This winter saw record low ice cover across the Great Lakes, which are among the fastest-warming lakes in the world. However, less ice means ships can travel longer, leading some to wonder whether the shipping season could be extended, a potential silver lining of declining ice. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240313-shipping-impacts
In what may be the first announcement of its kind in the state, the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association plans to reveal the identity of its latest shipwreck discovery during a live event later this month in Holland, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240313-shipwreck-event
Lake Superior is one of the fastest-warming lakes in the world. As national parks around the United States try to raise awareness about climate change, those around Lake Superior are taking steps to cut their emissions. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-lake-superior-nationalparks-cuttingfossilfuels
The Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservancy was awarded a grant totaling over $48,000 to assist coastal communities and Tribes in Michigan’s upper peninsula address coastal hazards. Read the full story by Soo Leader.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-program-communities-promote-resiliency
With the warmer-than-average temperatures and lack of snow this winter, what will that mean for the water levels across the Great Lakes this spring and summer? Scientists say we can expect “larger beaches and shallower water” this year. Read the full story by WWJ – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-abnormalwinter-waterlevels-greatlakes
Oneida, a First Nation south of London, Ontario, says compensation from the federal government in a class action settlement will be a relief for members who haven’t had clean drinking water in years. After a years-long court battle, Ottawa opened the First Nations drinking water settlement process in 2022, offering compensation up to $8 billion to First Nations that have suffered for long periods under drinking water advisories. Read the full story by CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-oneida-cleanwater-classaction-lawsuit
The Soo Locks, a gateway on the St. Mary’s River between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes, will open on the evening of March 22, kicking off the 2024 shipping season three days earlier than originally planned. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-lakesuperior-steelindustry-earlystart
A Michigan man saw an advertisement on social media for the Mackinac Bridge Swim. It offered a chance for him to swim the length of the bridge that links Michigan’s lower and upper peninsulas. To date, it has remained his most memorable swim. Read the full story by The Oakland Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-mightymac-swimming
The Lake Huron Fishing Club celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Port Elgin, Ontario, fish hatchery with an open house where visitors of all ages had the opportunity to tour the hatchery. The hatchery has raised and cared for thousands of trout and salmon fry that volunteers transport to the Saugeen River where they make their way to Lake Huron. Read the full story by the Saugeen Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-lakehuron-fishing-hatchery
There’s a resounding call in Michigan to shut down Line 5 with thousands of individuals organizing rallies, sending postcards, and urging their elected officials to end this threat. Various legal challenges, permit processes, and environmental analyses are currently underway, but President Joe Biden has the ability to protect the Great Lakes by revoking Line 5’s presidential permit. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-biden-line5-greatlakes
Ship captains, cadets and other uniformed personnel from the United States and Canada gathered Sunday at Mariners’ Church in Detroit to receive blessings for themselves, their crews, their families, and their boats. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-detroit-blessing-fleet-crew
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Great Lakes Commission and the International Joint Commission signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday in Washington D.C. to advance the commissions’ existing shared goals and objectives. Read the full story by SooToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-commission-trio
The Great Lakes Commission, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and International Joint Commission are all tasked with varying aspects of management in the Great Lakes. On Wednesday, they all gathered ahead of a Washington, D.C. event honoring the region to sign a groundbreaking formal agreement. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240308-commission-agreement
The Great Lakes Commission is calling on the federal government to invest in addressing algae blooms, funding research, and keeping the Great Lakes open for shipping and recreation. A reporter spoke with the Great Lakes Commission’s Executive Director Erika Jensen about the chance of funding passing in Congress. Read the full transcript of their conversation by WBFO – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240308-great-lakes-funding
Saginaw Valley State University has officially approved the remaining $2.5 million needed to construct their new Lake Huron Environmental Research Station. It will be a place for people to go and discover things about the environment and how it relates to Saginaw Bay and its surroundings. Read the full story by WCMU Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240308-new-reserach-station
One of the most important shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters is now officially recognized as a historic place. Its rare, 156 year old, intact structure lies 270 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240308-historic-shipwreck
As climate change accelerates, scientists are scrambling to understand how iceless winters could affect the Great Lakes. Most of the effects are still theoretical, but the changes could have serious environmental, economic and cultural impacts. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240308-no-ice-impacts
Great Lakes’ communities and industries would be deeply harmed if Invasive carp get into the Great Lakes and its tributaries and inland lakes. Read the full story by Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240308-invasive-carp
After a 10-week closure for critical repairs and maintenance, the Soo Lock in Sault St. Marie, Michigan will reopen on March 22 coinciding with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Read the full story by KQDS – TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240308-soo-locks-open
The International Joint Commission is conducting an online survey to monitor aspects of the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty and make recommendations related to water quality, fishing, shipping, hydroelectric power generation and other issues. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240308-ijc-survey
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing adding a site in and near Ann Arbor, Michigan, to the Superfund National Priorities List. The “Gelman plume,” primarily 1,4-dioxane, an industrial solvent, is slowly moving through groundwater and threatening a source of Ann Arbor’s water supply. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-gelman-plume
The upcoming Great Lakes cruising season is expected to bring 20,000 visitors and $200 million in economic impact to the region. The region’s cruise marketing program announced its forecast for the 2024 cruising season, which follows a record-breaking season in 2023. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-cruise-forecast
The Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservancy has bought over 200 acres of land along Lake Superior and the Gratiot River in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to link five conservation areas in a large, contiguous block. The organization is now planning to create a trail network for hiking, skiing, and environmental education. Read the full story by WJMN-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-keweenaw-trails
Imagine if the world’s longest trail in Canada connected people even further, into another country, via Michigan’s longest trail. That happened last month when the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority announced that the Gordie Howe International Bridge would become part of a binational trail system. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-binational-trail
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced $3.85 million in grant awards for fish and wildlife restoration efforts across several Great Lakes states. Michigan received more grant money than any other state under the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-research-funded
At Lake Simcoe in southern Ontario, February has traditionally been the peak of ice fishing season. But this year, the lake’s freezing cycle is in purgatory, continuing to fuel what many locals are calling Ontario’s worst ice fishing season in decades. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-ice-fishing
With the help of community members, the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is monitoring migratory suckers like the longnose and white sucker. By tracking sucker migration from Lake Michigan to inland rivers and streams, zoo officials are hoping to aid their conservation. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-tracking-suckers
A tank barge that has been grounded in Lake St. Clair near Peche Island in Windsor, Ontario, since Monday has been successfully lightened and is once again floating. The tank barge Margaret ran aground in soft mud in American waters on Monday while carrying approximately 15 million liters of diesel fuel. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-grounded-barge
A Northern Michigan beach town’s decades-long struggle to bring restrooms to its popular waterfront continues as plans for a $560,000 building come under fire. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-bathroom-pushback
Despite what has been an unusual winter, water level changes in the Great Lakes over the past month have been business as usual and around average. In February, water levels were slightly below average in the Lake Superior basin and slightly above average in the Michigan-Huron basin. Read the full story by SooToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240306-lake-levels
This week, the Great Lakes Commission, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and the International Joint Commission expect to sign a memorandum of understanding in Washington, D.C. The new agreement will help the organizations coordinate on things like research vessels and information-sharing, especially as climate change research increases in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-gl-commission-agreement
The latest Great Lakes Fishing Decree has taken effect, and its guidelines for certain Great Lakes fisheries in Michigan will be in place soon. The new decree includes many updates, including which areas tribal commercial fishers can use, as well as the reporting requirements for the fishing industry. Read the full story by WLNS-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-gl-fishing-decree
To keep our Great Lakes great, congressional members are pushing to extend the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The fund helps projects target the biggest threats to our Great Lakes, like invasive species, contamination and protecting native habitats. Read the full story by WICU-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-glri-extension
A congressional lawmaker and Coast Guard officials were in Green Bay Friday to advocate for the expansion of icebreaking to keep the Great Lakes region’s economy afloat. Read the full story for WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-icebreaking-expansion
In Wisconsin, Madison’s lakes officially thawed out this week, and it happened faster than almost any other time in the last 170 years. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-madison-lakes
Starting March 1, 2024, the sport fishing guide license is required in Michigan for anyone guiding on any water except the Great Lakes, Great Lakes connecting waters and bodies of water with a surface area of less than 5 acres. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-guide-fishing-license
A busy trail inside Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has been shut down through the summer season due to invasive hemlock woolly adelgid. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-sleeping-bear-dunes
A study, published Monday in the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters, examined 194 lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to assess changes in walleye spawning. The study has found climate change is affecting walleye’s ability to thrive by disrupting when frozen lakes thaw each year. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-walleye
This week, a group of 30 tribal nations sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking the administration to fulfill its commitment to support tribal sovereignty. In December, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requested federal input in a legal battle regarding Enbridge Line 5, but the Biden administration has yet to respond. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-sovereignty-letter
Lake Superior College in Duluth, Minnesota, received a designation from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration which will provide more opportunities for students who want to work in the maritime industry. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-maritime-college
The Canadian federal government is earmarking $50 million for predevelopment work at the Bruce Power site on Lake Huron in Tiverton, Ontario, for what would be the first new nuclear construction project in Canada in 30 years, if approved. Read the full story by The Sun Times (Owen Sound).
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-bruce-power
The nascent cruise industry in Cleveland, Ohio will take a hit this summer as one of the major players in Great Lakes cruising, American Queen Voyages, is going out of business. Last year, its two ships made as many as 30 stops in Cleveland – far more than any other cruise line. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-erie-cruising
Lake sturgeon have been listed as threatened in Michigan for decades, but now the federal government is considering a petition to list sturgeon as endangered throughout the region. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether the petition moves forward to public comment by the end of June. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-sturgeon-petition
Starting July 1, service charges for water and wastewater services are going up 3-3.25% in southeast Michigan under a new budget approved by the region’s water authority to make up for cost hikes absorbed in the past. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-water-charges
A new documentary, “Bad River,” details the fight of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewas to shut down the Line 5 oil pipeline that traverses their ancestral land. An interview with the filmmaker dives into the details of the film. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-bad-river
The Indiana House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill requiring life rings at Lake Michigan entry points. The Indiana Senate unanimously passed the bill earlier this month, meaning it will soon go to the Indiana governor. Read the full story by WBBM-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-indiana-life-rings
Ferries to Put-in-Bay and Middle Bass Island, Ohio, will start on March 2, nearly a month early, due to lack of ice on Lake Erie. The early start allows construction workers to get a head start on work and allows residents and businesses to re-stock supplies ahead of schedule. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-erie-ferries
Ice clearing on the St. Lawrence River is scheduled to begin on Monday as part of preparations to open the Seaway for the season on March 22. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-seaway-ice
A coalition between the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has approved nearly $1.7 million in grants to fund six different studies along the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-michigan-sea-grant
New York’s Thousand Islands Land Trust said the lack of ice cover has had major impacts on the local environment, including drastic water temperature fluctuations, changes in animal behavior and shifts in migratory bird patterns. Read the full story by WROC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-low-ice
