Freighters cruise up and down the Detroit River, returning from or headed to the Great Lakes. But what happens when those freighters need something from the mainland? It turns out these boats utilize a unique mail service in Detroit that has been operating for more than 150 years. Read the full story by the Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260220-ship-mail
A new study examines the uniqueness of work that research centers conduct in the Great Lakes region, highlighting their importance amid dramatic changes in federal funding. Research centers in the region work together as a collaborative that complements each of them, underscoring the vitality of this network. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-research-centers
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation last week announced the release of proposed changes to coolwater sportfish regulations to help protect spawning fish, increase the reproductive capacity of walleye in Lake Ontario’s eastern basin, and eliminate unnecessary special regulations. Read the full story by The Syracuse Post-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-sportfishing-regulations
Shipwreck hunters discovered a sunken Canadian freighter—the James Carruthers—on Lake Huron last year, the last shipwreck to be found that went down in the lake during a famous 1913 storm. The vessel was a large steel freighter equipped with state-of-the-art communication and safety equipment and was launched in Ontario in 1913, the same year it sank. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-shipwreck-discovery
Ashland, Wisconsin’s new $11.5 million water intake pipe is operating successfully after crews repaired construction damage before bringing the system online in November. The new pipe, stretching out into Lake Superior, replaces the former intake constructed in 1891 that required multiple repairs over the years. Read the full story by the Ashland Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-infrastructure-repairs
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was named the fourth best “one-of-a-kind” beach in the world by TripAdvisor in February 2026. The ranking is based on a high volume of positive reviews and opinions submitted to the TripAdvisor community over a 12-month period. Read the full story by WWTV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-dune-honors
More than 30 years ago, a group of scientists planted 4,200 seeds of the rare Pitcher’s thistle in the western Great Lakes sand dunes. Today, the restored populations are thriving and spreading, providing the foundation for a newly published study. Read the full story by The Iron Mountain Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-flower-restoration
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources reported that since the sturgeon spearing season began on Saturday, there have been 1,092 sturgeon speared on Lake Winnebago: 521 adult females, 423 males and 148 juvenile females. Another 279 fish were speared on upriver lakes Poygan, Winneconne and Butte des Morts. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-sturgeon-spearfishing
More than 150 years after it sank in Lake Erie, the stone-hauling sailing vessel the Clough has been positively identified, the National Museum of the Great Lakes (NMGL) announced Wednesday. The Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE) worked with the support of NMGL to identify the vessel, classified as a “bark” – a three-masted vessel rigged with square sails on the foremast, and schooner sails on the main and mizzen masts. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-shipwreck-identification
At the peak of the deep freeze, ice caves and ice volcanoes appeared along the shores of Lake Erie in Crystal Beach, Ontario. Lake Erie is nearly 95% covered in ice; if the cold weather continues across the Great Lakes Region, the possibility exists that Lake Erie could reach 100% ice cover for only the fourth times since records began. Read the full story by BurlingtonToday.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-erie-ice
The recent discovery of the Lac La Belle, which sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan in 1872, does more than scratch it from the list of long-sought shipwrecks. It takes one back – if only for a moment – to when traveling around the Great Lakes didn’t mean climbing in a car or boarding a train but buying a ticket on a steamer. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260218-shipwreck-history
Whitefish have declined because of invasive species and climate change-fueled loss of winter ice cover on the Great Lakes. Now scientists are testing whether rivers can serve as spawning refuges. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-whitefish-spawning-refugia
A shipwreck hunter has located the Lac La Belle, a sidewheel steamer that has eluded searchers for more than a century. The wooden-hulled American passenger ship sank October 13, 1872, in a Lake Michigan gale about 20 miles off Racine, Wisconsin. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-found-shipwreck
A natural spectacle along the Lake Superior shore that’s been off-limits to hikers for more than a decade may be accessible again starting Monday. Officials at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in northern Wisconsin announced Saturday that they’re planning to open foot access to the famed ice caves near Meyers Beach. Read the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-apostle-cave-opening
On Friday, an administrative law judge upheld a key permit for Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline. Granted last year by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the permit allows for 41 miles of new oil pipeline to be built as part of the company’s reroute plan. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-line5-permits
Diminishing ice cover heightens wave action and stirs up trouble for fish below the surface, an Algoma University scientist cautions. Read the full story by Sault This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-ice-cover-research
In Wisconsin, a Madison-based environmental law firm filed an appeal to Milwaukee Circuit Court on behalf of a Shorewood resident who last summer received a citation from the village for walking the shoreline beyond the public beach. The resident believes it’s everyone’s right to enjoy the Lake Michigan shoreline. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-shoreline-access
The Chicago City Council has officially designated Navy Pier in southwest lake Michigan as the new eastern terminus of the iconic route 66 highway, which stretches 2,448 miles through eight states. Read the full story by Loop North News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-route66-start
Michigan researchers have gone back in time to get a picture of how ice cover on the Great Lakes has evolved since the late 19th century. Using historical temperature records from weather stations around the region, researchers improved their understanding of where ice might have formed and for how long it lasted. Read the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-ice-data
For the first time in more than two decades, Lake Erie is nearly completely frozen. As a result, surrounding communities could see a number of impactful side effects. Read the full story by The Cool Down.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-frozen-erie
A stretch of above-normal temperatures and fast-melting snow is making released pollution hang around longer in many parts of Michigan triggering air quality alerts within the state. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260216-air-quality-alerts
Researchers say the world has entered an era of global ‘water bankruptcy’—a point where many rivers, lakes, aquifers, and glaciers have been pushed past their capacity to recover. This finding has implications on the Great Lakes system as each year, only about one percent of Great Lakes water is replenished through rain, snow, and groundwater. Read the full story by the Welland Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-water-bankruptcy
A six-decade history in the Great Lakes region of ecosystem and water protection is being put to the test as a dynamic era of energy investment, rising electricity demand, aging assets and political intervention dawns across the basin. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-energy-water-nexus
A bill that would redesignate the Apostle Islands as Wisconsin’s first national park advanced out of the House Committee on Natural Resources in a narrow vote this week. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Superior, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-national-park-bill
The City of Duluth’s Engineering division will launch a new Private Stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) Inspection and Maintenance Program for certain properties starting this spring. These BMPs help control stormwater runoff, reduce flooding risk and protect water quality in local resources including Lake Superior, the Saint Louis River Bay Estuary, wetlands and 60 streams. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-stormwater-management
A coalition of environmental advocates introduced state legislation in Illinois Wednesday to guard against data centers causing water shortages, groundwater conflicts, increased water prices and pollution without proper planning and management. Read the full story by the Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-data-center-legislation
Construction on a new reservoir designed to maintain a secure water supply in London, Ontario is nearly complete. The new addition, fed from Lake Erie and Lake Huron where the water is treated before being pumped to the reservoirs, will be nearly double the capacity of the previous reservoir. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-water-storage
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is reminding ice fishermen that there are only a few times and locations where it’s legal to catch lake sturgeon — and they should take care to quickly release any fish they catch by mistake this winter. Read the full story by the Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-sturgeon-protections
Several efforts are underway in Erie, Pennsylvania, to address sediment problems and the lack of holding water for steelhead and bass in tributaries of Lake Erie. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-sediment-removal
Lake Superior State University is expanding its Great Lakes research capacity through a $3 million donation to support the university’s Center for Freshwater Research and Education in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The funding will be used to create an Excellence Fund for student research, acquire advanced equipment, and purchase a larger research vessel for applied fieldwork. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-research-donation
The annual walleye run on the Maumee River is expected to be historic this year, thanks to Lake Erie’s extensive ice coverage during the winter months which could be exceptional for walleye spawning. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260213-walleye-run
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
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the final version of its Environmental Impact Statement on Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 tunnel project, starting a 30-day waiting period before making its final decision on whether to grant the pipeline company a permit to move forward with the proposal. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260209-line5-report
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Canadian officials met in Chicago last week to discuss shared priorities and success stories throughout the Great Lakes watershed following the 2025 State of the Great Lakes Report. Read the full story by Ideastream Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260209-state-of-greatlakes
A proposal to build an underwater line to transmit electricity from Canada to Erie County is once again seeking government approvals. Read the full story by the Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260209-erie-electricity
Although Lake Erie’s surface had been nearing a complete freeze — a state it has not reached in 30 years — the chances of it reaching 100 percent have now waned after strong north winds over the weekend disrupted the amount of ice coverage. Read the full story by The Chronicle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260209-erie-freeze
The 2026 lake sturgeon fishing season on Black Lake in Michigan’s Cheboygan County lasted only 48 minutes for 679 registered anglers — 31 minutes longer than last year. The harvest limit for the 2026 season on Black Lake was six lake sturgeon. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260209-sturgeon-fishing
Concerns over data centers in Michigan have led to advocates pushing for the Michigan Legislature to enact a one-year moratorium on the construction of new data centers until more comprehensive regulations can be put into place. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260209-mi-data-centers
The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House received a $7 million NOAA grant in 2023 to restore Michigan’s Ford Cove, improve wildlife habitat along Lake St. Clair and improve visitor access. Now, the restoration project has entered its second phase featuring a “highly visible shoreline transformation.” Read the full story by the Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260209-ford-house-restoration
Using historical temperature records from weather stations around the region, researchers improved their understanding of where ice might have formed and for how long it lasted spanning the last 120 years. Researchers said this new data record could help with efforts like research on fish in the winter, regional climate and improving safety on the ice. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260206-ice-data-insights
A new study published last month in the Journal of Great Lakes Research shows that PFAS levels in Great Lakes fish are on the decline as manufacturers have phased out some chemicals in recent decades. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260206-pfas-fish
