A Holland man will attempt to swim across Lake Michigan this summer to raise money for the Holland Aquatic Center. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230714-holland-man
Invasive, bloodsucking sea lampreys are startling fishers and tourists alike in the Great Lakes, following a population spike during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read the full story by Smithsonian Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230712-lampreys
A coalition of organizations is developing an innovative and expensive engineering project at the 96-year-old Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River south of Chicago to block invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230712-invasive-carp
A triple-masted schooner that’s been turning heads for the last month as it has made its way from the East Coast to the Great Lakes is set to receive a big welcome when it sails into its new home port on Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City, Michigan, this week. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230712-schooner
Explosives will be used as work progresses toward the construction of a new superlock at the Soo Locks in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, officials said. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230712-soo-locks
Visitors to several nature preserves in Lorain County, Ohio, can keep an eye out for new QR codes linking to a new website that provides more information on wildlife and restoration efforts. Read the full story by The Chronicle Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230712-black-river-restoration
After a decade of drastic shifts between record lows and record highs, Lake Michigan waters levels are just four inches above their long-term average for the month of July. Read the full story by WBAY -TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230712-water-levels
The Ohio EPA’s Total Maximum Daily Load plan for the Maumee River watershed, submitted on June 30 to the U.S. EPA, isn’t good enough because it doesn’t regulate manure generated by large livestock operations, contends a senior attorney for the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago. Read the full story by The Courier.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230712-lake-erie
Pools of dead fish and a milky substance along the north end of the former McLouth Steel property adjacent to the Detroit River in Trenton, Michigan, served as a clear warning sign that something was wrong. Read the full story by The News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230712-contamination
A study from Environment America found persistent problems with bacteria pollution along U.S. and Great Lakes coastlines. Where does beach pollution come from, and other key questions are answered. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-bacteria-beaches
Rebecca Meuninck, the new executive director of National Wildlife Federations’ Great Lakes Regional Center is looking to “expand the program to have more focus on climate resilience and making sure the communities that are most impacted by pollution and climate change are being reached by those programs and benefitting from them”. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-national-wildlife-federation
Oswego County’s rich marine history is on display – from events to exhibits. The H. Lee White Maritime Museum in Oswego, New York hosts a new display for the 2023 season, “Shipwrecks of Upstate NY.” The exhibit offers a detailed look at the shipwrecks below Lake Ontario using 3D printed and hand-painted scale models of shipwreck sites. Read the full story by Oswego County Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-lake-ontario
Canadian energy giant Enbridge has appealed a federal court ruling in Wisconsin to shut down its Line 5 pipeline that runs through Michigan. That action was met with strong criticism from environmentalists and tribal leaders. Read the full story by the Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-line-5
The Ontario government is investing up to C$6.9 million in wetland conservation projects across the province. The Wetlands Conservation Partner Program sees the government collaborate with conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Read the full story by Sarnia News Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-wetland-funding
Weeks after two teenaged boys drowned while cliff diving in Silver Bay, Minnesota State Sen. Grant Hauschild is calling for the return of the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Grand Marais, Minnesota that closed after Labor Day in 2022. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-grand-marais
Dearborn Heights, Michigan Mayor Bill Bazzi was recently elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. The binational coalition of over 230 municipal and regional U.S. and Canadian mayors and local officials works toward advancing the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin. Read the full story by the Press & Guide.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-great-lakes-and-st-lawrence-cities-initiatve
Open water swimmers have been deploying sensors in popular swimming spots in Toronto and Lake Ontario to get information on changing water conditions and improve public safety. Listen to the full story at City News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-sensor-data
A big company’s decision to refocus its future operations will impact a series of small Upper Peninsula cities. American Queen Voyages, the company which owns the familiar Ocean Navigator as well as the Ocean Voyager, has announced it will not return to the Great Lakes next year. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-great-lakes-cruising
Fifteen Michigan beaches were closed last weekend or were under contamination advisories for water quality that’s unacceptable or questionable for human contact. Water quality status should be checked before heading into the water. Read the full story at MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230710-beach-closings
Harmful algal blooms are forming in some parts of Lake Erie earlier than typical. Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research researchers are surprised to find the blooms this early in the summer, as they typically do not start forming until August and some years as late as September or early October. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-hab
For the fourth time in the past five years, the Port of Oswego Authority, (POA), has won the prestigious Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award for recording increases in international cargo tonnage shipped through the New York port during the 2022 navigation season. Read the full story by Oswego County Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-pacesetter-award
Property owners along three of the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair should remove sandbags that were placed along shorelines in 2020, when high water levels threatened lakeside properties. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-sandbag-removal
A group of scientists from The Nature Conservancy met up north to scuba dive in Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay, training how to stay safe while doing environmental research beneath the waves of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-dive-training
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently recovered five shipwreck artifacts that were taken from Lake Huron. The artifacts were transported to Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-shipwreck-artifacts
A 2012 study done by then-SUNY Fredonia Professor Dr. Sherri Mason found that Lake Erie has more microplastics per inch than the great Pacific garbage patch. Flows from Lake Superior and Lake Huron add to the problem. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-microplastics
Free boat washes at Michigan’s Lake Erie Metro Park are an easy way for mariners to help in the effort to quell the spread of exotic invaders in Michigan waterways. The event also helps educate citizens during Aquatic Invasive Species Awareness Week. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-ais-boat-wash
Duluth, Minnesota officials are celebrating a nearly $8.2 million federal grant that will help rebuild another section of the city’s popular Lakewalk pedestrian and bike trail that hugs several miles of the Lake Superior shore. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-duluth-lakewalk
Wisconsin’s newest biennial budget will provide millions of dollars in funding to address “forever chemicals,” allow for renovations in state parks, and provide grants for farmers wanting to reduce runoff from their fields. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-wi-budget
The annual cleanup Stand Up for Great Lakes’ was held at Michigan’s Torch Lake. The lake is looking cleaner after a group of volunteers staged a major clean-up from the Fourth of July holiday. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230707-stand-up-for-great-lakes
A new study commissioned by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan makes a compelling case for how The Great Lakes Way – an interconnected set of greenways and water trails stretching from southern Lake Huron through western Lake Erie – enriches quality of life and place for residents and visitors, sparks outdoor recreation and an outdoor recreation industry, and nurtures heritage and cultural tourism. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-greatlakesway
An estimated $1.8 billion plan to replace the Blatnik Bridge, which connects Superior and Duluth, will receive a $400 million boost under Wisconsin’s next two-year state budget. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-statebudget-bridgereplacement-lakesuperior
A panel discussion on June 14 at the Brown County Central Library explored the history of the Fox River cleanup project — and its impact on Green Bay. Panelists said nearly 30 years ago that future seemed anything but guaranteed. Cleaning up the river and the bay required federal regulators and local journalists to combat pushback from Wisconsin politicians and paper companies. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-foxriver-cleanup-pushback
This year, the Michigan DNR enacted a new double-flag warning system on swimming beaches around the Great Lakes. The double red flags close access to the water and prohibit beach visitors from entering the water. The flags are an addition to the Great Lakes flag warning system, where a green, yellow, and single-red flag communicate the safety of the current water conditions for swimmers and visitors at state park beaches. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-greatlakes-drownings-updatedflagsystem-dnr
The federal government is on track to underfund the mega-project to build a new lock at the Soo for the second year in a row, which could potentially force delays of when the project is completed and further balloon its price tag beyond $3.2 billion. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-soolocks-slowfunding
More than 50 boat landing events are planned across the state to as part of the 10th annual Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Landing Blitz, in which local partners give boaters tips to prevent the spread of invasive species and comply with recently updated laws for recreational boating. Read the full story by WHMI – Brighton, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-aquaticinvasivespecies-landingblitz
After more than 50 years on the water, the state of Michigan’s first research vessel is finally gearing up for retirement. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-mi-boat-farewelltour
After a three-year absence, the crew of the S.S. Badger is bringing back overnight voyages across Lake Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-lakemichigan-carferry-sailing
Birdwatchers flocked to Euclid Beach Park early Saturday afternoon to catch a rare glimpse of a Pacific-based gull not known to frequent Cleveland’s freshwater coast. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-westcoastgull-cleveland-euclidbeach
From toxic algal blooms in the Great Lakes to sewage pouring into Detroit basements to choking wildfire smoke that drifted south from Canada, Michigan has been contending with the fallout from climate change. Historically, Michigan has been resistant to environmental regulations in the manufacturing industry, but that could soon change. Read the full story by The New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230705-climatelaggard-america-greatlakes
Researchers are predicting a smaller-than-average harmful algal bloom for western Lake Erie this year, thanks largely to a dry spring. Read the full story by the Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-bloom-perdiction
Michigan and Illinois plan to spend a combined $114 million to stop the advancement of invasive carp into Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-invasive-carp
The intense drought that hit the region for May and much of June helped keep Lake Superior from rising its usual amount in June. The International Lake Superior Board of Control said the big lake’s water level remained unchanged in June, a month it usually goes up by nearly 3 inches. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-superior-drought
As the effects of climate change become harder to ignore, there’s not a place on the planet that won’t feel an impact. However, Michigan will see comparatively fewer issues related to high temperatures, water access, and economic instability. Read the full story by CBS News Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-climate-haven
With threats of spying impacting some naval operations, the Defense Department is thinking about safer locations for some of its most sensitive testing and scientific programs. One idea is to place them away from ocean coasts in the less-vulnerable American Midwest along the Great Lakes. Read the full story by gCaptain.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-naval
Visitors and their pets are advised to avoid the waters of Michigan’s inland Swan Lake after health officials received positive test results for suspected algae blooms, according to Allegan County Health Department. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-allegan-algae
Three municipalities in Illinois, Oswego, Montgomery and Yorkville, are funding an engineering design project for the pipeline that will bring Lake Michigan water to the three communities. Read the full story by the Shaw Local.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-lake-pipeline
Initially rejecting NRG’s plan to close two coal ash ponds at its Waukegan electrical generating plant adjacent to Lake Michigan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awaiting public comment and further study before making a final decision. Read the full story by the Lake County News-Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-coal-ash
This year when volunteer cleaners arrived at the White Shoal lighthouse in northern Lake Michigan, they were met with a bumper crop of dead flies known as midges, which had piled up so thick on the lighthouse’s deck that they had to be shoveled off. Read the full story by MLive.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-lighthouse-midges
Technology has changed the navigation tools for foggy weather on Milwaukee’s lakeshore over the decades. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230630-foghorn
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision removed federal protections for many wetlands, leaving states to decide whether and how to protect them. In a watershed like the Great Lakes basin, wetland protections are only as good as the state with the weakest laws. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230628-wetland-protections
