As dams come down around the world, native fish are returning to their home waters. But invasive species are taking advantage of that same access. In Traverse City, Michigan, a fish obstacle course is keeping unwanted species out of a river. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260204-unwanted-river-fish
Ohio’s Port of Cleveland announced Monday that work has been completed on the stabilization of the Irishtown Bend hillside along the Cuyahoga River, a major infrastructure project officials say was necessary to prevent a potential collapse that could have blocked river traffic and disrupted regional commerce. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260204-cleveland-irishtown-bend
There’s some ice cover along the shallow parts of Lake Ontario this winter, but unlike Lake Erie, meteorologists predict it’s unlikely for Lake Ontario to freeze over. Read the full story by WHEC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260204-ontario-ice
The Thousand Islands Land Trust and the Ontario Bays Initiative Land Trust are teaming up to ensure Cherry Island, in Lake Ontario’s Chaumont Bay, will remain undeveloped. They’ll also work together to protect Cherry Island’s wildlife habitat and water quality. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Carthage, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260204-cherry-island
Unfavorable market trends, shifting trade lanes and President Trump’s trade war contributed to the nearly 15% decline in shipping. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260204-duluth-shipping
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has opened applications for the 2026 Lighthouse Keeper Program at Tawas Point Lighthouse. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260204-tawas-lighthouse
The long-term cold spell that has settled over Michigan has quickly expanded the ice cover on the Great Lakes and other waterways, forcing vessels to adapt, creating fears of ice jams and providing leisure activities for those wanting to take advantage of the thick ice. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260202-cold-spell-ice
Researchers are partnering with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to gather information on awareness, values and preferences for recreational burbot fishing within the Lake Superior basin. Read the full story by the Daily Mining Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260202-superior-burbot
To prevent further spread of potentially catastrophic invasive species in the Great Lakes, the Canadian government is moving forward with tighter restrictions on all freighters. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260202-ballast-rules
State officials are currently working to fully document the beauty, vastness, and variety of Michigan’s dunes with an enormous scientific project that could carry legal implications for coastal areas and the ability to build near them. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260202-michigan-dunes
Lake Erie is completely frozen over, with surveys showing an average ice thickness of about one foot, according to the U.S. Coast Guard website. The formation poses both opportunities and risks as winter settles in for the season. Read the full story by the Star Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260202-frozen-erie
An incidental catch of a lake sturgeon is rare. But it’s less of an angler’s tall tale than it once was, thanks to a collaborative effort to bring this legendary species back to the waters where it once swam abundantly in the eastern and central United States and Canada. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260202-sturgeon-reintroduction
Benton Harbor residents and business owners can push forward on their lawsuit alleging the state of Michigan knowingly subjected people in the southwestern Michigan town to lead-tainted water for years, according to a new ruling from the state Court of Appeals. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260202-lead-lawsuit
The Sault St. Marie International Bridge that crosses between the United States and Canada over the St. Marys River experienced a 23.8% decrease over the past year during a time of heightened political tensions. Read the full story by WCMU Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260202-bridge-crossings
Cargo shipments at the Port of Duluth-Superior slumped last year due to headwinds driven by unfavorable market trends, shifting trade lanes and President Donald Trump’s trade war. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260202-trade-war
A Shorewood Municipal Court judge has ruled in favor of allowing less public beach access along Lake Michigan in Wisconsin – but the issue may not be settled yet. The case garnered attention as Wisconsin’s chance to finally settle the issue of where public access to Lake Michigan ends and where private landowners’ rights begin. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-beach-access
The record-setting Arctic cold over the past week has caused ice to rapidly form on all of the Great Lakes. Each Great Lake now has more ice cover than the long-term average amount of ice. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-icy-lakes
Researchers want help from ice fishers and others who go onto frozen lakes to collect crucial data, which could improve ice forecasting on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-ice-measurements
PFAS are posing a threat to the Great Lakes, one of America’s most vital water resources. There are many ways that PFAS enters the Great Lakes, including through rivers, groundwater, and even rain and snowfall. Read the full story by The Conversation.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-pfas-origins
These fish aren’t winning any beauty pageants, but they are becoming increasingly popular among ice fishers. Researchers want to know what anglers find so special about burbots. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-burbot-fishing
A new construction project will restore 16 acres of wetlands and 2,000 feet of shoreline within Lake Erie’s Sandusky Bay near Sandusky, Ohio. It’s a fraction of the 11,000 linear feet of shoreline the Nature Conservancy is working to restore altogether. Read the full story by The Ohio Newsroom.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-sandusky-bay
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Neah Bay recently assisted with ice-breaking operations to free the 1,004-foot icebound freighter, American Spirit, on Lake Erie. Neah Bay broke through the ice to free, assist, and escort the vessel crossing the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-ice-breaking
Sixty-one acres of rare and fragile ravine and shoreline habitats along Lake Michigan near Lake Forest, Illinois, will soon be restored and stabilized thanks to a $5.75 million federal grant. The project will also improve public access, as well as create offshore reefs and habitats in the lake itself. Read the full story by The Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-shoreline-restoration
Arctic temperatures have anglers cutting holes in thick ice to go fishing, a welcome change after the warmer than usual winters in recent years. From ponds and lakes to the broad, ice-covered waters of Lake Erie, there are reports anglers are already finding success. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-erie-ice-fishing
After a week of bitter cold, Lake Superior is showing more ice—but experts say looks can be deceiving, and this ice is far from stable. Read the full story by Northern News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260130-unsafe-ice
Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the Michigan Maritime Strategy, a 10-year plan with the goal to boost the state’s maritime industry, create jobs, and protect the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WBUP-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-gov-whitmer-ten-year-maritime-strategy-michigan
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are seeking public comments on a proposed seasonal sea lamprey barrier on the Sucker River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The barrier is designed to block the invasive lamprey’s spread and make control efforts more effective. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-public-feedback-sea-lamprey-barrier-upper-peninsula
The international ice bridge connecting the U.S. and Canada is officially open. When the conditions are right, an approximately 12-mile stretch of Lake Huron creates a frozen path between Drummond Island, Michigan and St. Joseph Island, Ontario. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-frozen-lake-huron-international-ice-bridge
A multimillion-dollar project will begin later this year to restore the shoreline, bluffs and ravines at the Jean and John Greene Nature Preserve in Lake Forest, Illinois, along Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-window-past-preservationist-restore-lake-michigan
Ontario’s government has decided to transfer about 60 % of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park to the Town of Wasaga Beach to support local tourism and economic development, even though roughly 98% of public comments opposed the change due to concerns it could endanger sensitive piping plover habitat and reduce public protections for the shoreline. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-ontario-wasaga-beach
Lake Erie is now nearly completely frozen over with rapidly growing ice cover due to persistent Arctic cold, making it the most ice-covered of the Great Lakes this winter. Officials warn despite a Great Lake being fully frozen, shifting ice can be unstable and hazardous. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-lake-erie-frozen-over-safety
The Lake Huron Coastal Centre’s Coast Watchers community science program is celebrating 20 years of shoreline monitoring, with volunteer citizen scientists collecting long-term data on coastal conditions, wildlife, pollution and storm impacts that help track environmental trends and support conservation and resiliency efforts along the Lake Huron coast. Read the full story by Kincardine News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-lakehuron-coastline-monitoring-program
A prolonged cold spell is rapidly increasing ice coverage on Lake Superior — with ice cover jumping from about 6% to around 31% in recent weeks — as persistent sub-zero temperatures continue across the region. Read the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-cold-persists-lakesuperior-icecover
The U.S. Coast Guard is asking those using the ice on the bays of Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay for fishing and recreation to be especially aware as the service’s ice breaking operations continue in the waters around Door County, Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-coast-guard-advises-icebreaking-greenbay
Lake Zurich, Illinois, officials last week authorized revenue bond issues of $52 million to secure low-interest loans from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as part of the village’s transition to Lake Michigan water. The target date for the transition is 2028. Read the full story by the Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260128-lake-zurich-lake-michigan-water
Lawmakers from Michigan and Illinois are seeking answers from federal administrators this month about an “administrative review” pause in the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, a $1.5 billion project that aims to keep invasive carp out of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-carp-barrier-delays
Lawmakers from Michigan and Illinois are seeking answers from federal administrators this month about an “administrative review” pause in the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, a $1.5 billion project that aims to keep invasive carp out of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-carp-barrier-delays
U.S. Coast Guard ships worked in icy waters on the Great Lakes on January 21 clearing a path to help large cargo boats that were stuck in ice continue their journey. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-ice-breaking
Those whose livelihoods depend on ice and the fish and microorganisms in the Great Lakes are experiencing havoc wrought by fluctuations fueled by climate change. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-climate-change-threats
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed Friday that a red substance spotted Thursday in the Genesee River in Rochester was diesel fuel. Read the full story by the WHAM-TV – Rochester, New York.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-diesel-spill
An Ontario park known for its sandy beaches in the summer transforms during the winter months, turning its landscape into a snowy wonderland with possible sightings of rare ice formations called ice volcanoes. Read the full story by Toronto.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-ice-volcanoes
The outer north pier lighthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan looked like a grumpy old wizard this past weekend as the polar vortex coated it with ice. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-frozen-lighthouses
The outer north pier lighthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan looked like a grumpy old wizard this past weekend as the polar vortex coated it with ice. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-frozen-lighthouses
In late January, Lake Erie has the most ice coverage out of all the Great Lakes and is continuing to experience rapid ice growth. Read the full story by the Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-frozen-erie
The Executive Director and Chief Research Scientist of the River Institute is featured in a in a special edition of Canadian Geographic magazine celebrating individuals working to understand and protect the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Seaway News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-scientist-highlight
The Executive Director and Chief Research Scientist of the River Institute is featured in a in a special edition of Canadian Geographic magazine celebrating individuals working to understand and protect the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Seaway News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-scientist-highlight
A bridge on the southwest side of Lake Ontario in St. Catharines, Ontario, will be closed for a month for maintenance. Read the full story by the Welland Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-canal-bridge-closure
A master’s student at Michigan State University facilities the removal of invasive plants and restoration projects on campus highlighting the importance of public outreach in stewarding the land. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-msu-restoration
A master’s student at Michigan State University facilities the removal of invasive plants and restoration projects on campus highlighting the importance of public outreach in stewarding the land. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260126-msu-restoration
The U.S. and Canada this week released the 2025 State of the Great Lakes report, outlining successes and ongoing threats to the Great Lakes. The report scores each lake based on indicators established in the Great Lakes Water Quality agreement, a commitment between the two countries to protect and restore the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260123-great-lakes-report
