Climate change is making it easier for Great Lakes waterbirds to get sick, according to a recent study that identified avian diseases in the Great Lakes, including botulism and avian influenza, that could be primed for outbreaks amid warming waters and shifting migration patterns. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250414-great-lakes-waterbirds
The Kenosha Sportfishing and Conservation Association received 40,000 chinook salmon fingerlings from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at the Kenosha Salmon Rearing Pond. The nonprofit group is working to restore Lake Michigan’s ecosystem by stocking it with salmon annually. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250414-salmon
The Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association partnered with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to stock more than 150,000 fish into Lake Ontario. Read the full story by WGRZ-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250414-stock-fishing
Two endangered Great Lakes piping plovers have been confirmed at Montrose Beach in Chicago. Piping plovers have been on the move earlier than normal. Read the full story by WTTW-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250414-plovers
In accordance with the International Joint Commission Order of Approval governing its operation, preparations are now underway for the New York Power Authority to begin removal of the Lake Erie-Niagara River Ice Boom as ice conditions and safe working conditions allow. Read the full story by WBEN-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250414-erie-niagara-ice-boom
In accordance with the International Joint Commission Order of Approval governing its operation, preparations are now underway for the New York Power Authority to begin removal of the Lake Erie-Niagara River Ice Boom as ice conditions and safe working conditions allow. Read the full story by WBEN-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250414-erie-niagara-ice-boom
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday to discuss the need to ensure barriers are put in place to keep invasive carp out of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-invasive-carp-barriers
U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids, Michigan, says harbor dredging efforts along the Lake Michigan shoreline are uncertain right now with federal spending cuts, even as ports are increasingly busy. Scholten says Grand Haven could lose $88 million in business revenue if the dredging to clear the channel doesn’t happen. Read the full story by WGHN – Grand Haven, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-dredging-funding-cuts
Newly published research from the U.S. Geological Survey looked at more than 25 years of annual sea lamprey data to assess the effectiveness of lamprey control funding. The research showed that after 2020 and 2021, years when control activities stopped altogether or were scaled back to varying degrees on all five Great Lakes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lamprey populations increased the most in the lakes with the largest reductions in control. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-lamprey-impacts
Anxieties are mounting that a water pollution laboratory buttressing Lake Superior’s North Shore is slated to be closed, potentially terminating work for dozens of scientists and shuttering an economic engine for northern Minnesota. Read the full story by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-epa-lab-closure
Despite decades-long efforts to clean up toxic hot spots along Michigan’s Great Lakes shores, a recent study shows that the health of waterbirds in some areas continues to suffer. It found that infertility and weakened immune systems were more prevalent at the contaminated sites than in birds in more pristine areas along Lake Superior at the St. Marys River. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-waterbird-health
Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller is asking the State of Michigan to take action following an alleged “sickening release” of 1.2 million gallons of raw sewage from neighboring Oakland County on April 3. Read the full story by MWYD-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-sewage-release
The H2Ohio program helps farmers grow crops more efficiently while also protecting the environment. A recently proposed 44 percent reduction to the program could have serious consequences, not just for farmers but for the general public as well. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-h2ohio-spending-cuts
The Wisconsin Supreme Court could hear a case in the coming years centered around Enbridge Energy’s reroute of the pipeline known as Line 5. About 12 miles of the pipeline cuts through the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation, though the easements for the land the pipeline is on have expired. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-pipeline-reroute-case
As the executive director of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) prepares to leave her post, the WLSSD fired up a trio of generators that now convert biogas from the operation of its Duluth sewage-processing facility into power. The new equipment is expected to slash the plant’s annual electrical bill by more than $1 million. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-biogas-power-generation
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel will apply lampricides to Cattaraugus Creek in Cattaraugus and Erie counties, New York, between April 22-May 1 to kill sea lamprey larvae burrowed in the stream bottom. Read the full story by the Olean Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-lamprey-control
Experts weigh in on how U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes office is a key part of the regional and binational science and collaboration that protects the Great Lakes, and how changes may jeopardize that protection and the relationship with Canada. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-epa-greatlakes-office
In Michigan, a new testing requirement for PFAS could delay dredging projects around the state ― a move that stakeholders warn could significantly increase shipping costs, close harbors and hurt port and other businesses.. Read the full story by the Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-pfas-testing-dredging
Like many Canadian border cities, Sarnia has seen a surge of patriotism in response to President Donald Trump’s aggressive behavior, but residents of the community on Lake Huron have focused on one threat in particular: local waters. Read the full story by Agence France-Presse.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-canada-water
Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith sent a letter to the EPA administrator Lee Zeldin on reports of a possible reduction in staff at the EPA Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Lab in Duluth, Minnesota. Read the full story by Northern News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-minnesota-epa-lab
Some researchers are proposing artificial reefs as naturally sourced solution to the issue of coastal erosion, which they say will keep sediment moving and cost less. Read the full story by Inside Climate News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-artificial-reefs-erosion
According to the U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center, prey fish numbers in Lake Michigan look slightly better, though smelt biomass remains low throughout the lake. Read the full story by Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-lake-michigan-prey-fish
Federal Yoshino made it to Duluth-Superior on Tuesday afternoon, but while the saltie is the first oceangoing ship to arrive this season its journey didn’t start from the ocean. Read the full story by Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-duluth-saltie
A recent study suggests that the creation of the Great Lakes occurred nearly 200 to 300 million years ago, much further back than originally thought, via a hot spot from underneath the Earth’s crust. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-greatlakes-formation
The Muskegon, a 19th-century ship turned sandsucker barge, sank in Lake Michigan in 1911 and is now a shipwreck nature preserve in Indiana. Read the full story by the Herald-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-indiana-shipwreck
The Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio is launching a new weekly series of sensory-friendly Sunday morning programming in April, and a new Sensory Space, all designed to make the museum more accessible for all community members. Read the full story by the Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250409-greatlakes-sciencecenter
A new study has found that climate change is erasing a fundamental annual phenomenon in Lakes Michigan and Huron, with potentially serious consequences for life in the water. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-lakemichigan-lakehuron-climatechange
A large drop in the water levels in the Great Lakes is making it more challenging for people to launch their boats in Lake Huron and navigate shallower water. Some harbors in Northeast Michigan, like the one in Harrisville, have a depth of only about 12 feet, which is enough to accommodate most power boats, but concern is rising that if water levels continue to fall, launching a boat could become a serious issue. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-waterlevels-greatlakes
A small-ship cruise operator is about to make a comeback in the U.S. Victory Cruise Lines is relaunching this month with Great Lakes and Canada cruises. American Queen Voyages’ founder John Waggoner is reviving the brand with two 190-passenger ships, Victory I and Victory II. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-greatlakescruises-victorycruiseline
Following a drier-than-average fall, tourism industry observers are heading into spring with one eye on the sky, hoping that a strong wet season will replenish below-average Great Lakes levels for smooth sailing this season. Read the full story by Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-michigan-marinas-lower-water-levels
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is working to rehabilitate the lake sturgeon population into a self-sustaining future in the Milwaukee River. Read the full story by The Post-Crescent.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-sturgeon-milwaukeeriver
When raindrops fall in Northeast Ohio, they begin a journey — one shaped by millions of years of geological history and guided by invisible boundaries in the land. Some of that water will eventually make its way north to Lake Erie, while other droplets will flow south toward the Ohio River, and ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. The deciding factor? A subtle but significant line called a watershed divide. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-northeastohio-lakeerie-ohioriver
Since the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s lamprey program launched, sea lamprey populations have declined by about 90 percent, restoring commercial and sport fishing across the Great Lakes. However, experts say that work was imperiled by February’s U.S. federal staffing cuts. Read the full story by OrilliaMatters.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-greatlakes-sealamprey-dogecuts
The Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven, Michigan, will host a presentation this month on efforts to preserve a World War II Tuskegee airplane that crashed into Lake Huron in 1944. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-maritimemuseum-southhaven-worldwar2
Approximately 4,250 adult trout were stocked by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the Huron River at the Proud Lake Recreation Area in Oakland County and the Spring Mill Pond at the Island Lake Recreation Area in Livingston County, Michigan. The fish are retired broodstock from Michigan’s state fish hatcheries. Read the full story by WHMI – Howell, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-fish-stocked-huronriver-springmillpond
The Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary encompasses 1,722 square miles of eastern Lake Ontario waters and bottomlands adjacent to Jefferson, Wayne, Oswego and Cayuga counties in the state of New York. The sanctuary area contains 41 known shipwrecks and one aircraft representing events spanning more than 200 years. The advisory council will meet for the first time later this month, a crucial step in the build-out of the newly designated sanctuary. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-noaa-advisorycouncilmeeting-marinesanctuary
The heavy rain that soaked the Chicago, Illinois, area on Wednesday is being studied as part of a research project at the Shedd Aquarium, where scientists are examining how extreme weather impacts wildlife in the Chicago River. Read the full story by CBS Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250404-sewer-overflow-impacts
The Singapore-flagged Patagonman docked in Port Milwaukee on Sunday, March 30, after sailing through the Atlantic Ocean and unloading cargo in Ontario. It corresponded with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Read the full story by Spectrum News 13.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250404-seaway-opening
Following the Michigan Court of Appeals’ decision to uphold a key permit for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project, members of four Native American Tribes and three environmental organizations are asking the Michigan Supreme Court to review the lower court’s decision. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250404-line5-court-decision
The Great Lakes region plays a vital role in bird migration, lying at the intersection of two migratory flyways. Severe weather is negatively impacting migration patterns, however, there are steps communities can take to reduce the impact on the nearly 350 species passing through. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250404-migration-impacts
An unexpected failure of a weld on a 54-inch steel water main caused millions of dollars in damage in Detroit, Michigan. and is prompting the Great Lakes Water Authority to look more closely at steel pipes in its 800-mile system, weighing where similar breaks could occur. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250404-water-main-breaks
Test your knowledge of aquatic species by taking this lighthearted quiz! Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250404-species-quiz
Birding enthusiasts in Wisconsin and other Great Lakes states can meet the sunrise at wetlands and other locations Saturday morning for the 48th annual Midwest Crane Count, which aims to tally sandhill cranes and whooping cranes. It’s organized by the International Crane Foundation. Read the full story at Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250404-sandhill-cranes
At the annual Great Lakes Day summit, leaders from the United States and Canada gather in Washington, D.C., to demonstrate their commitment to the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WBEZ – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250404-dc-gathering
Former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leaders fear Great Lakes states with a long history of industrial pollution will suffer if protections are eliminated or weakened. Read the full story by The Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250402-epa-cuts
Last fall, fisheries biologists found a rare shore-spawning brook trout in Lake Superior along the Minnesota shoreline. It may be a sign that the once bountiful species is finally coming back. Read the full story by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250402-rare-trout
An oil spill that occurred Thursday on the St. Clair River appears to be under control. There’s no evidence of the spill spreading, and final cleanup efforts are expected to wrap by the end of the week. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250402-stclair-oil
The Trump administration has reversed firings and a hiring freeze that threatened Great Lakes lamprey control efforts. Officials are now scrambling to hire staff, cautiously optimistic but acknowledging the program may need to be less ambitious this year. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250402-lamprey-cuts
Oil stemming from damaged electrical transformers was visible on the Grand River in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after thunderstorms ripped through Michigan on Sunday. Cleanup operations have begun, and an environmental contractor is placing booms and pads to absorb the oil and limit its spread. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250402-grandriver-oil
A new light lager from Saugatuck Brewing Company is supporting the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and its lake sturgeon conservation efforts. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250402-sturgeon-beer
