More than 10,000 acres of land in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have avoided losing protection. The grounds known as the Slate River Timberlands were recently acquired by the Nature Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit group, after nearly 60 years under a family’s ownership. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211213-conservation
The vacant site of a coal-fired power plant on Lake Ontario is set to sprout 8,000 homes, 200,000 square feet of retail and 1.8 million square feet of offices under a plan to transform it into “destination waterfront.” Read the full story by The Real Deal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211213-ontario-waterfront
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the completion of the restoration of the North Sandy Pond barrier bar. The project funds were awarded to the town of Sandy Creek, Oswego County, as part of the State’s Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative. The North Sandy Pond barrier bar is part of the largest barrier-pond ecosystem on Lake Ontario’s New York shore. Read the full story by Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211213-restoration
A 9-year-old Michigan resident became a champion of a fish that hasn’t been in Michigan for 85 years. Declan O’Reilly has raised over $1,400 for the Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative fledgling and has started an Arctic grayling club. Read the full story by Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211213-arctic-grayling
Residents along the Lake Erie shoreline have been fighting against wind turbines in and around Lake Erie for the last 13 years. As residents were ramping up opposition, the pandemic limited their efforts. As restrictions ease, they held their first big meeting since totaling 60 people, which consisted primarily of boaters and fishermen. Read the full story by Observer Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211213-turbines-erie
A conference discussing research and policy on chemicals called PFAS starts today. The “Great Lakes Virtual PFAS Summit” is a week-long event where policymakers, environmentalists and researchers can learn about how to address the threat posed by PFAS. Read the full story by WNMU-FM – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-pfas-summit
Under the plan proposed by For Love of Water, a nonprofit environmental organization in Traverse City, Michigan residents would pay 3 to 6 cents and bottled water companies would pay 25 cents per gallon of water they pump from the ground to package and sell. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-bottled-water
Faced with growing uncertainties over the future of fossil fuels, Enbridge wants to cut by a decade the estimated economic life span of its Upper Midwest pipeline system, which includes the newly built Line 3. Read the full story by Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-enbridge
A new project using a sophisticated system of receivers across Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron will help guide researchers in their efforts to return state-threatened lake sturgeon to the Saginaw Bay system. Read the full story by WSGW-TV – Saginaw, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-sturgeon-fish
PFAS chemicals have been detected in every one of the Great Lakes and in the drinking water of nearly 2 million Michiganders to date. Communities across the state are impacted. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-pfas-pollution
Michigan’s State Senate approved a $3.3 billion water infrastructure plan, including $680 million specifically for dam safety, in a unanimous and bipartisan vote last week. Read the full story by Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-michigan-dam
Scientists with Fisheries and Oceans Canada spurred an online furor this week by posting photos of a nearly four-pound goldfish found as part of ongoing three-year project with the goal to study what can be done to control the exploding aquarium released pond populations and prevent ecological damage and potential release to Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Welland Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-goldfish
More than a century ago, townspeople wearied of looking at the fire-torched hull of the SS Muskegon, which had been abandoned in the Michigan City marina. So they dragged it out into Lake Michigan and sank it. Now the shipwreck of the 211-foot freighter that sank near Mount Baldy in Michigan City in 1911 could become Indiana’s second underwater preserve. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-indiana-shipwreck
Indiana Dunes’ iconic Mount Baldy dune is gradually creeping inland and now covers part of a popular road. Park officials hope to preserve access to Mount Baldy but don’t have a plan to address its shifting sands. Read the full story by Travel Awaits.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-indiana-dunes
Lefroy Harbour Resorts in Innisfil, Ontario was recognized at this year’s 39th annual Conservation Awards, hosted by the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA), for its efforts to keep the lake clean and pristine through water quality protection efforts including microplastic collecting Seabins. Read the full story by BarrieToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211206-harbor
There are mystery holes that are one of the only pieces of physical evidence that indicates what almost became a reality. In the age of canal building during the industrial revolution, the proposed Georgian Bay Ship Canal megaproject connecting the St. Lawrence River to the Georgian Bay was being exhaustively evaluated. Read the full story by Collingwood Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-shipping
Installing filters on washing machines could be a simple and effective way to catch the microscopic particles our clothes shed, according to a study released this week by the University of Toronto and nonprofit Georgian Bay Forever. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-microfiber-pollution
Central Michigan University researchers have discovered unexpected populations of native mussels in the Detroit River, an area that hasn’t been searched for the mollusks since 1998. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-native-mussels
In late 2011, the Minnesota Department of Health released a study about levels of mercury in the blood of infants born in the Lake Superior watershed. The study showed that 10% of the infants in the Minnesota portion of the watershed had mercury levels that exceeded health limits. Read the full story by Duluth News-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-mercury-minnesota
A $17.8 million federal grant will help complete the final 17 segments of a 60-mile continuous trail that connects Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. The US Department of Transportation awarded the Marquette Greenway project a 2021 RAISE grant, which will be managed by the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. Read the full story by Northwest Indiana Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-trail
A wetland monitoring team from Heidelberg University is playing an integral role in Ohio’s H2Ohio initiative to improve water quality in the state and reduce nutrients and pollutants going into Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Advertiser-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-h2o-ohio
The marmorkreb, a.k.a. marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis), is a destructive new species that first appeared in aquariums in Germany. Preventing the release of this species is tied to public outreach and public reporting. Read the full story by Press-Republican.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-invasive-crayfish
Along Chicago’s beaches recent storm waves stirred up shell deposits from invasive zebra and quagga mussels on the lake bottom and brought them ashore. Read the full story by WTTW-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-invasive-mussels
A U.S. Navy warship won’t be dropping anchor in Erie anytime soon. While efforts are ongoing to bring a decommissioned Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate to Presque Isle Bay and turn it into a floating naval museum, a steep fundraising goal and an arduous Navy approval process could slow the project for years. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-ship-museum
A cormorant colony in eastern Ontario is dwindling, and a retired biologist who monitors the birds says Ontario’s cormorant hunt has left the colony on the brink of survival. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211122-ontario-birds
Water levels on lakes Erie and St. Clair remain well above average, leaving vulnerable shoreline areas at risk. Average daily levels on Lake Erie at the beginning of November were around 174.71 m, which is down about 43 cm from last year’s peak daily average record set at the end of May. Read the full story by Chatham Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-lake-levels
A recent study by Central Michigan University professors and students examined ring-billed gull travel patterns at several Lake Michigan beaches in Michigan’s Ottawa and Muskegon counties. Ring-billed gulls travel between populated beaches and human waste sites like landfills and water treatment plants, carrying human pathogens with them. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-gulls-birds
Researchers at Michigan State University are collecting data on Great Lakes shorelines, including how residents view coastlines and the impact of high water levels. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-shoreline
News and history of regulatory violations should result in alarms to immediately shut down Pipeline 5 in Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac. The question isn’t if an oil pipeline will become a problem, but when. Read the full story by Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-line-5-oil
There have been large botulism kills of birds in Lake Huron and Lake Erie since 1998. It killed many birds in Georgian Bay in October 2011 and October 2012, and again this October. Read the full story by Orillia Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-algae-botulism
Oaktree Capital Management LP and American Industrial Partners are exploring a sale of the Great Lakes marine transportation company Rand Logistics, which could fetch more than $1 billion, including debt, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Read the full story by Bloomberg.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-transportation-shipping
Oaktree Capital Management LP and American Industrial Partners are exploring a sale of the Great Lakes marine transportation company Rand Logistics, which could fetch more than $1 billion, including debt, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Read the full story by Bloomberg.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-transportation-shipping
Students in Careerline Tech Center’s Natural Resources and Outdoor Studies program are exploring the issue of microplastics by collecting samples from six beaches along Lake Michigan in Michigan’s Ottawa County, from Grand Haven State Park to Holland State Park. Read the full story by Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-plastic
Students in Careerline Tech Center’s Natural Resources and Outdoor Studies program are exploring the issue of microplastics by collecting samples from six beaches along Lake Michigan in Michigan’s Ottawa County, from Grand Haven State Park to Holland State Park. Read the full story by Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-plastic
Residents in Pellston, MI can expect another round of water testing as the state Department of Health and Human Services looks to see how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance levels have fluctuated. Read the full story by Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-pfas
Residents in Pellston, MI can expect another round of water testing as the state Department of Health and Human Services looks to see how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance levels have fluctuated. Read the full story by Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-pfas
For the first time since 1983, a U.S.-flagged freighter has been constructed on the Great Lakes. Fincatieri Bay Shipbuilding, based in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, built the 639-foot vessel for the Great Lakes’ own Interlake Steamship Company, whose roots trace back more than a century, to 1913. Read the full story by the Northern Express.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-shipping
The popular SS Badger is away from her home for a bit for a long-awaited sprucing up. The U.S. Coast Guard requires the ship to be inspected every five years. The Badger last made the trip to Sturgeon Bay in 2015, but because of her fresh-water operations and seasonality, Interlake Steamship Company, the ferry’s parent company, received an extension for an additional year. Read the full story by Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-ship-inspection
The Viking cruise line has announced new expedition cruises in 2023 that include a two-week cruise on the Great Lakes and a 16-day cruise on the St. Lawrence River and Atlantic coast. Read the full story by Cruise Fever.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-cruises
The Biden administration is launching a broad strategy to regulate PFAS. Environmental Protection Agency Administer Michael Regan, said they are taking a series of actions to restrict PFAS from being released into the environment, accelerate cleanup of PFAS-contaminated sites such as military bases and increase investments in research to learn more about where PFAS are found and how their spread can be prevented. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-pfas-pollution
According to a recent study published in ScienceDirect, rising temperatures and drier weather due to climate change and increasing fuel loads could double the probability of wildfires occurring in the Great Lakes region by the end of the century. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-fire-climate
The operator of a Michigan oil pipeline temporarily shut down Line 5 this week after protesters posted a warning on social media that they planned to turn an emergency valve. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-line-5
There has been public push back against recent reports that the Quebec government may ban all oil and natural gas development, arguing that mandating an energy will produce rolling blackouts, energy poverty, higher food prices and environmental degradation. Meanwhile, proponents in the Quebec government are advocating for a “Just Transition” focused on sustainable development. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-fossil-fuel-climate
Michigan has been chosen as the site of a new Coast Guard National Center of Expertise that will study the impact of freshwater oil spills with the aim of improving effective emergency responses with offices in Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie and at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-oil-spill
In 2014, a harmful algal bloom overwhelmed the Toledo Water Intake Crib and caused a three-day undrinkable water crisis. This event showed that even in regions with resources as vast as the Great Lakes, water supplies are vulnerable to these kinds of man-made threats. Read the full story by Milwaukee Independent.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-water-quality
Ontario’s Environment Minister announced $2.58 million to pay for 19 new projects, focusing on keeping soil, and potential pollution from Ontario farms, from entering the province’s streams, rivers and lakes. Read the full story by CFPL-TV – London, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-farm-runoff
Brown County Land Conservation has set aside 2022 budget funds to improve water quality and soil health working with farmers to adopt conservation practices. Read the full story by Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-pollution
Invasive zebra mussels have been found in Copake Lake, NY, during the most recent survey of the lake last month. Read the full story by Columbia-Greene Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-invasive-mussels
Citing “unsettling” revelations about the state of Michigan’s handling of Benton Harbor’s lead-in-water crisis, the leader of Senate Oversight Committee has asked Michigan environmental regulators to turn over a lengthy list of documents detailing their response. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-lead
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in partnership with the state of Wisconsin, officially designated the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. This follows the close of a 45-day review period of continuous session of Congress that began on June 23, with the publishing of the final rule. Read the full story by WDJT-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-shipwreck-sanctuary
