The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards reached a new agreement on icebreaking to allow for Great Lakes shipping, which brings international commerce to Northwest Indiana and iron ore to regional steel mills when the Great Lakes are frozen over. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240219-icebreaking-agreement
The Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) endorsed a plan that will protect the Hillman Marsh near Leamington, Ontario with a high crest, preventing damage from Lake Erie. Without protection from the lake, there’s concern that nearby homes and farmland could flood. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240219-hillman-marsh
The state of Michigan seeks public input on a plan to shape the next decade for Silver Lake State Park, home to nearly 3 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 2,000 acres of sand dunes. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240219-silver-lake
Can lake whitefish, an imperiled mainstay of the Great Lakes fishery, learn to reproduce in northern Michigan rivers? Fishery managers think they can. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240219-michigan-whitefish
While the sinking of the recently discovered S.S. Arlington is well known, less is understood about the captain who went down with his ship and the events leading up to that fateful decision. Read the full story by Bradford Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240219-arlington-captain
A reauthorization of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Under the introduced bill, GLRI funding would increase to $500 million per year. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240219-glri-bill
Since 1994, the R/V Lake Guardian has taken educators on a nine-day cruise called the Shipboard Science Workshop. This year, teachers will tour Lake Erie. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240219-lake-guardian
As apex predators, adult muskie occupy the very top tier of the Great Lakes food chain. The Michigan Muskie Alliance is advocating for stocking of muskie to promote balanced fisheries. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240219-muskie-alliance
Members of Congress are proposing legislation to renew the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and increase annual funding to $500 million to support thousands of projects that address new emerging threats in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by The Citizen.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-restoration-initiative-funding
Lake Erie is the first of the Great Lakes to get connected to the internet with a series of offshore “smart” buoys that make vital information related to water safety, algal blooms, oil spills, and climate monitoring easily accessible. Read the full story Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-smart-buoys
For decades, whitefish have struggled to breed on the rocky reefs of lakes Michigan and Huron, where their eggs are under attack by invasive species and other threats; but scientists believe that decades of restoration work have made rivers capable of supporting whitefish. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-whitefish-survival
The state of Michigan recently denied controversial plans for developing a 6.5 acre marina amid the sand dunes at the Kalamazoo River mouth as part of a high-end housing project. Read the full story by MLive
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-marina-permit-rejection
Legislation behind the Filter First program is first-of-its-kind and is specifically designed to protect children from exposure to lead in drinking water in schools and child care centers. Read the full story by WaterWorld.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-drinking-water-program
To mitigate the risk of harmful algal blooms and water contamination, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) recently changed the permitting purview for the Fremont biodigester facility, located near Muskegon, Michigan. The new permit is financially unfeasible to keep the plant running. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-biodigester-permitting
The state of Michigan is exploring a new plan to resume dredging of the Platte River mouth at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials say they are looking into equipment options to ease boater access to Lake Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-river-dredging
To ensure the Great Lakes will be a sustainable source of clean water in the future, the National Science Foundation granted $160 million to a Chicago-based “innovation hub” to develop methodologies for separating nickel, cobalt, lithium, nitrogen and PFAs from the water supply. Read the full story by the Hyde Park Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-chemical-extraction-funding
Fueled by a strong El Niño, the lack of ice and mild winter in the Midwest could have negative implications for spring fish spawning, coastal erosion, and harmful algal blooms. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-zero-ice
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ management crews have begun prescribed burning in marshes, wetlands, and pine barrens to remove dead vegetation, stimulate native plant growth, and provide fire-dependent species an opportunity to thrive. Read the full story by Morning AgClips.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240216-prescribed-burns
Conservation groups and water policy experts feared that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year would create a patchwork of state wetland protections, threatening water quality in the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds. Now they say that fear is becoming a reality with a new Indiana law that will roll back protections for many of Indiana’s most regulated wetlands. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-wetland-regulation
As of the morning of February 12, the Great Lakes have crossed the historic threshold and reached a record low of ice cover basin-wide. The measurement taken as of the morning was 2.69% ice cover. Read the full story by WWJ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-ice-record
A study by Birds Canada shows wetland bird populations have increased along the Great Lakes coast over much of the past decade. Of the eighteen bird species counted as part of the study, nine increased their populations across all of the Great Lakes — some by as much as 50% per year. Read the full story by the News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-bird-study
Researchers at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, examined fish consumption advisories for the upper St. Lawrence River issued by New York State, the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and the Akwesasne Mohawk community. They found that advice about how many fish to eat and how often can vary widely depending on the jurisdiction. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-fish-consumption
When the Great Lakes have low ice cover for much of winter, it can lead to a lot of evaporation and lower lake levels, but that’s not necessarily the case this winter. Researchers say a lack of cold air over the cold lakes is keeping evaporation in check, maintaining water levels. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-water-levels
Midwest tribal leaders are challenging Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline that has already spilled more than a million gallons of oil since the first recorded leak in 1968. Now Enbridge wants to start over and reroute Line 5 into a plan called the Great Lakes Tunnel Project. Read the full story by WBEZ – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-pipeline-challenge
A Wisconsin author contemplates the history and environmental change of Lake Superior in her new book. She describes her observations of Lake Superior, adventurous fishermen known as bobbers, threats to migrating birds and the lasting effects of mining over her more than 30 years owning a rustic cabin on the lake’s South Shore near Port Wing. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-lake-superior-book
The Great Lakes- St. Lawrence Seaway’s 2024 navigation season will officially begin on Friday, March 22. The Montreal, Lake Ontario and Welland Canal will all open at 8 a.m. on opening day. Read the full story by WWTI-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-seaway-opening
A new documentary follows the search for a Michigan village and church swept away by the rising waters of Lake St. Clair in 1855. The Macomb County Planning and Economic Development Department has been working on the project for several years with archivists and historians. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-st-clair-documentary
The historic S.S. Badger car ferry will hold three sunset cruises this summer which will board in Ludington, Michigan, and sail along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Each of these shoreline cruises will feature a theme, live entertainment, food and a cash bar. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240214-sunset-cruise
A WWII-era shipwreck known for its captain’s strange behavior on its final day above the waves has been found deep in Lake Superior – about 35 miles off the tip of Michigan’s northernmost Keweenaw Peninsula. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-worldwar2-lakesuperior-shipwreck
Minnesota is seeing a glaring lack of snow and lake ice this winter, and a new report underscores how climate trends are leading to diminished ice seasons on the Great Lakes. Findings issued by the nonprofit Climate Central note that all five lakes have experienced a decades-long decrease in ice cover. Read the full story by Public News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-greatlakes-low-ice
Michigan’s historic S.S. Badger car ferry is taking reservations for the 2024 season Lake Michigan crossings. This year marks the 71st anniversary of the ferry, the last coal-fired passenger steamer in the United States. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-ssbadger-summer-lakemichigan
The Gordie Howe bridge is the first international border crossing to join the Trans Canada Trail. The bridge will connect Windsor’s Great Lakes Waterfront Trail to the Iron Belle Trail and Great Lakes Way in Detroit, Michigan. Trail users will be able to walk or bike overtop of the Detroit River via the multi-use path network. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-transcanadatrail
Officials are still cleaning up, and investigating, a chemical spill into the Bear Creek Drain in Macomb County, Michigan. The chemicals, at present unknown, turned the creek bright blue-green. The drain eventually flows into Lake St. Clair. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-macombcounty-drain-blue
Two harbor projects were among the $10 million in grants awarded through the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Harbor Assistance Program. Superior, Wisconsin, will receive $813,800 to stabilize the existing shoreline and remove a failing dock wall on General Mills property located on the St. Louis River, and $3 million to rebuild the dock wall on property owned by Elkhorn Industries. Read the full story by The Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-wisconsin-superior-portfacilities
Four U.S. representatives, including two from Michigan, and the bipartisan Great Lakes Task Force introduced the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Act of 2024 Tuesday in Washington. Right now, the GLRI is set to expire at the end of the 2026 fiscal year, but this legislation would reauthorize it for another five years through FY 2031. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-boost-greatlakes-funding
Unless a protracted cold wave sets in, Lake Superior will likely set a new record this winter for lowest average amount of ice cover, according to data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Read the full story by BayToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-lakesuperior-lowicecover
The National Museum of the Great Lakes opened a new micro exhibit that examines the Great Lakes connection to the famed Tuskegee Airmen, an elite group of African American military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-museumofgreatlakes-tuskegeeairmen
The oil company Enbridge wants to move its Line 5 oil pipeline from the Straits of Mackinac into a tunnel beneath the lake, and the Michigan Public Service Commission recently signed off on this plan, issuing Enbridge a site permit. That decision could make things worse. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240212-relocate-line5-tunnel
Record warm winter weather is having severe ramifications on the ice cover that typically engulfs the Great Lakes at this time of year. Just 5.9% of the Great Lakes are currently covered with ice compared to an average of about 40% for this time of year. Read the full story by ABC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-great-lakes-ice
Researchers in Minnesota are creating a national map to identify peatlands – soggy areas of slowly decaying organic matter – and guides for how to restore them. The idea is to save a landscape that occupies just 3 percent of the earth’s land area but stores over 30 percent of the planet’s carbon. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-bogs
A successful halt on shoreline development through a recently crafted bylaw in Tiny Township, Ontario has been submitted for a Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative award. Even if the township does not win the award, the deputy mayor hopes the story can ‘help other municipalities that are facing similar issues’. Read the full story by Midland Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-best-practice-award
Due to recent warm temperatures, the Duluth Fire Department in Minnesota is asking the public to exercise caution and refrain from engaging in ice fishing activities in Superior Bay. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Superior, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-superior-bay-ice-conditions
The gridlocked battle between a Wisconsin tribe and a Canadian oil giant has entered its next legal round. On Thursday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments about whether Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 oil pipeline can continue to transport oil on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-line-5
A man was convicted this week on two federal charges after he diverted the Platte River by hand through Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-platt-river
Researchers are on a mission to get more wintertime data to understand how Michigan’s disappearing winters affect the broader Great Lakes ecosystem, endangering some species, and changing nutrient cycles, among a growing list of concerns. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-snow-clues
This past summer, a “moderately” severe algae bloom grew in Lake Erie. There is a long way to go to address the summer plague of Lake Erie algae blooms and the actions required to do so are a year-round job. Read the full story by the Environmental Defence.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-algae-blooms
Many volunteers showed interest in living in a Lake Superior lighthouse for the summer. The National Park Service opened and closed an application to be a caretaker for the Sand Island Light off the coast of northern Wisconsin in less than a day due to an abundance of applicants. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-lake-superior-lighthouse
Wisconsin lawmakers are introducing legislature modeled from the success of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to protect the Mississippi River waters and watershed. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240209-mississippi-river-model
Construction is underway on a wetland enhancement project at the Lakeview Wildlife Management Area in the town of Ellisburg, New York. The project is a collaboration between New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Great Lakes Commission, Audubon New York, Audubon Great Lakes, and Ducks Unlimited. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240207-ny-wetland-enhancement
Legislators and bipartisan members of the Great Lakes Task Force introduced new legislation Tuesday that would extend the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a public-private program that has used federal and nonfederal aid to protect and maintain the Great Lakes since 2010. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240207-glri
