The vessel Captain Henry Jackman set a new record cargo size for grain loaded at Ontario’s Port of Thunder Bay on the ship’s very first voyage, carrying Canadian Western Red Spring Wheat grown in southwestern Manitoba destined for international markets. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-shipping
Running buffalo clover, a native plant that had been considered extinct, is being removed from the federal endangered species list after bouncing back in a half-dozen states east of the Mississippi River. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-endangered-species
Since the summer began, partiers in Toronto, Ontario, have been breaking into a conservation area in Tommy Thompson Park to host all-night raves, leaving garbage and human waste behind, says a conservation group called Friends of The Spit. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-habitat
The Volunteer Shoreline Harmful Algae Bloom Monitoring Program for New York’s Canandaigua Lake identified early intermittent algal blooms through June and July. Read the full story by MPNnow.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-algae
For decades, Green Bay Wisconsin National Guardsmen stored munitions and trained new recruits in a stucco-clad, Chicago Street building built in 1918.
Now, the building is home to hundreds of fish babies.
The Farmory, an urban farming nonprofit, is the only indoor fish hatchery in Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/farmory-wisconsin-indoor-fish-farming-declining-fish-populations/
The bipartisan infrastructure package released last week contains $1 billion for Great Lakes restoration efforts through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to restore fish and wildlife habitat, reduce farm runoff pollution, clean up toxic contamination, and manage invasive species. The “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” also contains billions more for other clean water priorities, such as updating drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. If passed, the bill would distribute funds over five years. The $1 billion in supplemental Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding represents substantial new resources for that program. The U.S. Congress has funded the Great Lakes Restoration Initiate at around $300 million to $340 million per year over the last several years.
Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said:
“This funding will be a shot in the arm to make our Great Lakes and our communities healthier. Federal investments to restore the lakes have been producing results, yet serious threats remain. Poisoned drinking water, closed beaches, contaminated fish, and unaffordable water bills continue to impact people in cities and towns across the region, which underscores the need to address these urgent problems now, before they get worse and more costly to solve.
“The $1 billion for Great Lakes restoration and protection in this bill is a big step forward in helping to confront these serious threats. We appreciate the leadership of U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Debbie Stabenow (R-Mich.) for helping advance Great Lakes restoration priorities as part of the bipartisan Senate infrastructure negotiations. Boosting funding will accelerate clean-up efforts, protect our drinking water, spur local job creation, and safeguard our public health.
“We thank the region’s congressional delegation for continuing to make the health of the Great Lakes and our communities a priority, and we look forward to working with members of Congress and the Biden Administration on this and future bills to ensure that every person has access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water.”
Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 160 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at HealthyLakes.org or follow us on Twitter @HealthyLakes.
The post Coalition: $1 Billion for Great Lakes in Senate Infrastructure Package will be “Shot in the Arm” appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.
Healing Our Waters Coalition
https://healthylakes.org/coalition-1-billion-for-great-lakes-in-senate-infrastructure-package-will-be-shot-in-the-arm/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/noaa-provides-back-school-resources
Fish and Wildlife Service News
Fish and Wildlife Service News
http://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ref=%0Asaving-a-rare-prairie-butterfly:-u.s.-fish-and-wildlife-service-releases-&_ID=36970
There are more than 5,000 chemicals in the man-made group known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). At times during an informal workshop on the topic late last week, it felt as if there were also thousands of questions surrounding PFAS.
The virtual gathering of more than 50 state agency personnel and academics from University of Wisconsin System schools shined a light on knowledge gaps, as well as energized opportunities for collaboration to move forward Wisconsin’s PFAS research agenda.
Amy Schultz, environment researcher for the University of Wisconsin-Madison-based Survey of the Health of Wisconsin, summed it up for most participants when she said points of collaboration “span all the worlds. And, collaboration is necessary.”
All the worlds she referred to were the four areas around which the workshop had been organized:
A recent PFAS workshop identified many knowledge gaps and potential collaborations between state agencies and scientists. Workshop organizers committed to the release of more information to set a research agenda. Photo: Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant.
The workshop hosts—Wisconsin Sea Grant, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene—laid out goals for the workshop: identifying what is known about PFAS; targeting knowledge gaps; fostering working relationships between staff at the departments of Health Services, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and the research community to accomplish further work; and charting next steps.
At the conclusion of the two 4-hour sessions that saw speakers, technical panel discussions and breakout sessions, that tick list seemed complete. The group plans to continue informal conversations to formulate research needs and share research findings and resources that will lead to actions that protect Wisconsin’s environmental resources and public health from PFAS as they are present in numerous products of everyday life.
The post PFAS in Wisconsin: Setting a research agenda first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/pfas-in-wisconsin-setting-a-research-agenda/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pfas-in-wisconsin-setting-a-research-agenda
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/news/072221-svr-wea
Fish and Wildlife Service News
Fish and Wildlife Service News
http://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ref=%0Arunning-buffalo-clover-saved-from-extinction%0A&_ID=36969
These Saildrone Explorers will use acoustic, or sound, technology to gather fish distribution and density data around-the-clock. USGS scientists will use the data to better understand the effects of invasive mussels and nutrient loss in the water. (Credit: Saildrone, Inc.)
The U.S. Geological Survey and Saildrone, Inc., launched the vehicles from Macatawa, Michigan, on July 28. These ocean drones, called Saildrone Explorers, will begin collecting fishery data on Lake Michigan starting August 5, sailing north into Lake Huron through September. Information collected as part of the study will help inform sustainable management of the $7 billion per year Great Lakes fishing industry.
The Saildrones will use acoustic, or sound, technology to gather fish distribution and density data around-the-clock. USGS scientists will use the data to better understand the effects of large vessel engine noise on fish sampling and catchability. This information will be used to sustain important fisheries for states, Tribes and likely the Province of Ontario, Canada.
The 23-foot autonomous vehicles are powered by wind and solar energy and carry no people. The sailboat-like drones have a 15-foot-tall wing sail and weighted keel, and they bear a payload of science sensors and navigational and communications equipment on their hulls.
The acoustic technology used in the study is not hazardous to people or animals and will not interfere with sonar, communications equipment or similar electronics.
For information about USGS research on the Great Lakes, please visit the USGS Great Lakes Science Center website.
USGS News: Region 3: Great Lakes Region
USGS News: Region 3: Great Lakes Region
https://www.usgs.gov/news/media-advisory-sailing-drones-collect-data-great-lakes-fishery-research
On August 5, two uncrewed surface vehicles will begin a 45-day sailing mission through Lakes Michigan and Huron as part of a scientific study.
Region 3: Great Lakes
http://www.usgs.gov/news/state-news-release/media-advisory-sailing-drones-collect-data-great-lakes-fishery-research
The Great Lakes are Michigan’s most precious resource, but plastic pollution and PFAS chemicals in our waterways are actively harming the state’s wildlife and residents. Read and hear the full story by WDET -Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210804-plastic-pollution
The piping plovers of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore had their best-ever breeding season since plover recovery work began at the park, according to officials. Read the full story by Coastal News Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210804-piping-plovers
This summer, a slew of scientists are converging to try to figure out why toxic algae is appearing in Lake Superior and to learn whether science can help control what, so far, has only been an occasional nuisance. Read and hear the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210804-algae-research
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $7 million of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative money to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District so it can perform improvements on the main stem of West Creek that will boost the Cuyahoga River’s water quality. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210804-cuyahoga-funding
The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) hosted a virtual community meeting on July 20, for which updates on PFAS contamination in Lake Huron were provided by the Michigan departments of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and Natural Resources (DNR). Read the full story by Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210804-pfas
Researchers at the University of Toledo in Ohio are looking at how microcystin impacts wildlife. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210804-algal-blooms
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will solicit projects for the $11 million in grant funding the state legislature allocated in fiscal year 2022, along with an additional $12 million allocated in 2023 at the same time as part of its Ohio Maritime Assistance Program (MAP). Read the full story by the Waterways Journal Weekly.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210804-map-funding
The United States Coast Guard is celebrating another year of being “Always Ready”. Read the full story by WWTI -TV- Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210804-coast-guard
Officials are warning people to stay off piers during high wave days with an example of what can happen when just 6 inches of water sweeps across them. Read the full story by MLive.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210804-michigan-pier
“I bet you can’t paddle to the lake!”
According to Phil Weiler, the AuSable River Canoe Marathon was born with those words and a friendly wager.
It’s now been 73 years since the inaugural canoe race, and what was once a friendly competition between a group of friends has become an international event, drawing professional canoe marathon paddlers from across North America.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/international-canoe-race-michigan/
In Thousand Islands, New York, near Lake Ontario, between the United States and Canada, you can find four different origin stories for Thousand Island dressing, three of which involve a woman named May Irwin.
The post Thousand Island Dressing Mystery: Great Lakes origins of one of America’s favorite sauces first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/08/04/thousand-island-dressing-mystery-great-lakes-origins-of-one-of-americas-favorite-sauces/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261B1BE62A0.AirQualityAlert.1261B1CDA8C8WI.GRBAQAGRB.a99a1adb33cd2194593c574ec8b79cde
ROGERS CITY, Mich. (AP) — A memorial Mass has been held in northern Michigan for the last remaining survivor of a Lake Michigan shipwreck that killed 33 people in 1958.
Frank Mays was one of two people who survived the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley, a freighter that was on its way to Rogers City, Michigan, to pick up a load of stone before the shipping season ended.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/ap-service-last-survivor-lake-michigan-shipwreck/
Scientists have a new idea for how Earth got its oxygen: It’s because the planet slowed down and days got longer.
A study published Monday proposes and puts to the test the theory that longer, continuous daylight kick-started weird bacteria into producing lots of oxygen, making most of life as we know it possible.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/ap-theory-earth-days-oxygen-growth/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/noaa-workshop-supports-artificial-intelligence
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261B1BBD260.AirQualityAlert.1261B1BE5AD0WI.GRBAQAGRB.a99a1adb33cd2194593c574ec8b79cde
This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.
By Coburn Dukehart, Wisconsin Watch
The No. 1 factor for acute gastrointestinal illness in Kewaunee County’s private drinking water wells is cow manure, according to a federal study released today.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/cow-manure-sickness-contaminated-wells-wisconsin/
LAKE ORION, Mich. (AP) — State officials are investigating the deaths of hundreds of adult common carp at an Oakland County lake.
Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources said between 250 and 500 of the fish have been found dead since mid-July in Lake Orion, northwest of Detroit. Area residents reported the dead fish to the state agency.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/ap-state-investigating-common-carp-deaths-michigan/
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (AP) — Surfers, kite boarders and water boarders would be exempt from a proposed Michigan policy that would bar people from swimming at state beaches when waves are more than 8 feet high.
The Department of Natural Resources wants to reduce the risk of drowning in the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/ap-michigan-exceptions-weather-swim-ban/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261B1AF4CE8.AirQualityAlert.1261B1BCBEB4WI.GRBAQAGRB.a99a1adb33cd2194593c574ec8b79cde
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261B1AF2F38.AirQualityAlert.1261B1BCAD20WI.GRBAQAGRB.8fcceab2a78b4693fef52667cbb6fc42
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Sugar Island sits like a gemstone on a jeweled necklace of islands surrounding the southern end of Grosse Ile – the largest island in the Detroit River.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/sugar-island-history-habitat-restoration/
Scientists are studying methods of genetic control to prevent invasive mussels from surviving and spreading in the Great Lakes while protection other mollusk species from potentially harmful chemical controls. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-invasive-mussels
Harmful algae is now starting to grow on the surface of Lake Erie. NOAA has put out its first warning on where the harmful algae lies, and what you should know about safety precautions. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-hab
Treacherous migrations for the Great Lakes piping plovers have been made worse by the climate crisis. Around the Great Lakes, warming water temperatures and flash flooding of plover nesting areas are among the climate change threats to navigate. Read the full story by The Globe and Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-piping-plovers
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources uncovered two new populations of invasive New Zealand mudsnails in Southern Wisconsin streams. Read the full story by WMTV-TV – Madison, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-new-zealand-mudsnails
Natural populations of oil-degrading bacteria could help to clean up freshwater rivers and lakes after spills from pipelines and trains, researchers have found after experiments that simulated spills in a Canadian lake. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-oil-degrading-bacteria
A water advocate from the Saugeen and Kettle and Stony Point First Nations is on a paddling mission to raise awareness about climate change. Read the full story by The Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-water-advocate
Small fish called alewives are washing up on the shores of Lake Michigan in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin. According to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, alewife die offs are common this time of year. Read the full story by WFRV-TV – Algoma, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-alewives
Numerous organizations and governmental agencies are working to identify, control, and/or eradicate Michigan’s worst invasive species while scientists, field workers, and ordinary citizens are using various means to address the situation. Read the full story by The Northern Express.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-invasive-species
A certified diver and maritime archaeologist in the Wisconsin Historical Society’s historic preservation division is transposing her underwater sketches and measurements of Wisconsin shipwrecks into scaled drawings that can help guide water-ready tourists to wrecks and provide historical background on the doomed boats. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-shipwrecks
The Windsor-Essex County (Ontario) Health Unit (WECHU) has issued a blue-green algae bloom advisory for the south shores of Lake St. Clair. The advisory is based on recent lab results for microcystins in Lake St. Clair by the local municipal water treatment plants. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210802-algae-bloom-advisory
Cougar habitat in North America has been shrinking due to development, land fragmentation and “human-induced mortality,” wildlife researchers warn.
The post Mapping pathways for roaming cougars first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/08/02/mapping-pathways-for-roaming-cougars/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261B19E86C4.AirQualityAlert.1261B19FD650WI.GRBAQAGRB.95772b461ecdeafcc9c0642321d118ec
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261AD745F9C.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261AD7487D8WI.GRBSPSGRB.11cad83779f11a7a6cf529f552f3af1d
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261AD743A1C.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261AD7460C8WI.GRBSPSGRB.8277e56207786573290cdaabd01b78b5
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261AD743378.AirQualityAlert.1261B19EA3ACWI.GRBAQAGRB.95772b461ecdeafcc9c0642321d118ec
