The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety is warning residents to avoid walking on the quick-sand like sediment deposits from the Morrow Dam found in the Kalamazoo River in west Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210324-deposits
The St. Lawrence Seaway — a system of 15 locks between Montreal and Lake Erie that allows ocean-going vessels to make their way to the Great Lakes — has reopened for a new navigation season. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-shipping
The Manitoulin-Lake Simcoe ecoregion was identified as one of southern Canada’s nine most significant and threatened places for biodiversity conservation in a recent study conducted by Nature Conservancy of Canada. Read the full story by Orillia Matters.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-manitoulin
A Marquette city park is closing a portion of its lone road for a month to help out some local residents: blue spotted salamanders. The salamanders spend the cold, snowy winters underground. Then every spring they make their way to nearby pools, where they mate and lay eggs. Read the full story by The Sault News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-presque-isle
Trillions and trillions of quagga mussels live in Lake Michigan. The mussels have not only increased water clarity, but also completely upended the food web in the lakes. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-mussels
Most of the walleyes Wisconsin fisheries biologists are netting in some northern lakes, and 80% of those tested last fall from two state hatcheries, are turning up females, and the experts don’t know why the sex ratio is so skewed. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-fish
The Detroit River Coalition, a group of environmental organizations on both the United States and Canadian sides of the Detroit River, invite community members to a weeklong celebration and cleanup of the river and its shores. Read the full story by The News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-earth-week
Ohio Attorney General David Yost is asking a federal judge in Grand Rapids to block Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s effort to shut down the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline, arguing on behalf of Ohio refineries and the state of Louisiana that closing the submerged oil line would have economic impact beyond Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-line5
Climate change is reaching all the way down to the depths of one of Earth’s largest lakes. Water hundreds of feet below the surface of Lake Michigan is warming, especially in winter, according to a report published last week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Read the full story by the Norwalk Reflector.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-warming
Great Lakes Now Senior Correspondent Gary Wilson recently talked with Joel Brammeier, CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, about what he wants from a new Great Lakes region EPA administrator and where he would like to see the Great Lakes in 20 years. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-envi-justice
A new report from the Great Lakes regional arm of the National Audubon Society is outlining its plan to restore and protect a dozen areas that support region’s birds. Climate change, development and invasive species are threatening coastal areas of the Great Lakes region that is home to 350 bird species. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210323-wetlands
Marquette, Michigan, is closing the lone road looping through Presque Isle Park, which sits on a peninsula jutting into Lake Superior, to help blue spotted salamanders cross. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-salamander
In Michigan, the remains of the Contest, a 124-foot schooner that grounded near White Lake in 1882, are visible again thanks to shifting beach sand and dropping Lake Michigan water levels. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-contest
Authorities plan four prescribed fires at Indiana Dunes National Park this spring, totaling more than 900 acres. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-fires
Several state agencies are recommending significant changes to Minnesota’s environmental review program that would require proposers to add up their project’s carbon footprint — and consider ways to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-climate
A female wolf that was introduced to Isle Royale National Park in the fall of 2018 left the island on an ice bridge in January the following year, and it turns out, she made quite the journey. A team of federal, tribal and university researchers recently published a study detailing the wolf’s travels after she left the island. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-wolf
One species of fish in Lake Superior may have regained an ancestral adaptation that enables better vision in deep water, according to a recent study. That information could help create restoration plans for the kiyis, a fish that lives deep in the lake. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-vision
Scientists discovered plastic microfibers in the Great Lakes are sticking to green algae that grows along the bottomlands in a way that could help keep the pollution out of the environment. Read the full story by the Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-algae-plastics
Northeast Michigan is getting warmer, climate records show. The increase in temperature isn’t telling the whole story, though, as Michigan scientists say drastic climate swings between hot and cold and wet and dry cause issues for area farmers and existing infrastructure. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-climate
Tribal officials, especially those from Ojibwe nations in northern Wisconsin, are hopeful new U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland can help restore protections for gray wolves and stop another hunting season this fall. They are also hopeful her office will help increase funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, among other environmental concerns. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press Gazette
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-haaland
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District’s Soo Area Office will open the Poe Lock at noon Wednesday, marking the start of the 2021 Great Lakes shipping season. Read the full story by the Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-locks
Environmental groups are asking the Biden administration to close a review to cut the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary in Lake Huron by 90%. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210322-sanctuary
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended a wetlands permit for PolyMet, the company trying to open Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine, as the Environmental Protection Agency reviews whether the proposed project “may affect” the downstream Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210319-polymetmine
Six closed and capped landfills in St. Louis County, along with scores of others across the state, are emitting “forever chemical” contaminants in excess of state health guidelines, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced Thursday. Groundwater at 97% of the state’s closed landfills, 98 of 101, shows the contamination — some 10 times the health guidelines. Read the full story by the Pine Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210319-landfills
An environmental chemistry expert and others on a citizen advisory panel are not impressed with Wolverine World Wide’s plan to clean up its toxic tannery waste dump in Kent County, Michigan, by relying primarily on planting trees over the contamination. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210319-wolverine
In New York, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, released a 735-page report of the federal government’s response to Lake Ontario shoreline erosion, which threatens historically significant structures at Old Fort Niagara. Read the full story by Niagara Frontier Publications.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210319-niagara
The future of New York’s Erie Canal presents legitimate challenges that need to be addressed. Giving the canal a new name is not high on the list. Protecting it, and the Great Lakes, from invasive species is. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210319-canal
After more than two years landlocked in the city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority returned to the Lake Superior waterfront to a new headquarters just in time for the kickoff of the 2021 shipping season. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210319-waterfronthq
In South Haven, Michigan, an 836 ft. line of flood mitigation barriers installed in 2020 will stay put, in order to prevent lakeshore flooding from jeopardizing the water treatment facility’s underground infrastructure. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – South Haven, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210319-barriers
Through a coordinated effort by the Belle Isle Nature Center and the Detroit Zoo, a new wildlife tracking system has been installed that will help researchers learn more about the wildlife of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by C&G Newspapers.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210319-animaltracks
Many people may be unknowingly creating a bigger erosion problem in the Great Lakes by removing rocks from the shoreline. Read the full story by WKFR – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-erosion
Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit dedicated to conserving North America’s waterfowl habitats, is launching the $2.1 million research study to reduce harmful algal blooms, improve water quality and enhance the population of mallards, an important waterfowl for the region. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-ducks-unlimited
A unique data set out of Lake Michigan is offering a glimpse into the future of seasons in the Great Lakes and the cascading effects that global warming is having on the region’s climate. Read the full story by WJBK – TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-lake-michigan-study
For 24 years, the Milwaukee Clipper ship has been docked on Muskegon Lake in Muskegon, Michigan. A local group wants to breathe life back into the 117-year-old ship. Read and view the full story by WZZM – TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-milwaukee-clipper
For 24 years, the Milwaukee Clipper ship has been docked on Muskegon Lake in Muskegon, Michigan. A local group wants to breathe life back into the 117-year-old ship. Read and view the full story by WZZM – TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-milwaukee-clipper
The City of Marquette, Michigan is closing off a quarter-mile portion of Presque Isle Park roadway to vehicles over the next month to save lives. Read the full story by WNMU – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-salamander-crossing
A proposed open-pit mine on the outskirts of Marathon, Ontario, a north shore community of 3,300, could attract as many as 2,000 more residents and workers over the next two to three years. Read the full story by Northern Ontario Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-marathon-mine
A change in Lake Michigan water levels has revealed a shipwreck from the 1880s that is visible in western Michigan for the first time since 2018. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-shipwreck
After two seasons of unusable roadways and boat launches, the city of Grand Haven, Michigan is hoping that the past two years of planning will help it be more prepared if lake levels rise again soon. Read and view the full story by WOOD -TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-lake-michigan-water
Lake Ontario water levels continue to drop and are currently running near a foot below average. The risk of significant flooding is near zero for Lake Ontario and that is welcome news for those that had damage from the flooding over the past few years. Read and view the full story by WROC -TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-ontario-water-levels
Despite the border restrictions during the pandemic, Americans and Canadians who are part of the Detroit River Coalition will be working together during a week-long celebration and cleanup of the Detroit River, April 17-24. Read the full story by The Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210318-earth-week
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources put out an alert to destroy and dispose of certain commercially available moss balls because some of the small, fuzzy flora were found to be infested with zebra mussels. Read the full story by WORT – Madison, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210317-moss-balls
Keeping petroleum flowing through the Line 5 pipeline is imperative to the economy and energy security of Canada and the U.S., Canadian government, according to comments made by business and union representatives to a Michigan Senate panel earlier this week. Read the full story by The Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210317-line-5-shutdown
Keeping petroleum flowing through the Line 5 pipeline is imperative to the economy and energy security of Canada and the U.S., Canadian government, according to comments made by business and union representatives to a Michigan Senate panel earlier this week. Read the full story by The Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210317-line-5-shutdown
Courts in the United States would take “many, many years” to resolve the battle between Canada and Michigan over Line 5, according to Enbridge. Read the full story by The Canadian Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210317-line-5-court-dispute
Climate change in the Great Lakes region means more intense storms, and already some towns are finding they’re flooding where they never have before. One city in Michigan is finding the solution to stormwater runoff is nature. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210317-natural-infrastructure
Researchers found that a type of algae already found in the Great Lakes could trap up to one trillion pieces of microplastic in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Environmental Health News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210317-microplastics-and-algae
Powerful gusts linked to global warming are damaging water quality and creating a hazard for fish in Lake Erie and perhaps elsewhere in the Great Lakes, according to researchers. Read the full story by The Times Leader.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210317-wind-hazards
Powerful gusts linked to global warming are damaging water quality and creating a hazard for fish in Lake Erie and perhaps elsewhere in the Great Lakes, according to researchers. Read the full story by The Times Leader.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210317-wind-hazards
A ban on lead use in fishing equipment is again being discussed by the Minnesota State Legislature. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210317-lead-ban
