More than 50 years ago, Lake Erie was declared “dead,” and while its environmental health has improved, the shallowest of the five Great Lakes still lags its peers according to the recent State of the Great Lakes 2025 Report. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260313-erie-ranking
For years, Illinois state Representative Marcus Evans Jr. has championed a plan to make Illinois’ shores home to the first offshore wind farm in the Great Lakes. But the effort to bring wind power to Lake Michigan stalled again. Read the full story by WBEZ – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260313-lake-turbines
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently released new information about the state of fish populations in upper Michigan’s lakes. The manager of the Marquette Fisheries Research Station said that lake trout in Lake Superior are officially recovered. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260313-superior-trout
The USA Today 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards revealed nominations for Best Recreational Trail this week, listing Minnesota’s Gitchi-Gami State Trail among the top contenders. This Minnesota Department of Natural Resources-built-and-managed paved trail is currently 36 miles, but it will eventually extend to 86 miles spanning five state parks along Minnesota’s North Shore. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260313-superior-trail
Four Illinois residents who vandalized cliffs at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have been temporarily banned from the park and fined. The visitors carved large letters into cliff faces and collected more than 100 pounds of rocks, intending to take them home. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260313-pictured-rocks-vandals
The U.S. Coast Guard will deactivate its safety zone on Lake Huron in Saginaw Bay at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 14, opening the waterway to vessel traffic as warming temperatures deteriorate ice conditions. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260313-saginaw-bay-zone
Ice coverage on the Great Lakes dropped significantly in recent days as temperatures have been consistently above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The Great Lakes were at 19.13% coverage as of March 12 according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260313-ice-cover
Energy company Enbridge has finally started work on rerouting an aging oil pipeline around a tribal reservation in northern Wisconsin after seven years of legal wrangling, moving ahead despite two new lawsuits that still could delay the project indefinitely. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-enbridge-reroute
On Friday, February 20, the Wisconsin Assembly unanimously passed two bills to help residents with PFAS mitigation after 30 months of debate. Governor Tony Evers approved $125 million for PFAS cleanup in 2023, but Republican lawmakers disagreed with how the funds would be distributed. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-wisconsin-pfas
The “nurdles” that scattered along I-196 and into Michigan’s Kalamazoo river after a January 27 semi-truck crash are the same industrial pellets that researchers have been finding for years on Great Lakes beaches, underscoring the threat of microplastics to Great Lakes ecosystems. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-oodles-of-nurdles
Although this year is an exception, Lake Erie has seen more low‑ or no‑ice winters over the past 50 years. With less ice, storms are more likely to drive water inland. Officials are developing new ways to protect shorelines from sudden flooding and longer storm seasons. Read the full story by the New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-erie-surges
For one day last week, Lake Superior gave thousands of people a rare gift — then took it back. The Apostle Islands ice caves, accessible for the first time since 2015, drew visitors from across the country before a winter storm shattered the ice shelf less than 24 hours after they opened. Read the full story by the Ashland Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-ice-caves
The AquaHacking Challenge is a free program challenging students, researchers, and professionals to safeguard the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence. The launch of the challenge celebrates the program’s 10th anniversary and its expanding footprint across the United States and Canada. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-aquahacking
Peer-reviewed studies have detected microplastics in Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes. The findings raise urgent questions about what everyday plastic use is sending into the lake and the millions of people who rely on it. Read the full story by The Fulcrum.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-lake-plastic
A couple living on Put-in-Bay, a small island near Toledo, Ohio, recently celebrated their big day in an unconventional way. Last weekend, they tied the knot on top of the ice on Lake Erie. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-ice-wedding
When a pair of Canadians got stranded on the ice on Lake St. Clair in southwestern Ontario on Tuesday, an American team with a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter ended up coming to their rescue. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-canadian-rescue
Park Township, Michigan, has completed its purchase of a vacated Coast Guard station and plans to renovate the building into a new water rescue operations facility. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260227-coast-guard-renovation
The White House says President Donald Trump has the right to amend a permit for a new bridge between Canada and Michigan, prolonging the latest dispute between the U.S. and its northern neighbor hours after its prime minister signaled there could be a detente. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-brigde-brouhaha
A new Michigan Senate bill would address the regulation, inspection, and re-evaluation of septic systems. If passed, Michigan would become the last state with a comprehensive septic code intended to prevent contamination of drinking water. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-septic-code
The state of Michigan wants more detail from Enbridge about the impact its proposed oil pipeline tunnel may have on archeological sites and coastal wetlands as federal regulators clear a path to permit the long-delayed project under the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-line5-decision
After a population crash around 2015, Chinook salmon numbers have rebounded, but recent data suggests another shift may be occurring. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-chinook-salmon
Didymosphenia geminata — “didymo” for short — also has another, much less scientific, nickname: rock snot. Researchers say it’s native to North America and may have been in Michigan longer than previously thought, but now it is spreading in the state’s waterways. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-rock-snot
Two tech companies want to make northern Minnesota a destination for research and testing of autonomous vehicles, including unmanned underwater submarines in Lake Superior. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-superior-auvs
Despite a colder-than-average winter in the Great Lakes and across the country, climate change may reduce ice cover on the Great Lakes over the long term. Declines in ice cover could impact fish populations. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-climate-fish-impacts
The Ohio Lake Erie Commission announced the second round of funding is open for a grant program to help communities restore habitats, combat invasive species, and clean or divert storm water with infrastructure techniques. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-erie-funding
Five more solar-powered signs will help alert beachgoers to rip currents and dangerous conditions at Muskegon, Michigan beaches starting summer 2026. The warning system uses red, yellow, and green lights similar to a traffic signal to indicate swimming conditions. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-beach-warnings
An 80-mile-long ice crack runs along Lake Erie from Cleveland to the north shore of Lake Erie near Port Bruce in Canada. In addition to photos from satellites, there are now drone images from right on top of the crack. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260211-erie-crack
A Shorewood Municipal Court judge has ruled in favor of allowing less public beach access along Lake Michigan in Wisconsin – but the issue may not be settled yet. The case garnered attention as Wisconsin’s chance to finally settle the issue of where public access to Lake Michigan ends and where private landowners’ rights begin. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-beach-access
The record-setting Arctic cold over the past week has caused ice to rapidly form on all of the Great Lakes. Each Great Lake now has more ice cover than the long-term average amount of ice. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-icy-lakes
Researchers want help from ice fishers and others who go onto frozen lakes to collect crucial data, which could improve ice forecasting on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-ice-measurements
PFAS are posing a threat to the Great Lakes, one of America’s most vital water resources. There are many ways that PFAS enters the Great Lakes, including through rivers, groundwater, and even rain and snowfall. Read the full story by The Conversation.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-pfas-origins
These fish aren’t winning any beauty pageants, but they are becoming increasingly popular among ice fishers. Researchers want to know what anglers find so special about burbots. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-burbot-fishing
A new construction project will restore 16 acres of wetlands and 2,000 feet of shoreline within Lake Erie’s Sandusky Bay near Sandusky, Ohio. It’s a fraction of the 11,000 linear feet of shoreline the Nature Conservancy is working to restore altogether. Read the full story by The Ohio Newsroom.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-sandusky-bay
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Neah Bay recently assisted with ice-breaking operations to free the 1,004-foot icebound freighter, American Spirit, on Lake Erie. Neah Bay broke through the ice to free, assist, and escort the vessel crossing the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-ice-breaking
Sixty-one acres of rare and fragile ravine and shoreline habitats along Lake Michigan near Lake Forest, Illinois, will soon be restored and stabilized thanks to a $5.75 million federal grant. The project will also improve public access, as well as create offshore reefs and habitats in the lake itself. Read the full story by The Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-shoreline-restoration
Arctic temperatures have anglers cutting holes in thick ice to go fishing, a welcome change after the warmer than usual winters in recent years. From ponds and lakes to the broad, ice-covered waters of Lake Erie, there are reports anglers are already finding success. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-erie-ice-fishing
After a week of bitter cold, Lake Superior is showing more ice—but experts say looks can be deceiving, and this ice is far from stable. Read the full story by Northern News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-unsafe-ice
Critics of data center development say the tech facilities threaten Michigan’s arguably most abundant natural resource — fresh water. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-data-centers
The U.S. Coast Guard has announced the closing of the waterway between Mackinac Island and the mainland of St. Ignace, Michigan. This closure allows an ice bridge to form between the island and the mainland. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-ice-bridge
Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) spoke on the Senate floor on Thursday about the struggle of the Flint, Michigan, community in the wake of their water crisis. Slotkin said the community’s still in pain, and in the process of seeking accountability and justice for a water crisis they didn’t cause. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-flint-water-crisis
The Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development could prohibit or restrict several invasive plant species, including banning aquatic water hyacinth and water lettuce. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-invasive-plants
About 20% of all the data centers in the U.S. are located in eight states around the Great Lakes. Ohio is slated to get another 77 by 2030, which will propel Columbus to become the second-largest data center hub in the region, after Chicago. Read the full story by WOSU – Columbus, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-ohio-data-centers
By way of a promise made by companies across the Great Lakes region, the practice of dumping commercial fish waste into landfills has effectively been ended, according to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-fish-waste
The Atlantic Huron, an iron lady of the St. Lawrence Seaway and a familiar site along the waterway, has completed her final voyage to close out more than 40 years of service. The ship now rests at Sheet Harbor, Nova Scotia, where work has commenced to dismantle and recycle the bulk carrier. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-atlantic-huron
Although most lakes across lake trout range freeze early and reliably each winter, not so for Lake Superior. For those who brave Lake Superior’s ice-capped waters, the awards are amazing. Read the full story by Sports Illustrated.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-superior-fishing
Among the nine parks highlighted by National Geographic is the sprawling Muskegon State Park on the eastern edge of Lake Michigan in Michigan. The park is known for its snow-covered dunes and forested trails, which offer cross-country skiing and fat-tire biking. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-park-rankings
Lexington State Harbor on Lake Huron in Lexington, Michigan, is undergoing major improvements in hopes of attracting even more boaters and visitors. The improvements will focus on the marina, slips, fuel dock, pump-out station and boating access site. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260119-marina-improvements
Winter may have come early for the Great Lakes this year, but neither the U.S. nor the Canadian coast guard can keep traffic moving through the ice. Frozen waters are currently impacting commercial traffic between ports across the Great Lakes in places like Toledo, Sandusky, and even ports in Michigan and Minnesota. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250106-frozen-waters
The U.S. Coast Guard has started its winter task of keeping newly formed ice from hindering commercial vessel traffic on the Great Lakes. Overall, the ice formation for winter 2025-26 is trending at about average for the region. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250106-ice-breaking
The number of invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes has gone down after regular control and treatment efforts resumed. Lamprey surveys show their numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250106-lamprey-control
