Long before Michigan had towns, roads or county lines, Indigenous peoples had established complex societies throughout the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by The Sun Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-anishinaabeg-michigan
Long before Michigan had towns, roads or county lines, Indigenous peoples had established complex societies throughout the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by The Sun Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-anishinaabeg-michigan
A new rule enacted by Indiana is raising concerns because repairs are prohibited for existing dry well septic systems along Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-indiana-septic
A research ship typically used for ocean science has set off on an unusual 2,531 nautical-mile voyage into the Great Lakes to help scientists hunt for some of the universe’s most mysterious particles. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-research-ship
Water has entered Morton Salt’s mine about 2,000 feet beneath Lake Erie, shutting down underground operations and leaving unanswered questions about its source, its volume and whether it can be controlled. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-mine-disasters
The USS Silversides, one of Muskegon, Michigan’s, most recognizable landmarks and a storied relic of World War II naval history, returned home Saturday after months of preservation work in Wisconsin. The submarine completed a long-awaited tow across Lake Michigan and a carefully coordinated arrival back at its museum berth. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-uss-silversides
Warmer than usual air temperatures and Lake Erie water temperatures still above 60 degrees are delaying the autumn migration of gizzard shad and shiner minnows — and the walleyes that feed on them — to warmer harbor waters. An unusual lack of rain has also kept the Lake Erie tributaries running low and slow, preventing steelhead trout, smallmouth bass and channel catfish from attempting their annual cold water runs. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-erie-fishing
Great Lakes storms may be dangerous to people and shipping, but they replenish lakeshore sand and rearrange sand formations. They set back ecological succession and maintain open sands that are required by birds such as the endangered piping plover, other shorebirds such as sanderlings and roosting and nesting gulls and terns, and a variety of invertebrate life. Read the full story by The Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-gl-storms
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is reminding people to inspect their gear after invasive New Zealand mudsnails were detected in Bear Creek, a small, coldwater tributary of the Thornapple River in Kent County. Read the full story by WNEM – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-nzmudsnails
Parks Canada’s underwater archeology team documented several sites in the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area this past summer. Read the full story by Timmins Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261102-superior-dive
Recent research on Great Lakes coastal wetlands suggests that the native wetland plant communities can respond quickly after invasive Phragmites australis is removed. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-wetland-restoration
The Village of Minooka in northeast Illinois plans to add a $3.7 million water tank that will help with a Lake Michigan project which will tap into the lake as a water source for the village. Read the full story by WCSJ – Morris, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-lake-michigan-water-project
A Morton Salt mine thousands of feet below Lake Erie was forced to shut down after it suddenly sprang a massive leak. Seventy-seven workers were laid off and it’s unclear if the mine will reopen again. Read the full story by New York Post.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-mine-leak
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society is a group of divers and non-divers working to preserve shipwrecks and artifacts underwater. Their efforts have helped track zebra mussel infestations over time. Read the full story by Northern News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-shipwreck-preservation
Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands region of Lake Superior will experience a 15% legal reduction in lake trout harvest. The cut comes as lake trout populations are at their lowest in three decades due to invasive sea lamprey. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-lake-trout-harvest
The Great Lakes piping plover population reached a record 99 breeding pairs in 2026, up from roughly a dozen pairs in the late 1980s. A record 184 chicks fledged this season, marking the fifth consecutive record-breaking breeding season for the endangered shorebird. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-michigan-plovers
An underwater archaeologist took Flint, Michigan, residents on a journey underwater and back in time as they explored some of the spookiest shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WJRT -TV – Flint, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-spooky-shipwrecks
Lakeshore Keepers, an association that operates five lights along Lake Michigan, is seeking volunteer keepers for 2027. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-lighthouse-keeper
In an effort to keep a healthy balance in the fishery, natural resource managers pull the only lever available and reduce stocking of hatchery-reared fish in Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-lake-trout-stocking-cuts
The R/V Neil Armstrong is sailing its way to the Twin Ports for the first time. The 238-foot vessel is expected to arrive in Duluth, Minnesota, on November 9th, 2026 to detect and observe neutrino interactions in Lake Superior. Read the full story by KDHL – Faribault, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261030-incoming-ship
Anxiety about a massive reservoir’s future has settled over businesses, marinas, homeowners and local governments along the Muskegon River as the Michigan Public Service Commission weighs whether to approve Consumers Energy’s proposed hydroelectric fleet sale to a private equity-owned buyer. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-reservoir-local-economy
After nearly 40 years of delays, construction has officially begun on Chicago’s 3.4-acre DuSable Park, a long-awaited lakefront green space at the meeting point of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WTTW News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261028-supporters-chicago-dusable-park
The Environmental Protection Agency has come to a new agreement with Gelman Sciences, LLC, for the treatment and containment of the Gelman Plume, a massive underground contamination plume of 1,4-dioxane in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261028-epa-reaches-agreement-gelman-plume
Lake Superior College held a public open house to discuss an expanding investigation into PFAS “forever chemical” contamination at its firefighting training center in Duluth, Minnesota, where previous testing found elevated levels in soil and water linked to historical use of firefighting foam. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261028-lakesuperior-pfas-open-house
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources will adjust its 2027 fish stocking plan for Lake Michigan to ensure anglers continue to have access to healthy, sizeable fish populations for years to come. Read the full story by KPC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261028-indiana-dnr-lake-michigan-stocking-healthier-fish
Michigan researchers recommend expanding the state’s “Michigan the Beautiful” initiative to protect 30% of its lands and waters by 2030, noting that roughly 23% of Michigan’s Great Lakes waters currently have some form of protected designation. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261028-michigan-protect-land
The USS Silversides, a historic World War II submarine housed at Muskegon’s submarine museum, is undergoing a $3.5 million restoration in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, its first major dry-dock preservation in more than 50 years. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261028-muskegons-ww2-submarine-lake-michigan
A Holland, Michigan, ophthalmologist has made history as the first man, second American and fourth person ever to swim under marathon rules across all five Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261028-holland-doctor-quest-swim-greatlakes
The amount of ice on the Great Lakes has declined rapidly over the past four decades, but a warming climate might not be the only explanation for freezing fluctuations during the last century. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-ice-cover
In a small trailer behind the Great Lakes Aquarium lies a big project a few years in the making: rearing 250 Lake Sturgeon. The public will also get the chance to see some of the fish being raised in a new exhibit currently being built. Read the full story by KQDS–TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-sturgeon-rearing
Trump earmarked millions of dollars to deploy unmanned vessels on the Great Lakes and monitor activity along the Canadian border, causing rising tensions with the neighboring country. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-border-vessels
On October 26, 1825, the Erie Canal, the United States’ first man-made waterway, was opened, linking the Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. Read the full story by United Press International.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-erie-canal
A documentary film chronicling a 411-mile memorial swim to honor the 29 crew members who died aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald will be released November 10 in theaters and via streaming. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-memorial-swim
The arrival of the final cruise ship of 2026 will mark the port of Cleveland’s 54th vessel call of the season, surpassing the previous record of 53 calls set in 2025. It is the second consecutive year Cleveland has set a new record for cruise ship visits. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-cleveland-cruise-port
The East Channel Lighthouse near Grand Island, Michigan’s, eastern passage, is one of the few surviving historic schoolhouse-style lighthouses in the Great Lakes region. Volunteers from across the country helped with its needed repairs after weathering Lake Superior storms for 158 years. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-lighthouse-restoration
Cleveland, Ohio’s new draft framework plan for the downtown shows that removing Huntington Bank Field, home of the NFL Browns, could make way for a dense, lively urban district full of water views and inviting outdoor spaces. Read the full story by Ideastream Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-cleveland-revitalization
Great Lakes cruising delivered a record season in 2026, generating $310 million in regional economic impact, a 25% jump from last year. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-cruise-economic-impact
Michigan environmental experts say they’re worried about the state’s threatened and endangered species due to changes in federal policies. Species at risk include the grey wolf and birds such as the barn owl and cerulean warbler. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261026-michigan-wildlife
According to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the number of invasive, destructive sea lamprey is declining in the Great Lakes. In Lake Superior, the Commission said the 2026 adult sea lamprey population declined more than 25% from 2025 and more than 50% since 2023. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-sea-lamprey
New research has identified 6,453 oil spills of varying size across the Great Lakes. The researchers found that data on the specific amount of oil spilled during most of these incidents is not detailed or does not exist. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-oil-spilled
The Great Lakes cruising industry continues to grow year after year as more ports and ships are added. This year, the overall economic impact was $310 million which is $10 million more than was expected when projections were announced last fall and $80 million more than the previous record set in 2025. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-cruise-industry
A new study found that chemical reactions between water and six types of fossil fuel-based plastic created particles that damaged red blood cells and proteins in laboratory tests. The study comes amid increasing concerns about plastic pollution in the Great Lakes, the source of drinking water for 40 million people in the U.S. and Canada. Read the full story by The Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-microplastics-health
Lake whitefish are facing steep population declines in lakes Michigan and Huron. Researchers are now evaluating if whitefish can use rivers to spawn to combat their habitat loss. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-tag-whitefish
A new partnership between tribal, state and private entities resulted in nearly 9,000 muskies being stocked in mid-October in northeastern Wisconsin waters. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-wisconsin-muskies
Science lovers got the opportunity to board the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Lake Explorer II—a Great Lakes research vessel—and learn about its operations to research harmful algal blooms, invasive species, and PFAS up close. Read the full story by KQDS-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-research-vessel
Duluth Cargo Connect, a working partnership of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and Lake Superior Warehousing, was named 2026 Port/Terminal Operator of the Year by an international judging panel of project cargo shippers, freight forwarders, ocean carriers and industry analysts. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-duluth-cargo
Alpena Township, Michigan, has received a $12,500 grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to update its zoning ordinance with a focus on coastal resiliency and the identification of small-scale wetlands for regulated protection. The award is part of more than $770,460 in grants announced by EGLE to support 14 projects along Michigan’s shoreline. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-alpena-resiliency
Researchers and local leaders gathered in Traverse City, Michigan, to discuss threats facing the Great Lakes, including pollution and invasive species, while highlighting a new technology hub set to open in spring 2027 to help address freshwater challenges. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261023-freshwater-summit
Traverse City, Michigan, is working on multiple fronts to improve the Lower Boardman River, including habitat and shoreline improvements, retaining wall repairs, and public placemaking projects. However, the river’s proximity to many hard surfaces and buildings is constraining efforts. Read the full story by The Traverse City Ticker.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261021-officials-boardman-river
Plastic pollution is a growing problem in the Great Lakes region. Microplastics threaten aquatic ecosystems, fish populations, and drinking water for millions of people. Plastic companies have largely placed much of the responsibility for addressing pollution on consumers, with experts arguing the need for stronger regulations and greater corporate accountability to protect the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20261021-great-waste-plastic-pollution-clogging
