harbor early June, expediting the process to restore critical navigation, the agency said in a news release. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-dredging
A century-old shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Michigan is now officially on the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places. Read the full story by WDJT – TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-shipwreck
To help improve water quality and soil health, Canadian federal and provincial governments are providing more than $2.5 million for the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds.. Read the full story by Chatham-Kent This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-watershed-funding
The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup (GLPC) has launched a new campaign called “Little Bits, Big Problems” to help tackle the problem of plastics pollution in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-dec-plastic-pollution
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Syracuse-based Great Lakes Research Consortium (GLRC) announced $121,741 in grant awards for five research projects that will help restore and protect the health of New York’s Great Lakes and surrounding communities, including one project led by Clarkson Assistant Biology Professor Andrew David. Read the full story by Finger Lakes 1 News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-dec-funding
Oil and gas are still flowing through Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. That’s despite Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s order to shut it down. Read and hear the full story by WDET- Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-line5
More fishing trips could cause more damage to native fish populations in the Canadian portion of the Great Lakes than aquatic invasive species, according to a recent study.
The post New anglers could depress Great Lakes fish populations more than invasive species first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/05/25/new-anglers-could-depress-great-lakes-fish-populations-more-than-invasive-species/
On the West side of the United States, residents are seeing problems crop up in their waters. Great Lakes region residents will find those issues familiar.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/tapped-out-power-justice-water-west/
New research by NOAA documents warmer, wetter, and more frequent, intense storms in the Great Lakes region between 1991-2020. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210524-climate
It has been estimated that it would cost nearly US$20 million for all farms in Ohio that feed Lake Erie to reduce their nutrient pollution by 30 per cent. The benefits of a cleaner lake, meanwhile, would only recoup about half that amount. However, there’s something missing from that calculation – and it has major implications for protecting local waterways all over the world.. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210524-global
As part of spring and fall migration, hundreds of thousands of hawks and other birds of prey follow a flight path over the Great Lakes, where wind, water and our state’s unique geography converge to create hot spots over which these birds fly in droves. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210524-birds
Our region is home to more than 20 percent of the world’s surface fresh water, including Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes. Our region also offers exceptional economic opportunity, with an economy that generates about $6 trillion annually. Read the full story by the Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210524-cleve
For anglers journeying to Lake Erie, walleye and yellow perch long have been main drivers of their efforts. Yet for reasons largely mysterious walleye currently are booming, and yellow perch seem to be going bust. Read the full story by the Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210524-walleye
A new study involves placing transmitters on hen mallards in the Great Lakes region. The tracking devices will allow researchers to document hen movements and habitat use, estimate the number that return to the same breeding, staging and wintering areas and estimate survival and productivity rates. Some Great Lakes states have shown declines in mallard populations in recent years. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210524-duck
Although still above normal, Great Lakes water levels have dropped steadily since last fall and are expected to remain below 2020 levels for most of this year, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forecast. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210524-levels
The North Beach area in Racine features several coastal engineering structures and a popular beach that will offer learning opportunities for middle-school students in the community. Image credit: David Mickelson, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program
When Adam Bechle, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s coastal engineering outreach specialist, was growing up in Green Bay, he did not feel connected to Lake Michigan. When he visited the shore during rare school field trips, he enjoyed the outings but there was no one who could tell him how waves worked or why the dike he was sitting on was built.
So, when Sea Grant senior special librarian and education coordinator, Anne Moser, approached Bechle about a project designed to connect middle-school students to their watershed by exploring coastal engineering concepts, he thought it was a great opportunity.
The two wrote a proposal to the Great Lakes Region Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funds projects that encourage “meaningful watershed educational experiences” for K-12 students and their teachers. Their 17-month pilot project, “Coastal Engineering Education: People, Place and Practice,” was funded through a competitive process and begins soon.
Moser said their Great Lakes B-WET project is unique. “This place-based approach to watershed learning is innovative in its use of coastal engineering as an educational framework to engage students. The other thing that struck the funders was that the project is focused not only on the place and the practice of coastal engineering, but also on the people. It was important for us to include career pathways that introduce students to a variety of coastal engineering, green infrastructure and healthy beach management careers.”
Bechle and Moser plan to work with seventh-grade students and at least four teachers in the Racine Unified School District. Bechle explained that they chose Racine for several reasons. “Racine got hit by a big storm in January of 2020 that did a lot of damage on the lakefront, plus high water levels have been causing problems at North Beach. It’s being inundated frequently and there’s standing water at times. So, there’s ongoing engineering work happening there. We also have a good relationship with the city of Racine, specifically, their public health department. They’ve done great work to bring their beaches up to outstanding water quality and have nature-based features that help with filtering stormwater.”
Crew leaders and a crew supervisor (right) with the Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps measure the width of North Beach. Image credit: Anne Moser
Also in Racine is Chris Litzau, president of the Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps (CCC), an organization that trains and educates disadvantaged populations in Racine with outdoor projects reminiscent of those conducted by the original Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Litzau’s group has been working with seventh graders in Racine over the past five years on a healthy beaches project on North Beach. The wide sandy beach can average over 1,000 visitors per month during summer. Numerous rock breakwaters, jetties and revetments lie south of the beach and offer examples of erosion and sediment movement.
The new project is multi-faceted and also involves Sea Grant staffers Natalie Chin and Ginny Carlson. In a nutshell, the team will meet with the school district to discuss its needs, create a five-lesson coastal engineering curriculum, bring the curriculum to teachers and to Great Lakes CCC crew leaders through workshops so that they can then teach their students, and work with the students to develop North Beach stewardship projects that use coastal engineering practices. Throughout the project, the students will also have the chance to be mentored by working engineers and other professionals who reflect the rich diversity of their community.
After evaluating how the project proceeds and is received, Bechle and Moser will make the curriculum available for use in other locations and school districts around the Great Lakes through the Center for Great Lakes Literacy. The Great Lakes CCC will be able to absorb the lesson into their regular programming.
Moser expects some challenges in developing the project curriculum. “We really have to start from scratch,” she said. “We need to pick Adam’s brain and take all the great work he’s done and somehow figure out how to engage the kids in a pretty technical field. It’s an exciting opportunity.”
What might the beach stewardship projects entail? Bechle said students could help with protecting fragile dune systems, reducing stormwater runoff, or even by developing social media campaigns to share the issues they learn about through the project. “There’s plenty of ideas where we can connect kids to the beach,” he said.
Readers who are connected to the engineering field and are interested in helping the project can contact Anne Moser. She said they are looking for mentors from Racine, Kenosha or even Milwaukee.
The post Unique costal engineering education pilot project coming to Racine first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/unique-costal-engineering-education-pilot-project-coming-to-racine/
An Ontario shipping company has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine and to implement an environmental compliance program after accepting responsibility for the illegal dumping of 11,887 gallons of oily bilge water into Lake Ontario.
The post Canadian shipping company fined for dumping oily bilge water into Lake Ontario first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/05/24/canadian-shipping-company-fined-for-dumping-oily-bilge-water-into-lake-ontario/
A proposed rocket launching site on the shores of Lake Superior has raised many questions. A community group, Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior, recently organized to address the potential impact on the environment and community. Not only is the project site on the shores of Lake Superior, it is home to the Granot Loma Lodge which is on the National Register of Historic places.
The Ashtabula River, once a very polluted river, is recovering due to years of restoration efforts. State and federal agencies are now requesting input on whether to remove the polluted status of the River, also called delisting. Freshwater Future recognizes the work of the Ashtabula River Advisory Council for their progress on restoring the habitat. The public comment period regarding the status of the Ashtabula River is open until June 6th.
Dam safety is a major concern in the Great Lakes Region. Please take a moment and watch this 5-minute video that discusses dam safety in Wisconsin and Michigan and why state and federal funding for dam safety and infrastructure needs to be a priority.
First Nation leaders and environmental advocates in Canada are pushing for provincial and local governments to ban the herbicide glyphosate used widely in agriculture and forestry. Fredericton Green MP Jenica Atwin is now proposing legislation that would make it illegal to manufacture, possess, distribute, or use this herbicide.
Great Lakes beach cleanup volunteers have estimated that nearly 85% of the trash collected is plastic and researchers believe a staggering 22 million pounds of plastic debris winds up in the Great Lakes each year. Much of this plastic is ground into microscopic particles that are ingested by fish, and in turn, consumed by humans. Micro-plastics are also showing up in our tap water and beverages such as beer, highlighting the urgent need for alternatives to single-use plastics. Listen to the full podcast here on All Things Considered, Morning Edition.
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/freshwater-weekly/freshwater-weekly-may-21-2021/
People gathered on Wisconsin Point to learn about the Ojibwe history of the area. Image credit: Michael Anderson
With the cool blue of Lake Superior and soft sloshing waves as a background, The River Talks season ended on a Wisconsin Point beach after a year of virtual presentations. Thomas Howes, natural resources manager with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa presented, “Ojibwe connection to Wisconsin Point: Past, present and future,” to an audience of about 75, who enjoyed a warm evening.
Howes said the circumstances that brought the Ojibwe to Wisconsin Point were complicated. “This place has been important to who we are as Fond du Lac people, but also this region was important to expansion of trade. You couldn’t get to the Mississippi River very easily in those days. This was Highway 35 back then. All the goods coming from out East came through the lake, through here and up the river,” he said.
Thomas Howes. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Howes described how the Ojibwe fought with the Dakota people over this area because of its strategic location. White settlers and business owners also coveted Wisconsin Point. According to the “Duluth News Tribune,” the federal government owned the end of the point since 1901, when it condemned nearly 45 acres. In 1918, the Ojibwe lost more land on the point in a legal dispute with the Interstate Railroad Co., when a small village was forcibly moved and a nearby Ojibwe burial ground was bulldozed, with remains reburied at a Superior cemetery.
“A lot of painful things happened here,” Howes said. “A lot of beautiful things, too. This place is taking care of us. All of us who are from here, it’s all part of you. All the fish that came from here, all the berries, maple syrup, manoomin, all that is part of us.”
Thirteen acres at the end of the point where the Superior Entry connects the harbor with Lake Superior, became available when the U.S. Army declared it surplus property in 2002. Howes said the tribe received the property in 2017. It includes structures previously used by the University of Wisconsin-Superior as research facilities and by the Coast Guard.
“It needs some work. The whole area just needs some love. It’s overrun and has way too many chain-link fences. There’s a lot of opportunity there. It’s a huge thing to regain that territory; it’s symbolic,” Howes said.
He recently completed a project for his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth where he developed a stewardship plan for the 13-acre parcel. When asked what ideas are in his plan he joked, “There won’t be any casinos!” But he did mention development of some sort of visitation center, efforts to manage invasive plants and to restore the ecology. He said he has handed the plan over to the tribal government for consideration.
His plan’s main goal is for the area to remain intact and natural. “The fact that it’s stayed this way is pretty amazing,” Howes said.
He also thinks the tribe should own the Ojibwe Cemetery land so that it can protect it. He cited a recent incident where people involved in a medallion hunt dug in the burial grounds while on their search.
He also said the band is interested in having “the area from the lake all the way up the river to the reservation to be considered a cultural corridor. Because it is. When there are undertakings that are significant, they should be monitored for archeological resources and reasons. This is a really rich region archeologically and it should be respected.”
The River Talks series will be taking a break for the summer. Look for talks to begin again in fall. To receive email notifications about the series, please contact organizer Marie Zhuikov at mzhuikov@aqua.wisc.edu.
The lighthouse on Wisconsin Point. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
The post Ojibwe history on Wisconsin Point is complicated, painful, beautiful first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/ojibwe-history-on-wisconsin-point-is-complicated-painful-beautiful/
SAUGATUCK, Mich. (AP) — A plan to turn a former church camp into luxury homes in a sand dune area near Lake Michigan can be challenged by some neighbors, the Michigan Supreme Court said Thursday.
After objections arose, the developer sold some land to create a buffer between the project and critics.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/challengers-to-dune-development-win-appeal-at-top-court/
Despite the cataclysmic effects the pandemic had on Michigan’s county fair events in 2020, most are expected to take place this year, at least in some form.
The post Despite last year’s cancellations, county fairs are coming back in Michigan first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/05/21/despite-last-years-cancellations-county-fairs-are-coming-back-in-michigan/
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/
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/
