The Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation in Ontario can trace their connection to the community back more than 300 years, settling on bountiful lands near Lake Ontario after being uprooted from their former homelands north of Lake Huron. Read the full story by the Durham Region.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210415-scugog
Growing public concern about shrinking sunfish sizes led to lower daily harvest limits across Minnesota this year. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210415-sunfish
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy is testing residential wells in North Ironwood, Michigan, for harmful chemicals this week, after some were found at the Gogebic-Iron County airport. Read and listen to the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-kalamazoo
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ annual collection of steelhead eggs from the Little Manistee River is underway. Yearling steelhead produced through hatchery operations are stocked in select tributaries of all the Great Lakes and provide one of Michigan’s premier sport fishing opportunities for both Great Lakes open water and tributary stream fishing. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210415-dnr-steelhead
Residents near Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan, are facing concerns about PFAS in groundwater stemming from the use of firefighting foams used at the airport. Read the full story by UpNorthLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210415-pfas-tc
Take a look at Echo's top 16 stories from 2020.
The post The best-read Great Lakes Echo stories last year first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/15/the-best-read-great-lakes-echo-stories-last-year/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; 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/2021/04/scientists-bottom-food-web-great-lakes/
How breweries are using the leftover grain from the brewing process.
The post Breweries repurposing waste to feed people and animals first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/15/breweries-repurposing-waste-to-feed-people-and-animals/
Growing public concern about shrinking sunfish sizes led to lower daily harvest limits across Minnesota this year.
The post New sunfish regulations let Minnesota’s fish grow first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/15/new-sunfish-regulations-let-minnesotas-fish-grow/
Subscribe to the Sea Grant blog from now until July 1, 2021, to receive a welcome gift.
When you are emailed a blog subscription confirmation, forward it to moira@aqua.wisc.edu and include your mailing address. Through the post office, you’ll then receive a waterproof Field Notes® memo book. Perfect for research or grocery lists.
Blogs aren’t your thing? This same welcome-gift offer and process holds if you sign up for our news email. Be sure to provide a mailing address with the subscription confirmation email when you forward it to moira@aqua.wisc.edu.
The post Free gift first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/free-gift/
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Lawmakers approved two environmental bills Tuesday that critics say could damage the state’s ecosystems by scaling back current policy affecting water, energy and other resources.
A measure seeking to remove protections from Indiana’s already diminished wetlands would eliminate a 2003 law that requires the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to issue permits in a state-regulated wetland and end enforcement proceedings against landowners allegedly violating current law.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/04/ap-controversial-indiana-environmental-bills-near-passage/
State and federal agencies are seeking public input on 14 proposed projects along the Kalamazoo River between the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Lake Michigan that would remove dams, improve riparian areas, and rehabilitate wildlife habitat harmed by PCB pollution. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-kalamazoo
Tribal leaders in Michigan rejected proposals for “peacemaking” talks with Enbridge over the Line 5 pipeline, and dismissed recent efforts by Enbridge to engage in Anishinaabek reconciliation traditions as a public relations ploy that amounts to cultural appropriation. Read the full story by Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-enbridge
Scientists on the EPA’s Lake Guardian research vessel are studying how climate change is impacting the base of the food web in the lakes, as changing lake chemistry could impact the abundance of microorganisms that larger animals like fish rely on for food. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-food-web
Every year, the EPA’s 180-foot research vessel known as the Lake Guardian sets out to sample water quality in all five of the Great Lakes. The data collected from these expeditions helps scientists understand the health and environmental trends of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WBFO- Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-lake-guardian
Throughout the past week, the Chippewa County Health Department in northern Michigan has worked with the Lake Carriers Association and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to crew members on the Great Lakes ships passing through the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-vaccines
A new study of insect data and bird surveys found that poor water quality harms the growth and development of insect population, depriving many birds species of a critical source of food, and is linked to declines in bird populations in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-buggies
Until recently, boaters and property owners on Lake Ontario were concerned about high lake levels and flooding. Now, people are concerned about lake levels becoming too low. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-low-water
Scientists from Ontario are seeking donations of smelt catches from anglers on Lake Superior to help support a new study that looks at the presence of PFAS chemicals in fish tissue. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-smelt
US Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI) and Fred Upton (MI) introduced a new bill to accelerate the cleanup of sites contaminated with PFAS. The bill would establish a national drinking water standard for select PFAS chemicals and would give the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency direction to act on cleaning up contaminated sites in Michigan and across the country. Read the full story by WKAR – East Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210414-pfas
This spring, Michigan’s maritime museums are striving to rise above last year’s calamity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The post Maritime museums brave the pandemic first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/14/maritime-museums-brave-the-pandemic/
Birds that rely on aquatic insects for food have declined for decades.
The post Saving streams can save bugs and birds first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/14/saving-streams-can-save-bugs-and-birds/
FRANKFORT, Mich. (AP) — A popular summer town along Lake Michigan is trying to improve beach safety through technology.
Frankfort will use cellular phone networks and weather data to regularly update lights installed at the beach entrance and at the pier, 9 & 10 News reported.
Signs will explain the different lights and beach conditions.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/04/ap-lake-michigan-town-lights-beach-safety/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-202103
This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.
By Royce Podeszwa and Jim Malewitz, Wisconsin Watch
The state Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in a case that could determine whether the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources failed to adequately protect water from manure pollution when awarding a permit to a giant dairy farm in northeastern Wisconsin — or whether the agency lacks the authority to issue such restrictions.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/04/wisconsin-supreme-court-protect-water-farm-pollutants/
A new study focuses on songs about the Edmund Fitzgerald and three other well-known wrecks.
The post Folk songs preserve memories of Great Lakes shipwrecks first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/13/folk-songs-preserve-memories-of-great-lakes-shipwrecks/
Two new projects will use over $500,000 to help the declining pheasant population in Illinois by improving habitat, experts say.
The post Over $500,000 dedicated to pheasant habitat conservation in Illinois first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/13/over-500000-dedicated-to-pheasant-habitat-conservation-in-illinois/
Lake Ontario is eight inches lower than average for this time of year. That’s the lowest it’s been in early April since 2015. The chance of flooding on the lake and the St. Lawrence River this summer is relatively low. Read the full story by North Country Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-flooding
The city of Euclid and 12 Lake County communities recently incorporated Ohio’s first lakefront special improvement district to help property owners finance expensive and urgently needed erosion control projects along the Lake Erie shoreline. Ultimately, however, the district could become a vehicle to open new public trails along vast stretches of private lakefront land that limit access to one of Ohio’s greatest natural resources. Read the full story by Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-lakefront
A 2020 study shows muskrats enhance plant diversity on the St. Lawrence River, and a greater understanding of their impact could help guide understanding of their dependence on Great Lakes water levels and their related ecosystem roles. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-muskrats
Wind turbines in Lake Erie should be given a chance to prove themselves as a safe and beneficial source of clean energy; the real threat to the Great Lakes is the continued use of coal, fracking gas and nuclear power. Read the full story by the Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-wind
In Illinois, dozens of volunteers searched the sands on Montrose Beach for pollution in an effort to get the stretch of Lake Michigan’s shoreline ready for the homecoming of Monty and Rose — the piping plovers. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-montrose
Due to a crash in perch population, the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission has this year slashed commercial harvest in Lake Erie’s Central basin by 70% and by 20% in the Eastern basin. The state of Ohio also cut sport angler limits by two-thirds from 30 fish to 10 between the Huron River and Fairport Harbor, leaving a lot of people angry. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-perch
Sturgeon were native to the Milwaukee River but were wiped out in the 1800s by pollution, habitat destruction and the building of dams that prohibited their movements upstream. The large, ancient fish have only recently started to show up in the Milwaukee River due to sturgeon reintroduction efforts in the watershed. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-sturgeon
In Ontario, a ‘slightly panicked’ shoreline homeowner sought Tiny council’s help in approaching higher authorities to exercise their influence in lowering water levels in Georgian Bay. Read the full story by Orillia Matters.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-high-water
The voluntary way has been tried and found wanting. The health of Lake Erie requires a firm regulatory regime to deliver the necessary reduction in phosphorous loading — now rather than later. Read the full story by the Akron Beacon Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-voluntery
Green Bay is the largest freshwater estuary in the world, and now the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is leading the search for a site between Marinette and Door County to become a National Estuarine Research Reserve. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-reserve
A tribal aviary located north of Harbor Springs will be the first of its kind east of the Mississippi River.
The post New eagle aviary and rehabilitation center will be built out of a collaboration between Wings of Wonder and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of the Odawa Indians first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/12/new-eagle-aviary-and-rehabilitation-center-will-be-built-out-of-a-collaboration-between-wings-of-wonder-and-the-little-traverse-bay-bands-of-the-odawa-indians/
A greater understanding of muskrats' impact could help guide understanding of their dependence on Great Lakes water levels and their related ecosystem roles.
The post Muskrats love fluctuating water levels. Property owners, not so much. first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/12/muskrats-love-fluctuating-water-levels-property-owners-not-so-much/
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/media/grb/outreach/MeetCloudy.pdf
Chicago, IL (April 9, 2021) – Earlier today, President Biden released his proposed FY 2022 discretionary budget. In response, Alliance for the Great Lakes Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Programs Molly Flanagan released the following statement.
“The Alliance for the Great Lakes is pleased that the Biden Administration’s proposed FY 2022 President’s Budget continues the Administration’s strong commitment to reinvesting in America. The proposed budget includes much needed increases to domestic agencies and their work in the Great Lakes. U.S. EPA’s base budget is proposed to increase by $2 billion, or 21 percent, over last year’s funding level. This puts the agency in a position to protect and restore one of our country’s most precious resources, the Great Lakes. Furthermore, the additional funding expands the agency’s enforcement capability to hold polluters accountable.
We also thank the Biden Administration for their commitment to righting environmental injustice with their Justice40 initiative, which promises to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of relevant federal investments to disadvantaged communities. We look forward to seeing this plan in action throughout many historically under-served Great Lakes towns and cities.”
###
Media contact: Jennifer Caddick, jcaddick@greatlakes.org
The post Statement on President Biden’s Budget Proposal appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2021/04/statement-on-president-bidens-budget-proposal/
You are invited to the 2020 Freshwater Heroes Celebration! Please join us on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22nd at Noon (ET) as we honor several people, organizations, and communities throughout the Great Lakes Region who are committed to protecting our earth’s precious freshwater resources. This live virtual celebration is open to the public! This is a free event, but pre-registration is required.
New York’s and Michigan’s moratoria on water shutoffs have expired. As COVID-19 cases surge again, water shutoffs will set our progress back dramatically. Will you help us urge state decision-makers to reinstate the moratoria during a pandemic where handwashing and wearing masks are essential? If you live in New York or Michigan please use our easy system to ask your state decision-makers to reinstate the moratoria today!
Until 1986, the State of Illinois required lead material be used for water service piping also called service lines. As a result, Illinois has more lead service lines than any other U.S. state. Lead is a toxic metal that builds-up in bodies causing severe health impacts. Illinois Senators are urging the U.S. EPA to update the Lead and Copper Rule to reduce the amount of lead in drinking water. Note: although the article references the federal standard of 15 ppb of lead as a safety threshold, it is not. The federal lead standard for drinking water is only an indicator of whether anticorrosive treatments are working. There is no safe level of lead.
After the U.S. Department of Defense stated it would not clean up the PFAS contaminated groundwater to Michigan standards, the Governor of Michigan sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Defense in an effort to force the federal agency to comply with Michigan’s health-focused cleanup laws.
Under the Trump administration, the U.S. EPA proposed a rule to weaken protections for wetlands, water quality, and wildlife. There is still a chance to prevent finalization of this harmful rule. Freshwater Future is joining our partners in calling on the Biden administration to uphold its commitments to clean water and to set the standard for robust environmental protection and enforcement. If you would like to urge the U.S. EPA to withdraw this unlawful rule, please consider signing on to this letter. The deadline to add your organization’s name to the letter is next Tuesday, April 13th. Please contact Kristy Meyer, at kristy@freshwaterfuture.org.
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/freshwater-weekly/freshwater-weekly-april-9-2021/
By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; 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/2021/04/federal-agencies-plan-to-investigate-links-between-pfas-exposure-and-viral-illness/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network.
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; 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/2021/04/lawsuit-michigan-wolf-advisory-group-stacked-with-hunting-advocates/
Researchers studied harvested and intact forested catchments in the Pacific Northwest to determine if there is a difference between surface-air mercury fluxes in vegetated versus non-vegetated areas. Results showed that the forested ecosystem largely acted as a repository for deposited elemental mercury throughout most of the year, whereas the harvested catchments emitted mercury to the atmosphere. Differences in solar radiation reaching the soil was the primary driver resulting in a shift from net deposition to emission in harvested catchments. Fluxes of mercury to the atmosphere, which accounted for 97 percent of the differences in mercury sequestered in forested versus harvested catchments, were much larger than runoff fluxes in streams. Providing a better understanding of mercury flux in intact and disturbed soils can aid global-scale model development ahead of the anticipated outcomes of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Eckley, C.S., Eagles-Smith, C.A., Tate, M.T., Krabbenhoft, D.P., 2021, Surface-air mercury fluxes and a watershed mass balance in forested and harvested catchments: Environmental Pollution, v. 277, p. 116869, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116869.
USGS News: Upper Midwest Water Science Center
USGS News: Upper Midwest Water Science Center
https://www.usgs.gov/center-news/surface-air-mercury-fluxes-and-a-watershed-mass-balance-forested-and-harvested
News | U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
News | U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
https://adaptationprofessionals.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=75a90bc953db953b9f8bddbce&id=c9957caf5f&e=3e339a610f
Forest soils can act as repositories for atmospherically deposited mercury, yet forestry practices can influence mercury mobility and fluxes, food web dynamics, and bioaccumulation processes.
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
http://www.usgs.gov/news/surface-air-mercury-fluxes-and-watershed-mass-balance-forested-and-harvested-catchments
