A new book explores wild rice’s role in Indigenous cuisine, its habitats and its deep connection to Indigenous identity in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250616-new-book
An effort to restore grayling in Michigan is entering a new phase. Michigan DNR provided 400,000 eggs to be released by Native American tribes to stock in rivers as the reintroduction plan moves ahead. Read the full story by Sault Ste. Marie Evening News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250616-grayling-restoration
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is warning people to avoid Lake Erie at Edgewater Beach after heavy rains caused a sewer overflow. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250616-sewage-overflow
A Chicago native known as the Great Lake Jumper leaps into Lake Michigan every morning for the solitude and a splash of rejuvenation. This past weekend marked five years of daily lake jumps. Read the full story by Block Club Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250616-chicago-jumper
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has detected levels of the harmful toxin, microcystin, in Lake Erie weeks earlier than it is usually detected in routine water tests. Read the full story by the BG Independent News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250616-erie-toxin-early
Every summer, boaters and swimmers descend on Wisconsin’s 15,000 lakes to vacation and frolic in the water, but this comes with a cost. Homeowners on these lakes are taking steps to protect water quality, regulate boating and restore habitats. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250616-wisconsin-water-protections
While most are ready for summer temperatures, the Great Lakes want to hold that heat back. The Great Lakes water temperatures aren’t much colder than normal right, but they are still cold compared to the air temperatures of this time of year. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250616-chilly-waters
An estimated 6,000 boats, ships or other vessels have sunk in the Great Lakes, with about 1,500 of them in Michigan’s waters and some within just a 90-minute drive from Lansing. Read the full story by Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250616-michigan-shipwrecks
Beaches are tested regularly in Michigan by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and their statuses are updated frequently. Over Father’s Day weekend beaches in Chippewa and Muskegon County were closed for high bacteria levels. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250616-beach-closings
A gold pocket watch connects a Lake Michigan beach town to an English port town. It’s a homecoming 165 years in the making, weaving invisible strings between a British parliament member, a deadly shipwreck, treasure hunters and Michigan’s foremost expert on the ‘Titanic of the Great Lakes.’ Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250613-titanic-greatlakes-goldwatch
The Lottie Cooper was built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1876 when three-masted cargo ships were common on the Great Lakes, moving goods from port to port. In the summer of 1993, the remains of the Lottie Cooper were put on educational display at the lakefront along Broughton Drive, where she continues to tell the story of early maritime shipping near Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250613-wreckage-display-sheboygan-lakefront
Swarms of mayflies are beginning to appear in the southern part of Michigan, signaling the start of the yearly mayfly hatch. Mayflies are a familiar sight near many Michigan lakes when they emerge or “hatch” from the water as flying adults. Read the full story by The Herald Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250613-maylies-southern-michigan
The recently released documents reveal numerous programs that would be zeroed out under $1 billion in cuts to federal grants nationwide. They include programs that manage state and local air quality, control water pollution and clean up or redevelop contaminated sites. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250613-wisconsin-pollution-protections
After seeing the degradation of the Pine River, running from Ripley, Ontario, to Lake Huron, citizens came together to try and rehabilitate their waterway. With the approval and assistance of local farmers and landowners, Pine River Watershed volunteers have planted 365,000 trees, installed 21 berms to control field run-off, and helped install 24 kilometres of fencing to keep livestock out of the Pine River. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250613-volunteers-plant-trees-local-river
In a move to refine and recalibrate its stewardship, the Wisconsin DNR is crafting a new regional master plan for Lake Michigan coastal communities, and they’re inviting Wisconsinites to have their say. Read the full story by Hoodline.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250613-wisconsin-dnr-southern-lake-michigan
The annual Lake Erie harmful algal bloom prediction has received an upgrade that could make it more accurate. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250613-lakeerie-algalbloom
Repairs to the Fort Wilkins Historic State Park on the shores of Lake Superior are part of a proposed 10-year plan in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250613-repairs-newplayground-lakesuperior-statepark
Recent funding and staffing cuts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have raised concerns in Canada about invasive lamprey population. Sea lamprey control is managed binationally by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Read the full story by TBNewsWatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250613-lampreys-passports-greatlakes
Michigan health officials have dramatically reduced the amount of PFAS-tainted fish they consider safe to eat, tripling the number of waterbodies where anglers are warned against eating their catch. Ninety-eight water bodies in the state are now subject to “do not eat” advisories. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-michigan-pfas-guidlines
The most recent budget proposals from both the Ohio House and Senate drastically cut funding for H2Ohio, a program with bipartisan support that has helped restore and maintain healthy wetlands, croplands, and initiate river cleanup efforts. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-ohio-funding-cuts
A 35-inch, 16-pound lake trout caught by an angler in 2023 out of the port of Sheboygan, Wisconsin contained a coded wire tag that was the oldest on record according to the USFWS. Read the full story by My UP Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-oldest-lake-trout
The Trump administration is proposing to shutter the EPA’S Office of Research and Development in Duluth, which would leave over 170 without jobs and jeopardize public access to clean air and water. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-epa-defunding
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has issued Serafin Fish Company a commercial license to harvest lake whitefish from southern Lake Huron, marking a new era for the Harbor Beach port. Read the full story by The Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-huron-fishery
Crews are assessing damage after an 806-foot freighter loaded with 29,700 tons of stone bound for Marquette, Michigan grounded in the St. Marys River. The Interlake Steamship Company said the incident occurred as it was making a turn. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-freighter-grounded
Several stewardship organizations within the eastern half of the Great Lakes basin are taking new steps to reduce pollution and raise awareness related to microplastics and other chemicals in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by BTPM – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-conservation-efforts
The public doesn’t own the water of the Great Lakes, however the lake floors are where the states have a claim. But what percentage of the lake belongs to what state? Read the full story by WGRD – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-lake-ownership
On Monday, an organization focused on protecting the Great Lakes was recognized for decades of work across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Negaunee, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-partnership-recognition
The citizens serving on the Sanctuary Advisory Council for the new Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary have backgrounds as diverse as the people who will enjoy the sanctuary in the years to come. The council includes retirees, lawyers and teachers, college professors, doctors, police officers, and more. Read the full story by the Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250611-ontario-marine-sanctuary-leaders
Members of the Ho-Chunk Nation paddled from Green Bay to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in a dugout canoe to raise awareness of the Tribe’s historic ties to the region. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-greenbay-hochunk
A new study led by the Hammond Bay Biological Station in Michigan explored a novel approach involving the sterilization of male sea lampreys as a promising method to control the invasive sea lamprey population in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WPBN/WGTU-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-sea-lamprey
Lake Superior is one of the United States’ greatest natural and economic assets. It provides drinking water, supports transportation and trade, fuels tourism and recreation, and anchors coastal communities. Protecting Lake Superior is not just an environmental issue, it’s an economic and public health necessity. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-superior-communities
After a city council meeting in Euclid, Ohio, an emergency ordinance was passed to address shoreline erosion, habitat restoration, and public access along the Lake Erie shore. Read the full story by The News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-euclid-shoreline
Described as a “mini vacation retreat” for area families, the popular beach at Myers Lake Park in Rockford, Michigan, will now be able to accommodate more families on staycation. A spring renovation that used approximately 500 tons of sand to double the beach’s size. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-beach-sand
This winter the Great Lakes reached 52.23% ice cover in February, with the last of the ice hanging on in Lake Superior until May 11 in parts of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Read the full story by the Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-ice
Ontario Great Lakes Day was held at Kingtson’s Gord Downie Pier on Saturday, a day of swimming, diving and educating the public about the importance of the freshwater basin we call the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Kingston Whig-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-greatlakes-cleanup
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, is floating the idea of publicly auctioning off the infamous abandoned boat that became a staple of Lake Michigan’s Milwaukee shoreline. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-abandoned-boat
A man from the Chicago area just broke the Guinness World Record for circumnavigating over 1,000 miles around Lake Huron by bicycle to raise money to end multiple sclerosis. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-huron-cycling
Case Western Reserve University is set to install filters to washing machines across campus to reduce microplastic pollution during the laundry cycle, with hopes to make Cleveland, Ohio, the example in the fight against microplastic pollution. Read the full story by Ideastream Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250609-microplastics-filter
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-piping-plover-chicks
Nearly a year ago, unproductive farmland at the headwaters of Michigan’s River Raisin watershed was turned into a wetland to filter phosphorus runoff before it reaches Lake Erie. Now, deep-rooted grasses and plants friendly to bees and butterflies are beginning to make the 300 acres look lush. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-wetland-filtering-phosphorus
Every summer throughout the mid-2010s, researchers scoured the Great Lakes in search of PFAS contamination, taking tissue samples from invasive mussels at 120 locations in total. The results: The scientists found PFAS nearly everywhere. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-mussels-pfas-everywhere
A new book, “Great Lakes in 50 Maps,” looks at our Great Lakes regional freshwater features, the land that surrounds them, and how their interplay affects how people live. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-great-lakes-book
For a brief period in 1998, Lake Champlain, a freshwater lake between New York and Vermont, was considered a Great Lake. That status was quickly rescinded after controversy over its significantly smaller size compared to the five currently designated Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Record.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-six-great-lakes
The Great Lakes hold wildfire smoke over the water through a process opposite the way the atmosphere normally works called “trapping inversion.” Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-wildfire-smoke
While Lake Michigan and its offshoot, Green Bay, get most of northeastern Wisconsin’s attention, there are many other bodies of water in the area, including the Fox River, an unusual shaped “lagoon” lake, and lakes that have yet to be named. Read the full story by Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-green-bay-facts
A Northern Michigan fish company is joining forces with a group of leaders from around the Great Lakes to tackle fish waste by finding innovative ways to fully utilize each fish, thereby creating jobs and supporting rural economic development. Read the full story by WBPN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-reduce-fish-waste
Lake Huron, which runs along much of Michigan’s eastern coast, has the longest coastline of the Great Lakes, and offers opportunities for underwater exploration and waterfront recreation, as well as providing a key link in international shipping and crucial fish habitat. Read the full story by the Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-lake-huron
Experts searching for plane wreckage in Michigan’s Lake Superior found logs and rocks on the bottom but no debris from an aircraft that crashed nearly 60 years ago carrying three people on a scientific assignment. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250606-missing-plane-search
The Council of State Governments is working with the eight Great Lakes states and other partners to explore creating a U.S. Great Lakes Waterfront Trail along the shorelines of the largest freshwater system on Earth. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250604-greatlakes-moment-greatlakes-waterfronttrail
Scientists are experimenting with methods to remove invasive zebra and quagga mussels from Lake Michigan, using tarps, an underwater crawler and a 1,100-pound plow known as the mussel masher. However, this work faces funding challenges due to federal cuts and reduced university funding. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250604-invasive-mussels-scientists-fightingback
