Ohio State Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson has been elected by the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus to represent Ohio on its executive committee for the next two years. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241030-great-lakes-st-lawrence-legisltaive-caucus
Sea lampreys are the newest residents at Michigan’s Cranbrook Institute of Science. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission provided the sea lampreys along with an enclosure and tank fittings for the exhibit which will allow guests to get up close to the invasive species. Read the full story by the Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241030-sea-lamprey-exhibit
The F.T. Barney, a two-masted schooner, collided with another ship and sank within minutes on Oct. 23, 1868, off the shore of Presque Isle, Michigan, in Lake Huron. Today it’s one of the best-preserved shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241030-shipwreck
The Department of Natural Resources will hold meetings in November on the future of smallmouth bass management in Door County waters, including a potential “catch and immediate release” rule. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241030-smallmouth-bass-managment
More than a hundred naval personnel joined city officials at Ontario’s Windsor riverfront Tuesday morning to greet and honor HMCS Harry DeWolf, one of Canada’s newest naval vessels. Part of a month-long deployment in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, the docked ship docked will be opening its decks to the public on the weekend. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241030-hmcs-harry-dewolf
Two cities, Tawas and Bay City, along Michigan’s “Sunrise Coast” are hoping to bring tourism and boost local economy by becoming a stop for Great Lakes cruise liners. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241030-new-cruise-locations
The St. Lawrence River Institute hosted the 31st Annual River Symposium from October 23 to 25, drawing researchers, students, policymakers, and community members where the event explored the theme “River Connections: Land, Water & Community,” highlighting the interdependence of ecosystems, nature, and human communities. Read the full story by the Seaway News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241030-annual-river-symposium
As swimming season draws to a close, unofficial tallies show 88 people have drowned in the waters of the Great Lakes so far in 2024, an increase from 2023. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241030-lake-michigan-drownings
Up to 3.2 million Michiganders may get their drinking water from PFAS-tainted aquifers, according to a landmark national study on “forever chemicals” in America’s well water, which is among the highest rates in the nation. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241030-pfas
A unique new Friends of the St. Clair River project seeks to update the pen pals concept for the 21st century and move students out of the classroom and into the great outdoors. Read the full story by The Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241028-friendsofstclairriver-watershedpenpals-program
Following a significant funding announcement, the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) is set to launch several initiatives to improve the health of Lake Erie and the Detroit River Area of Concern. Read the full story by The Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241028-fundingboost-lakeerie-detroitriver-projects
Since 1876, the Ironton Ferry has been a vital part of northern Michigan’s history, offering both a practical and scenic passage across Lake Charlevoix. Read the full story by The Sun Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241028-irontonferry-charlevoix
Ojibwe tribal officials are upset by a decision this month from the state’s Department of Natural Resources to approve a septage disposal site on their reservation in northern Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241028-wisconsin-dnr-septagedisposal-tribal-reservation
Cape Vincent, New York, highway crews tore down a deteriorating restaurant on Thursday as part of a multimillion effort to revitalize the municipality’s riverfront. Read the full story by The Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241028-capevincent-waterfront-project
A free lecture titled “West Coast National Marine Sanctuary Challenges and the Conservation Opportunities That Could Help” will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena, Michigan. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241028-conservationlecture-greatlakes-maritime-heritage-center
The Wisconsin DNR has announced that silver carp, an invasive species, have been detected in portions of the lower Chippewa River and lower Black River in western Wisconsin. Read the full story by WXOW – La Crosse, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241028-invasivecarp-lower-blackriver-detected
A stone structure found recently under Lake Michigan, believed to be 9,000 years old, has left most scientists and historians unclear of its origin. This archaeological wonder, which is said to resemble England’s Stonehenge, was discovered in 2007 and is still causing controversy. Read the full story by ECONews.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241028-lake-michigan-stonehedge
A project to conserve land along the Milwaukee River was awarded nearly $20 million in federal funding Wednesday, part of a historic push by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to invest in conservation practices that mitigate climate change. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-milwaukee-river
A Minnesota conservation group wants to focus on land protection and restoration near the St. Louis River as a part of a multi-state initiative known as the Greater Lakes Promise, an effort to improve water quality in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MinnPost.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-st-louis-restoration
Less than a month after agricultural groups sought to join a landmark case that could affect how western Lake Erie is managed, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has filed a motion to become a defendant too. The lawsuit targets the U.S. EPA for approving an Ohio EPA planning document under the Clean Water Act, which plaintiffs argue is weak and ineffective. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-erie-case
Soon, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources research center in Charlevoix, Michigan, will have a new and improved boat to help gather fish population data across the Great Lakes. After more than five decades of service, their old boat is outdated, and parts are hard to come by. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-dnr-boat
In nationwide polls, climate change ranks near the bottom of voters’ list of concerns, but it is of concern to Wisconsin voters who fear it is not receiving the attention it deserves in the presidential race. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-climate-voters
Presque Isle State Park near Erie, Pennsylvania, received about $3 million last year in combined federal and state money for an annual beach sand replenishment project. Ice-free Lake Erie waters over the winter contribute to erosion and the need for beach sand additions. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-beach-erosion
Lake trout could be part of a commercial fishery in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan if a new administrative rule is approved. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-trout-proposal
Nearly half a century after the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior, claiming the lives of 29 crew members, the National Museum of the Great Lakes in east Toledo, Ohio, will hold guided tours commemorating the sinking and honors those who died. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-fitzgerald-tours
Approximately 15,000 Georgetown, Ontario, residents begin receiving their water from Lake Ontario the week of November 4. Construction recently finished on the infrastructure that will allow for a transfer from a groundwater source to treated lake-based water from Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Halton Hills Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-lake-ontario-water
The remote island national park in Lake Superior is looking for a park guide and a park ranger interpreter for the 2025 season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241025-job-alert
University of Toledo researchers hope to better understand how harmful algal bloom toxins affect people, especially those with health conditions like asthma. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241023-toxic-algae
Emerging carbon sequestration facilities in Indianna and Illinois are on the forefront of government strategies to slash fossil fuel emissions and meet climate goals. These facilities aim to permanently sequester planet-warming carbon dioxide deep underground, but if operations leak, they can pose significant risks to water resources. Read the full story by WBEZ – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241023-carbon-storage
Nutrient runoff from agricultural fields accounts for about 80% of the nutrients that flow into Lake Erie. Farmers are working to minimize impacts by applying fertilizer pellets beneath the soil surface rather than atop where rain can wash it away. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241023-erie-algae
Fisheries biologists aim to help fish and other species while causing as little harm as possible in the process. On the Great Lakes, there are many guidelines and regulations in place to ensure ethical fisheries research. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241023-fisheries-research
For now, the Environmental Protection Agency can move forward with plans to establish new, federal carbon pollution standards for power plants. A group representing businesses in the Great Lakes region said the standard change is needed and hopes for more legal victories in the future. Read the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241023-carbon-rule
Last week, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources team began investigating the quagga mussel’s prevalence and its long-term impact in Geneva Lake. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241023-inland-quagga-mussels
On a foggy night 170 years ago, two ships sailing on Lake Huron collided, causing damage to both, records say. Both crews survived and today, the wooden two-masted schooners rest intact and upright at the bottom of the Great Lake. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241023-sunken-ships
A former sand mining site in Ottawa County, Michigan, is now operating as a sprawling public park, open for residents to paddle the waters, explore paved paths, overlook a glistening inland lake, and even camp overnight. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241023-new-park
The Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) aims to map the Great Lakes by 2030 through its project called Lakebed 2030. A bill to fund this effort— the Great Lakes Mapping Act — was tabled in the U.S. Congress earlier this year and it is unlikely to get passed before the U.S. election on November 5. Read the full story by Toronto.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-lakebed-mapping
Because capturing and converting nutrients is such a critical function to wetland ecosystems, Bowling Green State University (BGSU) researchers aim to study common wetland plants to identify which species promote these functions more than others to better inform wetland design in the future. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-wetland-plant-research
Visitors at the Holiday Beach Conservation Area in Ontario can become “citizen scientists” to help keep an eye on erosion of its Lake Erie shoreline. Two stands allow those strolling along the sand to place their mobile phones into the cradle, snap a photo of the shoreline and upload it to the CoastReach website. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-community-erosion-monitoring
The Wisconsin Historical Society announced this past week that the wreck of the Pride, which sank in a tornado off of Egg Harbor 126 years ago, is now listed on the national register. It was placed on the Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places on May 24 and now is the 31st shipwreck in Door County waters on the state and national registers. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-historic-shipwreck
The small farming community of Teeswater, Ontario, will vote in a referendum on whether or not they’re willing to host Canada’s largest underground storage facility of spent nuclear fuel. Less than 45 minutes from the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station on Lake Huron, Teeswater is one of two locations being considered to host the facility. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-nuclear-storage
An abandoned boat was discovered washed ashore along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee after strong winds caused the boat to break loose. The U.S. Coast Guard is working with the boat’s owner and their insurance company to remove the boat. Read the full story by WISN-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-boat-ashore
The annual “Salmon Run” in Buchanan, Michigan, is happening now. Every year, these fish travel from big bodies of water, in this case Lake Michigan, and return to their birthplace to spawn. Read the full story by WNDU-TV – South Bend, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-salmon-run
The Alvin Buckingham – a double-masted schooner that ran aground on a Lake Huron reef 154 years ago – now rests under eight feet of water about 1.2 miles offshore in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-sanctuary-shipwreck
The Algoma Guardian, a Canadian bulk carrier, was navigating the St. Lawrence River Saturday afternoon when it started to spew smoke. The ship was back up and running Sunday morning; there’s no belief that the incident created any other problems on the river for other ships. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Carthage, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-ship-smoke
According to an online survey, Wisconsinites’ top philanthropic priority if they suddenly struck it rich would be to protect the Great Lakes and their shorelines. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241021-philanthropy-survey
New projects to improve the health of Lake Erie and the Detroit River have financial backing from the federal government. The Essex Region Conservation Authority’s projects will get $15-million from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change’s Great Lakes Fresh Water Ecosystem Initiative for two habitat projects planned for the Detroit River Area of Concern. Read the full story by Windsor News Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241018-new-funds-for-aoc
The 17th Annual Freshwater Summit will be held on October 30 in Traverse City, Michigan and will feature presentations on aging whitefish populations, effective swimmer’s itch prevention strategies, a microplastic survey, and a workshop on climate anxiety. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241018-annual-freshwater-summit
As Western New York prepares for the cold winds of winter, New York Sea Grant and local groups are trying to prepare residents off Lake Erie for seiche events, with massive waves that can cause major damage. Read the full story by WBFO – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241018-seiche-events
The very dry September combined with the typical seasonal decline in water levels are bringing Great Lakes’ water levels down to lowest level in several years. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241018-low-water-levels
A state park with several historical elements, including two Lake Superior lighthouses, is getting a new long-range management plan and officials are seeking public input. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241018-lake-superior-lighthouses
