New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced changes aimed at benefiting the fishing experience in the state. The new pilot program, as part of the Reimagine the Canals initiative, uses water from the Erie Canal to enhance fishing opportunities in Western New York. Read the full story by WGRZ-TV-Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201021-erie-canal
Endless beaches, the famous dune climb, and breathtaking views of Lake Michigan are just a snippet of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Tuesday, October 21st officially marks the lakeshore’s 50th anniversary. Read the full story by 9 & 10 News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201021-sleeping-bear
Holland Township is teaming up with the Michigan DNR to bring more safety measures to Holland State Park. The plan is to bring in a gate to limit public access to the pier during dangerous weather conditions and the park’s off season. Read the full story by WZZM-TV-Holland, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201021-holland-state-park
A new study conducted by researchers from the University at Buffalo says pollutants that haven’t been used in years or even decades are being discovered in bird breeding grounds in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by WGRZ-TV-Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201021-pollutants-birds
A dam restoration project aimed at keeping sea lamprey from moving upstream and wreaking havoc in the wider watershed of Lake Michigan is scheduled to break ground on Saturday, Oct. 24. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201021-invasive-species
Great Lakes water levels have been rising in the past few months, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, and that raises concerns about the impacts that can occur along the shore, such as coastal flooding and erosion. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201021-michigan-huron
Meteorologist James Gilbert and the President of the Great Lakes Coalition, Ron Wilson, discussed lake levels in late September 2020. Read the full story by WROC-TV-Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201021-water-levels
The results of a multi-year assessment found that conditions in the inner-bay were suitable for restoration, and identified the Coreyon Reef as a priority restoration site. With financial support from the Environmental Protection Agency and Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network, the collaborative reef restoration team began moving forward with the design, permitting, construction, and restoration. Read the full story by Marine Technology News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201020-reef-restoration
A proposed ban on some single-use plastics should serve as a wake-up call to Canadians concerned about the potential harms everyday items may pose, say experts who expect the move will spur research into settling ongoing questions about whether and how microplastic affects human health. Read the full story by the Chronicle Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201020-micro-plastics
On this fall’s ballot for Michigan, Proposal 1 enshrines in the state constitution a long-term funding source that protects our clean water sources, wildlife habitats, and beloved state parks, for generations to come — without a dime of taxpayer money. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201020-michigan-fund-proposal
The 80-year-old structure offers spectacular views of the big lake from atop a crumbling bluff at Orchard Beach State Park in Michigan’s Manistee Township. The pavilion will be moved to the park’s day-use area, which is a safer location that will also provide better access – although it’s view of Lake Michigan won’t be quite as impressive. Read the full story by MLive.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201020-michigan-erosion
The good news is that Lake Superior’s last surviving wild caribou appear to be thriving on their new island homes on Ontario’s Slate Islands, though hope is dwindling that any caribou remain on the Ontario mainland of Lake Superior’s North Shore, with an aerial survey last winter finding no caribou, not even any tracks. Read the full story by Brainerd Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201020-wildlife-caribou
Wisconsin power plants would no longer have to further reduce emissions as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to change regulations for air pollution that crosses state lines. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201020-wisconsin-air-emissions
Michigan’s Invasive Species Grant Program is now accepting proposals for the 2020 funding cycle through a joint effort of the Michigan departments of Natural Resources; Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; and Agriculture and Rural Development as a part of a statewide initiative launched in 2014 to help prevent, detect and control invasive species in Michigan. Read the full story by WLUC-TV-Negaunee, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201020-invasive-species-grants-michigan
Under New York State’s goal of 70 percent renewable energy consumption by 2030 under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the New York State Public Service Commission directed the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to conduct a feasibility study regarding “stakeholder outreach, analysis, and policy options” for offshore wind facilities in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by JD Supra.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201020-great-lakes-wind-energy
Baby wipes clogged the wastewater system in Beulah in northern Michigan, causing a backup of 10,000 gallons of human waste from a manhole. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201020-wipes-waste
A group of tribal water protectors and Michigan environmentalists plan to submit comments to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, urging the state to consider new archaeological discoveries near the Line 5 pipeline before granting permits to Canadian oil company Enbridge. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-line-5
Michigan State University was awarded a $100,000 grant by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to study erosion along Great Lakes shorelines and what happens to sand after it erodes. Read the full story by WLNS – East Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-msu-grant
Hope is dwindling that any caribou remain on the Ontario mainland of Lake Superior’s North Shore, with an aerial survey last winter finding no caribou, not even any tracks. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-caribou
Once a week, Mike McKay, a professor and executive director at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at the University of Windsor, collects samples from several Ontario water treatment plants to test for COVID-19. Read the full story by The Kingston Whig-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-coronavirus-sewage
The Ohio State University received nearly $75,000 from the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program to test new methods to reduce phosphorous runoff into Lake Erie. Read the full story by WILO-TV – Lima, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-osu-grant
Every year in September and October, thousands of salmon swim upstream through Ontario’s waterways to spawn. With COVID-19 limiting many fall activities, more people are getting out to witness the phenomenon. Read the full story by Daily Hive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-salmon-migrating
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources continues to help boost fish populations through stocking and is fulfilling all remaining 2020 stocking quotas for Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Seehafer News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-fish-stocking
In the eight Great Lakes states, officials at every level along 4,500 miles of coastline are scrambling to save what they can from the rising water, competing for scarce state and federal dollars and rubber-stamping permits to build private seawalls at an unprecedented pace. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-rising-waters
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy awarded funds to the city of Marquette to restore a critical section of Lake Superior coastline home to a diverse habitat including wetlands, dunes, beach and coastal upland. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-coastal-grants
The Trowbridge Dam removal is slated to be completed in 2022, which will be the final State of Michigan-owned dam to be removed from the Kalamazoo River. The removal and remediation of the Trowbridge Dam will help to restore the Kalamazoo River watershed. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201019-trowbridge-dam
The Black River Canal, a popular waterway connecting the Black River and Lake Huron, is facing issues with erosion that Port Huron, Michigan, officials are looking to address in the short and long term. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-canal
A wildlife biologist is finding easy-to-access spots within Toronto, Ontario, where people can go look for migrating hawks, falcons, vultures, eagles and other raptors. The birds prefer to skirt, rather than cross, the immense Lake Ontario on their way south for the winter. Read the full story by Radio Canada International.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-hawks
Researchers recently completed a project with the aim of analyzing coastline changes in the Town of Lincoln, Ontario from 1934 to 2018 using historical air photographs. The research highlights the changes over time to several areas of the Lincoln coast that may be more vulnerable to erosion. Read the full story by Niagara This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-lincoln
The comment period for permit applications for Enbridge’s Straits Tunnel project through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) ends Monday. Read the full story by the Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-enbridge
Josina Morita, a commissioner with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, says Chicagoans should embrace the taste of the invasive fish species that threatens Illinois’ waterways — and she is giving out samples for free. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-carp-burgers
More than $125 million in state dollars will be coming to the Duluth, Minnesota, region as part of the bonding bill that advanced Thursday. Duluth officials are cheering the $13.5 million set aside for Lakewalk and sea wall repair, the city’s one big request. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-lakewalk-MN
Large vessels passing through the environmentally sensitive Straits of Mackinac would be barred from anchoring or using any other equipment that could scrape the lakebed under bipartisan bills introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives Wednesday. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-line5
The annual memorial beacon lighting ceremony at Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors, Minnesota, to commemorate the sinking of the freighter S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald and the loss of her 29 crew members, will be held virtually this year. Read the full story by Hometown Focus.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-shipwreck
A handful of women participated in an annual water walk, completing a half-marathon in distance along the Niagara River to raise awareness for protecting the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Niagara This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-water-walk
Researchers from Pennsylvania State University at Behrend and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) have leveraged the Comet system at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) to examine the distribution of plastics in one of the Great Lakes: Lake Erie. Read the full story by HBC Wire.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-lake-erie-plastics
Later this morning as part of an effort to help protect the great lakes, two state representatives will be holding a discussion on a new bill for protecting the great lakes ecosystem. Read the full story by WLNS-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-great-lakes-legislation
Great Lakes steel production rose by 7,000 tons last week but remains depressed by nearly a fifth so far this year, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read the full story by The Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-great-lakes-steel
The new tunnel for the Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac is closer to becoming a reality. According to Enbridge, about 90% of the initial design work on the anticipated state-of-the-art tunnel is complete. Read the full story by Up North Live.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-enbridge-design
The pandemic and record-high waters on Lake Michigan this year threatened to undo decades of painstaking progress for a species iconic to the Great Lakes and the region’s dunes, but one piping plover was saved along the Lake Michigan shoreline before a storm threatened to wash its nest away. Read the full story by Sierra.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-piping-plover
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) today announced more than $1.1 million in coastal management grants to fund 13 projects and statewide initiatives. EGLE also has opened the application period for project proposals seeking funding in 2022. Read the full story by WLUC-TV -Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-egle-grants
A local photographer managed to capture some peculiar images of what appears to be a group of witches taking part in some wholesome fun on the water near the Credit River Inlet, just west of downtown Toronto. Read and hear the full story by BlogTo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-lake-erie-witches
The Department of Natural Resources said it is on track to meet its quota for stocking fish in Lake Michigan for 2020. Read the full story by WTMJ-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-DNR-fisheries
A bonding bill being considered during a special session of the Minnesota Legislature includes nearly $125 million for projects in northeastern Minnesota. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-minnesota-funding
The former site of Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna is in line for (at least) an estimated $35 million cleanup, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced. Read the full story by Buffalo Rising.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201015-erie-cleanup
A team of nonscientists utilized a remote-operated underwater vehicle in the Straits of Mackinac and found stones they say appear arranged in patterns on the lake floor, potentially done by humans 10,000 years ago. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-ice-age-culture
Foreign commercial ships traversing the Straits of Mackinac between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsula would be required to get special help under a resolution approved by the Michigan House on Tuesday. Read the full story by WJRT-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-federal-designation
The International Joint Commission posted an online questionnaire for owners of property along Lake Ontario that could lead to revisions to the agency’s lake level management plan. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-ijc-management-plan
Lawyers for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine and state regulators urged the Minnesota Supreme Court to defer to the judgment of the state Department of Natural Resources and reinstate three critical permits for the project. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-polymet-mine
The history of the decade-long fight over what to do about the aging oil and gas pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac is untangled. Listen to the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-pipeline-history
