The nonprofit Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort reported 12 chicks hatched in Wisconsin and Michigan starting May 29. They expect more to hatch daily. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260605-piping-plovers
Rising 352 feet above Lake Erie is the Perry’s Victory & International Peace Memorial, which honors those who fought in the War of 1812’s Battle of Lake Erie and the long-standing peace between the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260605-erie-memorial
Michigan’s sweeping shorelines, sandy beaches, and towering dunescapes gained national recognition as they dominated a search for the “Best Lakeside Beach.” Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260605-best-beaches
As summer begins and temperatures rise, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is reminding residents and visitors to pay attention to beach safety systems at state parks. Read the full story by WILX-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260605-beach-safety
The U.S. Coast Guard launched two bright orange autonomous sail drones on Lake Erie. The drones serve a variety of functions, including helping with search and rescues, environmental spills and law enforcement activities. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-sail-drone-launch
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced they have agreed to drop the settlement with the City of Port Clinton, Ohio, dating back to 1999 for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act along with frequent combined sewer overflows. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-infrastructure-upgrades
Officials in Lambton County, Ontario, are preparing to kick off the annual beach water quality monitoring program for the summer season. Seven Lake Huron public beaches will be monitored for elevated bacteria levels and warning signs will be posted when E. coli levels are estimated to exceed the Ontario Ministry of Health guidelines. Read the full story by CKNX News Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-water-quality-monitoring
Freshwater explorers are preparing to send a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) down to the deepest part of Lake Superior to find some rare deepwater species, including one that may only exist now in Lake Superior. Onboard the ROV will be high-definition cameras that will broadcast the descent in real-time. Read the full story by KRFO – Owatonna, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-exploration-broadcast
The Ohio Division of Wildlife said it stocked 130,000 sauger in the Maumee and Sandusky rivers as part of a pilot project to restore the population. Officials explained sauger were once abundant and were an integral part of tributaries, bays and other areas of Lake Erie’s western basin, but the population began to fall apart in the 1950s, mainly due to poor water quality and overfishing. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-fish-restoration
Lake Ontario has hit flood stage, according to the latest data from the International Joint Commission. The lake is forecasted to remain above its flood stage (247.3 feet) for at least the next week and a half. Currently, there’s no immediate risk of widespread flooding; however, low-lying areas should be wary of wind and wave patterns that can push water onshore. Read the full story by WHEC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-flood-stage
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, around 42 federal, state, tribal and local agencies, representatives from industry and academia, and the Canadian Coast Guard took part in discussions on maritime readiness and response capabilities last week in Traverse City, Michigan. Read the full story by The Sault Ste. Marie Evening News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-maritime-readiness
On Monday, the City Council in Lorain, Ohio, gave a first reading of legislation to accept $4 million in federal funding that was earmarked for waterfront redevelopment through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The purpose of the congressional funding is to stabilize and reinforce portions of the Finger Piers, stretches of artificial land built in the 1940s that jut out into Lorain’s harbor. Read the full story by The Chronicle-Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-waterfront-redevelopment-funding
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources celebrated the completion of a wetland project at a northwestern Ohio nature preserve with direct connection to Lake Erie under the H2Ohio initiative. During storm events, the wetland will help hold more water and assist with removing phosphorus and nitrogen from the water. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-wetland-completion
Minnesota’s state lake trout record was broken twice in May, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The latest record fish was set by a 45.5-inch lake trout caught in Lake Superior, which broke a record set just weeks before. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260603-fishing-records
Over 22 million pounds of plastic waste enter the Great Lakes annually; however, this pollution remains largely unregulated, and plastics manufacturing is projected to drastically increase. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260601-plastic-pollution
Great Lakes researchers are facing existential threats due to proposed federal budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The administration has proposed slashing NOAA’s funding, specifically targeting its research offices, which could severely degrade water-quality monitoring, weather forecasting, and critical data collection. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260601-noaa-cuts
Once thought to be lost forever, the 130-year-old wreckage of the ship Atlanta has finally been discovered at the bottom of Lake Superior. Read the full story by CNN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260601-superior-shipwreck
The National Park Service recently acquired more than 200 acres along the south shore of Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin for the country’s longest national scenic trail. Read the full story by the Iron Mountain Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260601-superior-trail
A new University of Michigan study shows harmful algal blooms produce a greater range of toxic compounds than previously known. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260601-erie-toxins
While Michigan’s rivers provide drinking water for millions and an abundance of recreational opportunities, they also struggle with widespread E. coli and PFAS pollution, development pressure, legacy contamination that makes fish unsafe to eat and a host of other challenges. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260601-mi-rivers
In 1976, one man triggered a legal fight that changed commercial fishing in the Great Lakes. Decades later, another legal battle is taking shape over the Great Lakes tribes indigenous rights. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260601-legal-fight-fishing
In Michigan, a nonprofit organization has launched a fundraising campaign to buy the available acreage along Lake Huron to permanently protect its ecological features and offer new public recreation options. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260601-huron-pines
After a wet spring with plenty of rainfall, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River remain above-average for this time of year, but far from historic highs set in 2017. Read the full story by North County Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260601-ontario-water-levels
A new bill would designate the Great Lakes Commission as the Regional Great Lakes Partnership under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Regional Ocean Partnerships Program. This designation ensures that the Great Lakes region receives a fair share of program funding, delivering federal resources to support the GLC’s longstanding work to coordinate Great Lakes research and conservation efforts. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-new-bill-glc-funding
Scientists at the University of Toledo in Ohio are developing a mathematical framework to aid in measuring the health of ecosystems. A grant received via the U.S. Geological Survey is helping track how changes in environment affect the “recruitment” of sport fish in Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-erie-diversity-modeling
A vision dreamed up four years ago to make Buffalo, New York, a city port for passenger ships became a reality when the 130-passenger American Patriot pulled into the Erie Basin Marina for a 48-hour Buffalo stop this week. Read the full story by WBEN – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-buffalo-cruise-stop
The Lake Carriers’ Association said in a report this week that US-flagged shipping on the Great Lakes lost 82 ship days, a third of its 2026 season, because of “inadequate icebreaking” operations from the US Coast Guard. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-icebreaking-operations
The American eel is an unlucky and undeniably slippery hero that spends most its life in Lake Ontario. However, the species makes an incredible journey twice in its life, moving from open ocean to freshwater and back again overcoming many obstacles such as dams and the Bermuda Triangle to spawn in the depths of the Sargasso Sea. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-american-eel-journey
Beach season is here, and Lake Michigan is the most popular of the Great Lakes for swimming. However, it can also be the most dangerous. Grand Haven State Park in Michigan has added safety features as conditions are known to change rapidly at the park’s beaches. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-beach-safety
Every year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources asks for input from residents, beach managers, and public health officials about what changes are needed to the Wisconsin beach list. This helps ensure that the list is up to date and reflects any recent changes in use or status of beaches and boat launches. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-wi-water-quality
A marine debris cleanup group with a goal of removing one million pieces of litter from the Great Lakes basin will make its way to Marquette, Michigan, for a Lake Superior declutter event. Read the full story by WBUP-TV – Ishpeming, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-superior-cleanup
Scientists are using baby eagle blood to assess the health of Michigan’s environment. Because eagles are top predators, heavily linked to lakes and rivers, they provide a proxy for water quality. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-eagle-indicators
A state park in Sodus, New York, is naturally eroding into Lake Ontario and creating a hazard. Despite the erosion, the park remains popular and park staff plan to carefully watch rate of erosion in years ahead to ensure buildings and pavilions remain safe to use. Read the full story by WHEC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260529-ny-bluff-erosion
A Microsoft official said Tuesday the company doesn’t expect its data centers in the Great Lakes region will reach a threshold that would trigger greater review under the Great Lakes Compact. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-microsoft-data-centers-greatlakes-compact
For decades, efforts have been underway to clean up the Great Lakes from legacy industrial pollution, including polychlorinated biphenyls, a class of more than 200 manmade chemicals often known as PCBs. Cleanup crews have removed or contained millions of cubic yards of toxic sediment during a massive $1.3 billion remediation effort designed to protect Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-lower-fox-river-pcb-cleanup
A former Lower Fox River PCB cleanup worker is searching for answers after being diagnosed with cancer and questioning whether long-term exposure to toxic chemicals during the massive remediation project contributed to his illness. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-fox-river-toxic-chemicals-cancer-link-investigation
PCBs — toxic industrial chemicals banned in the U.S. decades ago — still persist in Great Lakes waterways because they accumulate in sediment and move through the food chain, especially in fish consumed by humans and wildlife. Despite long-term declines in contamination, PCBs continue to pose health and environmental risks across the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-pcbs-greatlakes-waterways-toxic-chemicals
Michigan congressman Tim Walberg has introduced new legislation intended to help prevent the spread of invasive species in the Great Lakes. His Aquatic Invasive Species Control and Prevention Act would support state-led and coordinated management efforts while improving coordination across federal, state, and regional programs. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-walberg-prevent-invasive-species
Michigan lawmakers are considering bills that would allow commercial fishers to catch species like lake trout and walleye as Great Lakes whitefish populations continue to collapse due to invasive mussels and ecosystem changes. Supporters say the move could save Michigan’s struggling commercial fishing industry, while recreational anglers and state officials warn it could increase pressure on already vulnerable fish populations and deepen conflicts over Great Lakes fisheries management. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-lawmakers-weigh-commercial-fishing-whitefish-decline
With the unofficial start of summer in the rearview, Michigan marine travelers crossing international borders in the Great Lakes are reminded to report their vessels to U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations (CPB). Travelers can use the CBP ROAM mobile app to report their arrival without appearing in person at a port of entry. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-michigan-boaters-app-customs-report
In Michigan, the city of South Haven’s new lifeguard program is officially up and running, with the team taking to South Beach for the first time in 25 years this Memorial Day weekend. The return of the program has been years in the making as the families of drowning victims and Great Lakes safety advocates worked to convince city leaders it was the right move. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-great-lakes-safety-lifeguards-south-haven
About 213 acres along Lake Superior in Wisconsin’s Iron County have been permanently protected and transferred to the National Park Service to improve and expand the North Country National Scenic Trail, the nation’s longest national scenic trail. The acquisition will allow roughly three miles of the trail to be moved off roads and into scenic natural areas featuring shoreline views, waterfalls, and historic cultural sites near the Wisconsin–Michigan border. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-lake-superior-national-scenic-trail
Michigan has just one state park on Lake Erie, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. William C. Sterling State Park offers visitors camping at a campground or in cottages, fishing, sandy beaches and boating. Visitors also can explore history nearby by hiking the River Raisin Heritage Trail to nearby River Raisin National Battlefield Park. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260527-michigan-state-park-lake-erie
From Lake Michigan to the Chicago River to streams and creeks across the state, there are tiny bits of plastic in Illinois waterways, according to a new report from an environmental advocacy group. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260522-illinois-pollution
A Traverse City, Michigan, protest draws attention to potential drinking water and ecosystem impacts from Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 pipeline tunnel. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260522-line5-protest
The Lake Carriers’ Association said in a report this week that US-flagged shipping on the Great Lakes lost 82 ship days — a third of its 2026 season — because of “inadequate icebreaking” operations from the U.S. Coast Guard. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260522-icebreaking-shipping
Connections to Lake Superior persist through tribal and commercial fishing, local communities, and copper, despite obstacles over time. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260522-lake-superior-connnections
The U.S. Coast Guard is marking the opening of Great Lakes boating season by increasing coverage and opening two seasonal air stations. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260522-coast-guard
Great Lakes Cruises is adding Buffalo, New York, as its newest destination stop as the city prepares to welcome its first cruise ship to sail to the area in decades. A new cruise ship terminal is expected to make its debut at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor in summer of 2028. Read the full story by WIVB-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260522-buffalo-cruises
With rain forecasted for the weekend, officials are closely watching Lake Ontario’s water levels as homeowners worry about possible flooding. Read the full story by WHAM-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260522-ontario-flooding
