A wildfire on Michigan’s remote Isle Royale has been about 15% percent contained and crews have saved some historic cabins from encroaching flames. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210827-fire
New York state fisheries researchers identified lake trout fry in Lake Erie this past spring, a significant milestone in re-establishing wild stocks of the species in the lake after more than half a century. Read the full story by the Olean Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210827-trout-fry
U.S. and Canadian researchers completed a reference genome, or digital genetic map, for lake trout. The feat should boost efforts to rebuild populations of the prized fish in the Great Lakes and other North American waters where they’ve been hammered by invasive species, overfishing and pollution. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-trout-genome
The western region of Lake Superior has seen increases in precipitation intensity of around 35-40% since the mid-1900s. These heavy rains wash loads of sediment and nutrients directly into the lake and into surrounding rivers that lead into the lake, providing a banquet for blue-green algae. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-algal-bloom
Aerial surveys conducted by Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission wildlife biologists in northern Wisconsin have indicated that 2021 may be one of the worst wild rice crop years since a 2010 disease outbreak. Read the full story by WXPR–TV – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-wild-rice
Environmental groups are calling on the Air Force and the State of Michigan to get serious about cleaning up PFAS from decades of training and firefighting foam around the site of the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-pfas
After nearly three decades of remediation, Muskegon Lake is on the verge of being delisted as an environmental “area of concern.” Three remaining restoration and cleanup projects are on track to be finished by Sept. 30. Once completed, the popular recreational lake connected to Lake Michigan will cross a major step forward in being removed from the list of heavily polluted Great Lakes sites. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-remediation
Environmental groups are asking social media users to show their support for Lake Erie and push politicians to address the lake’s failing health by posting Lake Erie stories to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #WeAreLakeErie to create what organizers call “a virtual wave of support for the lake.” Read the full story by The Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-social-media-lake
Perhaps the most disturbing conclusion of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is the permanence of climate impacts. Changes like shrinking ice sheets, rising sea levels and oxygen depletion and acidification of the oceans are deemed “irreversible for centuries to millennia.” Read the full story by The Intelligencer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-climate-change
The “Reimagine the Canals” initiative is a perfect chance to evaluate which of these approaches best fits the Erie Canal. We missed the chance to keep round gobies bottled up in the Great Lakes, but barriers on the Erie Canal could stop or slow the arrival of even more damaging invaders. Read the full story by Time Union.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-invasive-species
Vacuum trucks will suck up the algae mats for disposal at the Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant by Wednesday. Public health doesn’t yet know if the mats are blue-green algae — a toxic form of bacteria potentially harmful to humans and pets that closed the beach at Pier 4 to swimming in July. Read the full story by the Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-algae
The polluted water has prompted Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper to work on an ambitious restoration plan to restore the health of the lake and possibly pave the way for it to eventually connect with Scajaquada Creek, a tributary of the Niagara River. Read the full story by the Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-lake-restoration
Learn the 10 things about Presque Isle State Park’s history and its relationship to Erie that every visitor should know. Read the full story by the Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-erie
Flint, Michigan, officials plan to start blending water from the Great Lakes Water Authority and Genesee County on Monday, Aug. 23. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-flint
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy announced that an invasive aquatic plant, called European frog-bit, has been found in the lower Lincoln River in west Michigan. Read the full story by the Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-efb
Cuyahoga County’s lakefront in northern Ohio is now a water trail, as designated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The Lake Erie Water Trail features more than a dozen official access points to the water with a variety of amenities, designed to increase recreational water access and provide opportunities for environmental awareness and stewardship. Read the full story by Idea Stream.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-trail
A new program in southeast Michigan aims to reduce the amount of trash that reaches Lake St. Clair from a storm drain. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-debris
The city of Kalamazoo in west Michigan is dyeing stormwater as part of an investigation meant to keep harmful materials out of local water systems. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-stormwater
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff will be applying a chemical treatment at several locations in Wisconsin waterways to kill invasive sea lamprey larvae that have burrowed into the bottom of the Oconto River. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-lamprey
High water on Lake Ontario can disrupt maritime commerce to Great Lakes ports. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-ports
The Canadian government is investing $340 million to support Indigenous guardians and Indigenous Protected Areas as part of its commitment to conserving 30 per cent of the country’s lands and waters by 2030. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-guardians
Great Lakes coastal communities are wondering if their shoreline infrastructure will survive another round of record high water. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210823-high-water
After years of cleanup efforts, Ohio’s Ashtabula River is no longer considered one of the “most environmentally degraded” areas in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-ashtabula
Minnesota pollution control and natural resources officials on Wednesday released a $700 million plan to improve the drinking water for 14 Twin Cities communities whose groundwater was contaminated due to decades-long chemical disposal by 3M Co. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-3m-chemicals
It took 60 years to accomplish, but Lake Erie has positive evidence that there is natural reproduction of lake trout. Read the full story by the Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-lake-trout
Did you know the first female conservation officer in the United States was from Michigan? It was 1897 when state game warden and future Michigan governor Chase Osborn appointed Huldah Neal deputy game warden for Grand Traverse County. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-trailblazer
Drought conditions continue to worsen across Minnesota, causing some of the state’s 10,000 lakes and rivers to have much lower water levels than usual. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-drought
For two intense weeks each July in Ohio, Case Western Reserve University hosts a camp that immerses students aged 12 to 16 in the world of shipwrecks and how to explore them. Read the full story by Patch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-students-shipwreck
The full moon of August will be visible this weekend. This month’s nickname for the full moon goes by the Sturgeon Moon. This is because in the past, sturgeon of the Great Lakes were mostly caught by Native Americans in this portion of the summer. Read the full story by WFRV-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-stuegeon-moon
A triathlete from Ontario, Canada, learned a painful lesson recently while swimming in Lake St. Clair: Muskies might mistake your extremities as prey, and the fish have dangerously sharp teeth. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-fish-bite
Avid boat-watchers in Michigan’s St. Clair County will have a new face to look out for next week: Theodore TOO, a 65-foot tugboat based on the TV character Theodore Tugboat. Read the full story by The Times-Hearld.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-theo
Senator Debbie Stabenow said Northern Michiganders stand to benefit from the Senate-approved infrastructure bill, with provisions that would help finance the ongoing Soo Locks improvements, and could help shoreline communities respond to their eroding waterfronts. Read the full story by the Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-infrastructure
An estimated 1,733 ships passed through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes so far this year, a 6.19% increase over transits between March 22 and July 31 of this year. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-cargo-increase
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is assessing the state’s water quality, something that’s necessary in a state that’s rich in water resources. The department is conducting its annual surface water sampling to protect human health and aquatic life and to maintain suitability for recreation. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210820-sampling
The International Joint Commission and three Boards of Control will be holding a bi-lateral webinar later this month. Read the full story by the Finger Lakes Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-great-lakes
Scientific models of weather patterns are showing the Great Lakes Region as a force for moderating climate change like no other in the country. Read the full story by WIVB -TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-climate-change
Otter Creek in Toledo, Ohio was the site of a $12 million environmental dredging operation this summer, one which environmental regulators hope will lead to a rebirth. Read and hear the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-otter-creek
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is expanding its testing capabilities for monitoring a family of so-called forever chemicals called PFAS. Read the full story by WKAR – East Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-pfas-testing
Despite a new report of 80% healthy waterways, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources have added 92 waterways to the impaired list. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-wisconsin-lakes
A buck was spotted last Friday swimming in Lake Superior from Madeline Island to Michigan Island, a distance of more than three miles. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-lake-superior
Members of the International Joint Commission (IJC) and International Lake Superior Board of Control (ILSBC) appeared before the Tiny Township, Ontario council to give a presentation on Georgian Bay and Upper Great Lakes water levels at a recent committee of the whole meeting. Read and listen to the full story by Midland Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-water-regulation
Four years after officials from central and northern New York submitted a nomination to make Lake Ontario a national marine sanctuary, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has drafted a plan to make this dream a reality. Read the full story by WRVO -TV- Oswego, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-ontario
Standing on the banks of the Niagara River at Niawanda Park in Tonawanda on Monday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer revealed an historic $1 billion federal investment – the largest ever single investment – in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Read the full story by the Orleans Hub.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-glri
The Port of Monroe hosted a delegation of bureaucrats from Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that has largely barred the port from handling international containerized and break bulk cargo. Read the full story by the Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210818-monroe-port
Throughout the country, scientists are studying a range of control methods to manage invasive mussels. To develop new management tools scientists are studying methods of genetic control, an approach that could spare other organisms from becoming collateral damage and potentially solve the scale problem. Read the full story by Phys.org.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-mussels-genetic
A diesel spill at the site of the new Aurora Medical Center under construction on South Taylor Drive released 1,800 gallons of diesel fuel into the environment, according to preliminary estimates from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Clean up of nearby waterways is expected to take multiple days. Read the full story by Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-pollution-spill
U.S. Geological Survey and University of Missouri scientists are studying a new method for controlling invasive carp. They’re studying the complex way carp eggs move in rivers, hoping they can find and remove them pre-hatch or early in life-history. Read the full story by Outdoor Life.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-carp
State of Michigan and local officials gave their latest update to residents of the Emmet County village this past week following the discovery of PFAS in residential samples more than two years ago. Read the full story by The Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-pfas
The first juvenile piping plovers from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s summer 2021 fledglings were spotted this week in coastal Georgia, one of the endangered species’ wintering grounds. The news was posted last week on Facebook by the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-piping-plovers
Days of heavy rain this month overwhelmed Milwaukee’s sewer system, sending millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into area rivers and Lake Michigan. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-sewer
