A popular Michigan trail that runs from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan was recently given a new name — “Tip of the Mitt Trail” — following a community-wide contest. Read the full story by the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241120-contest
Canadian environmental officials hope a new funding program will entice farmers around London, Ontario, to do more to reduce the algal bloom-causing phosphorus that leaves their farmland. The new Thames River Phosphorus Reduction Program is backed by $17.4 million in federal funds. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-london-nutrients
When former President Donald Trump last held office, he rolled back more than 100 environmental rules, and as he prepares to re-enter the White House, experts anticipate he’ll draw from the same playbook. That could have ripple effects in Wisconsin, which in recent years has received close to a billion dollars from a landmark climate law Trump seeks to unwind. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-trump-wisconsin
Some Great Lakes politicians believe that Trump will continue to back funding for Great Lakes cleanup efforts, even as he tries to make good on his campaign pledges to roll back U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules and regulations intended to fight climate change. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-trump-lakes
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, along with partners in the U.S., keep a watchful eye for grass carp. Breeding populations of the invasive fish have been found on the American side of Lake Erie and could devastate the Great Lakes ecosystem. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-grass-carp
In a name-your-poison twist, a new study from the University of Illinois adds to the evidence that Chicago-area waterway pollution is slowing the relentless advance of the invasive silver carp. Read the full story by The Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-chicago-carp
Michigan and Ohio are both struggling to reduce the fertilizer runoff getting into Lake Erie which feeds harmful algal blooms. Both states are working toward a 40% reduction goal set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. So far, the efforts are not meeting the goals. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-erie-nutrients
Three Michigan lawmakers led a letter to the authors of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, asking them to include an amendment opposing the permanent storage of nuclear waste in the Great Lakes basin in the final bill. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-nuclear-waste
It’s no surprise the Great Lakes are warmer than normal since our air temperatures have been warmer than normal for quite some time. Western Lake Erie has a pocket of water that is still 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-warm-water
After seven years of planning, a new marine sanctuary now protects a portion of Lake Ontario rich with history and shipwrecks. The community-driven designation aims to benefit the area through preservation, economic development, and conservation. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-marine-sanctuary
When passengers from Victory Cruise Lines voyages on the Great Lakes visit the National Museum of the Great Lakes next year, they’ll reach Toledo, Ohio, by bus, not boat. But Toledo-area leaders believe the Detroit-based shore excursions can be a stepping-off point toward bringing passenger cruises to the city. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241118-toledo-cruises
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials announced they have issued construction permits with more than 200 conditions for the Line 5 reroute around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation. The energy company still needs discharge permits from the DNR as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and must complete the project by November 14, 2027. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241115-line5-permit
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared an end to western Lake Erie’s 2024 algal bloom season Wednesday, calling it a “moderately severe” bloom that ranks as a 6.6 on the agency’s 10-point severity index. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241115-algal-bloom
Canadian and American scientists and regulators met Thursday in Harrison Township, Michigan, for the Lake St. Clair Conference. Twenty-five years after their first meeting, the muck, or thick mats of algae, is still a major issue facing the lake. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241115-binational-algae-issue
Terry Sheehan, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, announced $747,000 in funding to several Indigenous-led organizations to support the study and preservation of species habitats and water conservation, and to improve the health of the Great Lakes and the St. Marys River. Read the full story by The Sault Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241115-environment-funding
According to a new study conducted by researchers with Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, ski hills in Wisconsin are relying more on snowmaking and other strategies to adapt to changing snow conditions due to climate change. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241115-snowmaking-study
Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-08), along with other Michigan Congressional representatives, sent a letter urging lawmakers to include his bipartisan amendment in the final bill opposing the Government of Canada’s plans to build a facility that would permanently store high-level nuclear waste in the Great Lakes basin. Read the full story by WEYI-TV – Saginaw, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241115-nuclear-storage-prevention
The possibility of Tawas Bay, Michigan, becoming a new cruise ship destination on Lake Huron is gaining momentum among local stakeholders. With renewed efforts, the Tawas community is hopeful that the initiative will boost local tourism and invigorate the economy. Read the full story by WISC-TV – Madison, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241115-cruise-tourism
With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasting “warmer-than-average” temperatures for parts of the Great Lakes, Michigan’s winter festivals from Metro Detroit to the Western Upper Peninsula are preparing to adapt. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241115-winter-adaptation
A Wisconsin-based author released the first novel from her mystery series, “Superior’s Secret: A Great Lake Mystery Novel.” The story follows a fictional University of Wisconsin-Superior student who teams up with a supernatural detective to investigate the mystery of Lake Superior. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Superior, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241115-superior-book
It was a perfect fall day as two scuba divers descended on the James R. Bentley shipwreck in Lake Huron with the goal of finding sunken treasure. It wasn’t jewels or gold they were after, but rather the shipment of rye that had been on the ship when it sank in November 1878. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-sunkentreasure-greatlakes
The federal government of Canada announced on Tuesday it’s investing over $25 million toward four Ontario projects, funded under the Green Shipping Corridor Program, including a multi-million-dollar project at Sterling Fuels in Windsor. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-windsorsterlingfuels-greatlakes
Through a Department of Energy grant, faculty members at Central Michigan University will be researching three Michigan watersheds, modeling future risks of extreme precipitation. The research aims to enhance infrastructure preparedness and resilience to flooding for local communities. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-cmu-researchers-lakemichigan-rainfallrisks
The reopening of the Palisades nuclear plant comes as Michigan, and other states, push to meet “clean” energy goals and brace for increased energy demands coming from new infrastructure, like data centers. Read the full story by the Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-palisades-nuclearplant-lakemichigan-2025-comeback
The late season walleye fishing around Lake Erie is in full swing and Fall Brawl anglers are reporting that large schools of trophy fish are moving toward the waters off Huron, Ohio, the prime pre-staging waters for the spring spawning season. Read the full story by The Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-lakeerie-cools-fallbrawl
Ludington State Park, situated near Ludington, Michigan, on 4,300 acres between Lake Michigan and Hamlin Lake, is closed for 10 months for construction. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-lakemichigan-statepark-upgrades
Every Great Lake besides Lake Superior is running near or above recent historically warm temperatures with data going back around 30 years to 1995. Read the full story by WROC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-lakeontario-warm-lakeeffect
Whether it is regulations on walleye, northern pike or smallmouth bass, or on snagging salmon, there are strongly held convictions on multiple sides of fishing on southern Lake Michigan and the Chicago lakefront. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-dueling-fishing-opinions
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer unveiled a two-part initiative aimed at fighting harmful algal blooms that have plagued the Finger Lakes, endangering public health, regional tourism, and local agriculture. Schumer emphasized the urgent need for federal support after this year’s record-breaking algae blooms disrupted communities and businesses, particularly at the end of the summer. Read the full story by FingerLakes1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-schumer-harmal-algalblooms-fingerlakes
Due to low water levels on the Mississippi River, shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway utilizing the Great Lakes may provide a streamlined, direct supply chain for agricultural exporters. Read the full story by the Ohio County Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241113-riverchallenges-greatlakes
It was 49 years ago from Sunday, November 10, that the Edmund Fitzgerald was being loaded with 26,000 tons of iron ore, prepped for what would become its tragic final voyage. Once the largest ship on the Great Lakes, the 728-foot ship left Superior, Wisconsin, on November 9, 1975; a day later, the ship was gone, broken in two and laying on the bottom of Lake Superior in 530 feet of water. All 29 souls aboard were lost. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-edmundfitzgerald-anniversary
The water levels of the Great Lakes have gone down significantly in the past few months, partly because of the natural annual lowering of water levels in most fall seasons and partly because of the lack of rain in the past couple months. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-water-levels
The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio, is hosting a micro exhibit which tells a story of the community’s investment into the Great Lakes Museum through donations of one-of-a-kind artifacts, which helps educate visitors about the history of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-artifact-donations
The Pennsylvania Steelhead Association and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission shared concerns about anglers trespassing and littering at one of Erie’s most popular steelhead creeks. Anglers are being reminded to observe the signs if they want the area to remain open to fishing. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-fishing-creek-concerns
Over the last two centuries, more than 70 ships have plunged to their demise on the Great Lakes during November. Some, like the iron ore carrier the Edmund Fitzgerald, went down and took the entire crew down with them. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-november-shipwrecks
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to finalize more than $200 million in grant funding through its Clean Ports Program in the coming weeks to accelerate the clean energy transition at three Great Lakes shipping ports. Read the full story by the Energy News Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-clean-port-funding
Waterfront Toronto has removed the last pieces of the wall that once separated the mouth of the Don River and Lake Ontario as a next step in a project featuring a new island that could become home to thousands of people. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-waterfront-project
The sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald took the lives of all 29 crew members, including the ship’s cook. His daughter and Abilene, Kansas, resident Pamela Johnson, now 73, remains a yearly advocate for her father along with those who perished at memorials and for various interviews. Read the full story by the Abilene Reflector Chronicle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-edmundfitzgerald-crew-descendent
“Beach season,” per the Chicago Park District, runs from the Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day. Outside of this period, swimming is not permitted. Historically, this made a lot of sense; however, many people can still be seen swimming into October as Chicago has had at least 17 days since September 1 with temperatures greater than 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-climate-risks
The Mariners’ Church of Detroit held its 59th annual Great Lakes Memorial Service on Sunday. The occasion honors and remembers 30,000 people who have died in the Great Lakes and on Michigan’s waters over the years. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241111-mariners-memorial-service
A five-year-old female Great Lakes piping plover was recently spotted in its favorite wintering grounds in Crandon Park, Florida. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-snowbirdsurvives-greatlakespipingplover-florida
Michigan is stepping up efforts to analyze the flow of harmful nutrients into the Western Basin of Lake Erie. Water quality monitors have been set up in five sub-watersheds in the southeast corner of the state that either feed directly into the lake or one of its tributaries. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-michigan-watershed-monitors
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank nearly half a century ago in “the gales of November.” The lake has taken hundreds of other ships, too. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society has its own underwater research vessel that scours the lake for shipwrecks. Read the full story by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-lakesuperior-shipwrecks-dramatictales
The Great Storm of 1913 was easily the Great Lakes region’s largest natural disaster ever. Fast-moving “trains” of huge waves — some topping 30 feet high — lashed ships making their late-season runs. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-whitehurricane-november-1913-greatlakes
A busy port and moody skies make the “November gales” a special time to watch massive “lakers” and oceanbound “salties.” Read the full story by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-greatlakes-duluth-stormseason
An iconic piece of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, history has been listed for sale, and owners say they hope to find a buyer to give the fishing boat a new lease on life. Read the full story by WGBA-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-iconic-fishing-boat-lakeshore
After four decades, a Minnesota writer has brought a radio play capturing the SS Edmund Fitzgerald’s fateful final voyage to life. Read the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-fitzgerald-final-voyage
Volunteers for the Hancock Trails Club, Weubben Construction and the City of Hancock, Michigan, are collaborating together in the improvements of Maasto Hiihto’s Trail 17 with a bridge, boardwalk and more accessible trail conditions. Read the full story by the Daily Mining Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-maastohiihto-improvements
Restoration of the historic Belle Isle Boathouse is progressing, as the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has selected a proposal after years of debate on preserving the structure. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-belleisle-boathouse
A former lifeguard in London, Ontario, is on a crusade to teach others about the dangers of Great Lakes rip currents after an especially deadly summer in the surf. Read the full story by The London Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241108-ex-lifeguard-greatlakes-ripcurrents
