In Michigan, the years-long and expensive cleanup effort for the Ten Mile Drain Superfund site in St. Clair Shores appears to be nearing the finish line. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240205-epa-cleanup
Michigan’s shortest fishing season has been canceled this year for the first time ever. Marginal ice conditions and depletion of ice on Black Lake caused concern about excessive sturgeon harvest. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240205-sturgeon-fishing-cancelled
Michiganders might never know if Sasquatch is real. But they will soon learn the truth about the legends of Macomb County’s Village of Belvidere and Church of St. Felicity, lying beneath the waves of Lake St. Clair. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240205-underwater-church
This year, Consumers Energy plans to sell 13 hydroelectric dams on five Lower Michigan rivers. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240205-hydrodam-bids
A Michigan photographer wrote, designed and published Lighthouses of Michigan-Lower Peninsula, a new book featuring Michigan lighthouse photography, to fulfill a childhood dream. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240205-lighthouse-photobook
A $3.6 million grant will expand the Native American history shared at Straits State Park in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula by incorporating a learning commons for exhibits and meeting space, powwow grounds structures, and a community kitchen pavilion. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240205-native-american-history
As of Worlds Wetlands Day on February 2, four wetland sites totaling over 940 hectares in Ontario are now permanently protected, helping to sustain at-risk species. Read the full story by CJUK – Thunder Bay, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240205-wetland-protection
In 2023, the Timberland Invasives Partnership worked across jurisdictional boundaries to manage and control nine different invasive species in northeast Wisconsin using grant funding. Read the full story by NEW Media Inc.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240205-invasive-species
Michigan’s office of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy approved nearly $66 million in grants to help upgrade infrastructure in several cities, including Detroit. Read the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240205-water-infrastructure
By Todd Richmond, Associated Press
A stretch of unusually warm weather has forced federal officials to suspend researchers’ annual wolf-moose count in Isle Royale National Park for the first time in more than six decades.
Isle Royale is a 134,000-acre (54,200-hectare) island situated in far western Lake Superior between Grand Marais, Minnesota, and Thunder Bay, Canada.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/ap-warm-weather-forces-park-officials-to-suspend-isle-royale-wolf-count-for-first-time-in-decades/
Michigan photographer Danielle Jorae wrote, designed and published Lighthouses of Michigan-Lower Peninsula to fulfill a wish of her childhood self.
“I ran across a document from when I was in kindergarten that outlined how I wanted to become an artist and a writer one day,”
The post Photobook illuminates the beauty of Michigan lighthouses first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/02/05/photobook-illuminates-the-beauty-of-michigan-lighthouses/
CHICAGO (February 5, 2024) – In November 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed improvements to the nation’s drinking water rules to finally address the widespread use of dangerous lead pipes for American drinking water. The Great Lakes region contains by far the greatest number of lead service lines of any region in the country, and so has borne an especially heavy burden from this toxic legacy that still endures.
Today, the Alliance for the Great Lakes submitted comments to EPA aimed at improving the rule and raising concerns with the agency over the rule’s scope and timetable for action. The most important issue for EPA to address is a proposed exception that could allow lead pipes to persist in Great Lakes metropolitan areas like Chicago for over 40 years.
The Alliance’s comments include:
“The Alliance welcomes these long-awaited improvements to the federal Lead and Copper Rule and encourages U.S. EPA to issue a strengthened final rule that delivers on the Administration’s promise to the country and the Great Lakes region. Addressing lead service lines once and for all will bring huge benefits to the region by reducing negative impacts to childhood development and improving cardiac health. President Biden and the EPA should be commended for moving forward with this rule,” said Meleah Geertsma, Alliance for the Great Lakes’ Director of Clean Water and Equity.
“At the same time, the Alliance believes the Proposed Rule risks leaving the most burdened too far behind by allowing significant extensions of the timeframe for lead service line replacement in cities with the greatest number of lead service lines, including the Great Lakes cities of Chicago and Cleveland,” said Geertsma.
###
Contact: Don Carr, Media Director, dcarr@greatlakes.org
The post EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements Can Demonstrate Biden Administration’s Commitment to Protecting Human Health appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2024/02/epas-lead-and-copper-rule-improvements-can-demonstrate-biden-administrations-commitment-to-protecting-human-health/
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/take-your-head-out-clouds-view-2024-total-solar-eclipse
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.9deaa7b8ad9284640b11d647d06bece542614121.002.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.3f9b7fcd5361e57c482630e5bb437cb0e76b57e5.001.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.bfe9cb2d3e886d71772e7425ae733efe698eb3e2.001.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.bc6ea6e05c3b7aae5ce650ed100b97cc4474fc22.002.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.704453faef3af7015af8d52828b910244dce5208.001.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.93cbac31310416371f0edd8c466f73d9b66775b9.001.1.cap
By Fatima Syed, The Narwhal
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/ontario-sides-with-enbridge-gas-fight-to-connect-new-homes-to-natural-gas/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
The International 500 Snowmobile Endurance Race in Sault Ste.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/i-500-snowmobile-race-moving-ahead-despite-warmer-weather/
The oldest living Great Lakes piping plover has survived another migration journey, and is alive and well in her preferred winter stomping grounds in Georgia. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240202-greatlakes-pipingplover
The St. Lawrence Seaway had a busy year during its longest shipping season ever – nearly 38 million tons of cargo transited the binational system in 2023, which was an overall increase of more than 3.4 percent. Read the full story by WWTI-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240202-stlawrenceseaway-shippingseason-2023
An engineering company being sued by Flint residents over consultation it provided following the city’s switch to the Flint River for drinking water will settle the case for $25 million — a decision that comes about two weeks before class action litigation was set to go to a second trial. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240202-veolia-settlement-flintwatercrisis
The Bay of Green Bay could join a network of 30 designated coastal sites that protect and study estuaries. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240202-bayofgreenbay-protected-researchreserve
Medicinal drugs polluting the St. Lawrence River are threatening aquatic wildlife, according to a new study. Read the full story by Newsweek.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240202-stlawrenceriver-contaminated-toxicdrugs
The poor ice conditions on Wisconsin waters this winter continue to adversely affect winter fishing opportunities, including the cancellation of ice fishing tournaments. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240202-icefishing-poorconditions
This week’s windy, warmer winter weather helped to melt the ice cover around the Western Basin of Lake Erie and its Lake Erie Island area. That prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to suspend its rule requiring boaters to seek permission to 72 hours before they launch. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240202-lakeerie-anglers-ohio-fishingreport
A new report estimates it will cost several billion dollars to remove 12.7 million cubic yards of copper mining waste called stamp sands which are slowly smothering an important fish spawning reef in Lake Superior along the Keweenaw Peninsula coastline. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240202-lakesuperior-miningwaste
By Ellie Katz, Interlochen Public Radio
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
White-tailed deer are one of a few species that have managed to thrive as we urbanize and suburbanize the Midwest.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/points-north-doe-a-deer-a-sterilized-female-deer/
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
https://noaaglerl.blog/2024/02/02/noaa-glerl-deputy-director-jesse-feyen-receives-ams-stac-2023-coastal-environment-committee-outstanding-service-award/
The calendar has flipped to 2024. Our staff members are already tackling new projects. Before they move too deeply into the new year, however, some staff members took a moment to retain the glow of their favorite 2023 project. Anne Moser, senior special librarian and education coordinator, shared her thoughts. This is the final post in this series.
My favorite project in 2023 was the Maadagindan! Start Reading! book club. Each month, educators, librarians, parents (anyone who loves to read with children) meet on Zoom to explore a children’s book written by an Ojibwe author.
Anne Moser. Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant
The book club was launched in the spring of 2022 and was created by Morgan Coleman, an intern shared between the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and Wisconsin Sea Grant. The project has been a labor of love since the start, and I owe much of its success to two groups of people: the incredible students I have mentored over the years and the inspiring honored guests that join us for discussions.
Two community-engaged scholars planned our 2023 meetings: Maya Reinfeldt chose the books in the spring and India-Bleu Neihoff in the fall. Neither had experience in choosing books for discussion or in researching and writing supporting materials for our meetings but both took on the challenge with passion. Mentoring these talented students is an inspiration for me.
The other key to our success was the honored guests who shared their knowledge, insights and wisdom. It is essential that we include a Native voice in our meetings to guide our conversation. In 2023, we were fortunate to have both authors and illustrators join us. Two of our guests stand out: Denise Lajimodiere, author of Josie Dances and enrolled Citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Belcourt, North Dakota, and Nicole Neidhardt, a Diné (Navajo) of Kiiyaa’áanii clan and illustrator of Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults. Both talked about their craft of writing and illustration, their own experiences as a young Native person reading books by Native and non-Native authors and their connections to the words and pictures in these beautiful stories. Each left us with thoughts on how to integrate the work into our lives and how to move forward in the world with a new perspective.
Every month when our meeting ends, I can’t wait to meet again. It has transformed the way I do my work as an educator and a librarian.
Please join us! Visit our web page to learn more.
The post Ojibwe book club inspires and educates first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/ojibwe-book-club-inspires-and-educates/
Michigan may have a sustainable answer to the contentious issue of fixing its roads: asphalt made from recycled rubber tires.
A partnership between state regulators, Michigan Technological University and county road commissions has been looking for ways to reduce the piles of used tires around Michigan
The post Thousands of tires hitting Michigan roads may someday be in them first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/02/02/thousands-of-tires-hitting-michigan-roads-may-someday-be-in-them/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/flint-residents-reach-25m-settlement-with-engineers-in-water-crisis-case/
The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program today announced the investment of $4.6 million into Great Lakes research, education and outreach for 2024-26.
In that time, Sea Grant will fund 11 research projects and one education project, totaling $2.8 million, along with 46 outreach projects on seven Universities of Wisconsin campuses.
Interim Sea Grant Director calls the Great Lakes a true treasure and praises the investment of research dollars to study them.
“The inland seas and their coastal ecosystems are true treasures. This investment is a critical one as we seek to more deeply understand the Great Lakes, enhance their use and foster conservation,” said Christy Remucal, interim director of Sea Grant. “In a 2022 analysis, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Coastal Management valued the Great Lakes regional economy at $3.1 trillion. So, for the actual dollar value of the lakes, as well as the perhaps more intangible cultural value, all Wisconsin residents will see a return on investment from this new freshwater-focused work.”
Thanks to funding from Sea Grant, other entities will participate in the research projects—the Wisconsin Historical Society conducting shipwreck research; Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission engaging in microplastics and contaminants research; Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa Community determining more efficient ways to cultivate walleye; and governmental bodies, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Department of Health Services and town of Campbell, on investigations into PFAS in waterways and various questions surrounding the Great Lakes fishery.
Researchers will also look into microbial pollutants on recreational beaches, angler ice safety, creating a tool to measure the levels of microplastics in the Great Lakes, flooding and the 2,000-year-old history of Great Lakes fishing.
In all, nearly 100 scientists, staff and students will be engaged in this work. It is also rewarding, Remucal said, to see new researchers as part of the portfolio. Eight of the 11 projects will be led by scientists who have not previously secured Sea Grant funding.
The participating campuses within the Universities of Wisconsin system are Green Bay and its campus in Manitowoc, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Stevens Point and Superior.
The NOAA, Department of Commerce, provides funding for this work through the National Sea Grant College Program.
The post Sea Grant to fund $4.6 M in Great Lakes research, education and outreach first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/sea-grant-to-fund-4-6-m-in-great-lakes-research-education-and-outreach/
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.dc21c6f8c3f2f54d0cec22a45416b40aa7dffc9e.002.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.5f8d4747adb7404a470fa270c2e589dc0751941f.002.1.cap
Do you ever wonder what our intrepid scientists run into while taking streamgage measurements in winter? Read one of our hydrologic technicians' favorite stories below, and learn about the upcoming USGS streamgage competition. Gage Greatness!
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/gage-greatness-2023-and-2024?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
Meet our staff at the UMid Gladstone Field Office!
The Upper Midwest Water Science Center (UMid) Gladstone Field office is our Northern most field office within UMid’s Eastern Data section servicing Northern Michigan. Our office is co-located with the Forest Service office, on the scenic shores of Little Bay de Noc, in Gladstone, Michigan.
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/meet-staff-gladstone-michigan-field-office?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.f532542fd080c476d79095fcdc400df0afa43b1c.001.1.cap
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.3712525fdab1272d5c184f27d88c7ea666bec9d1.002.1.cap
By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WBEZ and Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/chicago-could-be-first-major-midwestern-city-to-ban-gas-in-new-construction/
The Biden administration is poised to lend $1.5 billion for what would be the first restart of the shuttered Palisades nuclear plant in Covert, Michigan, on the shore of Lake Michigan, the latest sign of strengthening federal government support for the atomic industry. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240131-palisades-nuclear
Lake Erie is the first of the Great Lakes getting connected to the internet with a series of offshore “smart” buoys via the Smart Lake Erie Watershed Initiative. The buoy project is providing invaluable data to researchers and anglers. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240131-smart-buoys
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is partnering with a Columbus-based company to destroy stockpiles of toxic firefighting foams containing PFAS. The program will destroy the aqueous foam and return PFAS-contaminated wastewater to non-detectable levels. Read the full story by Ideastream Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240131-pfas-annihilator
Progress is well underway on the $27.5 million Freshwater Research & Innovation Center just north of Traverse City, Michigan. Read the full story by Crain’s Detroit Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240131-research-center
A bill unanimously passed by an Indiana Senate committee would require the installation of ring life buoys on Lake Michigan piers and public access points. The goal is to have one life ring for every quarter mile of Indiana’s 26 miles of publicly accessible beach. Read the full story by WNDU-TV – South Bend, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240131-rescue-equipment
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has designated 250 miles of shoreline along Lakes Michigan, Superior, and Huron as high risk for erosion. The debate on how states should protect the shoreline is complex, and is highlighted in Douglas, Michigan, where 200 sandbags protect the beach. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240131-beach-erosion
Due to an unprecedented lack of ice, Michigan fisheries officials are trying to decide whether to cancel sturgeon season on Black Lake near Onaway, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240131-sturgeon-season
The Fox River in Green Bay, Wisconsin, contributes more phosphorus to Lake Michigan than any other tributary. And while Wisconsin has strict rules to limit the amount of phosphorus flowing into its waterways, a new report shows that it hasn’t been enough to turn the tide on the problem. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240131-fox-phosphorus
